Second, there was no post Wednesday as all Sun blogs, including The Column Blog, have moved to a new address. That address is http://blogs.lowellsun.com/thecolumn/. Please go to that address beginning Thursday, July 19 and read the latest post about a Lowell firefighter.

Third, keep reading, and thanks again

House Speaker Robert DeLeo

House Speaker Robert DeLeo denied this week he is the target of any federal probes in connection with a patronage scandal within the state’s Probation Department.

DeLeo’s comments came in the wake of a Boston Globe report that federal investigators are focusing on allegations that votes for DeLeo’s speakership campaign were rewarded with jobs or promotions within the Probation department.

“I can tell you that any member who would testify there was any agreement that, if they voted for me, they’d get a job down the road in probation is being untruthful,” DeLeo told reporters Monday.

Still, with DeLeo’s name once again being mentioned at the center of the scandal, some are speculating who the Winthrop Democrat’s successor could be should he be forced to step down and follow in the footsteps the previous three House speakers and convicted felons, Sal DiMasi, Tom Finneran and Charlie Flaherty.

The name that has come up most often? Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey, a Haverhill Democrat.

One lawmaker said Dempsey would be a “shoo-in” for the House’s top job should DeLeo go.

If Dempsey were to become speaker, it could be a boon for Greater Lowell lawmakers who were largely subjected to the House’s back bench when DeLeo was named speaker.

Lowell representatives, in particular, lost some of the clout they enjoyed under former Speaker Sal DiMasi when they backed Rep. John Rogers, D-Norwood, over DeLeo for Speaker in 2009.

But Reps. Tom Golden, Kevin Murphy and David Nangle have a good relationship with Dempsey and would likely back him should he aim to become speaker one day.

State Rep. Brian Dempsey

Dempsey has ties to the Lowell area. He graduated from UMass Lowell and worked at Radius Northwood HealthCare Center, a nursing home on Varnum Avenue, in the marketing department after college.

His father, “Chickie” Dempsey, 81, grew up in Lowell and attended Lowell High School, where he was a standout athlete.

“Every time we have a Lowell-Haverhill game, it’s conflicting for him,” joked Dempsey last year.

Area lawmakers say Dempsey is not campaigning for the job. That makes sense, given that DeLeo demoted former Ways and Means Chair Charlie Murphy, D-Burlington, after he was reportedly talking with colleagues about his interest in someday becoming speaker. And now Murphy will resign from his House seat at the end of July to take a job at Arcadia Solutions, a health-care consulting firm in Burlington.

George Duncan, left, a member of the Lowell General Hospital board of trustees, discusses the hospital merger with, left to right, Norm Deschene, Lowell General president/CEO, Stephen J. Guimond, Saints’ president/CEO, and Greg Wertheimer, vice chairman of the Saints Board of Trustees at The Sun offices in merger when the merger was initially announced.

Normand Deschene, the CEO of Circle Health, is kind of like a victorious general these days.

The decades-old battle between Lowell General Hospital, which Deschene has overseen since 2003, and Saints Medical Center is finally over, with the two sides having just signed the armistice.

Circle Health is the new corporate entity that will oversee the merged entities of Lowell General and Saints and Saints Medical Center.

Deschene is kind of like Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States who was reponsible for  rebuilding Europe following World War II. Truman faced a daunting task, as does Deschene in getting these two previously warring medical facilities functioning as one harmonious unit.

For starters, Deschene has apparently moved his office from the Varnum Avenue campus of Lowell General to Saints. That should send a positive message, particularly to the Saints’ community.

But just imagine the stack of papers on Deschene’s desk, or the number of emails in his in-box. The numbers must be staggering.

The Column Blog is scheduled to interview Deschene Wednesday afternoon. Among the issues that will hopefully be discussed:

• Real estate. The Column Blog posted an item several weeks ago that focused on Lowell General purchasing several Saints’ buildings for $35 million. With the merger now complete, what’s the future of those buildings? What about the Saints’ facility on Bridge Street on the Lowell/Dracut line or the Saints’ womens’ clinic in North Andover.

• Personnel. Lowell General’s acquisition of Saints has already led to the departure of Saints’ CEO for the last few years, Stephen Guimond. But there’s other top management folks at Saints’ who’ve got counterparts at Lowell General. With the health-care dollar being as tight as it is, there is not room for everyone.

