Month: January 2023

State Senator Ed Kennedy presented a Massachusetts State Senate citation to Pheakdey Kao and Yong Kao on Monday, January 30. They are the proud owners of Kao’s Kitchen located at 426 Chelmsford Street in Lowell. Kao’s Kitchen is one of Lowell’s newest restaurants and serves a variety of Southeast Asian cuisine.

Presenting citations from both the Massachusetts State Senate and the House of Representatives are State Representative Vanna Howard, Kao’s Kitchen owners Yong Kao and Pheakdey Kao and State Senator Ed Kennedy.

State Senator Ed Kennedy toured the Peter Fitzpatrick multi-tenant municipal building and met with Pepperell municipal leaders on Friday, January 27. The building is a possible location for a new food hub that would serve farmers in Pepperell and the surrounding area. Senator Kennedy secured a local initiative amendment of $500,000 for a commercial kitchen/food hub in the economic development bill that passed last November.

State Representative Margaret Scarsdale of Pepperell joined Senator Kennedy on the tour, as did Mark Mathews, Tony Beattie and Charles Walkovich of the Pepperell Select Board, Town Administrator Andrew MacLean, Planning Board Chairman Al Patenaude, Senator Kennedy’s Legislative Director James Ostis, Sherrill Rosoff from the Pepperell Agricultural Commission and representatives from the Fitzpatrick Collaborative.

State Senator Ed Kennedy attended the open house of the new Lowell office of the International Institute of New England located at 101 Jackson Street in Downtown Lowell on Tuesday, January 24. The mission of the International Institute of New England is to create opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship.

The Lowell office of the International Institute of New England Lowell has welcomed refugees to the city since 1919. Today, the site serves refugee families and individuals from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar/Burma, China, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Honduras, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Uganda. They also serve Special Immigrant Visa holders from Afghanistan and Iraq, and Cubans and Haitians who are beneficiaries of the Cuban/Haitian entrant program.

The International Institute provides an array of support services starting with the initial resettlement program that lasts for a short 90 days. Support services are focused on helping refugees and immigrants successfully transition into their new lives in the United States and include job placements services; cultural adjustment programming; English language instruction; extended case management support; an asset development program for families ready to take steps towards purchasing a vehicle or home; and citizenship application services.

Later, State Senator Ed Kennedy would join the Library Trustees and staff during a ‘Meet and Greet’ event at the Pollard Memorial Library in honor of the new Library Director, Steve Robichaud.

Steve Robichaud has an extensive background as a librarian, having worked for over 20 years in various roles in the academic libraries at Fitchburg State College, Clemson University and Southern New Hampshire University. He started his career doing the hands-on work of acquiring, cataloging, and managing a library collection, and most recently Steve supervised numerous functions at SNHU and managed its library budget. Steve grew up in Central Massachusetts. His background will bring a fresh perspective to the Pollard Library while allowing him to grow with and learn from its staff and patrons.

State Senator Ed Kennedy was honored to attend the inauguration of Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll on Thursday, January 5th, 2023. Governor Healey was sworn in as the Commonwealth’s 73rd Governor and made history as the first Woman to be elected to the office of Governor. In her inaugural address, Governor Healey outlined her administration’s priorities which included climate and clean energy, affordable and abundant housing, high-quality education, and safe and reliable transportation. Senator Ed Kennedy looks forward to working with Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll on these, and many other issues.

State Senator Ed Kennedy recently met with Lowell High School teacher and author Jessica Lander and three of her students at Lowell High School on Wednesday, January 4. Jessica Lander presented State Senator Kennedy with a copy of her second book, “Making Americans” and the Lowell High School students presented State Senator Kennedy with “Tasting History”, a cookbook with recipes from twenty-one countries.

“Making Americans – Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas and Inspiration in Immigrant Education” is Jessica Lander’s second book. Her first book is called “Driving Backwards” and she is a co-author of “Powerful Partnerships: A Teachers Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success”. Jessica Lander teaches history and civics to immigrant students at Lowell High School.

“Tasting History” is a 167-page cookbook containing recipes and family stories from twenty-one countries. It was compiled by the immigrant students in Lowell High School’s U.S. History II Seminar. The book includes recipes from Afghanistan, Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Columbia, Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Ivory Coast, Japan, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Spain, Uganda, and Vietnam.

State Senator Ed Kennedy was happy to be invited to join Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll on their visit to Catie’s Closet at Lowell High School on Wednesday, January 4. Other elected officials who attended the event included State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, State Representative Vanna Howard, Lowell City Councilor John Drinkwater, Lowell City Councilor John Leahy, Lowell School Committee Member Dominik Lay and Lowell School Committee Member Connie Martin.

State Senator Ed Kennedy was honored to be sworn in for his third term representing the First Middlesex State Senate District on Wednesday January 4th, 2023. The ceremony was presided over by Governor Charlie Baker as one his last acts as Governor. This tradition marks the official start of the 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth.

As of this month, the Town of Dracut has officially joined the First Middlesex District. Due to a population shift in the Commonwealth, the First Middlesex Senate District had to be reconfigured in order to supplement a senate district to the West. Each of the forty State Senate districts will have a population of approximately 175,000 people. The towns of Westford and Groton have joined the Worcester and Middlesex District represented by State Senator John J. Cronin. Senator Kennedy looks forward to representing the citizens of Dracut in the State Senate and continuing to serve all constituents in the First Middlesex District in the upcoming legislative session.

On Thursday, December 15th, State Senator Ed Kennedy participated as a mock juror in Discovering Justice’s Mock Trial Program held in partnership with Lowell Public Schools. Since 1998, Discovering Justice has worked in partnership with school systems, judges, nonprofits, community volunteers, and the legal community to examine the workings of the justice system, explore the ideals of justice, and help young people prepare to engage in our democracy.

The Mock Trial was the culmination of a ten-weeklong program in which Discovering Justice partnered local volunteer attorneys with teams from the James S Daley Middle School, Stoklosa Middle School, James Sullivan Middle School, and Henry J Robinson Middle School to teach them about law, judicial procedure, trials, and other jobs within the legal field. Following the trial, which was held at the Lowell Justice Center, a short reception was held where community leaders, discovering justice staff, judges, jurors, legal mentors, and students had the opportunity to socialize.