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I did not want to let the Academy Award nomination moment go by without acknowledging the vigorous film culture emerging in Lowell and environs. For 2013, the two remarkable motion-picture projects that I want to single out are (1) the documentary Lost Child: Sayon’s Journey, directed by Janet Gardner and…
Read More »Wanting to grab something quick and light for lunch yesterday, I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and relative warmth to walk from the Superior Courthouse down to Middlesex Street for my first visit to Rosie’s Cafe. Heading in that direction, I always use South Street which allows me…
Read More »Matt Hanson, who is familiar to many of us as the chair of the Chelmsford Board of Selectmen, also serves as the chair of the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG), the regional planning agency for Lowell and many surrounding communities. The Council met last night and this video Matt…
Read More »Our far-flung Western net-desk night editor Tom Sexton, once the Poet Laureate of Alaska and always a distinguished alumnus of Lowell High School, sent this new poem inspired by a work of art he bought from Bill Giavis, a legend at the Brush Gallery in Market Mills downtown.—PM .…
Read More »This week’s rain and thaw are not good for ice on local ponds, brooks, and lakes, but January is hockey season, so I thought I’d dig this composition out of the vault this morning. The poem was first published in my second full-length collection of poems, Middle Distance (1989). Sweeney’s…
Read More »The Lowell City Council meeting of January 14, 2014. The following is not a verbatim transcript but my notes taken as the councilors speak. For brevity’s sake, I just use the last names of councilors. Elliott: Reads letter from Auditor Sheryl Wright informing council of her planned retirement on February…
Read More »The Lowell City Council meets at 5:30 pm in special session to discuss the process for selecting a new city manager and a new city auditor. The following is not a verbatim transcript but my notes taken as the councilors speak. For brevity’s sake, I just use the last names…
Read More »“Wonderful radio, Marvelous radio, Wonderful radio, Radio, radio . . .” —Elvis Costello When I was a kid I had a black transistor radio about the size of my hand that I would take to bed and listen to until I fell asleep. My stations across the dial played rock…
Read More »Last Wednesday night I was the guest of a UMass Lowell Community Psychology class. The students had all attended the prior evening’s Lowell City Council meeting. That was the meeting at which there was a lengthy discussion about the location of the city’s Nativity Scene and at which City Manager…
Read More »John Edward teaches economics at Bentley and UMass Lowell. He’s a frequent contributor of columns on economic issues. Here is his latest: A couple of years ago I wrote a column called Winners Stay. The phrase “winners stay” refers to advantages that the affluent enjoy under trickle-down economics. In the…
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