Following are excerpts from a seqence of poems titled “Purple Ritual” in Joseph Donahue’s first book of poems, Before Creation (1989). The sequence in much longer and more complex than these passages suggest, but today it seemed important to me to share part of this composition for the record. At…
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At the 25th annual fall brunch this past Sunday, November 10, 2013, the Greater Lowell Area Democrats awarded their 2013 Distinguished Democrat Award to Gerry Leone, the former District Attorney of Middlesex County. The award was presented to Gerry by his former colleague and boss, Martha Coakley, the current Attorney…
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One year after her decisive victory over Scott Brown, Senator Elizabeth Warren invited the most active volunteers from her campaign to a celebration today at the Summer Shack in Cambridge. I asked some of the Lowell volunteers who attended to share their thoughts about this event and about Senator Warren’s…
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Today’s Guardian online in the UK has a long piece by David Runciman in which he digs deeply into the ways a democratic system of government can be exasperating to its citizens. But, as others have said, Consider the alternatives. Here’s the essay. The insights here apply to the system down…
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I am so encouraged by the many photos of campaign volunteers, especially so many younger people, that have been posted during this campaign season in Lowell, Mass. We don’t know what the results will be tonight after 8 pm, but I have to believe that our civic culture has been…
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In the City of Lawrence, Dan Rivera – a current member of the Lawrence City Council – is challenging incumbent Willie Lantigua in his second run for Mayor. Controversies abound – with the Mayor himself in his actions, decisions, style and judgment, with his administrative hires some of whom have been investigated…
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A smiling President Truman enjoys the headline on the front page of the Chicago Tribune that falsely touted the election results of 1948 presidential election – Truman won! In this time of pervasive social media and instantaneous information sharing, the Chicago Tribune headline doesn’t seem possible – but it happened.…
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The Lowell Sun website now has the newspaper’s endorsements for city council. Eight candidates were endorsed, three incumbents and five challengers. Incumbent councilors who received the endorsement were: Ed Kennedy Rita Mercier Joe Mendonca Challengers who were endorsed were: Dan Rourke Jim Milinazzo Stacie Hargis Derek Mitchell Corey Belanger That…
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From our friends at Lowell Irish:
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Massachusetts Congressman John Tierney represents the 6th Congressional District. In the recent redistricting based on the 2010 Census, the towns of Tewksbury and Billerica and part of a precinct in Andover were moved from Niki Tsongas’ old 5th District – now the 3rd District. Tierney has a reputation for being very accessible…
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