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Category: Local Issues

Local Small Food Markets To Support

Local Small Food Markets To Support

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I crowdsourced this list once again, and there was an incredible amount of information, so I am making a separate post. The main Community Resources post is here. We have an embarrassment of riches with our local independent food markets, ethnic or otherwise; they are a great resource for the community right now, and they in turn need our help. With the current shutdown of, well, everything, markets and pharmacies are going to be the only exceptions of places we…

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Resources: Supporting the Local Community

Resources: Supporting the Local Community

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NEW NOTE: THERE ARE NEW RESTRICTIONS GOING INTO PLACE. RESTAURANT “EAT IN” BAN EFFECTIVE TUEDAY Folks, the governor just had a press conference (3/15 around 7:30pm) announcing the following regarding restaurants and businesses: Any restaurant, bar or establishment that offers food or drink shall not permit on-premises consumption. These establishments may continue to offer food for takeout or delivery, effective Tuesday. Establishments must also follow social distancing protocols outlined in the department of public health guidance. This order does not apply to…

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Love (and Business) In The Time of Corona

Love (and Business) In The Time of Corona

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For folks who are friends of mine on Facebook, my writing and posting about COVID-19 and the worldwide response to it is very old hat. I have been very carefully following all the worldwide news, partly out of professional interest (I work for a catastrophe modeling company and we model pandemics) and partly because it was the biggest developing story with huge forthcoming community and personal impacts. Due to my keen interest, I was preparing my several weeks’ food and…

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What Is Nangle Playing At?

What Is Nangle Playing At?

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The Sun recently reported in their outmoded format, the Sunday Rumor Monger (oh, sorry, it’s called “The Column”) that state Representative David Nangle (17th Middlesex) may be planning to pull papers and run for reelection despite the 28 federal indictments against him on illegally using his campaign funds for things like limos to the casino and a golf club membership. Are you kidding me??? And yes, this is outrageous enough for me to pull this blog out of retirement! (For…

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Recycling in Lowell: Clean Up Your Act!

Recycling in Lowell: Clean Up Your Act!

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With the Chinese ban on plastics recycling imports at the beginning of this year, recycling has become a very hot topic, and Lowell is no exception. Past Council discussions have revealed that Lowell is being fined $8,000-$12,000 a month for recycling loads with too high a percentage of contamination. What constitutes contamination? Lots of things, from non-recyclable plastics, to plastic bags, to pizza boxes contaminated with food and oil residue. What’s worse, contamination over a certain percent means a batch of…

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Plastic Bag Ban Ordinance Tonight!

Plastic Bag Ban Ordinance Tonight!

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Tonight, the City Council will hold the public hearing on the the plastic bag ban ordinance! This is a great first step not only to reducing our dependence on single-use plastic, but on keeping our streets (and trees!) clean. The item on the agenda is officially “Item 4.1 Ordinance-Amend Ch. 270 By Creating A New Section Prohibiting Single-Use Plastic Bags.” Check out the full proposed ordinance here (PDF). Any retail or grocery store 3,000 sq. ft. or geater distributing single…

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Kerouac Park Revitalization Project!

Kerouac Park Revitalization Project!

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The City of Lowell is trying to bring a new renaissance to the park named after a Lowell-born founder of the San Francisco Renaissance. And if the city can raise $25,000, it will get a matching $25,000 from MassDevelopment, marking a $50,000 upgrade for an important but overlooked space. The fundraising page is now open and accepting donations. A rare bit of public park in the downtown area, Kerouac Park has long been used as a location for annual Kerouac celebrations,…

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Fellow White People…Can We Talk?

Fellow White People…Can We Talk?

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This is a post that has been simmering in my mind for quite some time. I’m not going to say anything profound that hasn’t been said elsewhere, a hundred times and more eloquently, by both people of color and white people (and let’s face it, white people are more likely to listen to other white people, that’s been part of the problem all along). In the wake of just story after story after story of white people calling the cops on…

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Lowell Will Have a Plastic Bag Ban! And, On Leading From the Front

Lowell Will Have a Plastic Bag Ban! And, On Leading From the Front

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If plastic bag ban enthusiasts tuned into Lowell City Council last night hoping to have an early evening, you were sorely mistaken. Two motions taken out of order—as described by Dick Howe in his CC report but which does not do any justice to the length of time the first motion out of order took—pushed the Subcommittee reports until, if I remember correctly, after 8:30pm. TBH the softball field thing took twice as long as the marijuana-in-public motion, which is…

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Lowell Plastic Bag Ban Reports Out of Committee

Lowell Plastic Bag Ban Reports Out of Committee

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Tomorrow night is Prince Spaghetti—no, wait, that’s Wednesday. Tomorrow night is the Lowell City Council meeting! For a good overall preview, you can always turn to Mimi, who is now blogging over at RH.com. But tucked into the city council agenda doc is something very important. Namely, that the Environmental and Flood Subcommittee will be favorably reporting out the plastic bag ban in a 2 to 1 yea vote. Please note: the so-called “Democrat” Rodney Elliott voted against it, something…

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