Left In Lowell

Is it an epidemic, yet?

LOWELL — Police are asking the public to help find those who assaulted two men on Middle Street downtown early Saturday morning, sending one of them to a Boston hospital with serious injuries.

About 2:14 a.m., officers patrolling downtown Lowell found two Westminster men assaulted in front of 172 Middle St., according to Lowell Police Superintendent Ken Lavallee. The victims, who are in their early 20s, had just left Village Smokehouse on Middle Street and were walking toward their car parked on the street when they became involved with an altercation with another man, Lavallee said.

One victim was injured so seriously that he was flown to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston by medical helicopter. He remains in serious condition but is expected to survive, Lavallee said.

The other victim was transported to a local hospital. Lavallee did not know if he has been released from the hospital. Lavallee did not know the victim’s identities Saturday night.
-snip

Now, let’s talk about this guy:

I betya that C.Elliott is starting to have second thoughts about his LHA crusade. It might be that he is quickly running out of further places to move the goal posts too. It might be that the buzz around town is turning sour. There is no way to be sure.

The Blog of Record gives two clues:

“This visit confirmed that the LHA and the City will achieve the desired outcome of assuring public safety, compliance of the State Building Code and the issuance of valid Certificates of Occupancy for the renovated units if the plan is followed going forward,” Sullivan wrote.

Oh, there is also this clue:

.

You can read the entire LHA article, written by Lyle Moran, and not find a single quote by C.Elliott. What are the odds?

You should really try to get through Deluca’s diary, over on Gerry’s blog. Yes, I know. The sickly sweet platitudes are enough to make you yak, but he is on to something.

City Manager Cleans Up Dodge

I’m not sure if Deluca even realizes how correct he is. The City Manager has purged the under the table economy that linked City Hall to less than scrupulous business owners perpetrating bribery, ect. Wake up, folks. You think “cash transaction” management in the Clerk’s office is Lynch’s BIGGEST problem?

There is a reason that the ‘gang that can’t shoot straight’ is falling all over themselves to rid Lowell of Bernie Lynch.

Does this clue you in?:

Feel free to fly over to Never Never Land to discuss this matter. Though, you may come back here to swirl the bowl with me when your pushback to pablum like, “I think Councilor Elliot will place his confidence squarely with City Manager Lynch if he proves its deserved.” gets, …. um …. er …. ah! … recycled. Yes. When your brisk comment gets “recycled,” you can opt to redeem it here.

Even anonymous sockpuppets can troll this Open Thread.

For now….

Update: JfL hits it out of the park.

joe from Lowell Says:
Bud Caulfield is playing with fire. The LPD has spent a decade and a half building up solid relationships with the Cambodian community, as part of its innovative and successful community policing strategy. What’s despicable here is an effort to polarize the city between supporters of Nuon and supporters of the police for cheap political reasons.

So, I’m listening to the replay of City Life, this afternoon, when I heard former Mayor Caulfield describe current Councilor Vesna Nuon, as “despicable.” Maybe he meant that C.Nuon’s actions, standing up for his civil rights, was despicable. I can’t parse that closely, the word was shocking.

I texted a buddy of mine: “Bud called Vesna despicable on City Life” The answer was one word, “Par”

Ensure you watch the whole thing. It’s 5:36 of civic trainwreck.

It amazes me how a former Mayor can speak with such faux authority on a subject that he clearly knows so little about. He speaks with utter disregard for the office from which he came. It was sad to watch. You have to consider this mindset was voting on our City’s business, just over a month ago. *exhale*

As it would happen, Councilor Nuon appeared last week on City Life. His approach to the issue was very conciliatory, looking forward with respect for Lowell’s Police. Don’t believe me. See for yourself, here.

Caulfield finished by summizing that C.Nuon was, “suing the taxpayer.” It just blows my mind that Caulfield could have it so wrong!

Worse yet, he speaks, somehow, for a “raw nerve” that is throbbing in Lowell. Clearly, the remedy is Preparation H.

In a previous post, I started a conversation about the news stories about downtown late-night incidents. The latest comment by a woman named Jane on this post ought to give the city and governmental bodies real pause:

I am so sad to read this blog and recent articles about downtown Lowell. My husband and I are getting ready to sell our home in the suburbs west of Boston. We fell in love with some of the lofts we have seen in Lowell, and have been trying to understand the city better, thinking we would enjoy living there. I just had not been able to piece together why downtown condos are not selling and don’t seem to be renting well, either, and at such relatively low prices. Now we are dropping the idea of even renting in downtown Lowell, given the nighttime activities. I don’t understand how it has come to this in a city that has come back in so many ways, has wonderful restaurants, theater, museums, galleries, etc. I hope all of you dedicated people will be able to work effectively with the city to turn this situation around.

