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Lori Trahan warns of widespread impacts of impending government shutdown

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Barring a miracle in the House of Representatives with the clock ticking down to the Oct. 1 deadline, a shutdown of the federal government is all but certain, and the impacts are sure to be felt by many.

Massachusetts 3rd Congressional District Rep. Lori Trahan said in a phone call Friday morning that the House appeared very unlikely to reach a deal before the deadline at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. At that point, federal government funding and services across many sectors will be cut off.

“I went through the longest shutdown in our nation’s history in 2019 as I was being sworn in,” said Trahan, a Democrat. “It got really bad for thousands of families. Federal employees were all worried about their families and whether they could pay their bills.”

That government shutdown lasted 35 days, during which hundreds of thousands of federal workers were furloughed or required to work without knowing when they would be paid next, but it was only a partial shutdown. When the looming deadline passes, we will be in a full government shutdown, which Trahan said will be much worse for more people.

“In Massachusetts we have nearly 15,000 active duty and reserve servicemembers who will be working without pay — 1.2 million Massachusetts residents will have their food assistance jeopardized,” said Trahan.

Food assistance programs like SNAP and WIC will be cut off, Trahan said, which will affect families across the district from Lowell to Fitchburg. On top of that, the Small Business Administration will halt small business loans for the duration of the shutdown.

The reasoning behind the impending shutdown is complicated, but it stems largely from two deals that were struck earlier this year, both by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The first deal was one McCarthy made with a faction of far-right Republicans in the House to secure the votes to become speaker in the first place in January after 15 votes had to be taken. The deal included a commitment to reduce government spending in certain areas opposed by the far-right caucus, as well as a provision that would allow any one member of the House to call a vote to remove and replace McCarthy as speaker.

The second deal took place in the spring, and it was with President Joe Biden in an effort to avoid the nation’s first-ever debt default. This deal left the far-right caucus wanting deeper budget cuts, for which they are exerting political pressure on McCarthy to go back on his deal with Biden by threatening his speakership.

“The remarkable thing about this week is that we could have taken up the continuing resolution. Senate Republicans and Democrats and the president were all aligned on this bipartisan continuing resolution to keep the government open and funding it to give us time to pass these appropriations bills,” said Trahan.  “House Republicans are on an island right now, passing appropriations bills that have no chance of passing the Senate.”

If McCarthy brought forward the bipartisan Senate resolution, Trahan said it would have bipartisan support in the House, but then McCarthy would lose his position as speaker.

“It all rests on whether he cares more about his speakership, or the country,” said Trahan.

With the relative frequency of government shutdowns in recent years, Trahan said that they hurt the ability of communities across the country like Lowell and Fitchburg to invest in their own revitalization.

“In a time when we are making significant investments in these communities, I make no apologies about bringing back federal funds from the infrastructure bill, and the CHIPS and Science Act, but this just hurts us,” said Trahan. “When you shut down every five years, like Republicans have done since 2013, you erode the ability to attract private investment.”

For those in her district who may be struggling and unable to get the assistance and services they normally receive during the shutdown, Trahan urged them to call her offices at 978-459-0101.

The odds of a deal being reached in time fell even further Friday afternoon after 21 House Republicans joined all House Democrats in rejecting a proposal by McCarthy that included steep spending cuts of nearly 30% to many agencies and severe border security provisions. Democrats rejected the steep cuts as too extreme, while the far-right caucus called them insufficient.

A clearly agitated McCarthy left the House chamber. “It’s not the end yet; I’ve got other ideas,” he told reporters.

Republican leaders planned to convene behind closed doors late Friday to assess next steps.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Cleanup in Aisle 5: Clorox recovering from alleged hack

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The pandemic couldn’t slow the Clorox Co.’s roll; it took an alleged cyberattack to do that.

During the early days of COVID-19, the household products company was best known for its disinfecting wipes, which were cleaned off store shelves almost as soon as they were stocked by customers worried about fomite transmission of the virus.

A check of area retailers in the Merrimack Valley and elsewhere show shelves are empty or sparsely stocked with many of the company’s products including bleach, this time due to what Clorox is calling “operational disruptions.”

The company makes a wide range of professional and commercial products including Formula 409, Liquid-Plumr and Pine-Sol cleaning supplies, cat litter and Glad trash bags.

According to statements posted to its corporate website, on Aug. 14, “The Clorox Company recently identified unusual activity on our IT systems. Upon detection we immediately took steps to stop the activity and took certain systems offline.”

