PAYING ATTENTION ON-LINE EXTRA This week the Newburyport Daily News (owned by the Eagle ~Tribune, headquartered in Alabama) ran a hit piece on Salisbury Selectman candidate Gil Medeiros being fired 8 years ago from his job at the Essex County Sheriff’s Department. And, while the Daily news seems to have finally figured out how […]
Board Has Taken Steps to Address Problem, Recoup Funds BOSTON, MA — Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today issued an audit of the Massachusetts State Retirement Board (MSRB), which found that the agency made more than $687,000 in payments to deceased pensioners, and underpaid more than $271,000 to pensioners whose designated beneficiaries had died. The error […]
By: Tom Duggan, May 3, 2016|820pm The Lawrence City Council refused to tear down a crumbling building owned by one of their own councilors by refusing to take the measure up as an emergency. The roof of the building has collapsed and the cinder blocks at the top of the building and are […]
Foskett hired his brothers and his son to plow snow for the town, hired his son to build retaining wall for new Highway Department Bar The State Ethics Commission approved a Disposition Agreement in which Gerry Foskett, the Town of Charlton Highway Department Superintendent, admitted to violating G.L. c. 268A, the conflict of interest law, […]
By: Dr. Bharani Padmanabhan – April, 2016 John Ehrlichman authorized breaking into Dr. Fielding’s office on September 3rd, 1971, to steal Daniel Ellsberg’s medical chart. In those days, medical charts were confidential and access strictly controlled. Any break-in was physical and impossible to miss. Even if the government did steal your private chart, at least […]
WANT YOUR EVENT OR ORGANIZATION LISTED IN THE NOTEBOOK? FOR $150 WE WILL PUBLISH YOUR NOTICE, EVENT, ETC. (150 word max) EDITION #150 – In case you didn’t notice the small number at the top of page one, this is our 150th edition of The Valley Patriot. While we were all celebrating the newspaper’s 12th […]
BOSTON, MA — Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump has released the findings of her audit, announcing that MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, paid a total of $476,787 for medical services or prescriptions from doctors that are disallowed by federal law from participating in the program. The prohibition resulted from violations of federal laws and […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives – April, 2016 Recently, the State Senate unanimously, and in a bipartisan fashion, passed a bill I filed to protect consumers from unknowingly entering a credit contract and to limit instances of fraud resulting from the mailing of unsolicited and often predatory loans. Every day, residents across Massachusetts find what […]
Methuen State Representative Diana DiZoglio and Cambridge Doctor Bharani Padmanabhan were both bestowed one of the highest honors by The Valley Patriot newspaper last month, when they were each given the newspaper’s First Amendment Award. Each year, The Valley Patriot’s 1st Amendment award is given to two individuals who show with their actions that […]
By: Duncan Burns, Political Oberserver 4-18-16 This is not the story of a lottery winner, nor is it one of a successful rags-to-riches journey, no, this is the story of a Massachusetts Legislator. The Massachusetts State Representative in question name is Brian Dempsey, who has served on Beacon Hill for over two (2) decades. Over […]
By: John MacDonald – April, 2016 For generations Lowell, Massachusetts has been a city in America that is known to willingly accept immigrants from around the world. Immigrants built the city, lived here and often became successful. Legal immigrants made huge positive contributions as they assimilated to the city and the United States of […]
By: Tom Duggan, 4-4-16 Former Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua is in trouble again with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF). The state’s political watchdog agency has fined Lantigua another $1,875 (as of 4-3-16) for refusing to file his 2015 year-end, campaign finance reports with the state. The reports were due on January […]
By: Dr. Bharani Padmanabhan – March, 2016 Healthcare costs are a huge percentage of the Commonwealth’s annual expense and a significant burden on both public and private employers’ budgets. Eventually all the spending gets reflected in the insurance premiums we all must pay. It naturally follows that huge attention must be paid to ensure that […]
By: Tom Duggan – March, 2016 Salisbury residents Stacie and Mark Warcewicz, owners of The Meadow at Red Ridge Farm have filed a lawsuit against the Town of Salisbury for illegally placing unenforceable restrictions on their business license. The Warcewiczs say that after years of holding weddings on their property with full consent from the […]
By: Tom Duggan, Feb, 2016 Last month, I had the displeasure of spending a day in Waltham at the state’s Board of Registration in Medicine, also known as BORIM. They are a state board appointed by the governor (this board was appointed by Gov. Patrick) to oversee the disciplining of doctors accused of wrongdoing. […]