IRS Warns Donors about Charity Scams Following Recent Tragedies in Boston and Texas

IRS Warns Donors about Charity Scams Following Recent Tragedies in Boston and Texas

 IRS Special Edition Tax Tip 2013-09  It’s sad but true. Following major disasters and tragedies, scam artists impersonate charities to steal money or get private information from well-intentioned taxpayers. Fraudulent schemes involve solicitations by phone, social media, email or in-person. Scam artists use a variety of tactics. Some operate bogus charities that contact people by […]

Legislators have Ignored the State Constitution

By: D.J. Bettencourt – APril 2013   The Mercatus Center, on the campus of George Mason University, is billed as an “education research and outreach center” and does something incredibly rare for an institution within higher education. It thinks seriously about freedom and how states can protect and expand it. Not ironically, Mercatus takes its […]

IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES – Let’s Get the Basics Right in Massachusetts!

By: State Senator Katy O’Connor Ives – April 2013   As the legislative session heads into the spring, there are a series of important issues facing the Commonwealth. I’m highlighting transportation funding and child safety in this column. As always, I welcome your thoughts on these and other issues. Trains, roads and taxes Beacon Hill […]

Corruption Triumphs in Methuen: D’Agostino the Casualty

Corruption Triumphs in Methuen: D’Agostino the Casualty

PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN By: Tom Duggan – April 2013 Private citizen Richard D’Agostino applied for the open city solicitor’s job in Methuen among eleven other candidates. He was by far the most qualified for the position as he was one of the last two finalists before political shenanigans derailed his chances of employment […]

Does Big Governmentitis Lead to Dementia?

Does Big Governmentitis Lead to Dementia?

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX   When asked to comment on individuals with high-deductible, catastrophic health plans, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “Some of these folks have very high catastrophic plans that don’t pay anything unless you get hit by a bus. They are really mortgage protection, not health insurance.” (AP) By: Dr. […]

Riley Increases Central Office Salaries by More Than $6MIL, Spending in Failing School System Climbs to $160MIL Under State Receivership

Riley Increases Central Office Salaries by More Than $6MIL, Spending in Failing School System Climbs to $160MIL Under State Receivership

“The help we give to Lawrence will not be an infusion of capital it will be getting at some management changes.” Deval Patrick January, 2010 “My goal is to decentralize” Jeff Riley 2011   By: Tom Duggan – April 16, 2013 When State Receiver Jeff Riley took over the failing Lawrence Public Schools more than two years ago, he promised to decrease the […]

Valley Patriot of the Month – Hero in our Midst: SGT ROBERT A. HUNTER, U.S. MARINES

Valley Patriot of the Month – Hero in our Midst: SGT ROBERT A. HUNTER, U.S. MARINES

By Helen Mooradkanian – April 2013 The “island hopping” strategy in the Pacific had proved successful as the Marines secured one island after another in their advance toward the Japanese mainland: Roi and Namur in the Marshall Islands (February 1944), Los Negros (March 1944), Wake Island (May 1944), Saipan and Guam (July 1944), and Tinian […]

MAKE THAT NINE! Merrimack Valley Bandit Busy Over Holiday Weekend, Hits Dracut Bank and Methuen Convenience Store

MAKE THAT NINE! Merrimack Valley Bandit Busy Over Holiday Weekend, Hits Dracut Bank and Methuen Convenience Store

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4wgEVi_9LM]   By: Tom Duggan – April 14, 2013 The Merrimack Valley Bandit struck again twice this weekend. The first robbery occurred at a TD Bank North in Dracut on Saturday evening. The second robbery occurred Sunday night at the Rt 110 Convenience Store on Merrimack Street in Methuen. “He was brandishing a […]

Massachusetts Law Enforcement and FBI Seek “Merrimack Valley Bandit”, Armed and Dangerous

Massachusetts Law Enforcement and FBI Seek “Merrimack Valley Bandit”, Armed and Dangerous

$10,000 Reward Offered for Information Leading to Arrest Banks robbed in Lawrence, Methuen, Dracut and Groveland   BOSTON – A task force of Massachusetts law enforcement agencies is seeking the public’s assistance to identify a bank robber allegedly responsible for seven armed bank robberies in northeastern Massachusetts since February. The “Merrimack Valley Bandit” is considered […]