Current Events

  The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Former Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi used his office to enrich himself to the tune of $65,000, securing a state contract for Cognos, which paid him on a monthly basis for his efforts. The third House Speaker…

The Lowell Walks guided downtown walking tour series resumes this Saturday with The Irish in the Acre to be led by Dave McKean.  A history teacher and the archivist of St. Patrick’s parish, Dave regularly leads this tour as part of Irish Cultural Week (although he had to cancel it…

John Edward, who teaches economics at Bentley and UMass Lowell, frequently contributes columns on economic issues. Here is his latest: A single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country. – Supreme…

The following post appears on the Keepers of Tradition blog which is written by Maggie Holtzberg, Ph.D., the Commonweath’s Folklorist at the Massachusetts Cultural Council.  The Lowell Folk Festival is held each year in Lowell during the last weekend of July.  The full schedule for this year is available on…

  The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Massachusetts is officially a casino state. Yesterday at two p.m. a slots parlor opened to the public in Plainville.  Penn National reportedly spent $250 million to build and start up the facility, the first to bring Las Vegas…

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Thirty-six hours after Dylann Storm Roof slaughtered their loved ones in a Charleston, S.C  AME Church, family members of the victims grieved their loss but urged the mass murderer be treated with grace, dignity and forgiveness.  Like Nadine Collier,…

John Edward, who teaches economics at Bentley and UMass Lowell, frequently contributes columns on economic issues. Here is his latest: Some public policies seem to contradict what would serve the public good. This column explains why that can happen. It has nothing to do with political parties. It is not…

John Edward, who teaches economics at Bentley and UMass Lowell, frequently contributes columns on economic issues. The May 17 edition of The Boston Globe reported, “Housing costs a burden to many.” The Globe North article used census data to illustrate how unaffordable housing is in our area. It failed to…