By: Tracy Watson, North Andover Selectman, – March 2013 This recent week has brought much media attention to my family. This attention has come due to the fact that my son Cameron received what has recently been dubbed a “fat letter”. These letters are sent to the homes of children throughout the state of Massachusetts […]
LOWELL — As part of Gov. Deval Patrick’s Gateway Cities Education Agenda, the Lowell Public Schools were awarded $365,000 in grant funding last week that will directly benefit students. Lowell was awarded a $325,000 English Language Learners Enrichment Academies grant that will be used to fund a summer ELL academy aimed at providing additional support […]
By: Dani Langevin – Valley Patriot Lesbian Columnist March 2013 I was angered the other morning, while eating my breakfast and watching the early morning news, to hear about the hate crimes that had been committed last month at Oberlin College in Ohio. According to the New York Times, “The incidents included slurs written […]
By: Paul Murano – March 2013 This past month saw two stories in the news that speak volumes beyond their headlines. Not surprisingly they were about sex and death respectively, and they focused on two women, one young and one elderly. Their names were Melissa King and Lorraine Bayless. One gave up her title as […]
By: Mara Dolan Turning on CNN after a lovely Valentine’s dinner on the town with the blossoming young woman who is my daughter, I was appalled at what I saw. Hundreds of people stranded on an ocean liner, their vacation ruined, while news cameras recorded every moment for a rapt nation, grateful to be snug […]
BOSTON – This Department of Public Health is in desperate need of top-to-bottom reform,” said Rep. Jim Lyons. “The DPH acts like bureaucratic bullies, when it deals with families and school children,” Lyons noted about the state agency mandating that so-called “BMI Fat Letters” single-out particular students. “At the same time, this bureaucracy has manifestly […]
By: Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist In 1998, Massachusetts passed what was hailed as the toughest gun-control legislation in the country. Among other stringencies, it banned semiautomatic “assault” weapons, imposed strict new licensing rules, prohibited anyone convicted of a violent crime or drug trafficking from ever carrying or owning a gun, and enacted severe penalties for […]
By Attorney Christine Sullivan The husband and wife both love their children and spend as much time with their children as possible. There has never been any physical or mental abuse in the marriage, but the marriage simply isn’t working. After a stressful weekend of arguing, the husband tells the wife that he wants a […]
By: Joe D’Amore March 2013 I bore witness today to the unbreakable bond of a small community that observed the passing of a sweet soul at our place of gathering, the Congregational Church . For countless generations this place has accommodated every condition experienced by humanity ; from joy, to elation, celebration and at times […]
By: DJ Bettencourt New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan’s decision to balance her proposed budget and fund the state’s infrastructure needs by assuming revenue generated by an expanded gaming proposal has sparked widespread debate across the Granite State. While much of that debate has centered on the wisdom of assuming revenue from a source that has […]
By: Tom Duggan The Great City of Lawrence may no longer be the arson capital of the world but the family devastation left behind by weekly house and apartment fires in the Mill City continue. Often times with just the clothes on their backs these families have to start rebuilding their lives from scratch. “I […]
By: Jeff Katz It has been nothing short of fascinating to read, watch and listen to the histrionics currently being visited upon the American people by the current occupier of the Oval Office. The end is near, the oceans will once again rise, teachers will be kicked in the shins, people will be turned into […]
Little more than 9 years 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. We wanted a […]
Professing Undying Love While Stabbing Them in the Back By: Dr. Charles OrmsbyWa A favorite trick of pickpockets is to create a distraction while reaching into your pockets and relieving you of your money. The Democrats are masters of this technique and they employ it over and over. It works best on those that are […]
By: Tom Duggan While the Democrat leadership on Beacon Hill has blocked any attempt by Republican Legislators to change the Massachusetts Public Records Law (M.G.L. Ch. 66), a revolt among Democrats has caused a tidal wave to build in both the House and the Senate where rank and file members of both parties are calling […]