• A colleague raised the issue of competition. Competition, and generally lower  lost, is generated by competing entities. With Lowell General now having swallowed-up its local competition, will it result in lower health-care costs for thousands of patients in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Lowell General, however, has for years looked past Saints’ and to the big Boston hospitals as its big competitor.

• And what’s going on with Cigna, the health insurance provider. The Column Blog has received several calls from folks worried that Lowell General has apparently severed ties with Cigna, effective Aug. 1.

A television station in nearby Fort Smith, Ark., a larger city, of course covered the story. However, there was only one problem: it used a photograph of Lowell, Mass., Police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee to illustrate the clip rather than one of the police chief who lost his life, Joe Landers.

See for yourself on YouTube

The Column Blog reached out to television station KHBS mid-morning Friday, alerting them to the mistake and hoping for an explanation. No one from the station has been reached yet, however, the clip was removed from YouTube about an hour later.

Lowell (Mass.) police detectives regularly search various social media sites as part of their daily routines. Lavallee said the clip in question was discovered by the department’s top sleuth, Capt. Jonathan Webb.

Of course the police department in (Lowell, Mass.) got a chuckle from the clip, but more importantly they didn’t forget one of their colleagues was killed.

“I’m sure it was very sad for the police chief’s family and friends and that entire community,” Lavallee said Friday. “But it appears to be some shoddy reporting.”

But wait, there is one more item of note to this story: the Lowell, Ark. Fire Department chaplain is a man named Ed Davis.

The Lenzi property at 7 Brianna Way in Dracut

Mike Lenzi will move to Dracut.

Lenzi, one of four Lowell representatives on the Greater Lowell Technical High School Committee, reconsidered moving north after someone offered to buy the home he had just purchased at 7 Brianna Way at a substantial profit.

Lenzi said in a telephone interview Thursday that deal “fell through” and he, his wife Sandy and children have decided the clan will indeed move to Dracut. Lenzi closed on the $775,000 deal May 15, having bought the home from Scott and Laurie Lee. Lenzi’s mortgage, from the Washington Savings Bank, totaled $620,000.

The decision means Lenzi will resign from the Tech school committee, but not until late August or early September.

When Lenzi first raised the possibility of moving and resigning, it set off a political flurry from folks who expressed some interest in taking his seat. Like Ray Boutin, a member of the school council at the Greater Lowell Tech; retired Air Force officer and conservative blogger Cliff Krieger; former Tech school committee member Dave Laferriere; unsuccessful candidate for the committee in last fall’s election William Sheehan; former Lowell School Committee member Jackie Doherty; and Paul Belley, a community activist and twice unsuccessful former City Council candidate.

Those folks can begin their lobbying efforts now. Lenzi said he’s already had discussions with Boutin and Krieger, and he’d be willing to meet with anyone who is interested.

Lenzi was re-elected to a fourth term last fall. His term expires in 2015. Now that he has decided to move, it will be up to the Lowell City Council and School Committee, meeting jointly, to appoint a replacement. The appointee would serve until the next election, whereby the seat would be up for election for the remainder of the term.

Lenzi said he will put his Belvidere home on the market in a couple weeks.

For the remainder of the summer, Lenzi said his priority will be to use his position on the school committee too work with Tech administrators and other elected and appointed officials throughout the region to publicize what he described as an epidemic: opioid overdoses.

According to the city Health Department, 31 people died in Lowell last year from opioid overdoses.

Lenzi hopes to form a task force of state and local officials, convene public meetings, and take other measures. Stay tuned.

Follow Column Blogger Christopher Scott on Twitter @cscottlowellsun 

State Rep. Kevin Murphy

State Rep. Kevin Murphy had harsh words for the Gov. Deval Patrick Tuesday, after the governor vetoed $200,000 Murphy secured for Lowell open-space improvements in the new state budget.

Murphy said his sharp tongue was borne out of his frustration with the Patrick administration delaying the construction of a new judicial center planned for the city.

“The day before (Patrick) was re-elected, he stood on the site of the judicial center and told everyone the first thing that would happen is he would make sure there is a judicial center,” said Murphy, a Lowell Democrat. “He said it’s going to be built. Well build it now. Do it now.”

The gubernatorial visit Murphy is referencing occurred at the Appleton Mills construction site in Lowell in November 2010, one day before Patrick fended off Republican challenger Charlie Baker to win re-election. Patrick made the stop to highlight his support for job creation and his commitment to the region, according to a story that ran in The Sun.

