LOWELL (CBS) — A moped driver was seriously hurt in a crash with a school bus Monday morning in Lowell. The moped hit the back of the bus, a spokesperson from Lowell Public Schools said. The driver slid under the bus and needed to be med-flighted to a Boston hospital because of their injuries. There were nine Cardinal O’Connell School pre-k students on the bus at the time. None of them were hurt and the school does not believe any of them saw the crash. “As is protocol, the children remained on the bus while the accident was being investigated by police. The police and fire departments were th ..read more

LOWELL (CBS) — A man was found dead in a Lowell house fire early Thursday morning that investigators believe was likely caused by smoking materials. Firefighters were called to the home on Barton Avenue around 3 a.m. and saw heavy flames on the third floor. Once they got inside, they found a man dead. His name has not been released yet. “I want to express our condolences to the victim’s loved ones and remind everyone in our community that smoking is the leading cause of fatal fires,” said Lowell Fire Chief Phillip Charron. “If you haven’t quit yet, please be responsible and put it out, all the ..read more

BOSTON (CBS) — In the last month, more than four million Ukrainians have left the country. Anya Dubovyk’s family is not among them. “This is a real genocide that is happening,” said Dubovyk, who has lived in Lowell for the last five years after living in Ukraine for three decades. Anya’s mother and grandmother are in a village near Sumy, which is not far from Russia’s doorstep. Her grandmother is 91 and has Alzheimer’s. Her mobility issues make leaving the country seemingly impossible. “It’s breaking my heart,” she said. On Tuesday, Dubovyk said her mother and grandmother found their village u ..read more

LOWELL (CBS) — Opioid deaths are on the rise in Lowell, police said this week in a public safety alert to residents. “The LPD continues to note an increase in suspected opioid related overdose deaths in Lowell,” the department said. “Specifically, there have been 5 suspected opioid related overdose deaths between 3/12/22-3/20/22.” Massachusetts opioid overdose deaths have been increasing, according to the latest published data. The state says in the first nine months of 2021, there were 1,211 confirmed opioid-related deaths, which was a 1.3% increase from 2020. Police are telling those suffer ..read more

TYNGSBORO (CBS) – Young people are always looking for a career path with potential for growth. Local companies are looking to fill a lot of open positions right now. A man who works for CVS understands both of those needs, and he’s created a program at his alma mater that makes jobs happen. What looks like a neighborhood CVS isn’t a typical CVS store. The CVS inside Greater Lowell Technical High School in Tyngsboro is one of the company’s “Workforce Innovation and Talent Centers.” It was built by students and designed to train students like Junior Kai In from Lowell with skills that will get t ..read more

LOWELL (CBS) — A fire at a multi-family home in Lowell that killed a 4-year-old girl two weeks ago was most likely caused by smoking, investigators said Thursday. The State Fire Marshal’s office said the official cause is still undetermined, but it appears to be “improper disposal of smoking materials.” Investigators found cigarette butts on the first-floor porch at the back of the house on Maude Street.  Four-year-old Pietra Emanuelle Silva Araujo died in the fire March 3. According to her obituary, she was at a day care inside the home. She had just moved to the area last summer from Br ..read more

LOWELL (CBS) – One hundred years after his birth, famed author Jack Kerouac is still an important fixture in Lowell and at the bar where he once was a regular. The Worthen House Cafe is all about it’s history. It’s everywhere you look. From the original fan system that still really works to the original tin ceiling showing its age. And of course, the secret spots to hide all the booze when things went dry. “This is our prohibition panel. It looks like the rest of them but it opens up and shows you where they hid the alcohol during prohibition,” bartender April Underwood told WBZ-TV. The prohi ..read more

LOWELL, Mass. (AP) — In the 1950s, Jack Kerouac and fellow writers Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs came to define a new kind of freewheeling American prose in the midst of an otherwise staid decade. A hundred years after his birth on March 12, 1922, Kerouac, a Lowell, Massachusetts native, is being embraced as a literary icon in his hometown. The son of French-Canadian immigrants raised in a blue collar neighborhood in the mill town, Kerouac — born Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac — is still best known for his 1957 novel “On the Road,” seen at the time as a defining work for what would be dub ..read more

PELHAM, N.H. (CBS) – The former athletic director at St. Michael School in Lowell turned himself in to Pelham, New Hampshire police Friday. James Parker, 24, of Methuen, is accused of sexual contact with a child over 13. The child involved in the case attended St. Michael. Lowell police investigated the incident and then contacted police in Pelham, New Hampshire, saying a second incident may have occurred in that town. In November, Parker was arraigned in Lowell on a charge of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Parker will face several charges and has been released on ..read more

LOWELL (CBS) – The 4-year-old girl killed in a house fire in Lowell last week has been identified as Pietra Emanuelle Silva Araujo. According to her obituary, she was at a day care inside the building on Maude Street when she died. Pietra had just moved to the area last summer from Brazil. Her funeral will be held Sunday afternoon at McDonough Funeral Home in Lowell. Two adults and three children were rescued from the fire last Thursday. The State Fire Marshal said the cause of the fire is still under investigation ..read more