Lowell

Electrifying car show addresses buzz around EVs

September 25, 2022 by pkzadmin

LOWELL — While standing next to her fully-electric vehicle, a 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range, Tyngsboro resident Margie Lynch-Freshner proudly announces she has been internal-combustion-engine free, or “ICE free,” as she put it, for almost two years.

Lynch-Freshner explains she and her husband have owned or leased at least one electric vehicle, or EV, for more than two decades. However, almost two years ago, they scrapped their last gas-powered vehicle and have relied solely on electric ever since.

When asked if she would ever consider turning in her EV and going back to buying gas powered in the future, Lynch-Freshner provides a definitive response.

“Not if I can help it,” she said. “Electric vehicles are a much nicer drive.”

Lynch-Freshner was one of the approximately 30 EV owners that showed up with their electric rides for the Lowell Drives Electric car show held in the parking lot of Heritage Farm Ice Cream and Restaurant on Saturday afternoon.

The event was part of National Drive Electric Week, scheduled until Oct. 2. With EVs becoming an increasingly popular and hotly-debated topic, the week was organized with the goal to raise awareness of the benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

During Saturday’s event, local EV owners talked about their vehicles, answered questions, and a few even gave rides, including Thomas Christian, of Nashua, N.H. Christian was happy to show off his 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance, glowing with a vibrant yellow paintjob, which one car show attendee described as “tennis ball yellow.”

“A lot of people I found who are on the fence (about buying EVs) are concerned about the cost,” Christian said while giving a test drive down Pawtucket Boulevard. “This is a $70,000 sticker price. … I consider that still to be reasonable for me, because I’m an enthusiast. I enjoy it not just as a vehicle, but as a toy.”

Mike and Sarah Rushton, of Lowell, along with their 4-year-old daughter, Emma, brought their 2019 Chevy Bolt — among the more affordable EV options — to Saturday’s car show. As they sat next to the vehicle eating ice cream, Mike Rushton explained his decision to go electric stemmed from being “a geek” who is interested in technology.

“Then getting away from gas, oil changes and all the rest of it made sense for me,” he added.

Mike Rushton pointed out the positives of EVs, including less maintenance demands and that they have fewer parts that lead to damage. And, of course, proponents of EVs tout them as the environmentally-friendly option compared to gas-powered vehicles, which spout toxic pollutants.

But, as for the EV naysayers, a common topic of discussion is range anxiety, which is the fear that the EV won’t have a sufficient charge to get from point A to point B.

Charging stations are becoming more common nationwide and there are apps, like PlugShare and ChargeHub, that will map out where charging stations are located. Despite these advancements, range anxiety continues to be one of the main roadblocks for those on the fence about switching to electric.

The recent passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act offers a potential solution to that concern. The bill puts $7.5 billion toward building out a network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations nationwide. Of that, $5 billion will go toward the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which calls for states to focus on building public charging stations at least every 50 miles along interstate highways and within one mile of federally designated alternative fuel corridors.

Last week, the Federal Highway Administration announced it had approved the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan, which was developed as part of the NEVI program. Massachusetts will receive funding over five years, including approximately $9.4 million for federal fiscal year 2022 to support the construction and operation of direct-current fast-charging stations along EV alternative fuel corridors.

On hand in Lowell on Saturday was James Penfold, the director of eMobility Solutions at Revision Energy, a company that specializes in installing public charging stations.

Penfold said when looking into locations to construct charging stations, one of the goals is to have them situated in areas that offer amenities that will give people something to do while they wait for their vehicle to charge.

“If you have to plan a trip, you might combine a stop with a place like this where you say, ‘Let’s grab some ice cream while we’re charging,’” Penfold said, referencing the host of Saturday’s car show.

When asked if EVs are the future, like Lynch-Freshner, Penfold provided a definitive answer of his own.

“100%,” he said. “The horse has left the barn.”

For more information about National Drive Electric Week, including where other events are scheduled to take place over the next several days, visit driveelectricweek.org.

Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis

Boston reports untreated sewage discharge, a less common event this summer amid severe drought

September 20, 2022 by pkzadmin

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission on Monday night reported an untreated sewage discharge, a significantly less common event this summer amid the severe drought.

Other communities also reported combined sewer overflows following the recent rainfall, sparking warnings to avoid swimming in local rivers and bodies of water because of bacteria and other pollutants.

