Author Archive

On Tuesday, the Lowell City Council voted to demolish the Smith Baker Center, a former church and community center that sits across Merrimack Street from City Hall. The outcome of the vote was predictable, since for nearly a year a majority of councilors have publicly expressed a preference for demolition…

THE GREATEST HITTER EVER WAS UNDERRATED By Charlie Gargiulo My earliest TV sports memory is sitting with my late Uncle Leo watching the Red Sox sometime during the 1960 season. I was already playing baseball for a few years but the bug about following major league baseball players was just…

Living Madly: Wheel of Fortune By Emilie-Noelle Provost When most Americans hear the term “Wheel of Fortune,” the long-running television game show is probably what comes to mind. But the original Wheel of Fortune, from which the show took its name, dates back to the ancient Romans. Known as Rota…

Late Afternoon on Palmer Street in Spring By Jacquelyn Malone A business meeting over a glass of wine, as papers on the outdoor table lift briefly in a soft breeze. Sudden “Ohs,” then laughter as colleagues dig in again to proposals, budgets, wine. A car rolls over cobblestones, the rumble…

Inauguration Plans – Grandiose Simplicity or Simple Grandiosity? – (PIP #53) By Louise Peloquin Two articles about planning Calvin Coolidge’s inauguration report the flip from desired simplicity to imposed grandiosity. A hundred years later, will the inauguration be grandiosely simple or simply grandiose? L’Etoile – February 11, 1925 Simplicity of…

The Lowell City Council returned to its regular meeting schedule on Tuesday after a three-week gap due to Christmas and New Year’s. However, City Manager Tom Golden and City Councilors Sokhary Chau and Kim Scott were absent, so the agenda was relatively light. The dominant issue at Tuesday’s meeting was…

America’s Rotunda by Rich Grady The roads and sidewalks were still covered in a mush of snow and ice. The snow was not the pure white blanket of a day ago, but a dirty mix of sand, salt and slush. I decided to walk the two or three miles to…

One of my goals in retirement is to watch more movies and sporting events and to read more books. Another goal is to write more articles for my website, richardhowe.com, so writing reviews of what I watch and read helps advance both goals. **** By the time I reached age…

Lowell enthusiastically welcomes 1925 – (PIP #52) By Louise Peloquin Lowell celebrated 1925. May 2025 celebrate Lowell! L’Etoile – January 3, 1925      Lowell welcomed in the New Year more enthusiastically than in recent years – Halls, theatres, clubs and restaurants swarmed – Beautiful religious celebrations in all our churches…

This past Tuesday was my final day as the register of deeds for the Northern Middlesex District. Most people know that the registry of deeds keeps land ownership records but details of how the office operates are only vaguely understood. While our system of land ownership developed in medieval England,…