Some of those steps included manually processing orders, but the company noted that, “Our operations will require time to ramp back up to normal service level.”

By the first week in September, the Clorox Co. had resumed production and was getting shipments out the door, but cautioned that the full portfolio of products was not broadly available.

The company said that it takes “great pride in keeping our customers informed with updates pertaining to our business and operations,” and the latest public update on Sept. 18, noted ongoing consumer product availability issues.

That was the case on Tuesday at the Market Basket on Broadway Street in Lowell. An employee, who did not wish to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said the store expected to take shipment of a couple cases of disinfecting wipes this week and bottles of bleach the week after.

A request for comment from Market Basket’s headquarters in Tewksbury was not returned Tuesday.

Caitlin Cortelyou, the external communications manager for Hannaford Supermarkets — which operates stores in Lowell, Dracut, Chelmsford, Townsend, Leominster and Lunenburg, and several in Southern New Hampshire — wrote by email on Tuesday that while customers will continue to find a variety of Clorox products in the stores, “there may be occasions when a specific size or type of their preferred item is unavailable due to temporary reduced availability from the supplier. We consistently strive to find new sources and supply channels when these challenges arise and encourage shoppers to only purchase what they need. We thank our customers for their patience during this situation.”

The duration of the impact to Clorox’s operations, a $7 billion manufacturing and marketing company, show how disabling cyberattacks can be, said Brett Callow, a threat analyst with Emsisoft, an anti-malware and cybersecurity software and consulting company.

“The fact that Clorox’ products are still missing from shelves more than a month after the incident highlights just how disruptive and costly incidents like this can be,” he wrote by email on Monday. “Financially motivated cyberattacks – and ransomware, in particular – are as much of a problem as ever, and our hospitals, schools, and other public and private sector organizations remain under constant bombardment. We really need new strategies, as what we’re doing at the moment very clearly isn’t working.”

The city of Lowell learned firsthand the fallout from a cyberattack when its municipal systems were breached in April. The hack knocked phones, email, financial, human resources and asset management and revenue systems, as well as other ancillary services like dog, business and marriage licenses, offline.

The online ransomware group Play claimed responsibility for the hacking of Lowell’s network and said that it had released 5 gigabytes of data from that theft and posted it to the dark web.

Cybercriminals typically use an invasive type of malware designed to deny access to computer systems and encrypt information until the ransomware has been paid. The city did not disclose the ransomware amount that Play allegedly demanded or the information the group claimed to have exfiltrated, but in May, the city purchased LifeLock protection for city and school employees to provide financial monitoring.

In the five months since the breach, the city’s Management Information Systems said it had rebuilt servers and networks, installed new equipment, created secure user access portals and are training employees in cybersecurity.

In an email to The Sun on Tuesday, Clorox said efforts to restore its global operations are ongoing.

“As noted, we are operating at a lower rate of order processing, which is resulting in consumer product availability issues in varying degrees across our portfolio. We expect to begin the process of transitioning back to normal automated order processing this week, and we have already resumed production at the vast majority of our manufacturing sites. We expect the ramp-up to full production to occur over time but do not yet have an estimate for how long it will take to resume fully normalized operations.”

Diana DiZoglio burst into song as she pushed legislative audit at Massachusetts Democratic convention

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LOWELL — If there was any question about what State Auditor Diana DiZoglio was going to say during her state Democratic convention speech Saturday, she immediately put to bed speculation when she walked out to the 1980s hit “Walking on Sunshine.”

The song was used as an anthem — outside of her own ballad of transparency  — for her campaign to audit the legislature, a push that has met fierce resistance from top lawmakers on Beacon Hill. It is an effort that has taken DiZoglio from the Attorney General’s office to the 2024 ballot question realm.

DiZoglio made clear during her short speech that the “biggest roadblock” she has faced since taking office earlier this year is ensuring “our Democratic values” are represented up on Beacon Hill.

“See, I audit over 200 state entities and the only one that has refused to comply is unfortunately our own state legislature,” DiZoglio, a former state senator from Methuen, said to a crowd that included the very people she wants to audit. “Now, I know this topic makes many Beacon Hill insiders uncomfortable and that’s why I’m coming directly to you, Massachusetts Democrats.”

Top Democrats, including Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano, contend DiZoglio has neither the legal authority nor constitutional power to audit the Legislature, which is not subject to the public records law and often hashes out the final details of major bills in private.