In Boston, the sewage discharge occurred at East Boston’s Sumner Street Upper Inner Harbor location — with the overflow heading into the Boston Harbor. About 100,000 gallons of discharge were recorded.

“Avoid contact with these water bodies for 48 hours after the discharge or overflow ceases due to increased health risks from bacteria and other pollutants,” the Boston Water and Sewer Commission overflow notification stated.

Combined sewers collect both wastewater and stormwater, and convey it to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority for treatment.

During large wet weather events, combined sewers may reach capacity and the untreated combined flow is diverted to combined sewer overflows that spill into local bodies of water. This relief measure helps prevent sewage backups into homes and businesses.

Also on Tuesday, the Newburyport Health Department issued a public health warning due to a combined sewer overflow in Lowell.

“The Newburyport Health Department recommends that the public, including pets, avoid contact with the Merrimack River for 48 hours following a sewage discharge or overflow due to the increased health risks from bacteria and other pollutants associated with urban stormwater runoff and discharges of untreated or partially treated wastewater,” the city agency wrote in its warning.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority also reported treated discharge from its Somerville Marginal facility along the Mystic River Monday night.

The Authority estimated that it was about 200,000 gallons of treated discharge — chlorinated then de-chlorinated.

This summer amid the severe drought has been significantly less active than last year when it was extremely rainy. Since the end of June, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority has reported only the discharge from Monday night and during one day in August, which was a much smaller discharge.

Last summer in comparison, the Authority reported dozens of discharges as several tropical storms dropped buckets of rain across the region. Millions of gallons of discharge were recorded. Rain during Ida overwhelmed outdated sewer systems around Boston, forcing several pipelines to discharge untreated wastewater into the Charles River.

Behavioral, mental health center to open in 2023

September 20, 2022 by pkzadmin

BILLERICA — The Middlesex County Restoration Center, a proposed crisis-diversion facility, is closer to being realized, said members of the commission who have been working since 2018 to develop the innovative mental and behavioral health intervention project.

Town Manager John Curran hosted Monday’s roundtable, chaired by Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, at which he and U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan (MA-3), along with other commission representatives and partners, announced a $1.65 million federal investment for the center. This money is in addition to the $5 million in American Rescue Act Plan money that the commission was awarded earlier this year.

The funds will be used to open a mental and behavioral health center next year that will offer wrap-around clinician-based services in lieu of traditional arrest-and-incarceration policing strategies. Although the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office has been the driving force behind the project, the facility will be run by clinicians and medical professionals. No location has been selected, but Greater Lowell, MetroWest and the southeastern part of Middlesex County are under consideration.

Calling the Restoration Center a “model for crisis diversion,” Koutoujian bluntly offered that “we can’t arrest our way out of this problem. For far too long, law enforcement has had to shoulder the burden of the mental health crisis response in the commonwealth. You shouldn’t have to come to jail to get good treatment; you should be able to get it out in the community.”

He referenced statistics that show that an increasing number of individuals are entering the criminal justice system with unaddressed and undiagnosed behavioral health issues.

“Jails have become our de facto mental health treatment facilities,” Koutoujian said. “Rikers Island in New York, Los Angeles County jail, and Cook County jail in Chicago, are the largest public health providers in the entire country.”

The mental health crisis is increasing in the commonwealth, despite world-class area hospitals said Koutoujian, a problem that has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and an ongoing substance abuse epidemic.

“In January 2019, 11% of my incarcerated population had a diagnosed mental health condition,” Koutoujian said. “Today that number is 44%. In fact, 40% of those who come into the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction have to be medically detoxed. The acuity level of the individuals we encounter in our care is actually much higher.”

Trahan secured nearly $8 million in federal money for Third District projects, including the Restoration Center, part of the comprehensive government funding package signed into law by President Joe Biden in March.

She spoke to the how the Center will reimagine modern policing and the community response to mental health and substance abuse issues, joking that Koutoujian buttonholed her with the idea for the center right after she entered Congress.

“The sheriff, co-chair Danna Mauch (President and CEO of the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health), and I (along with state Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington) worked hard to secure this community project funding,” Trahan said, “because we recognize that now, more than ever, we need to invest in mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention programs in our communities.”

Law enforcement was represented at the panel by Billerica Police Chief Roy Frost and Chelmsford Lt. Todd Ahern, both of whom have been at the forefront of reinventing the community policing model, effectively anticipating the need for the kind of behavioral services the Center will provide.

