LeftinLowell Closing Its Doors
I guess this was inevitable, as neither I nor Mimi have had the time this last year or so to keep up blogging, so we are officially ceasing operations at Left in Lowell starting today. This has been a hard decision, as we’ve been blogging here since May of 2005 - in internet years, that’s about 18 full years. Heh. But I’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time now, and with even fewer minutes in my day now, not to mention Mimi’s, we came down to deciding this course of action.
It’s been a great run, and we’ve seen a lot of the changes we’ve advocated for since those halcyon, heady days. We’ve been blamed for everything from Cox’s self-destruction, to being a shill for candidates we like (as opposed to picking candidates for the right reasons and advocating for them) to causing the Mother’s Day flood (OK, kidding on that last one). I take credit for none of these, except perhaps the Hayden loss in the GLT SC race to O’Hare - I gladly accept the blame for losing Hayden a few hundred votes when I exposed his reprehensible website and showcased his known but under-the-radar attitudes towards immigrant children, given the number of people who were planning on bullet voting only for Fred Bahou who told me they decided to also vote O’Hare.
The credit for everything else really belongs to you, the readers, the voters who went out there and took a critical look at the information in front of you - whether from the Lowell Sun, from the candidates, or from this blog. I can’t thank our readers enough for the time you have spent reading, commenting, and participating. You have made all the blood sweat and tears - even those hurtful personal attacks spun by certain radio/TV/newspaper/political operatives - worthwhile. I could stand it all because I knew what we were building was about better local governing, more transparency, and a technocratic approach to spending our taxpayer dollars on services.
You all make me proud, and I will continue to participate in many ways that do not include spending hours a week writing a blog, but probably hours a week doing other things. Now, I recommend you stop and listen to the collective sigh of relief from some quarters of the city as they learn third hand (since they don’t read the blog) that we’ve decided to stop bugging them. 
April 1st, 2011 at 8:32 am
mike hayden and former councillor towtruck ( KAZ)
must be thrilled, be i will say that you did make a
difference in the last city election, so good luck lynne
and bye bye mimi.
April 1st, 2011 at 8:54 am
April Fools, can’t fool me.
April 1st, 2011 at 9:18 am
I am not thrilled because even though I was a target I also think both sides of an story need to be told and when it comes people running for office all opinions should be heard. Freedom of Speech is what this Great Country of Ours is all about. Good Luck to both of you
Mike Hayden
April 1st, 2011 at 9:18 am
Lynne and Mimi, congratulatins on a great run of Ideas, information,and staying involved in local and state politics. Sometimes you’ve stepped on people toes, but- you felt like you had to take a stand and did it.
Best of luck in all your endeavors!!
April 1st, 2011 at 9:47 am
Sorry to hear this, but as someone else who started a blog around that time and retired much much earlier, I can’t say as I blame you!
Good luck in your future endeavors!
April 1st, 2011 at 10:09 am
Forgot to look at the calendar. BOO.
April 1st, 2011 at 10:10 am
Ummmm, I’m with Jen on this one (right? this is a joke?
If it isn’t this will be the first time that I was fooled opposite-style by an April Fool’s prank!)
April 1st, 2011 at 10:21 am
Jen is astute - but if it is true, thanks for taking us along for the ride all these years!
April 1st, 2011 at 10:37 am
And in other breaking news, the CC has decided to go ahead and make the Rourke bridge officially permanent!
April 1st, 2011 at 10:37 am
If this isn’t a hastily concocted April Fool’s joke, I must say I know someplace you can be every Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
April 1st, 2011 at 10:43 am
I hope Jenn is right!
If not, thank you for keeping us informed and provoking thought and argument.
Good luck in all you do, Lynne and Mimi!
April 1st, 2011 at 11:23 am
I call BS on this. It’s April Fools people. Keep your heads on a swivel.
April 1st, 2011 at 12:07 pm
I’ll use this thread to announce my run for City Council.
From blow-in to grow-in!
Townies don’t know Jack ‘11
April 1st, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Lynne & Mimi, if LiL rides off into the sunset what blog will I now recommend to people as a exemplar of “real citizen journalism” style blogging?
:D
It was an honor to even link to this blog, thanks for everything.
Elias N.
April 1st, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Lol, got me! way to go, your right, it’s election time and I fell for it.
I think Kristen would be a great choice for SC!
April 1st, 2011 at 3:53 pm
I wish I was near a ‘puter this AM to call shenanigans!