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Following Lowell politics is a chore; understanding Lowell politics is even tougher. In last Sunday’s Week in Review post, I touched upon some of the political forces in the city and how they manifested themselves in the City Council’s debate on the State Senate’s Transgender Anti-Discrimination Bill. It’s a topic…
Read More »Rourke Bridge: Councilor Belanger reports that the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments and the member communities of NMCOG are all lobbying the state to raise the priority of a Rourke Bridge replacement. He also warns that the initial feasibility study is several years old and that if the follow-on environmental…
Read More »This is the second of a series of columns by John Edward, who teaches economics at Bentley and UMass Lowell, on economic issues related to the upcoming presidential election. The first column, “The 100 Percent,” appeared on May 16, 2016. Here is the simple formula for “making America great again.”…
Read More »The following sales of real estate in Lowell took place last week: May 16, 2016 – Monday 9 Adie Way for $179,900. New construction 179 University Ave for $186,400. Prior sale in 1995 for $84,500 44 Boylston Ln Unit 44 for $215,000. Prior sale in 2012 for $154,600 234-240 University…
Read More »After the Transgender Anti-Discrimination Resolution Last Tuesday’s motion by Councilor Rodney Elliott that the council “vote to adopt a resolution to oppose the transgender bill adopted by the State Senate, which allows access to women’s bathrooms and locker rooms” drew a large crowd and many speakers to the city council…
Read More »Council suspends the rules to take private dormitory presentation and transgender opposition motion out of order. First the dormitory presentation: Manager Murphy opens by saying one of his goals has been to make Lowell more of a college town because college students have a lot of disposal income to spend.…
Read More »This is a big weekend for walking tours in Lowell. On Friday, May 20, 2016 at 1 pm, I will lead a 90-minute walking tour of Lowell Cemetery. The tour will begin at the Lawrence Street gate. Many of the stops and stories this year are brand new to these…
Read More »Congratulations to everyone at Do-It-Yourself Lowell for the excellent downtown Lowell history trail they launched this weekend. The group’s website says this about the trail: IDEA: A short trail, marked with temporary paint, signs, or another design method that reaches from the Boott Cotton Mills Museum to the NPS Visitor…
Read More »This is the first of a series of columns by John Edward, who teaches economics at Bentley and UMass Lowell, on economic issues related to the upcoming presidential election: Quiz question: What percentage of Americans pay taxes? Remember presidential candidate Mitt Romney writing off the “Forty-seven percent of Americans [who]…
Read More »Upcoming Council Meeting The Finance Subcommittee will meet Tuesday night at 530pm to discuss the April year-to-date report on the FY16 city budget and also to discuss proposed FY17 sewer rates, which will include an increase that will be used to pay back money borrowed from the federal government for…
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