The MBTA yesterday released two proposals to balance its budget. Each would include fare increases and service decreases. Neither is final; they’re just opening bids in a process that will include public hearings and undoubtedly input from the governor and the legislature. Inside today’s Globe story is this paragraph: Both…
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I caught a portion of today’s Lowell City Council inaugural ceremony on LTC. Things started shortly after 10 am from the Council Chamber with the Lowell High JROTC Color Guard posting the colors and the Lowell High chorus singing the National Anthem. Rev. Paul Ouellette of St Patrick’s Church then…
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In honor of today’s Inaugural Ceremony and our city’s new mayor, whoever that might turn out to be, here is a list of those councilors elected mayor since 1966 with the councilors who elected them listed in the order of finish in that year’s city election: 1966 – Monday, January…
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There’s a group on Facebook called You Know You’re From Lowell When . . . and it currently has 5308 members who post regularly about life in Lowell in the not-to-distant past. This Saturday, I tossed out a relatively innocuous observation about the Lowell tradition of eating Chinese food on…
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Here is my own eclectic list of important things that happened in 2011. 1. The local political lineup changed considerably in 2011. Steve Panagiotakos, who was elected to the Lowell School Committee in 1989, the Massachusetts House in 1992, the State Senate in 1996 and had most recently served as…
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At the end of each month at the registry of deeds, I compile that month’s document recording statistics and post them on the LowellDeeds blog with a comparison to the same month of the preceding year. Because this is December, I was also able to run the stats for the…
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Last night I wrote about Lowell City Council inaugurations from 1966, 1970, 1990, 1992 and 1994. While the day should be a happy one for all involved, more often than not the election of the city’s mayor, which is the first act of the council after taking the oath of…
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My dad was elected to the Lowell City Council in 1965 and served continuously until 2005 – a term of service that spanned 40 years, 20 elections and 20 inauguration ceremonies. I think I made it to 18 of the inaugurations, missing 1980 and 1982 while stationed in Germany during…
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