Bump Says Findings Pointing to Persistent Deficiencies in Payment System BOSTON, MA — Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today announced that during a one year period, her office’s Medicaid Audit Unit identified more than $17.6 million in unallowable, questionable, duplicative, unauthorized, or potentially fraudulent billings at MassHealth. She estimates that corrective actions would save $8.6 million […]
BOSTON, MA — State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today testified before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means in support of her budget request, where she highlighted the work her office is doing to assist state agencies and departments to modernize government services and improve the effective management of government resources. “One of my priorities […]
By Tom Duggan – March, 2017 On January 23rd, the Methuen School Committee went into an executive session, (a meeting where the public is excluded) claiming they were going to discuss a “litigation” matter. The actual matter of litigation to be discussed was not revealed to the public, as required by law. An email was […]
The Valley Patriot newspaper has announced the nominees for the 2017 Valley Patriot BASH Awards. Winners will be announced at The Valley Patriot BASH, held on March 24th, at the Firefighter’s Relief In, at 6pm. GET TICKETS HERE *VALLEY PATRIOT 1ST AMENDMENT PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD Each year this award is given to 2 individuals […]
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By: Beth D’Amato – Feb. 2017 Herman Leopold Bazin was born May 10, 1925. He is a ninety-one year old WWII veteran. Born and raised in Lawrence, MA, Mr. Bazin graduated from High School in June 1943 and was drafted into the Army shortly after that in July of 1943. Bazin and his fellow draftees […]
By: State Rep. Lenny Mirra – Feb. 2017 Getting your appendix removed can be an expensive thing. This routine surgery costs an average of about $16,000 in the U.S., and even higher in places like Massachusetts. But in Switzerland the average cost is about $6,000, and only $2,000 in Spain. For a hip replacement the […]
BOSTON – Two former corrections officers at the Essex County Correctional Facility were sentenced recently in U.S. District Court in Boston for their involvement with smuggling Suboxone into the Essex County House of Corrections – Middleton for inmates. Katherine Sullivan, 32, of Londonderry, N.H., was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs […]
Merrimack College honored a veteran of the Global War on Terror, and father of a Merrimack student, at the Jan. 7th home hockey game against Cornell. Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Robert Dunne of Peabody, Mass., was recognized in a brief ceremony at center ice Jan. 7 in the Lawler Rink, before he dropped a […]
By: Kathy Runge – Feb. 2017 If you want to see forgotten people, come to Lawrence. They’re easy to spot. Just hunt for the person who seems out of place and looks like they can’t understand the conversations around them. They are the English only speakers. In this city, bilingual means fluent in Spanish, hardly […]
By: Senator Katy Ives – Feb. 2017 As regular readers of this column may know, last session I filed a bill to reduce housing costs for veterans by offering a tax rebate to landlords who rent dwellings below market rate to individuals who receive state Chapter 115 veterans’ benefits. In the past legislative session, a […]
Letter Expresses Concern Regarding Recent Remarks by Sean Spicer on Federal Enforcement Full text of the letter available here (PDF) Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, including Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Catherine Cortez […]
By: Alex Talcot – Feb. 2017 More than 110 million Americans collected a tax refund – worth an average of just under $3,000 – after filing their 2015 tax returns, according to statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If you’re one of the many Americans who expect to receive a financial “windfall” (note: […]
By: Robin Desmet – Feb. 2017 The building in New York City is so non-descript that you could easily walk by and think nothing of it. But inside the locked structure is a veritable beehive of activity. The building serves as a temporary residence to over 450 New York shelter cats that were exposed to […]
Steve Blackwood is one of the most talented jazz singers in the country and is scheduled to perform at Salvatore’s in Lawrence on Friday, March 3rd. Blackwood has performed for events across the country and says he is as comfortable with a small trio as he is with a 10 piece orchestra. He now lives and performs […]