“Lowell counts,” Patrick said at the event. “It matters to me.”

Murphy is dubious.

“He vetoed money that would have improved quality of life for children in city of Lowell,” he said of Patrick on Tuesday. “Maybe he ought to venture outside his tony suburb of Milton and see what we need here.”

Murphy added, “Nothing surprises me with this governor. He’s been very disappointing to me. I waited 12 years to get a Democratic governor and he’s gone against all his campaign promises.”

In April, the Patrick administration announced the decade-long effort to bring a new judicial center to Lowell would take even longer even longer than expected. The project will now not be completed until the summer of 2016 at the earliest.

As recently as a year ago, tentative plans called for construction of the courthouse to begin this summer, with a completion date set for late 2014 or early 2015.

City officials have said the project is vital to the success of the 15-acre Hamilton Canal District. It is expected to create construction jobs for the region, as well as lure lawyers and other professionals downtown, benefiting area businesses.

After state Sen. Eileen Donoghue requested a written commitment on the project’s schedule earlier this year, the state committed in writing in April to begin the design phase of the project in January of 2013.

Earlier this year, Division of Capital Asset Management Commissioner Carole Cornelison said: ”Projects of (this) scope and size often have delays, but DCAM remains committed to completing this project in a timely manner,”

John F. Cox

The Yankee Clipper Council of the Boy Scouts of America have selected John F. Cox, the former state representative and Lowell city manager, to receive its annual “Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award.”

Cox will receive the award during a Sept. 27 banquet at Lenzi’s, in Dracut.

In selecting Cox, the council  which encompasses northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, kept with tradition in recognizing a high-profile, popular personality who can fill a room.

Last year, the honoree was Michael Lenzi, the businessman who owns Lenzi’s who is also on the Greater Lowell Technical High School Committee. In 2010, the award went to Kevin Coughlin, a Saints Medical Center vice president.

Coincidentally, all three men are close and recommended each other for the award, said Ruth Crocker, the council’s fundraising specialist.

Each year, the council solicits nominations with the first solicitation coming from the previous year’s recipient, so it was Lenzi who put Cox in the running. The candidate is then vetted by council members to ensure he or she is up to snuff.

According to Crocker, Cox more than exemplifies the attributes Boy Scouts instill in young men.

“We can think of no one else in Lowell who more reflects the values of the Boy Scouts in making kids good citizens who strive to participate in their community through hard work, dedication and integrity.

“It’s all about service to a cause greater than one’s self,” Crocker added. “That’s John Cox.”

Crocker said the event normally raises about $35,000 for the council. “It is our crown jewell of special events,” she said.

No word on whether Cox, a practicing lawyer, was ever a Boy Scout. But as Crocker noted, being a Boy Scout is not a prerequisite.

For the record, recipients prior to Coughlin were, in order, Lowell lawyer George Eliades, Jr.; Middlesex Community College President Carole Cowan; Lowell businessman James F. Conway III; Trinity Ambulance CEO John Chemaly; then-City Councilor Alan Kazanjian; the principals of Mill City Management, Leo Creegan, Terry McCarthy and Thomas McKay; Lowell Five Chairman Robert Caruso.

Likely the funniest moment occurred at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in 2006, when Chemaly marched in to receive his ward dressed in full Boy Scout garb, including a hat, red bandana, shorts and even green knee-socks. True Kodak moment!

Outgoing Lowell Rotary Club president Michael Conway, left, hands over the gavel to new president, Robert Belanger

Members of the Lowell Rotary Club hope to go international this year.

Robert Belanger, who just took over as chapter president from insurance agency owner Michael Conway, said one of his goals during his one-year term is to establish a sister-city relationship with a community in Cambodia where there is also a Rotary chapter.

The idea came to Belanger, a Tyngsboro resident who owns the Lowell business Center Services Inc., through Conway, who recently returned from a Rotary International  meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

Although the initiative is in its early stages, Belanger hopes to leverage funds from the regional, national and international Rotary organizations to build irrigation systems in the sister city.

“Given the large Cambodian population in Lowell, we all just thought it would be a great service project,” said Belanger, an obvious reference to Rotarians’ objective of volunteering in communities at home and abroad to support education and job training, provide clean water, combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, and eradicate polio.

