Author Archive

1989 City Election – English Only Referendum

Here’s a report on the 1989 Lowell City Election which included an “English only” referendum which prevailed by a wide margin. To see the individual candidate vote totals, please see our new 1989 City Election page. On November 7, 1989, voters reelected council incumbents Bud Caulfield, Robert Kennedy, Kathleen Kelley,…

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Boarding School Blues, chapter 5

Boarding School Blues By Louise Peloquin  Chapter 5: Arrival Maman parked the car in front of the stairs saying, “I should have driven up the back way. It has access to the basement so unloading your bags would have been less troublesome. But why not take the main entrance after…

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Review of President Obama Memoir

“A Promised Land” by Barack Obama Review by Richard Howe A recent Op-Ed by psychologist Adam Grant introduced me to the concept of “motivational interviewing” (“The Science of Reasoning With Unreasonable People,” New York Times, January 31, 2021). Set in the context of arguing about vaccinations with a committed anti-vaccer,…

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1970 State Election

From time to time we will post the results of past city and state election. These will be added to our “Elections and Results” page for ease of retrieval. Today, the 1970 State Election. 1970 STATE ELECTION U.S. Senate – Edward M. Kennedy. In the general election, Democratic incumbent Edward…

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Cultural Appropriation on the Carpet

Malcolm Sharps is an occasional contributor to this site who lives in Hungary and offers a European perspective on many topics. His previous articles here include TV Giant Clam, The Leaving of Liverpool, and Swept on by the River (on Thomas Wolfe).   Cultural Appropriation on the Carpet: A Cautionary…

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Elections & Results Page

The pandemic is still raging, but politics in Lowell marches on. The first city election under our new district/at-large system will take place this fall and there is already a (virtual) buzz created by committed and contemplated candidates for city council and school committee. Even though the boundaries of the…

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Checking the Property

Inspired by last week’s Presidential Inauguration, Paul Marion shares this poem from his book, Union River: Poems and Sketches (2017), available at www.loompress.com CHECKING THE PROPERTY by Paul Marion My nine-year-old son says, “I’m going to read the ‘Gettysburg Address.’” What’s the Lincoln shorthand? Freed the slaves, saved the union.…

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Night Roller Coaster

New fiction from David Daniel Night Roller Coaster By David Daniel The red T-Bird bled through the darkness, Hayden hunched over the steering wheel. The digital speedometer showed 83 mph. I was riding shotgun. If we hit anything, Hayden at least had something to hang onto, probably flatten his face,…

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