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An Adventurous Palate By Leo Racicot When I was a kid, I wouldn’t have anything much to do with food. I wasn’t an eater and found most meal items our mother presented alien and strange. I remember a slab of cheese looked and tasted like a piece of plastic, and…

Bequests and Budgets – (PIP #92) By Louise Peloquin      Proverbs, slogans and food-for-thought phrases filled spaces in L’Etoile’s columns. Here’s one which is especially appropriate for the article below. Three things set the value of a gift: sentiment, appropriateness and manner. – signed Mme. Ricoboni. (Published in L’Etoile on…

The 2026-27 Lowell City Council took the oath of office at a Monday morning ceremony at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. The council’s first business was to elect a mayor. The election proceeded alphabetically: the assistant clerk called the roll, and each councilor announced their choice for the position. The first…

Wandering But Not Lost By Rich Grady I spend a lot of time wandering in the woods behind my house. I did it when I was a free-range kid in elementary school, and now that I’m a free-range septuagenarian, it still gives me a sense of belonging to something bigger…

Library Chronicles By Leo Racicot What’s your most prized possession? For me, it’s my library card. Ever since the afternoon Sister Margaret Paul, our fourth grade teacher. walked our class down to Pollard Memorial Library, down the stairs to the Children’s Room and I discovered my delight in getting my very first library…

Lowell’s 1st Centennial Year City Council Meeting – (PIP #91) By Louise Peloquin      Lowell’s city agent jobs have evolved with time. Some remain and others have disappeared. L’Etoile – Front page January 4, 1926 INAUGURATION OF THE COUNCIL GALLAGHER IS ELECTED PRESIDENT The present City Council president re-elected after…

Today I’ll look back at the Lowell City Council in 2025 and identify some of top issues that arose over the past twelve months. Three Incumbents Lose – In the 2025 city election, a quarter of the city council was ousted by voters. District councilors Corey Belanger, Wayne Jenness, and…

Where Is Our National Comfort When We Need it the Most? By Rev. Steve Edington [This is the text of an op-ed piece that appeared in the December 30, 2025, issue of the New Hampshire Union Leader.] Our Constitution is clear on the matter: “No religious Test shall ever be…

My New Year’s Eves By Leo Racicot When I was growing up, it was a New Year’s Eve tradition for families to gather around the radio or t.v. set to listen to Guy Lombardo ring in the new year. He and his band, The Royal Canadians, had begun their broadcast in 1928 and it had caught on with the public, was…

Two Hundred Fifty Years ago tonight, soldiers led by Benedict Arnold attached the city of Quebec, as the rebellious American colonies sought to add Canada to their cohort. It did not go well for the Americans. Here is my account of what happened that night. I originally posted this story…