Though I think perhaps there might be a mistake in assuming these incidents are the main reason downtown condos aren’t selling (condos, and housing in general, were in trouble long before this increased very-late-night activity, due to the housing bubble aftermath), I do think this comment is a wake-up call for the city to start paying attention to residents and address the issue quickly and firmly.

The fact that the License Commission seems to have taken on the attitude that they work for and with alcoholic establishments only, not abutting residents or other businesses affected by said establishments, is contributing to a fundamental problem for the city - both on a PR level, and on a physical safety and cleanliness level.

There are a lot of residents and other businesses in downtown. This is by design - the creation of downtown condos was the opening salvo in architecting the revival of the area. But revivals need constant maintenance. Self-examination about what sort of downtown we want to have, and by extension what sort of city we want to be, is so important to the process.

And we shouldn’t be making any plans to evict downtown’s residents. We’d be fools to do so, don’t you agree? A vital downtown depends on them. But that is where we are headed if we do not address the concerns of people like Jane, looking to relocate, but becoming uncomfortable about the direction of our fair city. Nor is it a good idea to dismiss the concerns of its existing residents when they say that the actions of this License Commission are not enough to stem the direction in which our downtown is heading. Not if we want to keep them.

We’re in the beginning stages of a bad cycle, and I commend the residents of downtown for not giving up on it, but instead for fighting, publicly when their complaints went unheeded by a dismissive regulatory board.

I still think many residents of downtown do not regret their choice. I know a lot of people downtown love their lifestyle there and are excited about the changes happening around them, for the most part. The tantalizing possibility of a trolley system, the creation of artist live-work studios in the beautiful new Appleton Mill building, the JAM plan. But having a vision of the future is not enough. We need to constantly evaluate and reevaluate the needs of the neighborhoods we already have.

What would you say to Jane? Those of you who live in downtown, what is your response? (And it should go without saying, keep it respectful.)

We’ve been over the pro’s and con’s of allowing anonymity on blogs. On LiL. we ask that you pick a handle and stick with it. This allows the forum to become familiar with your “voice” and perspective on things.

That said, I think we should talk about what Warren Shaw is up to.

I’m not clear on how a political pundit, that takes several degrees of latitude within the rights affforded him and his guests, can come to the point where a libel lawsuit is justifiable. Admittedly, I have heard that Dracut After Dark was a hienous site. I think I went looking once, but don’t remember if I was shocked. Which means I probably wasn’t. That said, it’s Dracut; so I don’t bother much. I read Shawn Ashe, on occassion, to see how Dracut is digesting what happens here in Lowell or maybe a take on events over at GLTHS.

Ultimately, from all that I can gather, we are better off without DAD, So, in a sense, Shaw is doing the blogging world a favor by policing the internet, via a lawsuit.

Policing the internet???

(bold mine)

Dracut lawyer Roland Milliard, representing Shaw, said given that Zabierek has taken the site down, he did not file the lawsuit yesterday. Instead, Shaw directed him to send a letter to Zabierek giving him until Monday at 5 p.m. to comply with Shaw’s demands or show that he is making a good- faith effort to comply.

The demands include:

* Removing all postings about Shaw, his family, business, likeness or voice from any other websites.

* Providing the IP (Internet protocol) addresses of those who posted on the site, cross-referenced with their postings.

* Providing Shaw with a cash settlement, the amount of which Milliard declined to divulge.

If Zabierek complies with the demands, the lawsuit will not be filed. If he fails to, it will be filed Tuesday morning in Middlesex Superior Court, Milliard said.

“People need to know who was involved in this,” Shaw said of requesting the IP addresses. “I suspect some people in Dracut politics are involved.”

Ya, I’m cringing.

Frequently, I moderate comments that bother me. I allow them, but I click ‘Approve’ thinking it is crap. I figure that most others will recognize that it is crap, so allowing it is more of a disservice to the author, than to LiL. Unfortunately, the shitheads that blog this crap, then change their handle to something else. So, we have to start over and figure out that they contribute nothing a value.

On balance, we have a good bunch of eggs pitching in. I don’t always agree, but they are trying to move the ball. I like that. Trying is good. Even the FUD mongers, boo birds and Bernie Bashers that gunk up the discourse are helpful. They reveal the shallow talking points that echo in their circles. How else would we hear them, if not for the light of this blog. I don’t buy The Sun. Do you?

What troubles me about Shaw’s demand regarding IP’s is that it is to broad. He wants every and all comments matched up? That is overreaching, imho. Imagine if some commentor comes on LiL and says, “I want to kill the King of Siam.” Then I, thinking it is a metaphor and not knowing there is a anti-Siam terror cell in the area, post it. Then the FBI and Interpol come knocking on LiL’s door with a warrant.