Frost was instrumental in establishing the Police Mental Health Collaborative and Jail Diversion program for Billerica that recognized the significant increase in mental health issues, and diverted appropriate cases to mental health services rather than the enforcement side of the justice system.

Ahern serves as the Chelmsford police department’s Wellness, Mental Health and Outreach Program officer.

Billerica and Chelmsford are also part of a regional Front-Line Initiative, a regional police mental-health collaborative with the police departments of Tewksbury, Dracut and Tyngsboro.

Frost, who took over the top job in December 2021, called mental health a unique form of illness that requires unique policing tactics such as de-escalation and stabilization to keep both the community members and the officers safe.

“Many times, these crimes that happen, that we respond to, they’re the result of a mental health or substance abuse crisis,” Frost said. “We know that unless we address the bigger issue of whatever is going wrong with this person, that it’s going to continue. To have a place like the Restoration Center focusing on that issue of mental health will be very helpful to Billerica and other communities.”

Ahern called the center part of an evolutionary process over the last ten years in trying to respond to mental health challenges in modern policing.

“We’re going in the right direction,” Ahern said. “The center is the big missing piece, and it’s going to make our job a lot easier.”

There are state-level plans to create crisis intervention centers to build out on the restoration center model, Koutoujian said.

“These are smaller models, without all the resources our pilot will bring, but we’re building up a network of mental health care.”

Eventually, the goal is to reorient behavioral health care away from the criminal justice system of incarceration or by depending on hospital emergency room care, which state Rep. and commission member Ken Gordon, of Bedford, said is inefficient and expensive.

“This is a real win-win,” Gordon said. “It’s a way to address problems of people who are interacting with the police or health care system because of untreated mental illness or substance abuse issues.”

Koutoujian agreed saying that, “This is the future not just in policing, but also in behavioral health.”

Local couple take on spinal cord injury together

September 4, 2022 by pkzadmin

Tracy Leedberg’s story is rife with sadness, triumph, hope and perseverance.

And when Leedberg reconnected with her high school friend after more than two decades, her life came full circle. James Radcliffe found his way back to Leedberg and, in 2018, the two settled comfortably in Tyngsboro. But one year later, a devastating event left the couple in grief and turmoil.

“In July 2019, Jimmy dove into the pool and couldn’t move,” Leedberg said. “I thought he was just messing around at first.”

But he was not messing around. Radcliffe, 56, had broken his neck. The traumatic C5 injury left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Leedberg became overwhelmed by the new responsibilities in her life. She had no idea how to provide care for someone in Radcliffe’s condition, nor where to find specialized care. Moreover, she felt sadness that her once-strong construction worker partner had been rendered so immobile and helpless. It affected the couple in every aspect of life — mentally, spiritually, romantically and especially financially.

“I had to quit my job because Jimmy needed me at home,” she said. “I became a full-time caregiver.”

She did not object to this new role, but acquiesced to the fact that she needed assistance.

Hope arrived in the subtlest of gestures.

“One day, a few months after my final surgery, I was laying in bed and tried to wiggle my toe,” Radcliffe explained. “And it moved.”

This flicker of hope led him to a physical rehab center in Salem, N.H. He began making slow progress but after the months-long regimen, was released back to home care. At home, he hoped to continue his forward momentum toward recovery with the help of visiting professionals. Then came COVID-19. The home aid they had waited for was curtailed due to travel restrictions and health care protocols.

He again fell into despair. All the physical gains he had made plateaued, then began regressing. His hope and confidence atrophied as well. Leedberg’s health also took a turn as she suffered a stress-related heart attack.

“When I couldn’t care for Jimmy anymore, I became despondent,” she said. “The doctors wanted to put him into a nursing home facility. I didn’t want that and he certainly did not. I didn’t know what to do.”

As the mother of three daughters, now adults, Leedberg has experience in caregiving, but she also knows her limits and they had been reached. Financially, physically and emotionally depleted, the couple did not know where to turn.

Like most things in life, great challenges are overcome by great teamwork. And, like the cavalry, a team appeared. In a happy accident while Googling for something else, Leedberg found out about a program called Summit ElderCare. They said the Fallon Health-run program at 1081 Varnum Ave. in Lowell was the Holy Grail of treatment they had been so desperately seeking.

Fallon, a Worcester-based corporation, has five Summit ElderCare facilities throughout Massachusetts, including in Leominster. For Leedberg and Radcliffe, having one so close to home is an added blessing. The outpatient center offers comprehensive care including physical therapy, occupational therapy, regular medical exams, transportation, even at-home visits as well a social atmosphere conducive to the maintenance of mental health.

