By: Kenneth Willette – August, 2013 Based on constructive and positive feedback I received from political supporters, family members and friends in Methuen’s West End, I decided recently to join the race for West District Councilor. I have watched, with great dismay, the actions of the Methuen City Council over the past two years, which […]
The Tewksbury Board of Selectmen voted unanimously on July 18 to move forward a process that will let Tewksbury residents vote on whether or not to allow a Casino in their town. Tewksbury Selectmen should be commended for making the right decision in moving this proposal forward despite opposition from some powerful anti-casino interests. Although […]
By: Helen Mooradkanian – July 2013 On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Walter Hedlund, then a sergeant, U.S. Army, 29th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion, 115th Regiment, Company I, stormed Omaha Beach in Normandy—part of the second assault wave. “The first assault wave, our own 116th Regiment, was slaughtered by the Germans. They never got beyond the […]
By: Peter Lrocque – July 2013 God Bless and hope you all had a happy July 4th. I would like to thank all of the members of the Lawrence City Council for making the decision of whom to vote for and who not to vote for in this year’s city elections very easy! Thursday June […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives BOSTON – Following a press conference that Senate President Therese Murray held Monday morning, the Senate is due to take up a comprehensive welfare reform bill on Thursday aimed at making state assistance transitional. The bill addresses cyclical issues that prevent recipients from transitioning off of welfare as well as […]
By: Tom Duggan – July 17, 2013 With Jeanne Pappalardo leaving the city council because of term limits this year, three people are seeking to fill two seats on the city council representing Methuen’s West End. Incumbent Councilor Sean Fountain, School Committeeman George Kazanjian and Methuen’s most outspoken member of the school committee Evan Chaisson […]
By Tom Duggan – July, 2013 Always outspoken and often controversial, the West District Councilor has had her share of political scuffles over the last six years, but even those who had an adversarial relationship with Pappalardo say they respect her even though they were on opposite sides of most political battles. “Jeanne Pappalardo is […]
VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH By: Helen Mooradkanian – June, 2013 In that assault landing on Morotai, 45 LSTs (landing ship, tank) lined the shore. Offshore coral reefs and boulders caught landing craft. Troops, vehicles, and supplies were unloaded onto the beach—with no opposition from the 500 or more Japanese caught there by surprise. But […]
Movie’s New England Premiere Takes Place June 19 in Haverhill HAVERHILL, Five experts will discuss the state of the media following nonprofit WHAV’s New England premiere screening of “Corporate FM: The Killing of Local Commercial Radio,” Wed., June 19. The panel includes Corporate FM Director Kevin McKinney; Dan Kennedy, assistant professor, Northeastern University […]
By: Helen Mooradkanian – May 2013 In this Memorial Day issue, we honor a local WWII veteran who survived the brutality of the Japanese POW camps and the “Hell Ships.” Although he passed away February 3, 2013, shortly before his 93rd birthday, his story of courage and endurance lives on. *** Sergeant Victor Cote, […]
By: Clare Donegan NORTH ANDOVER: Town Meeting voters are considering a $4M expenditure involving 16 municipal buildings, including 8 schools. If the contract is awarded to AMERESCO the $40k study will be “free.” Forty percent is allocated for “new energy management systems” that communicate using wireless microwave radiation. Why install expensive infrastructure, which increases security […]
LAWRENCE – Executive Director Evelyn Friedman has appointed Rosa Talero as Chief Operating Officer and Tracey Chalifour as the new Director of Development and Planning for the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council Inc. The two new members of senior management add a combined three decades of professional experience in operations and fundraising for non-profit organizations. […]
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 […]
By: John Lenotte – American Legion – March, 2013 Recently I had the opportunity to travel as part of a group from Massachusetts to attend the annual American Legion Washington Conference. We were joined by other Legionnaires from across the country. There were a number of committee meetings and I attended the Legislative Commission meeting […]
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 […]