We were fortunate to hear from the National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis at the Innovative Cities Conference. He and many other US Interior Department officials have been on duty in the Gulf of Mexico region responding to the oil pollution disaster. I think his visit was evidence of how highly Lowell…
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Mayor Terry Bellamy of Asheville, N.C., yesterday spoke about her city at the Innovative Cities Conference. One of the important attractions is the Thomas Wolfe House, the childhood home of the author immortalized in his novel “Look Homeward, Angel.” Read about the memorial and programs at the Wolfe House here.…
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Occasional New York Times columnist Bono offers his thoughts on the extraordinary report about the killings of civil rights demonstrators in Northern Ireland in 1972. A few of the Catholic-side leaders during the long and brutal “troubles” in that place stopped in Lowell over the years, in particular, Gerry Adams…
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Here’s some more information on Frederick Ayer to accompany Marie’s post from earlier today: Frederick Ayer died on March 14, 1918 in Thomasville, Georgia where he was spending the winter. He was 93 years old and had been one of Lowell’s wealthiest and most influential citizens. According to “The Biographical…
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The Lowell Police Department blog reports and uptick in break-ins to cars in the city, especially in South Lowell and Lower Belvidere. The police point out that in two-thirds of the breaks, the car doors were left unlocked. They urge everyone to always lock car doors and to refrain from…
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Frederick Ayer, brother to Dr. J. C. Ayer of patent medicine fame, is in the news today. He too was in the patent medicine business, also the coal business but even more so in the textile business in the Merrimack Valley in both Lowell and Lawrence. His fashionable home on Pawtucket…
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Nearly 200 people last night gathered for the opening dinner of the Innovative Cities Conference at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center. In a video message, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas emphasized that older, mid-sized industrial (or post-industrial) cities have a particular set of challenges and assets that must be addressed…
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The regular breakfast meeting of Greater Lowell Area Democrats will be held this Saturday June 19, 2010 at 8am SHARP at the Independence Grill at the Radisson Hotel in Chelmsford. In addition to the regular agenda Dick Howe – Register of Deeds Middlesex North – will do a presentation on…
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Congratulations to Middlesex Community College for tonight’s 12th MCC Celebrity Forum at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Ken Burns was simply outstanding. He entered from the rear of the hall, accompanied by a vintage recording of “This Land is Your Land” and quickly mounted the stage that was decorated by foliage,…
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Lowell and Middlesex Community College had a big night tonight at the Auditorium, where “documentarian” Ken Burns wowed the crowd with his visual and verbal eloquence. I particularly enjoyed the question-and-answer portion of the program in which Burns demonstrated how quick he is on his “intellectual feet,” fielding questions on…
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