By: Al Kaprielian – Jan, 2017 Winter weather has arrived to our region. January is known as the coldest month of the year. With the start of January we are starting to see a ridge of high pressure build in Alaska. This causes the cold air on the east side of this high to build […]
By: State Senator Katy Ives (D-Newburyport) In my effort to continue to focus these columns on bills that I will file in the next legislative session, I want to discuss in this edition a bill I sponsored last session which sought to reduce human exposure to a dangerous chemical hidden in many items of daily […]
By: Rep. Linda Dean Campbell – Jan. 2017 Before I list several very challenging issues that we will likely face in this Session – some good news: Massachusetts was recently ranked the number one state in the country for quality of life by a fre quented website, 24/7 Wall St. This ranking was based upon […]
By: DJ Deeb – January, 2017 Although Methuen Public Schools are doing many terrific and important things, this month I have to offer constructive criticism on a program known as the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, or PBIS. In my view, this is a scam and constitutes just another wasteful liberal scheme to engage in […]
THE RONETTES PART II By: Cindy Annis – Jan. 2017 “The Phil Spector Years.” OK? Let’s get right into 1963, when Estelle called Phil Spector. Estelle simply told him about the group and what they did in the entertainment world. Spector agreed to let them audition for him. The audition went well, so the girls […]
By: Bill Cushing – Jan. 2017 It’s that time of year again. That time when all TV people start thinking about the best shows that they watched over the past year. As usual, it was a hard list to compile. It was tough to leave some shows off the list, but here are my picks […]
By: BethD’Amato – Jan. 2017 When I met Larry DeBenedictis, he had just returned home from a wake for an old friend. That friend was U.S. Army LT. Colonel John W. Watson Jr. He passed away unexpectedly at the age of ninety. LT. Colonel Watson was a fellow Korean War Veteran and had spent 3 […]
By: Alex Talcott – Jan. 2017 There are so many truly small businesses in New England that I like to joke with budding entrepreneur clients that if a “mom-and-pop shop” has both a mom and a pop involved – two employees – that’s a midsize business here! For more of my undergraduate business students than […]
By: John MacDonald – Jan. 2017 STORY PHOTO: GEORGE DELUCA According to Wikipedia “damn those pesky websites with interesting historical information.” “ Lowell, Massachusetts was incorporated as a town in 1826 and Lowell High School opened shortly after in 1831. One of its earliest homes was a small brick building on Middlesex Street owned by […]
During the reign of Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins we have seen political relatives hired to major, high-paying jobs, sober houses located in crack neighborhoods in Lawrence, complaints of employees (or vendors) having relationships with inmates, sweetheart deals given to high price donors (like Wayne Capolupo), and a group of corrections officers who are overworked, […]
By: Tom Duggan, January, 016 For the last few months, The Valley Patriot has been sifting through dozens of complaints about the police chief and the inner workings of the Boxford Police Department. In any case where accusations are made against a public official, we requested public records, interview people involved, go to the town […]
Doctor’s Express has officially changed its name to AFC Urgent Care. AFC Urgent Care can be found locally at 280R Merrimack St. in Methuen and 129 Turnpike St. in North Andover. Sarah Lemerise, spokesman for the medical franchise, says that the name is the only change their patients will see. Why the name change? […]
The Horse Racing Jobs and Education Ballot Question Committee has agreed to a $125,000 civil forfeiture, paid to the state’s general fund, to resolve campaign finance issues related to the 2016 state election, according to a disposition agreement between the committee and OCPF. OCPF concluded that the committee, which supported Question 1 concerning expanded gaming, […]
Inspired by Methuen Family Battling PH, Legislation Will Improve Services, Awareness (BOSTON) – Growing up, Methuen resident Ernesto Bencosme had always lived a healthy lifestyle and been athletic. Something would consistently, however, hold him back. Doctors told Bencosme he simply had bad asthma but, in reality, his heart was overcompensating his entire life and increasing […]
Audit Report – HERE BOSTON, MA — Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today is calling on the Office of Court Interpreter Services (OCIS) to improve its payment processes, particularly for per diem court interpreters. Bump’s recommendations come as part of an audit of OCIS, which found expenditures were made without ensuring that OCIS obtained and verified […]