Mariano has rejected DiZoglio’s claims of legislative auditing authority, arguing it is “entirely without legal support or precedent, as it runs contrary to multiple, explicit provisions of the Massachusetts Constitution.”

“[It] is wholly unnecessary as the public currently has full and ready access to the House’s financial information,” Mariano wrote in a March letter.

Marino believes it is “just really simple and straightforward” that DiZoglio does not have the power to audit the Legislature and that there is a constitutional separation of powers, campaign spokesperson Scott Ferson told the Herald after DiZoglio’s speech.

Spilka has aired similar points, saying in a separate March letter that a “plain reading” of state law makes clear that the Legislature is not among the entities over which the auditor has authority.

“Moreover, the Massachusetts Constitution guarantees that the Senate and House of Representatives have exclusive authority to manage their own business and determine their own internal rules of proceedings,” Spilka wrote.

Spilka did not take questions from reporters at the convention and a spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

DiZoglio is in the process of seeking legal action against the legislature to force lawmakers to open up their books. But any lawsuit first needs approval from Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who declined to take questions from reporters at the convention.

Campbell has suggested that a lawsuit between two parts of state government is “rare” during an August radio interview.

“I just want to stress that this is rare that you have one part of government wanting to sue another or vice versa depending on how this unfolds,” Campbell said.

DiZoglio said Democrats in Massachusetts have increased access to voting but the access ends once elections are over.

“Should we care so deeply about access to voting for our elected officials but then resign our right to access information about how they voted, how our money is being spent, how process and procedures can allow for 120 legislators to co-sponsor a bill that’s never brought up for a vote, empowering two or three people in positions of power to block its passage?” DiZolgio said before she burst out into song.

Advocacy group Our Revolution Massachusetts said before the convention that they planned to file a resolution that supported DiZolgio’s audit. But it did not see any action — nor did any other resolution filed by state party members — after a series of parliamentary moves culminated in the adjournment of the convention.

Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Steve Kerrigan said convention rules essentially require a two-third vote to take up resolutions if they are not on the agenda.

“This convention was about taking action but you’re allowed as a delegate to bring a resolution if you wish. There are thresholds within our charter and our convention rules,” Kerrigan told reporters. “… If the eventual agenda for the convention didn’t include resolutions — which this didn’t because it’s an action agenda convention and typically those things don’t happen — then you have to have two thirds to suspend the rules.”

Mass Senate President Karen Spilka speaks at the Massachusetts Democratic Convention at the Tsongas Arena Saturday in Lowell. (Photo by Reba Saldanha/Boston Herald)
Photo by Reba Saldanha/Boston Herald
Mass Senate President Karen Spilka speaks at the Massachusetts Democratic Convention at the Tsongas Arena Saturday in Lowell. (Photo by Reba Saldanha/Boston Herald)