Would a judge likely limit their intrusion to a reasonable proximity to that one threatening comment or would they fling the site wide open, matching everyone to everything that was ever posted here? I’m no lawyer, but I think the warrant limits the search. Searches for a stolen car can’t venture into your sock draw.

What happens if Zabierek rolls over? Is there a judge involved? Who controls the list matching IP’s to people? Can Shaw take that list to the studio on Saturday and cherry pick what names he reads from it? Certainly, the list will reveal Shaw’s political enemies, but what if his buddies are stabbing him in the back, anonymously?

Punishing Zabierek is appropriate, based on what I have heard. Maybe even punishing a few horendous commentors, too. But, should Warren Shaw, a man with his own objectives, be given the authority and responsibility to have such a list?

Maybe the lesson here is that you blog at your own risk. I see some of you take great care to disguise yourself, especially the Bernie Bashers. The worst of you are subject to some pushback, just to check your venom or immaturity. When you betray the “social compact”of this forum, justice should be dispensed. Blog justice, though, in accordance with the “industry standard.” We operate LiL within the “industry standard,” unlike DAD, so things should go on, as they have.

But who knows. If Shaw’s action sets a stifling template for others to follow, you may have to go back to The Sun and WCAP to know what’s going on around town.

Folks, listen up, please. One thing to remember, as we toil in the day’s scrum. What is written in The Sun, will go on microfiche in the Pollard Memorial Library, as the permenant record of what the hell happened.

If you look at this, Search results for ‘LHA’, you’ll see there is enough difference to warrant a long pause, ………….. and serious contemplation.

Now TESTIFY!

“Testify
It’s right outside your door
Now testify
Testify
It’s right outside your door”

My-oh-my, how the Bernie Bashers are all jazzed up. The kabuki level is volcanic in the Council Chamber. The Blog of Record can’t kill enough trees. The heat from their pages are singeing little birdie bottoms all over the Merrimack Valley.

Now, WCAP spilleth over!!!!!!
(bold mine)
1/25/2012 City Manager Bernie Lynch on LHA, Resumes & Non-Profits

“Susan from Lowell” (13:00) I do think that, Mr. Manager, you lost all credibility and respect, last night, when you basically said that you didn’t know that, you know, the Council wanted you to bring all of the resumes forward. That the motion, you know, you weren’t clear on that. I mean, you’re supposed to be a professional, smart man and you didn’t know that. And, this has been an ongoing issue for some time now about resumes and you mean to tell me, you know, that you didn’t know you were asked to bring all 3 in. I think you blatantly lied, you know, right there and I think it should be a wakeup call to the City Council and to the citizens of Lowell. If you lie like that, you now, right out in public, God only knows what you’re doing behind closed doors.

By gosh, by golly. “Susan from Lowell” speaks truth to POWER! Woot! Whoa, wait, truth to power requires truth. Mostly, but not in the mouths of Bernie Bashers.

“Susan from Lowell” is about as sure of what Councilor Elliott said on Tuesday, January 17th; well as, Councilor Elliott. Here is the words C.Elliott used to offer a substitute motion, that fateful eve. (bold mine)

C. Elliott (42:13) After listening to the discussion, I started counting a number of individuals that have expressed concern over the resume issue. I’d like to make a substitute motion that we delay this until we get the resumes, and then bring it in, so that we have a chance to evaluate this individual.

Please verify my transcription, between 28:19 - 46:39.

This diary is a special shout out to Councilor Ed Kennedy. Sir, I’m wary of you and what, I think, you mean to municipal governance. You are an ol’ skool Democrat. The kind I’m not enamored with. But, thanks for your leadership, last night. I think you successfully “split the baby,” in such a way, that any reasonable person could accept. You provided a means for the Council to provide a type of oversight that fits squarely within the bounds of Plan E. Your motion allows ‘due diligence,’ while concurrently protecting privacy.

What I’m hoping is the intended consequence of your sitting in the front seat, last night, is that your peers see the significance of conducting themselves in a manner that is in keeping with proper decorum and comity. Your amendment asserted that the Council Chamber is not a Colosseum. That Councilors are not combatants. That the Court of Public opinion stops at the rail that lies between “We the People” and our duly elected officials and their appointees.

For those not in attendance, last night; it should be noted that Tim Green & Mickey O’Keefe, shook hands and walked out together. They are Union brothers and know solidarity is paramount. Our Councilors, and those surrounding them, would do well to heed their living example.

I’m hoping we have pressed, “Reset.”

Let’s resume making Lowell a better Lowell than the way we found it, on this Open Thread.