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 […]
By Sandra Stotsky, special to the Valley Patriot Why Massachusetts needs to defund implementation and testing of Common Core’s current standards In this essay, I suggest why Common Core’s English language arts and mathematics standards need revision before further implementation in any Common Core state—and well before tests are given that are based on these […]
By: Tom Duggan – July, 2013 According to documents obtained by The Valley Patriot, Carmine and William DiAdamo of the DiAdamo and DiAdamo Law firm are not only the worker’s compensation attorney’s for the City of Lawrence, but the money they made on the city for rental payments of their Essex Street buildings under the Lantigua […]
Downtown, Public Assets, Consolidating Town Services The Valley Patriot sat down with North Andover Town Manager Andrew Maylor in March of this year to give residents a chance to get to know the man running their town, and his plans for their future. ( Part 1 – Part 2) (Transcribed by Kathleen Laplante) VP: How do we […]
At the risk of sounding elitist, Massachusetts schools should not have to lower their exceptional education standards to be equal to other states. Alabama is a very nice place, but it does not necessarily share our educational requirements, especially if we hope to compete in the high tech and medical fields that attract students and […]
LAST MONTH: An Interview with Town Manager Andrew Maylor – Part 1 The Valley Patriot sat down with North Andover Town Manager Andrew Maylor in March of this year to give residents a chance to get to know the man running their town, and his plans for their future. – Transcribed by Ben Flagg VP: So you’ve got […]
By: Tom Duggan – May 22, 2013 First Amendment advocates and free speech organizations have taken notice of Methuen High School student Cameron D’Ambrosio, who is being held pending a $1M bail for what Methuen Police and the Essex County District Attorney’s office say are threats of “terrorism.” On May 1st, Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon […]
By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – May 2013 The world has long had wars between good and evil. Those who share the ideals of our Founding Fathers can usually spot which side is most aligned with the good and which with the evil. For example, we have an on-going war against Islamic terrorism. In this case […]
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 […]
The GLCAC’s Head Start program recently won recognition for its innovation and leadership in teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics to preschoolers. In a ceremony attended by Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua, Lawrence Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Riley, parents and GLCAC staff, three prize-winning teachers were honored for using bridges and statues to help preschoolers learn […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL MAY, 2013 The corruption and the fleecing of the state taxpayers by Lawrence officials is staggering, and we believe the biggest scandal going on in the state. Yet the media and elected “leaders” on Beacon Hill continually look the other way. At issue: Jeff Riley is the state appointed receiver in […]
By: State Senator Katy O’Connor Ives – April 2013 As the legislative session heads into the spring, there are a series of important issues facing the Commonwealth. I’m highlighting transportation funding and child safety in this column. As always, I welcome your thoughts on these and other issues. Trains, roads and taxes Beacon Hill […]
By Mark Behan – April 18, 2013 “So, Noelia Figuereo, you’ve just won two national titles. What are you going to do next?” If Figuereo had been the Super Bowl MVP, rather than a junior college track star at the time, she may have responded: “I’m going to Disneyland!” But real life is not something […]
By: Tom Duggan – April 203 North Andover Town Manager Andrew Maylor worked in post-receivership Chelsea for six years. He told The Valley Patriot it was a great learning experience. You have worked in cities and towns, which do you prefer, which do you see as functioning better? “After six years, I became the […]
“The help we give to Lawrence will not be an infusion of capital it will be getting at some management changes.” Deval Patrick January, 2010 “My goal is to decentralize” Jeff Riley 2011 By: Tom Duggan – April 16, 2013 When State Receiver Jeff Riley took over the failing Lawrence Public Schools more than two years ago, he promised to decrease the […]