Swastikas found at Downes Garage in Downtown Lowell

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<p>LOWELL — White supremacist ideology was the last thought on Allison Vollmar’s mind when she scanned a QR code off a sticker pasted to a railing along Lowell’s Riverwalk.</p><p>“I scanned it, and it went to a Patriot Front website,” Vollmar said by phone on Friday. “I thought, ‘Oh, geez, this isn’t good.’ So, I just kind of scraped it off with my fingernails.”</p><p>She found several more during her walk.</p><p>According to the Anti-Defamation League, Patriot Front is a Texas-based “white supremacist group whose members… define themselves as American fascists or American nationalists who are focused on preserving America’s identity as a European-American nation.”</p><p>The group formed in the aftermath of the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, during which protestor James Alex Fields plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters and killed Heather Heyer.</p><p>Then-President Donald Trump gave a speech describing the violence that followed the tiki-torch carrying white nationalists holding antisemitic signs, as "…very fine people, on both sides."</p><p>This reconstituted version of homegrown fascism marched through Downtown Boston last summer carrying riot shields and banners reading “Reclaim America” and “Strong Families Make Strong Nations,” and Patriot Front flags.</p><p>Vollmar knew all that backstory, but she chalked the stickers up to a one-off issue. That is, until on Labor Day weekend, when she found a swastika drawn on the elevator panel in the lobby of the Downes Garage on French and John streets in Lowell's National Historical Park.</p><p>The swastikas were scrawled in permanent marker on elevator panels on several floors, said Vollmar, and they looked freshly made.</p><p>“We want to chalk it up to knuckleheads, but we all need to be looking out for this sort of thing,” she said. “I snapped a picture on my phone of the swastikas, and sent it to Wayne Jenness over social media.”</p><p>Jenness, a city councilor in District 4, who represents the residents in Downtown Lowell, among other neighborhoods, immediately reached out to City Manager Tom Golden’s team.</p><p>“I texted Tom (Golden) and Shawn (Assistant City Manager Machado) at 12:22 p.m., about it,” Jenness said by text on Friday. “Shawn texted me at 6:45 p.m., that it had been removed… I would just say that I was very thankful that she reported it to me, and very appreciative of the quick action from the administration and specifically DPW employees for coming in on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a long weekend to remove it.”</p><p>A few days after the Downes Garage vandalism, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan issued a statement, after a group of neo-Nazis, identified as part of the Nationalist Social Club, or NSC-131, attempted to intimidate refugees in a Marlboro hotel over the weekend.</p><p>On Aug. 8, Gov. Maura Healey announced a state of emergency due to the rapidly rising number of migrant families in need of shelter and services. The administration of UMass Lowell confirmed that its 252-room Inn &amp; Conference Center on Warren Street in Downtown Lowell was closing Sept. 13, fueling speculation that it is a possible housing site for migrants fleeing unrest and violence.</p><p>“The United States is a nation built by immigrants from all over the world, and Massachusetts has benefitted mightily from the contributions of refugees and immigrants for generations,” Trahan said. “We’re not going to stand idly by while a bunch of neo-Nazi bullies try to intimidate refugees who legally came to this nation in search of a better life for their families.”</p><p>NSC-131, a New England neo-Nazi organization, is led by <a href="https://www.lowellsun.com/2023/01/17/mass-hate-group-leader-subject-of-n-h-civil-rights-complaint/">Christopher Hood</a>, formerly of Pepperell, who was the subject of a January civil rights complaint by the New Hampshire attorney general. At a July 2022 protest, Hood led a group of NSC-131 members in hanging banners that read “Keep New England White” from an overpass overlooking U.S. Route 1 in Portsmouth. A superior court judge dismissed the civil rights case in June, however, citing free speech protections, but the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office is appealing that ruling, WMUR reported.</p><p>Hate groups may not be new to the commonwealth, but symbols of their ideology in the Mill City are, said Vollmar, who said she has “never seen anything like this before in Lowell.”</p><p>If these specific acts of white supremacist vandalism and propaganda are "testing the waters" in Lowell, the perpetrators will not find a warm welcome, said Golden.</p><p>"Upon learning about this cowardly and vile act – Our DPW removed it on Sunday within hours,” he said by text on Friday. “Hate has not and never will be tolerated in Lowell.”</p><p>Trahan’s statement also closed with an affirmation of American values that embraces diversity and acceptance.</p><p>“The beliefs and actions of this hate group go against every value we hold dear as Americans and as citizens of Massachusetts,” she said. “I join thousands of folks in Marlborough and across the Commonwealth in saying clearly and unequivocally that hate has no place here.”</p><p>It was the message Trahan delivered in person to a group of LGBTQ+ leaders during a roundtable discussion in June during Pride Month. Anthony Bovenzi, president NoWoCo Pride, a Fitchburg-based LGBTQ+ group for North Worcester County and beyond, spoke to the challenges Pride events face from white supremacist groups.</p><p>“Massachusetts is great on many fronts, but Massachusetts is also the biggest safe haven for White supremacist groups, and they are constantly threatening our Pride,” he told Trahan. “Right now, I’m receiving 10 death threats a week from white supremacist groups all over the Northeast including, Massachusetts.”</p><p>He noted that five of the groups are based in Fitchburg alone, with Proud Boys active in Brookfield and Spencer.</p><p>For her part, Vollmar is glad she elevated her concerns and grateful for the city’s quick response.</p><p>“I’m probably going to be extra vigilant as I walk around, and be aware of what’s around me,” she said.</p>

Police chiefs ‘disappointed’ in POST Commission disciplinary list omissions, inaccuracies

