Popular Eateries, Lowell, 1960s By Leo Racicot Once our circle of friends got our driver’s licenses, it enabled us to socialize beyond the confines of school. A frequent gathering place was Skip’s Restaurant, out on Chelmsford Street. It was also a magnet for families wanting good, plain, American fare, or…
After the Rallies By Rev. Steve Edington Said Joe what they could never kill went on to organize. “Ballad of Joe Hill” by Alfred Hayes As I went home from the two No Kings rallies I attended last Saturday (6.14)—one at Kerouac Park in Lowell and one in my…
Drowning Out the End of Democracy By Bill O’Connell I’d rather trim my grass and sit when I want to than tackle the world gone rogue — Trump’s hawking crypto and missiles in the Middle East, abetting genocide. I’d rather clip a rosebush, plant more peas — I’d rather keep…
Living Madly: New Tricks By Emilie-Noelle Provost Learning a new skill can be difficult, especially if you’re an adult. This is true even for people who are enthusiastic about learning something new. One of the reasons for this, I think, is that by the time most of us are adults,…
Take Me to Church: An Inside Look at the Smith Baker Center By Cameron DaCosta All photographs herein were taken by and provided courtesy of the author. “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” -Mark Twain It has been one of the Mill City’s greatest points of contention for…
Street Wide – (PIP # 73) By Louise Peloquin After the piece on the Bridge Street Bridge in 1924 (1), here’s another “peek” into Lowell’s infrastructure development. L’ÉTOILE – September 2, 1924 Legal Objections to Widening Aiken Street The city of Lowell will not be able to continue working on the Anna…
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. “All politics is loco,” Senator Ed Markey told a gathering of the New England Council on Monday, paraphrasing a favorite saying of House Speaker Tip O’Neill of Cambridge. Just part of the craziness this week is the President’s…
The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Kingmaker by Sonia Purnell, author of A Woman of No Importance, is another display of the author’s mastery of biography. In this scrupulously researched and documented chronicle, her subject is Pamela Churchill Harriman, a too-often-dismissed woman of consequence. A woman of power…
The Lowell City Council met on Tuesday night. What seemed like an innocuous item on the agenda, a vote to accept the draft 2024-2028 Lowell Housing and Housing Production Plan, generated considerable discussion. In his transmission letter to the council, City Manager Tom Golden explained the purpose of the plan:…
Next Tuesday, June 17, 2025, is the semisesquecentennial of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the decisive Revolutionary War fight that took place 30 miles south of here. In honor of this 250th anniversary, I am reposting a story I’ve published several times, followed by another past blog post about those…