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Did you know that May is National Bike Month? In Massachusetts we also have “Bay State Bike Week” (May 12-18) which tries to get folks to rethink their daily transportation choices and opt for two wheels instead of four.  In can be a challenge to bike in city traffic, but if you follow the rules and clearly signal your intentions, it can be safe and rewarding. Of course, a dedicated bike path would be a boon!

It feels like more than 10 years since I first heard about the proposed Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, a multi-use trail for bikers, walkers and skaters that is slated to run from Lowell to Framingham. I was excited, but excitement waned as the years went by, and I really didn’t believe recent reports from friends that work on Phase I (Lowell to Westford) of the trail had finally begun.  I had pretty much decided that I would be too old to ride a bike by the time the trail was finished, but last week, while biking to the Chelmsford library, I saw for myself — the old railroad tracks were gone and the brush cut back to create a swath through the woods – this was on Golden Cove Road where the trail crosses on its way to Chelmsford Center. Checking the website, I saw that the groundbreaking was last October. I totally missed that, and am feeling like a slug for never joining the volunteers and activists who have perservered to make this a reality.  But it’s not too late to get on board, I just sent a donation (you can join for $10, or $25 for a family membership).  The May meeting is on trail beautification and will be held on May 14, 6:30 pm, at the Byam School in Chelmsford, and will include a guided bird walk. 

Since they were four years old, my children have attended the Lowell Public Schools—my oldest is now at the Freshman Academy at LHS and my youngest is in middle school. Thursday, I attended events at the Bartlett, a K-8 school; the Stoklosa Middle School; and the Daley Middle School. On Monday, I attended Special Olympics at the Lincoln Elementary School and read to first graders at the Greenhalge Elementary School.  At every school I visited this week and all the schools not mentioned that I have visited over the years, I have been impressed by the talented, creative, respectful children I have seen performing in programs, listening attentively, and participating in classroom activities. The vast majority of our students are good kids, and every day, wonderful learning takes place all over our city. I know it. I have seen it firsthand, and I have lived it through my own children.

And yet, I have also been to expulsion hearings.  I have received emails about students bringing weapons to school, and I have listened to stories about bullying. Clearly, there is a small more »

Plan now for two events next Saturday, May 17: the city’s semi-annual hazardous waste collection will be held at Cawley Stadium (across from Douglas Road only) from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Items accepted include: oil-based paints, stains and varnishes, strippers, anti-freeze, pool chemicals, driveway/roof sealers, car batteries, propane tanks, tvs and monitors, etc.  For more information, check here or contact Gunther Wellenstein, recycling coordinator, at 978-970-4010 ext. 4309. Take a few minutes today to organize those hazardous materials that have been hanging around your basement or garage, so you’ll be ready to dispose of them safely next week.

Also next weekend, Open Doors gives the public the opportunity to get inside some of the major historical restoration projects that have occurred around the city. Sites, such as the Tenth Street School which has been renovated into a beautiful townhouse, the Allen House at UML, and the Market Street condo projects, are just some of the properties that will be open for public viewing. (More on Open Doors to follow in a later post.)

My 15-year-old son went to his first concert last night (Paramore and Jimmy Eat World) at the Tsongas Arena, and this Friday he’ll attend his first high school dance with a girl… I have now fully entered the Twilight Zone of parenting a teen. While I don’t pretend to know all about setting appropriate boundaries and have not completely forgotten my own youth, I can relate to my parents’ confusion in raising a beloved stranger in an alien culture. As with all my endeavors, I’ll give it my best shot, which means being involved in his life and informed about the world around him. To that end, I’ll attend tonight’s forum on Underage Drinking and Prescription Abuse at the Senior Center, 276 Broadway, 7-8:30 p.m., sponsored by the Lowell Substance Abuse Round Table. Attendees will learn current trends in substance abuse among youth as well as participate in a panel discussion, interactive games, and activities designed to help us learn how to prevent substance abuse. Parents, teachers, youth and community members are invited.

On your way home, stop by the Revolving Museum at 22 Shattuck Street for the opening of their new show, Artbotics, and experience more than 20 interactive works of art produced by students from the Lowell Public Schools and UMass Lowell.

Too bad you can’t reserve good feelings from sunny weekend days to help get you through the rainy ones. Today’s Boston Globe was full of doom to match the weather and my mood: Northeast bats are dying in record numbers without explanation—scientists don’t know if it’s caused by toxins, habitat destruction, or something else. In addition to adding more species to the endangered list, we can expect an increase in mosquitoes and other annoying insects as nature’s balance gets whacked again. On another note, two fathers managed to accidentally poison their sons with carbon monoxide while trying to get an off-road vehicle out of the mud. And with the sharp increase in the cost of food, more and more people are starving—a fact that impacts us all, even though those of us who are well-fed have difficulty understanding or even contemplating the horrors of hunger. (All this on one cup of coffee, and it wasn’t even 9 a.m.) Thank God, I read further and discovered the equestrian program at UMass Amherst where blue-color kids take on the blue-bloods and actually win enough to make the nationals and ride against “the best collegiate teams in the country.” Kind of reminds me of our own LHS crew kids, who by the way, will be competing this Sunday in the largest high school spring regatta in New England—right here on the Merrimack River. Let’s hope for quick oars for our team and sunshine for all.

