Time of the End of the Season Part Four By Bob Hodge Bob Hodge grew up in Lowell and went on to graduate from Lowell High (1973) and University of Lowell (1990). He was (and still is) one the greatest runners to come out of this region. He’s also a…
Read More »
A Day in South Boston By Rich Grady On March 17th of this year, I drove across the Summer Street Bridge from Downtown Boston toward Southie, heading for Castle Island and the strand along Pleasure Bay. There, I would meet other Minutemen from around New England to muster for a…
Read More »
Palm Sunday By Leo Racicot I’m not much for religion, not a churchgoer. Every year though, I try to make it to Palm Sunday services. I like the literal joy of the proceedings: the priests don bright red vestments for this celebratory day, the incense has a dual sensory effect; the…
Read More »
Spaces for Wise Phrases – (PIP #101) By Louise Peloquin L’Etoile – March 1, 1926 __________ The L’Etoile print shop on 24-26 Prince Street had no modern technology to set up newspaper layout. Innovative ways to “meubler l’espace” (furnish the spaces) had to be found as we saw in…
Read More »
Because the regularly scheduled Lowell City Council meeting this week fell on St. Patrick’s Day, the council canceled its meeting, so instead of writing about local politics, today I’ll share an essay I wrote as part of Lowell’s bicentennial observance. However, instead of the founding of the mills and the…
Read More »
Noon on a Monday a Week into War By Bill O’Connell The Carolina wren sings his heart out. Juncos in the cedar respond. A pair of returning hawks circle beneath Air Force jet trails — C-5 transports lifting arms to Bahrain, Israel. On the deck in March sun I dig…
Read More »
Living Madly: What Time is It? By Emilie-Noelle Provost Contrary to popular belief, Daylight Savings Time was not created by, or to help, farmers. In fact, when Daylight Savings Time was first adopted in the United States, farmers were among its most vocal opponents. After all, the last thing farmers,…
Read More »
Seen & Heard: Vol. 11 Television: The Oscars telecast – Sunday night was the Academy Awards show on ABC. I watched it for an hour before moving on with my night (I go to bed early and like to read before that). What I saw was enjoyable. The host, Conan…
Read More »
This prose poem appears in my book What Is the City? (2006), which is out of print but sometimes available in used condition on internet sites. Jackie Brady was a champion boxer in Lowell, Mass., in the 1960s. The local scene from the 1980s described here predates the easing of…
Read More »
The agenda item that dominated the Tuesday, March 10, 2026, Lowell City Council meeting was a public hearing and vote to amend the city’s Zoning Code to impose a one-year ban on new or expanded data centers in the city. After much public comment and discussion among councilors, the new…
Read More »