As we approach the end of 2016, I am reposting past year in review articles. Yesterday, I combined 2007, 2008, and 2009. For some reason, I did not write a year in review article for 2010, so here is a reposting of my Lowell Year in Review for 2011: Top…
The Year in Review Blog post has been a tradition on richardhowe.com since its inception in 2007. As I begin writing my 2016 version, I thought a trip down memory lane might be worthwhile, so this week I will repost past Year in Review articles. Today features a trifecta: 2007,…
This post was first heard as a radio essay on the Sunrise program of WUML, 92.5 FM, at UMass Lowell. Executive producer Chris Dunlap assembled writers in the area for the daily essay feature, a popular component of the morning public affairs show. I have shared this essay with rh.com readers…
The Sun’s Chris Scott reports that the Franco American School, which closed as a school this past June, will be sold to a partnership of the Coalition for a Better Acre and TMI Property Management & Development which plans to convert the school into 40 units of market and affordable…
Today is the 75th anniversary of the surprise attack by the Japanese navy on Pearl Harbor. By the time the attack was over, four US battleships were sunk, four more were damaged, 188 aircraft were destroyed, 2402 US service members were killed, another 1282 were wounded, and America had entered…
Several weeks ago, the Lowell City Council voted to rename the Hamilton Canal District the Hamilton Canal Innovation District. Innovation is an appropriate label to affix to this large parcel, for innovation is embedded in its history. The machinery for Lowell’s first mill was built in Waltham but the Merrimack…
Another essay by Bob Hodge, a 1973 graduate of Lowell High School, a 1990 graduate of University of Lowell, and one of the greatest runners to come from Lowell – ever. Bob has previously contributed, Running Down a Dream: Cohasset by the Sea Road Race, April 1978 and School Daze…
We are on the doorstep of an American presidential election result that will either be the most disruptive since 2000 (see my colleague Dick’s post today) or a decision to stay the course with a moderate, compassionate, fact-based White House administration. Are we headed toward a Brexit-type repudiation of the…
On November 26, 2000, I wrote an account of that years presidential election – which had yet to be decided, so I added an epilogue on January 2, 2001. With tomorrow’s election looming, I decided to share my story from 16 years ago, with the hope that history does not…