The Lowell Rotary was founded Feb. 1, 1920 and Belanger is the club’s 92nd president. He previously served in 1996. The installation reception took place at the UMass-Lowell Inn and Conference Center with about 50 guests and Rotarians present.

Belanger said some of this other goals include growing membership. The club also plans to continue its “Teacher of the Year” tradition while holding a “musical type” of event around the holidays to call attention to the club and the philanthropic work it does.

The club currently has about 30 members, primarily business leaders from the community. The club has as many as 100 members several years ago. One of the problems Belanger said he will encounter building membership is the five communities contiguous to Lowell — Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Tewksbury and Tyngsboro — all have their own Rotary chapters so naturally businesses in those communities will join their locals.

“We’ll do our best,” said Belanger, who said he’s energized for another term. “I think we’ll be able to sign new members as folks become familiar with the good work we do.”

Late last month, a bill sponsored by Lowell state Rep. Kevin Murphy that would do just that passed Secretary of State William Galvin’s legal muster. Galvin stopped in its tracks a similar measure last September over constitutional issues. With him on board, the bill’s chances of coming up for a vote before the end of this year’s legislative session are improved dramatically.

On Thursday, the VOTE 17 team received a call from a FOX News producer who expressed interest in sending a news team to Lowell  next week to do a story on the progress of VOTE 17 that would be aired nationally.

“FOX news will be coming to the teens’ campaign headquarters and interviewing a few of the organizers about the recent progress and developments,” said UTEC Executive Director Gregg Croteau.

The bill, which has the backing of the entire Lowell delegation, has won an initial vote of approval in the House and has been referred to the Committee on Bills in Third Reading, the last stop before a floor vote to pass the bill and send it on to the Senate.

Several dozen teenagers from UTEC who are spearheading the VOTE 17 campaign held a raucous rally at the Statehouse last week, during which they implored lawmakers to take up the legislation before the end of this year’s formal session on July 31. Local legislators who spoke at the rally included Senators Eileen Donoghue of Lowell and Barry Finegold of Andover.

Besides The Sun,  the Associated Press picked up coverage of the rally and the recent developments and the story appeared in about 20 different outlets, some outside of Massachusetts.

“In addition to the print media, the teens were also recently interviewed for WBUR and this week they were on NECN’s Broadside with Jim Braude. FOX25 actually covered the story twice before but this would be the first coverage from national FOX News,” Croteau said.

Investigators from the state fire marshal’s office, along with a Pelham police officer, carry fireworks from 40 Dodge Rd. Over 90 boxes of unexploded fireworkss were taken from the home that was the scene of a fireworks explosion Tuesday night that injured 11 people. (Sun photo by Jon Hill)

Tuesday night’s fireworks explosion at a Pelham residence appears to have caused Selectmen Chairman William McDevitt to rethink his opinion regarding the town’s long-standing tolerance of the use of consumer fireworks.

Last week, in response to a Sun reporter’s questions about local fireworks bans in neighboring Salem and Windham, N.H., and the statewide ban in Massachusetts, McDevitt said “(fireworks) don’t bother me, as long as it’s done in moderation and not too late at night.”

McDevitt also said last week that in his 20 years of service on the board, “We have not gotten an email or phone call on it, and nobody’s ever said we need to put a stop to this.”

In the wake of the July 3 explosion at the Dodge Road home of Jeannie and Chris Pappathan that injured 11 people including five children, however, McDevitt said selectmen may be ready to at least consider the fireworks question at Town Meeting, depending on the will of the people.

“First, you have to let things calm down a little bit, and then get some sense of what the public wants to do,” said McDevitt in a phone interview Thursday. “My opinion is, if I felt there was an overwhelming desire on the part of the public to create a (fireworks) ban, then the appropriate thing to do would be to propose it at Town Meeting and let the public vote on it.”

Though the state law permitting the sale and use of fireworks also empowers selectmen to enact a ban on their own, without going to a Town Meeting vote, McDevitt would prefer to have public input on such a decision, he said.

The selectmen chairman said he received his first email on the subject of fireworks on July 4.

“One person emailed me and said, ‘Don’t ban fireworks,’” McDevitt said.

The home fireworks explosion impacted the selectmen directly, McDevitt noted, as the homeowners are the daughter and son-in-law of Vice-Chairman Ed Gleason.

Thanks to Reporter John Collins for Thursday’s Column Blog post.