Summit ElderCare is a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, and is exactly what Radcliffe needed.

“I started here in March and have made so much progress since then,” he said.

His hands still show signs of strength gained as a construction worker skilled in sheet-metal work. His smile comes easier now, a result of hope and progress.

“When I first got hurt, doctors said I may never walk again. That became a challenge that I intended to face,” Radcliffe said. “Since starting at Summit, I have made steady progress in my therapy.”

With each success comes more confidence.

“And with more confidence, I get more motivated,” he said.

Radcliffe enjoys the five-days-per-week visits to the center, enjoying the activities but always focused on the objective. His physical therapist, Michael Fitzgerald, is part coach and part motivator. The two have become friends, discussing football between exercises.

“At first I needed help just to sit up in bed,” Radcliffe said. “Then I made it to the chair. Over the months I am finally doing some assisted walking.”

On Wednesday, the largest step was taken. Supported only by a belt that Fitzgerald grasped to help stabilize him, Radcliffe walked across the training room floor, much to the surprise and delight of Leedberg.

The timing of this momentous step is also quite serendipitous. September is National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month and Radcliffe ushered that in with his proud yet labored gait.

“People don’t understand how complicated SCI care is,” Leedberg said. There are several ancillary health effects including urinary tract infections, self-confidence damage and loss of hope. “He now has hope.”

“She has been a strong advocate for me,” Radcliffe said of Leedberg. “But she is also an advocate for PACE at Summit.”

Leedberg showed appreciation of the organization by being a featured speaker at the annual MassPACE Association Annual Conference in May. She also presented her extensive research paper, “Meeting the Needs of Caregivers to Decrease Burnout.”

Dinah Olanoff, a senior business consultant for Fallon’s PACE strategy, explained how the program works.

“We try to find support that is uniquely directed for each participant. We set up a model of care for every individual,” she said, including Radcliffe.

“He was very depressed when I first met him. Now he is living his best life,” Olanoff said.

But that “best life” will not be achieved by his standards until “I can walk out of here on my own,” Radcliffe said. “I plan to get back to working.”

Digging Lowell: Archaeological dig centered around 1800s Irish-owned store brings together researchers an ocean apart

August 29, 2022 by pkzadmin

LOWELL — Some people really dig Lowell. In fact, some people travel across oceans to dig Lowell.

Audrey Horning, for example, recently arrived from Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland to dig Lowell. She is part of a team that is engaged in an ongoing archaeological dig on Market Street.

Horning, a distinguished professor of anthropology and author, joins UMass Boston professor Steve Mrozowski and a group of students as well as local volunteers to methodically excavate the grounds where once stood a marketplace and tenement. The lot is scheduled to be redeveloped, so the professors and their crew wanted to search the area ahead of the construction.

Not looking for old bones, fossils or treasures, the team seeks remnants of architecture and commerce and suggestions of the Irish contribution to Lowell’s assemblage. Spearheaded by Lowell Irish front man and local historian Dave McKean, the project was first conceived in 2019. After getting a permit from the Massachusetts Historical Society, the methodical dig finally began after two years of COVID-related delays.

Endorsed by UMass President Marty Meehan and funded privately through the universities, the two-week work began on Aug. 22.

According to Mrozowski, the objective was to find mid-19th century archaeological deposits associated with the store operated by Irish immigrant Patrick Keyes, along with surrounding domestic sites including dwellings and tenement remains.

“So far we have found remains of what we believe to be sheds associated with the building that held the Keyes Store,” Mrozowski said. “We have also found archaeological deposits associated with a 19th century house that was located on the Northeast corner of the lot.”

The dig team is, aside from the professors, nine students: three each from UMass Boston, UMass Lowell and Queen’s University Belfast. Guided primarily by a quest for artifacts relating to the history of the Irish in Lowell, the dig was measured out using old city plot maps and modern GPS equipment. At the end of the first week, the team unearthed, exactly where they predicted, the foundation stones from one of the sheds.

St. Patrick’s Church, named for the patron saint of Ireland, provided substantial logistical support for the team.

They unearthed evidence of Gaelic-inspired craftsmanship in the construction of 19th century dwellings. The Irish have long been credited with the widening of the endless miles of meandering canals, which stand stubbornly to this day against time and tide, but here lies proof that their toil extended beyond the canals and into living quarters and shops, more than a century after construction.

It is this tie to Ireland that brought Horning and her students to the project.

