Left In Lowell

In yesterday’s Sun, Jenn Myers has the latest episode in the saga of The Chancellor wants/does not want/wants the Tsongas Arena. When we last left the Arena issue, the City Council told the City Manager to re-engage U. Mass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan and State Senator Steve Panagiatakos in discuss the future of the Tsongas Arena.

I am confused. I just watched parts of the November 3rd Sub-Committee (here is the link to the LTC streaming video) meeting when Chancellor Meehan addressed the full City Council. It is still not clear to me, what was the initial motivating factor that prompted the University to want to take over the Arena? Was it that they wanted to expand their hockey program and the Arena is not in a condition that would allow that to happen? Is that it?

Or maybe it had to do with the U. Mass Board of Trustees July 2007 decision to allow U. Mass Lowell Hockey to continue. Or maybe it has to do with manifest destiny (snark!).

In his appearance at the abovementioned CC meeting, the Chancellor mentioned that the State did not want to pour money to renovate the Arena but in his November 21st letter to U. Mass President Jack Wilson, Chancellor Meehan stated that the “Governor’s Office has indicated that it would support a transfer of ownership to the University.”

As Meyers points out the University will take over the Arena and pay the City $1 and $800,000 for the adjacent land and a parcel of land near the U. Mass Boathouse. Where is the University going to get $800,000?

And of course the City gets to keep the privilege of paying off the debt service on the Arena, around $2 million and let’s not forget the legal headache of breaking the lease with the Devils. That should cost us a few pennies. Yes, the City will not have to subsidize the operating costs of the Arena but in 2 years when the Devils leave we can do whatever we want with that place and try to begin to recoup our investment. Why don’t we think we can succeed? That’s what bothers me the most; we do not think we can do it so we want the Chancellor to come to our rescue.

And even if we wanted to get rid of the Arena, is the State in a financial position to allow one of its universities to embark on this type of a venture which has building a practice rink as one of its components?

Tomorrow on TOL we’ll be hosting Gunther Wellenstein, Coordinator of Lowell’s Recycing Program. We’ll be talking trash, specifically the new pay-as-you-go system (they’re calling it “Bin-Dependence Day” - you can find new info like Frequently Asked Questions there).

So tune in tomorrow, at 10am for Thinking Out Loud. And if you have questions for Gunther please leave them in comments. I’ll try to be sure and post the podcast tomorrow after the show as well.

I wonder if other colleges and university will follow Brandeis and begin to sell their art collection.

According to the Globe’s web site, under Governor Deval Patrick proposed budget for next year the state’s “public colleges and universities will lose more than $100 million in state subsidies.” I wouldn’t blame university or college officials for taking an inventory of their art collection, especially if the alternative means raising fees and tuition for students who are already struggling to pay their way through a public college.

I have had with this winter weather but I have really had it with the exaggerated response to potential bad weather: parking bans; event cancellations; school closing.

Does anyone measure the economic and social impact of overreacting to a predicted snow storm that does not materialize? I know it is necessary and prudent to be ready for winter weather, but it is another thing to shut down every time a storm passes through.

President Obama’s comments about Washingtonians needing Chicago toughness can apply to 2009 New Englanders also.

The trend towards young entrepreneurs in downtown Lowell continues with Katie Kelley, the new owner of the deli formerly known as Quick Pickins. She’s renamed the business Groovy Grub, and not just the name has changed - but the decor, and the energy, as well.

I was looking for a place to eat a late lunch, and figured I’d head to Merrimack Street where I could find something affordable. And though the Groovy Grub sign is not yet up, the brighter interior paint must have caught my eye, because I had never been tempted to go in and check the place out before, despite the fact that it had been there (as Quick Pickins) for years.

I wound up exchanging a fun conversation with Katie, who is a bright, chipper, and energetic young woman who really just loves good food and serving it.

For ages I’ve been trying to find a good “soup place” - really, downtown, there’s only a couple of choices, like Olive That & More and Life Alive, both worthy in their way, but sometimes out of my price range. Now, there’s a third choice (today I had corn chowder) where you can get a soup and sandwich at a very affordable price. The deli also delivers to area offices. (Like that’s not a huge selling point for me in the middle of this frigid winter!) The soups are homemade, and they even roast their own turkeys for sandwiches.

