“Dear Friends, “Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to adopt the Creative Challenge Index proposal – an initiative to raise the priority of creative work in our schools – when Governor Deval Patrick signed the Economic Development Reorganization bill into law this morning. We thank Governor Patrick for…
With his latest essay, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, a native of southeastern Mass., hums a brush-back pitch at Republicans who are leaning in to take a whack at the 14th amendment in the midst of the mid-term election frenzy. E.J. reminds the GOP that the so-called “Civil War or…
The Wall Street Journal is reporting a significant legislative win for Democrats in the U.S. Senate, made possible by the support of the two Republican Senators from Maine. Speaker Pelosi will call the House members back from the break to vote next week. The President is expected to sign the bill,…
The NYT today has an update on the Bill and Melinda Gates/Warren Buffet trolling-for-billionaires initiative. They are having a great deal of success in getting people to pledge to give at least half of their riches to charity. Read the article here, and consider buying a copy of the NYT if…
Why are we starting to talk about a Kerouac Center for Creativity in Lowell? Aside from the facts that Lowell was founded by inventors and entrepreneurs, that the city is a contemporary hub of the creative economy, and that higher education institutions like UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College demonstrate the positive results…
The NYT today has an article about artists and creative entrepreneurs working to inject vitality back into Detroit, which has become the default example of a failed Rust-Belt city. Read the story here, and consider buying a copy of the New York Times if you appreciate the reporting.
From the Moses Greeley Parker Lectures schedule, 2010-11 (a selected list of early fall programs): Sunday, Aug 29, 4 pm Boarding House Park, Lowell “Twelfe Night” performed by the New England Shakespeare Festival . Saturday, Oct 2, 1 pm Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center, 246 Market St, Lowell “Jack Kerouac…
Dick’s tweets and postings from Charles Cowley’s “Illustrated History of Lowell” (1868) raise the following questions: When is the next general history of Lowell due and what form will it take? In the 19th century, an illustrated history was “high-tech” in its own way. On top of that, Cowley gave us a…
Thanks to the Sun for reporting on community plans to take the public presentation of Jack Kerouac and his literature to the next level in Lowell. The three initiatives being driven by the Cultural Organization of Lowell and its partners, including but not limited to Lowell Celebrates Kerouac, Inc., the National Park Service,…
The federal budget affects cities like Lowell that struggle to provide high levels of public service. Federal funds support many human services programs offered by Community Teamwork and other agencies, Community Development Block Grants, grants for law enforcement, research grants for Middlesex Community College and UMass Lowell, support for small businesses, etc.,…