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<p>Fitchburg Police Chief Ernest Martineau was OK with the idea of increased transparency into police departments after the state Legislature passed a police reform bill at the end of 2020, but a recent list of officer disciplinary records has left police officials like Martineau “disappointed” in how parts of the process have unfolded.</p><p>The Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, which was created by the reform bill, released a <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/officer-disciplinary-records-database" target="_blank" rel="noopener">list</a> last month containing disciplinary records for individual officers across the state going back to the 1980s. While officials like Martineau praised the idea behind the list and the transparency it is supposed to provide, they took issue with what they said were inaccuracies and omissions from the list after the individual police departments provided “mountains of records” to the commission.</p><p>“Myself and my colleagues are very disappointed,” Martineau said in an Aug. 30 phone call.</p><p>A potential source of the problem, Martineau said, was that the police chiefs were never allowed to see the list generated by the POST Commission before it was released to the public last month, which he said would have avoided the list being released with inaccuracies.</p><p>“I can’t tell you how many man hours went into getting that information to POST,” said Martineau. “Then they put it out there without an opportunity for us to review it.”</p><p>While there was no information in the list from Fitchburg that Martineau said was explicitly incorrect, he said eight or nine of the nearly 30 disciplinary incidents that they sent to the commission never ended up on the final list.</p><p>A similar situation played out for the list of officers in Lowell. The version released by POST included 19 officers' names, though some were known to be omitted based on previous reporting of incidents.</p><p>Lowell Police Superintendent Greg Hudon said that while he was proud of his department for having a small number of disciplinary incidents on the list relative to the size of the city and department, he and the department would work with POST further to ensure that the list can be released again with the correct information.</p><p>“As the 5th largest community in the Commonwealth to have less than 1% of Officers in the state listed by POST is a testament to hard work and professionalism of the men and women of the Lowell Police Department,” Hudon said in an Aug. 31 email. “Unfortunately, POST has acknowledged some errors and omissions related to their release of information. POST has identified many root causes of these mistakes, ranging from unintentional errors in data submission to faults in the way the newly created systems processed some of the information sent to them. The Lowell Police Department is in the process of reviewing the released information to ensure accuracy and will continue to work with the POST commission.”</p><p>The POST list for Lowell is known to not include at least two names: Michael Giuffrida and Michael Kilmartin, who were each disciplined after a January 2013 incident in which Lowell resident <a href="https://www.lowellsun.com/2015/07/07/updated-lowell-settles-with-brame-family-over-womans-death-in-police-custody/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alyssa Brame</a> died of alcohol poisoning in police custody. Giuffrida was eventually suspended for 15 days after facing a one-year suspension, while Kilmartin was temporarily demoted and suspended 45 days.</p><p>The other three officers implicated in Brame's death by the Police Department's Board of Inquiry and subsequently disciplined — James Fay, Francis Nobrega and Thomas Siopes — were included in the POST Commission list, as was William Florence, who received a written reprimand related to the incident.</p><p>POST Commission spokesperson Alia Spring said in an Aug. 30 email that the commission had received a lot of feedback from police departments on errors and omissions in the list, and they are working to release a corrected version.</p><p>“We are reviewing all reports of possible corrections. We plan to release an updated database soon,” said Spring.</p><p>In a statement on the POST Commission website, they said they were aware of the omission of the complete records of three whole departments, and encouraged police departments to continue working with them to resolve the issues in the list. An initial update was made to the list on Friday, with a note indicating further corrections and updates would be forthcoming.</p><p>To Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement President Dennis Galvin, the issues surrounding the accuracy of the POST Commission list likely stem from a poor job defining the criteria for what should be reported, something he said he saw them struggle to do in meetings going back to February.</p><p>“What ended up happening is that the parameters were not clearly defined. It left the discretion of reporting solely to the chiefs of police,” said Galvin. “If you are going to be printing something that may be detrimental to some people, you may want to properly vet that information first.”</p><p>Galvin, a retired Massachusetts State Police major from Westford, has been an <a href="https://www.lowellsun.com/2020/08/24/former-state-police-major-turns-eye-to-police-reform/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advocate</a> for police reform, but said that the POST Commission’s list was done with a poor execution.</p><p>“There was someone on there that was listed as suspended, but it was a suspension of their ability to work details, not a suspension of their job,” Galvin said as one example.</p><p>The spirit behind the list, Galvin said, was to deal with serious cases of misconduct where officers used serious force on someone, engaged in criminal conduct or were untruthful in any way. By publishing a list with so many errors and omissions, Galvin said, it in some ways jeopardizes the idea of police reform, as it leaves people wondering about the POST Commission’s credibility.</p><p>“POST got themselves into a little bit of a hole they have to dig out from,” said Galvin. “I don’t think they are malevolent, but someone may not have realized the significance of the information they were working with.”</p><p>Galvin said that while he still supports the idea of police reform, he has been disappointed in two things. The first is that there is less emphasis on police education requirements, which he said is essential due to the sheer complexity of the job of being a police officer.</p><p>“This job is so complex and involves a lot of different disciplines. You can’t bring someone in on just a high school degree,” said Galvin. “Like with a mental health crisis, officers should be able to at least distinguish between different mental illnesses when responding to a mental health crisis. They don’t have to diagnose it or treat it, but they should be able to recognize it.”</p><p>Galvin’s second problem with the reform process is he feels the state and POST Commission are coming at the issue with almost an inherent suspicion of the police, while he thinks actual police officers should be involved in the reform process because of their real world experience.</p><p>“The commission has nine members and only three of them have been officers, one of them is a chief,” said Galvin. “It needs a much larger policing background, and they need the expertise level to judge what actually happens.”</p>