The bright and cheerful (dare I say, groovy?) decor and Katie’s buoyant personality should make this old downtown haunt a great place to come and spend your lunch hour. Good luck to Katie in her new endeavor - and you can be sure I’ll be a regular customer!

It’s open Monday through Friday, 6am to 4pm for breakfast and lunch.

What Charley said.

Why do I get the feeling Democrats, including Obama, will not learn this lesson any time soon? How many times do you have to get bitten until you stop hand-feeding the animal…ug.

Not that this comes as any surprise, of course, but today’s Sun editorial is yet another exercise in getting it wrong for the purposes of furthering an agenda. No byline, but you can guess who the author is.

Yup, Mr. Magoo the myopically-challenged has struck again - bringing his poorly constructed hammer down on a favorite punching bag, the School Committee and the school department. Jackie has her response here, which you should definitely read (two guesses as to whether or not the “editor” called any of the maligned School Committee in order to at least let them give him their context).

From Jackie:

On point: There absolutely needs to be reform at all levels of government spending—the process is painfully slow and wrought with obstacles, many of which are completely out of the school committee’s control. It is, however, false that no progress has been made or that the Lowell School Committee, in particular, is to blame. Lowell school salaries are within range of other districts as well as its benefits, which mirror (or in some cases, fall below) the city’s compensation package. In the real world, most folks get that effective hiring requires market-level compensation. While blaming the board is easy and fits nicely with this editor’s agenda for an appointed school committee, it does little to accurately inform readers or to help achieve what should be our shared goal of continuing to improve the quality of public education despite diminishing resources.

Of course, we’ve been reading things in the paper’s *ahem* “editorial” pages that are made up out of whole cloth for a long while now, so I don’t know why anyone would give any credibility to anything Mr. Magoo “writes” (I use that term loosely for his work) listing the so-called travesties of government spending. It’s too bad, because as Jackie also points out, there’s real work to be done by real adults and reform that is needed. Inspection of government spending is a good thing when it’s done with honesty and no bias. Unfortunately, with this editor, you can’t separate the wheat from the chaff.

Robert DeLeo, Mass House Ways and Mean Chair and candidate for the leadership post has released his list of supporters; that is those who have committed to vote for him. There are 87 names on the list; if accurate, he will have a majority of the votes. As ER mentioned in an earlier post, the list does not have a single Greater Lowell representative.

As we all know, supporters get rewarded and in turn can reward their constituency. If DeLeo does win, what does it mean for the Lowell delegation and its influence? This morning I heard State Rep. Kevin Murphy and he seemed to think that we will come alright; he reminded everyone that the Route 3 expansion as well as the original courthouse plans were approved before the delegation had leadership positions. And of course, there it helps that the Senate Ways and Means Chair is from Lowell.

There were quite a few familiar names on that list including newly elected Westford State Rep. Jim Aciero, who was on State Senator Panagiatakos’ staff until he ran for public office; Lynne’s favorite freshman rep Jennifer Benson; former 5th District Congressional candidate Barry Finegold; Jonathan Hecht from Watertown, friends of mine worked on his campaign and speak very highly of him; and Peter Koutoujian (Waltham), a rep that I know and like.

This weekend is Lowell Photography Weekend, and it promises to be a wonderful city-wide event.

The general premise is to have simultaneous shows, with receptions staggered throughout the weekend. If you time it right, you won’t have to buy lunch the entire event. Kidding (sort of!). But anyway, this is a unique event in Lowell and it’s not to be missed if you can help it.

There is a list of shows and their receptions on the website.

(Full disclosure: This is an event which is organized by my studio mate and friend, Eileen.)

Welcome (both to Lowell blogging AND to the city!) to Jen and Tommy, new residents of downtown who are blogging about places they visit, eat out, or well, anything that catches their attention.

I’m sure we’ll meet at some point, since we’re all downtown all the time.

Edit: Oh, and a link to their blog, adventures of the mohards, is posted in the blog list.