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Poised to become the longest serving woman in Senate history, Barbara Mulkoski elected in 1986 has served for 24 in the U. S. Senate representing the state of Maryland. She invited CNN for to her Senate office for an interview to reflect on her tenure — especially her efforts to empower…
Read More »In December 1961, “Glamour” magazine published a prose sketch by Jack Kerouac called “Home at Christmas” in which he recalls a blizzardy holiday scene from his youth in Pawtucketville. The writing is loose and lyrical in his spontaneous prose mode. Following is an excerpt from the sketch, which is available…
Read More »This poem comes from my days living in Pawtucketville in the 1980s. It was first published in “The Spanner,” the news bulletin of the now-Independent University Alumni Association at Lowell, related to UMass Lowell.—PM . 214 Sixth Avenue Bright snow at midnight in the shut-down neighborhood, Mute homes of folks I can’t…
Read More »The snow began in Lowell yesterday at 3:30 pm. By 8 pm, about 4 inches had fallen. Throughout the night the wind was howling. At 5 am today, it looks like another 6 inches fell overnight. I’m heading out soon to clear the cars and the driveway and will report…
Read More »Christian Bale, left, and Mark Wahlberg play brothers who are boxers in “The Fighter.” (Jojo Whilden/Paramount Pictures, via Associated Press) This morning Dick Howe noted for his FaceBook friends that for a recent edition of the New York Times – A. O. Scott has written an essay on class consciousness as reflected in today’s…
Read More »A group of orphans receiving gifts in East London, 1921 (Topical Press Agency / Getty) Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26 in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a few other places. It has nothing to do with the sport of boxing. While the exact origins of the holiday…
Read More »See www.weather.com for the latest on the “big one” due to hit our region about noon. Read the latest forecast here. Here’s the Weather Channel’s Lowell page that you should be able to update. Here’s the link to the forecast at the UMass Lowell Meteorology Department’s Met Lab. Here’s the latest…
Read More »On the evening of December 25, 1776, George Washington led a ragtag group of Colonial soldiers across the ice-choked Delaware River and successfully attacked the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. Coming after a string of crushing defeats and after the colonial army had shrunk in size by 90%, the…
Read More »The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for Eastern Massachusetts with the snow expected to begin by noon tomorrow and continue into the middle of Monday. Life will be easier with all schools on vacation already, but it still sounds like Monday morning will be a mess. Today’s…
Read More »When I was growing up, one bright spot in the long, gloomy stretch of winter from Christmas to Opening Day was the Bob Hope Christmas Special. Hope began visiting American troops in war zones during World War Two, so in the 1960s and 1970s, he and his entourage ventured to…
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