Senate Minority Leader Tarr Secures Passage of Several Amendments Boston- The State Senate today adopted legislation to make certain Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Retirement Board records subject to the provisions of a new public records access law. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) successfully championed the legislation which will apply to all documents made or […]
Lawrence resident James Patrick O’Donoghue has filed an injunction in Newburyport Superior Court, to try and halt his removal from the Lawrence Redevelopment Authority. O’Donogue was appointed February 4, 2014 to fill the unexpired term of Estella Reyes, who left the board after taking office as a Lawrence City Councilor. O’Donoghue claims in his filing with the […]
Hansen repeatedly violated several sections of the conflict of interest law between 2009 and 2014 by directing Town printing business to his own printing company The Enforcement Division of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission alleges that Howard Hansen, the Town of Moderator of Stoughton, violated G.L. c. 268A, the conflict of interest law, by directing […]
PAYING ATTENTION! ON-LINE EXTRA On the day of the Challenger explosion I was teaching at the Henry K. Oliver School in Lawrence. Having lost my first bid for school committee at 18 years old, I had been offered a position as a substitute teacher and oddly enough, made a permanent substitute almost immediately […]
Haverhill resident Stephanie Bellapianta, a freshman at Merrimack College, presented an award to State Representative Brian Dempsey in front of 350 leaders from the state’s higher education sector, at an annual dinner for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM). The December 14 event held at the Seaport Hotel in Boston honored […]
On Saturday, December 19th, Evelyn Rodriguez of the Lawrence/Methuen Community Coalition (LMCC) under the Family Services of the Merrimack Valley, collaborated with the Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) of Methuen High School, as well as Dean Brouder, Mike Caban, and Jackie Rubino. They came together in order to organize a “Sticker-Shock” campaign geared towards underage […]
The story of one foster kid is on the shelves to raise money to help hundreds more. A small non-profit is taking aim at a huge goal. The Foster Kids of the Merrimack Valley is raising money to open a halfway house for kids aging out of the foster system. At the center of their […]
“We’ve turned a corner,” said Rep. Jim Lyons, “but we still have a long, long way to go.” Reflecting on the first half of the 2015-2016 legislative sessions, State Representative Jim Lyons (R-Andover) noted that it was a productive year marked by many legislative accomplishments, although vital challenges remain to be addressed. “From the beginning,” […]
By: Tom Duggan – Jan. 2016 He’s a Hollywood actor, an author, a musician and a singer, but Steve Blackwood says his latest passion is teaching and he has started up his own actors studio in North Andover to teach local talent what it takes to make it in show business. “It’s funny,” he […]
In the race for the Republican nomination for President, there are really only four viable candidates as we approach the February 9th New Hampshire Primary, and the Massachusetts Primary in March. They are Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Chris Christie. To understand the race and why it is so contentious, you first have […]
By: Tom Duggan, 1-12-15 Massachusetts State Lottery Director Michael Sweeney told the Valley Patriot Tuesday morning that the Powerball jackpot has been adjusted to $1.5B, the largest lottery payout in world history. “It’s really a big win for the state,” Sweeney said. The Powerball jackpot hasn’t been hit in 19 successive drawings. The last time someone […]
State Representative Jim Lyons (R-Andover) today supported the repeal of a 1989 law requiring individuals to forfeit their driver’s license for five years for certain drug-related offenses. The current law is seen as a deterrent to individuals convicted of minor drug crimes who try to secure employment or treatment following their release from prison. The […]
By: Dr. Padmanabhan – December, 2015 In November’s Valley Patriot, I laid out the reason underlying the false government narrative that prescribing pain medicine to patients is the cause of the increasing number of overdose deaths. I was encouraged that finally after 2 years of drum-beating the false government narrative and concealing the massive impact […]
By: Jeff Jacoby – December, 2015 At last [month’s] State Department press briefing, spokesman John Kirby was asked about the murder of Ezra Schwartz, an 18-year-old from Sharon, Mass., slain in Israel a day earlier by a Palestinian gunman who opened fire on the van in which he and several other students were riding. […]