Author Archive

Shut Down: Day 365

From time to time through the pandemic, I have posted updates to capture the events and the look and feel of that moment in time. Almost exactly a year ago today I did my first. I called it “Covid-19: March 12 edition” never imagining that I should have included “2020”…

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Boarding House Blues, chapter 7

Boarding School Blues By Louise Peloquin Chapter 7: Beginning to Belong Blanche and her classmates stepped up to the academic pace. Freshmen followed required courses such as English, algebra, biology and social studies. Because the school had been founded by a religious order from Québec, French had a prominent place…

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My Mother, Smoking

My Mother, Smoking By David Daniel A recent editorial in the Sun reports how Massachusetts’ ban on menthol cigarettes has cost the state a lot of tax revenue, while, simultaneously, tobacco sales in neighboring states without such a ban have spiked. I know almost nothing about public tax policy and…

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Boarding School Blues, chapter 6

Boarding School Blues By Louise Peloquin Chapter 6: Settling In The first week at SFA was a whirlwind of adjusting to a new environment. Blanche had left Earth to land on another planet. With her peanut head and tight ponytail – the regulation hairdo for long hair – not only…

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The U.S. Space Program

February 18, 2021 – (above photo from NASA website) – Members of the Perseverance Mars Rover team watch in mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the first images arrive moments after the spacecraft successfully touched down on Mars, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021. A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is…

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City Election Update – February

The 2021 Lowell City Election will be the first under the new hybrid election organization that features a mix of at-large and district councilors. This past week, the City posted an announcement that the previously released district map will be used in this year’s election and will not be adjusted…

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1987 City Election

Below is a narrative account of the 1987 City Election and related events that occurred during that two-year term. To see the order of finish and vote totals of the candidates, visit our 1987 City Election page.  On November 3, 1987, voters reelected incumbents Richard Howe, Brian Martin, Robert Kennedy…

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