Left In Lowell

Between 12pm and 5, you can come and visit the artists at Western Avenue Studios at our monthly First Saturdays event. It’s extra-special this month, as we are also putting on an Edible Book Exhibit! You can join us for tea and edible art, and browse the studios of participating artists.

Western Ave Studios now boasts over 60 artists who work in oils, acrylics, ceramics, photography, fiber arts, jewlery, sculpture and more! You can’t find a bigger concentration of artists anywhere else in the region. Come eat lunch in scenic downtown Lowell then hop over to Western Ave, where we have plenty of parking.

The Brush Art Gallery is having their 13th annual Wine Tasting on Thursday, March 30th, from 7-9:00pm. Tickets are $40/person ($35 for members). For info and tickets, call 978-459-7819. The Brush Art Gallery and Studios are located at 256 Market Street, Lowell.

122 Western Ave, Lowell [directions] at 7pm. We’ll be on the fourth floor, #19.

[EDIT: We will postpone this meeting until next week. Email me if you are interested in attending!]

WHISTLER/ARTS LEAGUE OF LOWELL JOINT SHOW

The Lowell Art Association (umbrella organization of the Whistler House Museum of Art) and the Arts League of Lowell will be holding an LAA/ALL Collaboration exhibit at the

Whistler’s Parker Gallery, 243 Worthern St., Lowell, MA

978-452-7641
http://www.whistlerhouse.org/

March 22-April 21.
Reception, Thursday, March 30, 6-8 pm

This juried exhibit has work by more than 60 members of Lowell’s oldest and newest art associations.

Hours: Wed.-Sat., 11 am-4 pm. Admission $5 adults; $4 seniors and children; members free.

Tonight we were supposed to meet for Lowell for Deval; but I’m still not feeling well (fourth cold since the new year) and I think it would be best to postpone the Lowell for Deval meeting until next week. I will be in touch with those of you who volunteered to collect signatures this weekend (if you’re interested in joining us, email me at lynne at leftinlowell.com).

Last night Lowell City Council meeting featured a heated exchange between freshman City Council member, George Ramirez and the City Manager, John Cox. At one point, Ramirez reminded Cox that the Council is his boss.

Ramirez had requested through a motion that the City Solicitor provide copies of specific section of the Charter or governing by-laws that allowed the City Manager to enter into a settlement/agreement without Council approval. Of course, this is all in reference to the $290,000 payment to the Jackson construction company for the Stokolosa School.

Although the debate between the City Council members provided no new information regarding the payment (the law office is still waiting for information to provide a detail explanation as to why the City paid that amount), a number of curious comments were made.

Councilwoman Rita Mercier in defending the City Manager’s actions, said something to the effect that I hear that they think they have the votes to “let you go.” I do not know who the “they” are and since I am not an insider, I am not sure what is going on. She also made a passing reference to a blog site. I am not sure if she was referring to this one.

So, if anyone has details, please let us know. I thought she might have been referring to the Sun, who has mentioned in the past that they were a majority of City Council members who were now more demanding of the City Manager. But I am just guessing. (more…)

Unless you’ve taken a vacation from the internets this past week, you probably more than once encountered a link to the article interestingly named How to spot a baby conservative. A study by Berkeley researcher followed 100 tots through to their 20’s and published his findings on the correlation between personalities in nursery school and political affiliation later on. To wit, the conclusion is in the subtitle to the article: “Whiny children, claims a new study, tend to grow up rigid and traditional. Future liberals, on the other hand…”

Well, Mass Marrier has an interesting reflection on the article, its author, the study itself, and the conservatives who, well, are really getting whiny about the whole thing. Which of course, really just proves the point, doesn’t it?

When Empirical Evidence Attacks…

According to the Lowell Dems site, the Lowell Democratic City Committee will be holding its first post-caucus meeting on Saturday, April 22, at 10am at the East End Club. Here’s a chance to get involved in the Democratic party at the city level. Mark your calendars and get yourself there! They will be electing officers and ward chairs. Even if you are not currently a LDCC member, you can make a difference.

Also, tomorrow night is another Lowell for Deval meeting, 7pm, at 122 Western Ave in Lowell.

Sorry I’ve been so busy lately (thanks to Mimi and KRS for filling in when they can).

What sorts of things are you looking to see at tonight’s City Council meeting?

Via Blue Mass Group, Adam at dKos informs us about the FEC’s new decision not to over-regulate politics on the internet (interesting that I now find out about major dKos posts through BMG):

Today, the Federal Election Commission voted unanimously to approve its final regulations regarding political activity on the Internet. As you know, we had dreaded these regulations for a year and did everything we could to influence or stop them altogether - submitting our own comments to the FEC and encouraging you to do the same (and you did, in the thousands), testifying before the FEC and Congress, and pressuring Capitol Hill to pass legislation protecting the medium.

Congress punted, but something remarkable happened — though it’s not something which ought to be remarkable: the Federal Election Commission reviewed all the comments, asked pointed questions during two days of hearings, deliberated for months . . . and ended up with the only logical conclusion that the facts, technology and law could warrant …

Adam tells us that we denizens of the internet will receive the same protections as other media outlets. The only thing to be regulated is paid advertisements. Which we have said all along is fine with us and only fair.

It seems like a small victory, but vibrant internet community journalism and activism cannot thrive without those protections.

You can read the full text of the FEC ruling here [PDF].