Today we’re taking our kids for a trip into the past—most notably, key moments in our nation’s birth that occurred in Boston. (To say my teenager is reluctant to embark on this adventure with his geeky parents and younger sister is a major understatement. Fortunately, I have no problem dragging him to things he doesn’t want to do for his own good—he can thank me later.) Our schools do a fair job of exposing our children to Lowell’s unique role in American history (more on that in a later post), but my children have never had a field trip to Boston or walked the Freedom Trail. So, today is it! We’ll start with a free guided tour of the State House, and then we’ll walk the Freedom Trail, stopping at key sites such as the Park Street Church, Granary Burying ground, site of the Boston Massacre, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s House and the Old South Meeting House etc. I haven’t decided whether to have a guided tour, led by an18th-century-costumed guide, or do it on our own. We’ll definitely stop in Faneuil Hall for refreshments and end with a meal in the North End before heading home.

Last week, the Sun reported that Lowell City Manager Bernie Lynch may eliminate the city’s recycling program because not enough people are participating to make it cost effective. The only thing more shameful than the city losing $500K a year on this important, under-utilized program is not recycling at all. If more people recycled, the city would recoup its costs and generate significant savings in trash disposal fees, not to mention doing the right thing for our environment. Every one percent of trash costs about $55K, so increasing the recycling rate will SAVE MONEY by reducing trash. Another option, of course, is to institute a Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) program, such as the one they have in Worcester where recycling rates are about 50% compared to Lowell’s paltry 10%. As unpopular as increased fees are, I’d rather be charged per bag of trash—an incentive to recycle—than pay more overall disposal fees or lose recycling entirely. Recycling makes economic, environmental and moral sense. Get involved in this issue now and make sure recycling not only remains a city service, but grows to significantly reduce trash disposal.

Attend a meeting on the Lowell Recycling Crisis tomorrow night, 4/16, 8 p.m., at the Pollard Memorial Library or contact Jay Mason, a member of the city’s Green Building Commission, at 978-459-2004, for more information. Also, express your concerns to the manager and the city council, so they know recycling is important to Lowell residents. Talk it up to your neighbors and do your part to heighten public awareness: We’ve got to get more folks recycling! 

All I only know about it is what’s in today’s Boston Globe, but it sure seems like a great business, government, and nonprofit partnership ripe with winners for the City of Lawrence. (How can we do it in Lowell?) The article, entitled “Employer eases path to citizenship” explains a partnership where a businessman—Salvatore Lupoli of Lupoli’s chain of pizzerias—earmarked company funds to pay attorney and application fees for his employees to apply for citizenship while area nonprofits provide English and citizenship classes. Also sponsored by the City of Lawrence, the plan helps legal immigrants prevail over a citizenship process that can often be mired in bureaucracy and expensive fees. This pilot initiative is expected to impact 10 immigrants to start, but the plan is that as more businesses that rely heavily on immigrant employees see the impact in terms of turnover and staffing, it will grow. Can’t you just imagine such a partnership here in Lowell between employers, our Adult Education program, which is the largest and most respected in the state, and the many nonprofit groups in the area? This model would provide yet another way to build on already successful citizenship programs.

No doubt you were as horrified as I was to learn two teens allegedly traded a gun for money in a bathroom at Lowell High School last week. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Like reacting to the weather, it may seem there is nothing you can do, or perhaps you’ve convinced yourself it’s someone else’s problem—the police, the schools, or the parents of the gang-involved children. The reality is more hopeful and more challenging: Gangs and youth violence are our problem. It is a problem that belongs to the people who work, visit and live in Lowell, and whose children, like mine, attend its educational, recreational and cultural offerings. Regardless of the neighborhood you live in, the size of your paycheck, or the sheltered existence of your own family: youth violence in our city impacts us all. We need the entire community, we need you, coming together to discuss the issue and help us develop solutions.

So join us tomorrow night, Thursday, April 10, 5-7 p.m., at the Boys & Girls Club, 657 Middlesex Street, and find out what the City Manager’s Gang Advisory Board has been doing, learn about programs to support young people, and more importantly, help us prioritize the city’s actions going forward and express your concerns and ideas. Please join the City of Lowell, the Lowell Public Schools, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, MCC, UML, UTEC, and many other youth programs for this important community discussion. 

There are several activities this week to celebrate Marty Meehan’s inauguration as UML chancellor, many which interest me. For instance, yesterday I attended a breakfast on Achieving Excellence Through Partnerships.  Most would agree that partnerships are important for Lowell’s continued progress, especially during these fiscally challenging times, and it was interesting to learn more about connections between the university, businesses, and the communities of both Lowell and Lawrence. As someone committed to expanding more partnerships with our public schools, I know how difficult it can be. That’s why when I learned about the simple, yet effective tobacco-prevention initiative with Lowell fifth graders, it resonated.  Under the Greater Lowell Health Alliance, a partnership developed that included UML, Saints Memorial, Lowell General, the Community Health Center, and the Lowell Public Schools. As with most good partners, they had a specific goal and target group: educating youngsters about the dangers of smoking cigarettes.

Public school staff, using curriculum developed before state funding for tobacco prevention was depleted, trained healthcare volunteers (many of whom are nurses) on the curriculum and how to present the material in an engaging, informative way to fifth-grade students across the district. By the end of this school year, the program, which is already underway,  will educate 46 fifth-grade classes on the health risks associated with smoking cigarettes, peer pressure, and other aspects of tobacco prevention. The sad reality is that our public schools do not have the resources to do comprehensive health education k-12 around nutrition; fitness; drugs, alcohol and substance abuse; as well as other areas that would benefit our students. The fact that this partnership is helping to fill the gap provides some comfort.