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…

Welcome to this week’s edition of Seen and Heard, in which I catalog the most interesting things I’ve seen, heard and read over the previous seven days: Film: Frankenstein (2025) – I’m not a fan of horror movies but I understood that this new Frankenstein movie, currently on Netflix, was…

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…

Welcome to Seen and Heard, a new feature on richardhowe.com.  As regular readers know, I spend most of my time here digging into local history and dissecting the politics of Lowell. However, like everyone else, I spend the rest of my week absorbing a wide range of other media—from books…

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…