Archive for February 18th, 2012

February 18th, 2012

“Meanderings with the Mayor” by Jim Peters

by DickH

Frequent contributor Jim Peters shares the following essay:

I have supported Patrick Murphy very strongly for two campaigns now. I must admit that I did not support him when he ran against my sister-in-law, Niki Tsongas, but I did support him two years ago, when he came in eighth for the City Council, I supported him this past election, when he came in fourth, and I strongly supported him when he told me he was going to run for mayor. Recently, we met at a local eatery we both frequent, and had a nice talk about what his goals are, where he sees his tenure going, and how he hopes to accomplish getting there.

Patrick Murphy is an enigma. He has a genius for politics, especially for where he wants to invest his time, but he also works very hard as a bricklayer. He campaigned for office and told people, truthfully, that that was his job. As mayor, he has cut back on it a bit, but he still works with his cousin in the trade. They did a wonderful job on my front steps, removing the old brick steps and putting new steps in place. He does not say much, although he has a reputation for fostering many motions for City Council debate and action. He was supported in his quest for Mayor by Kevin Broderick, Marty Lorrey, Bill Martin, and Vesna Nuon. He sees the mayoralty as a way to bring ideas to the forefront, and strongly expressed his interest in making the mayor’s position into an active and visible, and transparent, vehicle for furthering his city agenda.

As a courtesy, the mayor’s seat was made unanimous on a motion by Rita Mercier. The mayor expressed gratitude for that magnanimous gesture. He seems certain in his movements and sincere in his convictions. I greatly enjoyed our discussion. As many of you know, I worked hard to save the Textile Avenue Bridge. Patrick was with us, but he maintained that the bridge could not be paid for from city coffers. This past week, Chancellor Marty Meehan informed all of the city that the bridge could not be saved. Marty did a great deal of work trying to keep the bridge, too. In the end, it is just sitting in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Jack Kerouac may have written about it, but in the end, it impeded progress. read more »

CategoryLowell | Comment3 Comments »

February 18th, 2012

Will the Santorum-i-zation of Scott Brown work in Massachusetts? by Marjorie Arons-Barron

by Tony

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog.

A new Suffolk University/Channel 7 poll puts Senator Scott Brown nine points ahead of Democratic challenger Elizabeth Brown. But what will be the impact on the Massachusetts electorate of his recent effort to emulate Rick Santorum in the debate about exempting contraception in required health insurance plans?

The Obama Administration appeared to have put a damper on the controversy ignited by the issuance of regulations requiring Catholic hospitals and universities to offer contraception in their health insurance plans provided to employees, many of whom are not Catholic. The compromise shifts the cost from the employers to the insurers, who would save money in the long run. Sister Carol Keehan, D.C., president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, who had supported Obamacare, reportedly accepts the compromise. (The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops does not.)

The Respect for Conscience Act filed by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, which Brown co-sponsors, would go even farther than what Santorum is embracing. The proposal -, which, as Yvonne Abraham has noted, is obviously an attempt to gut the Affordable Health Care Act,- would go beyond allowing Catholic organizations to opt out of contraception coverage. The Blunt bill would allow any employer to opt out for virtually any “moral conviction.”

So, if a woman works for a company dominated by Christian Scientists, could that company offer coverage that insures only those processes that claim to cure with prayer? As Herald columnist Margery Eagan points out, “The possibilities are endless.” The bill is so open-ended that it could conceivably permit employers’ excluding coverage for lifestyle choices, not ideal body mass indices, single motherhood or even pre-existing conditions.

Scott Brown is a personally likable guy. (So, too, were George W. Bush and Dan Quayle.) When Brown started in the Senate, he voted with the rigidly right Republican leadership 90 percent of the time. This was far higher than moderate Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who voted with their leadership 54%-56%. More recently, now running for reelection, he seems to be voting more in line with his Maine colleagues, unless, warns Lowell Sun columnist Michael Goldman, you count all-important procedural votes. Then, he calculates, Brown has been voting 74% with the GOP leadership.

Brown’s strongest selling point is that, if Republicans end up controlling the Senate (and the House), it would be good to have at least one Republican in the state’s delegation. The question Massachusetts voters have to ask themselves is what kind of senator would he be? How high a price are voters willing to pay? If “good guy” Scott Brown has another six years to serve, will he revert to his comfort zone and line up with his party leadership a preponderance of the time? Siding with Rick Santorum on the health care bill seems to be a good clue of what might lie ahead in Scott Brown’s play book.

I’d greatly appreciate your thoughts in the comments section below.

CategoryUncategorized | Comment1 Comment »

February 18th, 2012

Public Sculpture in Chicago

by PaulM

(Web photo by Tessa Marshall, courtesy of timeoutchicago.com).

This is the sculpture “Cloud Gate” (2004) by Anish Kapoor in Chicago’s Millennium Park, which has been integrated into a new temporary sculptural installation whose colored lights are synched up and change with a related musical track. The light/music design is by Luftwerk, a collaborative of artists.

