Election eve electioneering

I arrived home from work to find an answering machine full of robocalls and one post card in the mailbox. That was from Eileen Donoghue and it featured a pair of shiny black men’s dress shoes with this: With serious issues facing the commonwealth such as job creation, the economy,…

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Roof racks, matchbooks and newspaper ads

Answer: Roof racks, matchbooks and newspaper ads Question: Name three things no longer used in modern political campaigns The Donoghue v Doherty state senate race has given those of us interested in politics much to contemplate. You have two capable candidates who have each raised more than $100,000, and the…

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Public Art in Chicago

Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham was in Chicago last week. Her column today compares the extraordinary commitment to public art by that city with the lackadaisical approach followed in Boston. This past July, I also visited Chicago and concur with Abraham. Above is a photo I took of “Cloud Gate”…

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Banjo and Fiddle Contest

Please welcome Tony Sampas, the newest contributor to richardhowe.com. Tony grew up in Lowell and after two decades in the building trade now works as an archivist at UMass Lowell and as a reference librarian at The Pollard Memorial Library. In 2009 he began making a habit of capturing images…

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Sunday campaign update

With just 48 hours until the primary, local electioneering should peak today and tomorrow. There has been a noticeable uptick in the volume of political info flowing into my home. Friday, there was a robocall from Steve Panagiotakos in support of Guy Glodis, a candidate for State Auditor. Suzanne Bump,…

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