Eye On Art: New shows brighten up summer’s waning days in Lowell

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Sigh — it’s August.

Summer’s more than half over, and the Lowell Folk Festival is a pleasant memory. But don’t fret. There’s still plenty of art to enjoy before chilly days and sweater weather arrives.

New shows open this week at the Brush Art Gallery and Studios and the Storage Closet Gallery at Western Avenue Studios and Lofts, both located in Lowell.

The Brush presents “Flower Power,” a juried art quilt exhibit showcasing work inspired by flowers and created using blossoms, leaves, and vines or colorful abstract flower forms. The annual show is on Aug. 5-Sept. 16, with an artist reception 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12.

Jurors include Mary Walter, who also curates the show, and Karen Pulaski. Both are longtime expert art quilters and quilting experts and authorities.

The exhibit includes beautiful pieces by Allison Wilbur, Barrington, R.I.; Audrey Augun, Hollis, N.H.; Cathy Papazian, Lexington; Cindy Lewis, West Newton; Debb Putnam, Andover; Ellen Fisher, Hollis, N.H.; Mary-Ellen Latino, Arroyo Grande, Calif.; Phyllis Small, West Hartford, Conn.; Sandy Gregg, Cambridge; Sherry Winkelman, Winchester; Stephanie Shore, Lexington; Suzanne Meader, Sterling, Va.; Suzanne Munroe, Barrington, R.I.; Suzanne Neusner, South Orange, N.J.; Tricia Deck, Lincoln; and Donna Downer, Canton.

The Brush is located at 256 Market St. For info, visit www.thebrush.org or call 978-459-7819.

Garry Harley’s digital paintings are featured in “Beauty is the Mystery of Life” at the Storage Closet Gallery, located on the 2nd Floor at 160 Western Ave.

The exhibit is open to the public during Western Ave Studios & Lofts Open Studios and by appointment. Open Studios hours are noon-5 p.m. on Saturdays, Aug. 5, Sept. 2, and Oct. 7, and Sunday, Oct. 8.

Harley’s digital paintings, made with “electronic brushes”, begin with simple geometric patterns as the underpainting, and are then overlaid with transparent and opaque colors. The subtle shifting tones evoke an early morning in May, with a faint sunrise tinting the clouds, and the colors and scents of early Spring underfoot. The intimate gallery space becomes a quiet and serene sanctuary.

He is a digital artist who works from a studio at Western Avenue Lofts and has exhibited widely in national and international galleries and museums.

Call Antoinette Indge, gallery director, at 917-696-1241, or email her at aeindge@gmail.com for info and to arrange an appointment to see the art other than Open Studios hours.

Gallery notes

TALK AT WHISTLER: Lowell’s Whistler House Museum of Art hosts a talk by artist and instructor Paul Ingbretson at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 16. He will talk on “The Abstract Connection: Exploring Art through Whistler and Degas.” Both artists were fascinated with depicting and the depictions of everyday life, and the people, places, and events in Parisian culture. All are welcome to attend. RSVP by Monday, Aug. 14 to dgain@whistlerhouse.org.

SAVE THE DATES: The Brush Art Gallery and Studios will host the Still Summer Cocktail Party, 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7, at Fuse Bistro, 45 Palmer St., Lowell. A highlight will be a silent auction of watercolor paintings by Brush associate artist Don Sullivan. Visit www.thebrush.org for details… The Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton invites all to The Big Reveal on Saturday, Oct. 14. From 5-7 p.m., enjoy cake, champagne, and music, as you celebrate the museum’s birthday and learn what is planned for the future. Visit www.museumofrussianicons.org for info.

A BREAK: No Eye on Art on Thursday, Aug. 10. But look for it on Thursday, Aug. 17, after a brief summer break.

Nancye Tuttle’s email address is nancyedt@verizon.net.