We should aim for something this remarkable for a new work of public art if we commission a sculpture to be installed in the vicinity of Thorndike and Dutton streets, near the Swamp Locks canal complex and western edge of the Hamilton Canal District. Close by will be the new Judicial Center.

Here’s what “Cloud Gate” looks like without the new temporary lighting installation. This web photo is used courtesy of cityprofile.com

 

 

CategoryCulture, History, Lowell | Comment3 Comments »

February 18th, 2012

COOL Send-Off for LZ Nunn; Long G’bye Starts for M. Creasey

by PaulM

Last night there was a flurry of farewells instead of white stuff from Cobblestones upstairs to the Talon Room of UMass Lowell’s Tsongas Center as scores of friends, co-workers, and admirers gathered to pay tribute to departing city cultural affairs chief LZ Nunn and National Park Supt. Michael Creasey.

The Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL) invited the ground troops of the arts and heritage front to thank and offer best wishes to LZ Nunn for her seven years of accomplishments and leadership at COOL. LZ poured herself in to projects like the world premiere of the Cambodian opera “Where Elephants Weep,” two editions of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival in Lowell, the Destination World/Discover Lowell series, and the start-up of a new City Hall administrative unit called Cultural Affairs and Special Events (CASE). Her time coincided with the Creasey years at the National Park.

UMass Lowell Chancellor Meehan hosted the packed reception at the Tsongas Center, where the air was supercharged in anticipation of the River Hawks hockey game against Boston University. Particularly with the Tsongas Industrial History Center education program, the University and National Park are long-standing collaborators. From the Public Matters leadership development program and the Kerouac scroll manuscript museum exhibition to Canalway construction projects and expansion of the Folk Festival, we saw big things happen on Michael’s shift at the Park.

LZ is going to the Greater Lowell Community Foundation for her next stage of work, and Michael is heading to a National Park post in Vermont. Both of them will be missed in the roles they filled so effectively.

The Park Service has its own going-away party for Michael planned for mid-March, where all the Park’s community partners and friends will have an opportunity see him.

 

CategoryCulture, History, Lowell | Comment2 Comments »

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February 18th, 2012

From Boston to Lowell – Famine Relief to Ireland, 1847

by Marie

MassMoments reminds us today of the terrible famine faced by the people of Ireland  in the mid-1840s. Brought low by the potato blight, harsh winter weather and burdensome taxes, the Irish people were starving and perishing in horrible numbers. Those who could – left their land. The plight of the Irish people struck the generous hearts of Americans especially here in the Commonwealth with Bostonians and Lowellians as well. Relief was organized in the Catholic community, in the non-Catholic community and among the mill girls of Lowell. By the summer of 1847 – Americans had sent over $500,000 and thousands of tons of supplies to Ireland. The famine continued – the great Irish Diaspora begun in the 1830s continued – sending five million souls to America alone.

On This Day...

      …in 1847, Boston’s leading citizens held a meeting at Fanueil Hall in response to news of the famine devastating Ireland. With the failure of the potato crop several years in a row, tens of thousands of Irish peasants were suffering from malnutrition, disease, and exposure. Between 1847 and 1851, 1,000,000 Irish men, women, and children died. As people in Boston realized the enormity of the disaster, donations poured in. The city’s Catholic community sent $150,000 to the famine-stricken country. A relief committee collected 800 tons of food and clothing and persuaded the U.S. government to allow a fully-loaded warship to sail on a mercy mission from Boston to Ireland.
From the pro-labor newspaper  ”The Voice of Industry, ” Lowell Massachusetts – April, 1847:
…Now I had thought to-day, while witnessing these scenes of suffering, that the Girls of Lowell might give each a comfortable calico dress, to clothe the destitute of their sex in Skibbereen. I am sure such an example would be followed by the ladies in different towns in New England, and that tens of thousands of these poor, thin, naked, blue- lipped children would attest in favor of their benefactresses at another day; ‘I was naked and ye clothed me.’ I hope the counties of Middlesex and Essex will club together and send out a ship freighted with provisions and clothing for Ireland, and that it will embrace in its bill of lading 10,000 calico dresses, suited to every size, from the Factory Girls of the two counties.
E.B.
Skibbereen, Feb. 23, 1847
The Factory Girls – Heaven Bless Them!
“The Voice of Industry,” Lowell, MA
April 30, 1847
Merrimack Corporation, Lowell April, 14.

…A few evenings since we received a call from two blessed ‘sisters of  charity,’ who were responding in the appeal of the Christian Citizen, by visiting every Factory boarding-house in Lowell, and presenting the claims of the suffering Irish. The enclosed list proves that their efforts were not in vain…. One small boarding-house, upon this corporation, was the focus and fountain of all the interest; and when I went in to add my mite of labor to theirs, and saw the five large boxes so nicely packed, I was astonished to see how much a few weak hands could accomplish.

Lowell “Mill Girls” sent a total of 1,032 Dresses, Shawls, Cloaks, other clothes, and Quilts.

Read the full article and comments from MassMoments here.
This was originally posted here on February 18, 2011.

CategoryCulture, Greater Lowell, History, Lowell | Comment1 Comment »