“QUB and UMass Lowell have worked together since 2010 seeking to better understand the experiences of the Irish who immigrated to Lowell in the 19th century,” she said in an email. “We worked with St Patrick’s and UML in 2010-2012, examining the yard space in front of the church for traces of the earliest settlement in the Acre. In 2014, we held a joint conference entitled The Irish in Massachusetts.”

Horning explained the historical relevance of such a find, from both the city’s perspective and that of the Irish immigrants who settled here.

“The work at the Keyes property lets us continue that story (and now also work with UMass Boston) by examining life in the Acre a bit later in the 19th century,” she said in an email. “We see the Keyes store as a center for the Irish in the Acre, and the place where they acquired many household necessities and likely met together on a daily basis.”

Keyes himself was important as an entrepreneur and politician who exemplified the central role of the Irish in the development of Lowell.

Keyes lived at the original structure at 509 Market St. after emigrating from Ireland in the mid-1800s. He operated a grocery store out of the first floor, later adding rooms for rent. In the 1870s he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Horning said she was also pleased to be able to bring students from Belfast to Lowell to work with QUB’s university partners.

“It provides a very valuable educational experience in terms of learning archaeological practices and techniques in a different country,” she said. “The Fiske Center at UMass Boston is renowned for its expertise in historical and environmental archaeology, so it’s great for our students to have the chance to work alongside Steve and the UMB team.”

One of the local UMass Lowell students working on the dig, Deirdre Hutchison, is herself from Ireland. A senior student of history, Hutchison is particularly interested in the project on several levels, including the hands-on experience as a research student. The Andover resident explained the importance of the dig, the site itself and the early settler who owned the first shop at the site.

“Keyes is a very successful role model for other Irish immigrants,” she said.

In the mid-1950s, the building became home to a popular nightclub called the Cosmopolitan Lounge. Artifacts from that period were also discovered.

“It is exciting to find things from both centuries and get a look into the lifestyles of people across the years,” Hutchison said. “This is very exciting for the students and for the local community. How often is there an archaeological dig in our own backyard?”

UMass Lowell is blasted by free speech group for banning ‘offensive’ material online

August 22, 2022 by pkzadmin

A national free speech group is targeting UMass Lowell for its policy that bans students from sending or viewing “offensive” material online, calling on the university to revise its internet rules.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is giving UMass Lowell its “red light” rating, saying the university’s online policy restricts free speech.

FIRE each month calls out a university policy for its “Speech Code of the Month,” and this month UMass Lowell is highlighted for the school’s Acceptable Use Policy — which bans students from intentionally transmitting, communicating or accessing “offensive” material.

“Since much of what you see online could be called offensive by someone, the policy bans protected speech,” said Laura Beltz, FIRE’s director of policy reform.

“The Supreme Court has held, time and time again, that the government can’t restrict speech just because someone finds it offensive,” she said.

A university’s Acceptable Use Policy governs the use of computing and networking resources at the school.

Under the “prohibitive actions” section of UMass Lowell’s Acceptable Use Policy, FIRE is citing the rule that states, “Use information technology resources or services for intentionally transmitting, communicating or accessing pornographic or sexually explicit material, images, text or other offensive material except when clearly required to do so in the course of their work.”

FIRE noted that in the Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson, the Supreme Court held that burning the American flag was protected speech.

“The government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable,” the Supreme Court ruled.

“So whether you’re burning an American flag at a protest or just advocating for or against flag burning on Twitter, expression can’t be limited just because someone was offended by it,” Beltz said.

Colleges and universities routinely ban offensive speech in campus speech codes, especially in information technology policies, according to FIRE.

“UMass Lowell couldn’t possibly take action every time someone views or retweets something subjectively offensive over university Wi-Fi — every single student, and probably every professor, would be on trial,” FIRE said. “But a policy like this makes it all too easy for the university to crack down on select, disfavored speech.”

“FIRE stands ready to assist UMass Lowell — as well as any other colleges and universities with restrictive speech codes — in revising its policies,” the free speech group later added.

By receiving FIRE’s worst, “red light” rating, UMass Lowell is now in the bottom 18.5% of schools rated in FIRE’s Spotlight database. This is UMass Lowell’s only red light policy.

A UMass Lowell spokesperson said in a statement on Monday, “Computing and networking resources are intended to support the academic, research and business needs of the University community. UMass Lowell continually reviews all university policies to adhere to national best practices consistent with local, state and federal law.”

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