By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – May, 2005 Andover, Mass. – “I was furious at what they did,” said Ted Cole, recalling his emotions after hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Less than 24 hours later he and his two brothers were in line at the recruiting station in Lawrence. “The line was out the […]
By: Ralph Wilbur – May, 2005 During the “Public Participation” portion of the North Andover School Committee Meeting on April 12th, Ms. Cynthia Jalbert rose to complain about the brochure I distributed before North Andover’s recent town election. Specifically, she suggested that my praise for Dr. Ormsby’s efforts to improve the quality of education […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL April, 2005 Last month North Andover voters rejected another property tax override for a new police station. This means town officials will have to get creative if they want to find revenue for a new police station or any other capital project in the near future. The voters of North Andover […]
By: Dr. Charled Ormsby – April, 2005 HAVERHILL, Mass. – Shortly after his 22nd birthday and nine months before Pearl Harbor, Michael Buglione went to his draft board and requested to be taken in the next round. Heck, he thought, it’s just “Goodbye dear, I’ll be back in a year.” Well, it was over […]
By: Tom Duggan – April 04, 2005 Just as I reported after the November Presidential election (which was a bittersweet moment), I was again blessed with the same feelings and emotions following this week’s North Andover town elections. Why, you ask? Well, in November I was thrilled with George Bush’s victory, the defeat of […]
Ted Tripp, North Andover Taxpayers Association – April, 2005 That’s a fair question to ask. Just as recently as three years ago, North Andover voters showed up in huge numbers to overwhelmingly reject a $4 million tax increase by means of a Proposition 2 ½ Override. The School Committee, the Finance Committee and […]
By: Chuck Ormsby – March, 2005 NORTH ANDOVER-The Eaton family has a proud history of serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. When Ted Eaton was in his early teens, he had three brothers who signed up for duty in WW II (John and Lindy in the Army, and Frank in the Navy). In the summer […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL March, 2005 Little more than a year ago, The Valley Patriot was just an idea. That idea was to provide an alternative voice for Merrimack Valley newsmakers and community leaders who were frustrated by the lack of adequate local coverage in other media outlets. We wanted to publish a newspaper that was different. […]
By: Tom Duggan: February, 2005 Cpl. Uliano can still hear General George C. Patton telling the troops not to worry about going into combat. Patton told them, “First, the enemy fires and you duck. Then, you fire and the enemy ducks.” This quote seemed humorous when Sy Uliano relayed the story, but I’m sure it […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL February, 2005 Why do we hire public employees? Is it to have them perform an important service that the public requires, or is it to provide the employees a guaranteed paycheck and great benefits? All too often, it seems that we are more concerned with providing employment than we are with ensuring […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN Tom Duggan It’s always cute when a local politician adopts a catchy slogan to help shore up the image of his campaign. And while most voters rightly dismiss these slogans as meaningless rhetoric, one campaign slogan from this year’s North Andover town election begs to be discussed. Political […]
By: Tom Duggan – February, 2005 LAWRENCE – After years of complaining about Lawrence residents not being considered for top positions at City Hall, City Councilors rejected lifelong Lawrence resident David Camasso by a vote of 5-4 to be the city’s new Comptroller. Nearly two dozen city residents and community activists turned out […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL FEBRUARY, 2005 Arabs don’t value freedom. Western civilization shouldn’t try to impose itself on Arab societies. The Arab street prefers dictatorships and can’t be trusted to vote. The Iraqi people are not ready for Democracy. It’s all about oil. And on and on, ad nauseam, the Democrats, once supporters of human rights, […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL FEBRUARY 2005 The 2003 Youth Risk Survey found that 1 in 6 Haverhill High School students (17%) are using hard drugs. In response, Haverhill School Committee member Scott Wood, Jr. has proposed drug testing students. As a 2001 Haverhill High graduate himself, Wood has been close enough to see the seriousness of the problem. He believes […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL January, 2005 The attitude is pervasive. When North Andover was considering a $4 million override several years ago, a Finance Committee member publicly stated, “Our number one objective is to NOT cut any jobs.” Really? We thought that public safety and education might come in first? While that story is now old, […]