The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America by Barbara Demick is a stellar piece of journalistic reporting in book form, laying bare in well-researched details the far-reaching impacts of China’s One Child Policy. For more than 30 years,…

The Lowell City Council had a busy meeting on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. Funding the Lowell High construction and renovation project was foremost among the items discussed. Last month, the council rejected a proposed loan order of $39 million to pay the increased costs of the project. Now, the city…

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Massachusetts, for long the nation’s undisputed leader in education, is slipping. It has been slower than other states to rebound from the pandemic. Too many third grade children can’t read. Only 1/3 of MA 4th graders & MA 8th graders read…

The Night That Sputnik Soared Over Lowell By Rocky Provencher There was a time that Lowell was a well-known industrial center. It was built from farm land, a city planned with forethought, with mills, housing for the workers, roads, churches, and railroads. Each mill was a manufacturing marvel, a beacon…

The Erudite Sports Enthusiasts By Stephen O’Connor Professor Ernest Harrington, PhD, Trinity College, welcomed the members of the “The Erudite Sports Enthusiasts” to his home in Cambridge where, as I shall relate, a most startling development ensued. The Enthusiasts consist of Professor Margaret Alvarez, Amherst College Doctor of Comparative Literature,…

“It was a very good year” – (PIP #93) By Louise Peloquin      The beginning of a new year always brings forecasts, predictions and plans. L’Etoile tried to cover them diligently, but always with a special local focus. 1926, Lowell’s centennial, was expected to be a very good year. L’Etoile…

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Should people suffering with excruciating pain in the last six months of their lives have the legal option to self-administer doctor-prescribed medicine for a more gentle passing? The fight for this right has been going on for more…

The January 13, 2026, Lowell City Council meeting began with a brief presentation by the Lowell City of Learning committee on UNESCO’s recent decision to add Lowell to its Global Network of Learning Cities. This is the first time a U.S. city has received this honor. This network is designed…

Time of the End of the Season 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 writer…