By: Tom Duggan – May 15, 2014 PHOTO GALLERY| VIDEO OF EVENT VIDEO OF MAYOR’S SPEECH Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, a 1989 graduate of Lawrence High School gave the keynote speech at the Lawrence High School Alumni Scholarship Dinner Thursday evening. Rivera revealed what he learned playing football, why he didn’t go to college after graduating […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives April, 2014 April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. I’m glad to report two recent developments that will strengthen safety for our children in the Commonwealth. There have been significant discrepencies in child services this past year; one being the serious challenges at the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) […]
By: Joe D’Amore – April, 2014 There are heroes who work with foster families and children in Massachusetts and are on the front line of caring for children at risk and I met one of them recently. She related her daily experiences of witnessing deplorable conditions in most foster homes where the standard of protection […]
By: Christine Morabito – March 2014 Because of its proximity to Interstates 495, 95 and 93, the Merrimack Valley has been uniquely impacted by a shocking increase in heroin and prescription drug abuse. The drugs are reportedly entering Massachusetts by way of New York City and the Texas border. Making matters worse, the now inexpensive heroin […]
By: Phi Lahey – March, 2014 For those of you who don’t know what that stands for, it means “Not in My Backyard”. Lately there has been much media attention on heroin and addiction in general. I think people are starting to realize we are facing an epidemic that touches every city and town in […]
By: Phil Lahey – February, 2014 Everyone knows that addicts are low life people who deserve what they get for choosing a life of addiction. Hell, I felt the same way right up until the time I found out my daughter was a heroin addict. My first thoughts were what would people think? How can […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives – February, 2014 Senators Barry Finegold, (D-Andover), Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge), Eileen Donoghue (D-Lowell), James Timilty (D-Walpole), Joan Lovely (D-Salem), Richard Ross (R-Wrentham), and Don Humason (R-Westfield), recently filed legislation to require juveniles convicted of first-degree murder to serve a minimum of 35 years before becoming eligible for […]
By: Ana Debernardo – February 2014 I’ve just returned home after spending four days in Washington, D.C., at the March for Life. About 80 kids from my school, and a dozen chaperones, take two buses every year. This year was my second consecutive year attending (as I am a sophomore). Both years, I was inspired […]
By: Helen Mooradkanian – February, 2014 They called it “the Valley of Death”—the dreaded Hiep Duc Valley in Vietnam. The enemy’s stronghold. A major battleground. One where American units were nearly annihilated. Sergeant Dudley H. Farquhar, A Troop, 1/1st Cav, Americal Division (23d Infantry), as a member of Americal’s Reactionary Forces was sent in with […]
By: Tom Duggan – January. 2014 Methuen teenager Josh Flagg entered his first Rubik’s Cube contest in April of 2011 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His second competition was at Harvard where he competed in a four by four Rubik’s Cube. In total, Josh has competed in 26 Rubik’s Cube tournaments across the country including the “worlds” […]
By: Ana Montserrat de Bernardo – January, 2014 One of my family’s favorite movies is called “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”. It’s an old slapstick comedy that revolves around a group of greedy people who are brought together in the common pursuit of buried treasure after they witness a car accident in which the […]
By: DJ Bettencourt – January, 2014 The founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Fredy, once observed that, “those who find themselves first in physical exercises are also first in their studies because serious commitment in one area promotes the desire to be first throughout.” By first eliminating the national sport of baseball from its […]
By: Rebeccah Pearson – Newburyportguide.com The Dragons Nest, located at Market Square in Newburyport, has been bringing smiles to children of all ages since 1982. The Seim Family has owned and operated the Dragons Nest, continuing their family traditions of well thought gifts for all occasions with a simple logic:“I love kids, and toys, and […]
By: Phil Lahey – December, 2013 Well the elections are over and I would like to congratulate all the winners. It’s now up to you to fulfill all the promises you made during your campaign. Being so involved in the world of addiction, I couldn’t help but notice many candidates in Methuen had the issue […]
By: Anna DeBernardo – December, 2013 This past week, my Spanish teacher required the class to write an essay about amor prohibido, or “forbidden love”. The assignment was given after we read a story about a prince and a princess from different lands who fell in love but were unable to live out their lives […]