By: D.J. Deeb – December, 2015 November and December are traditionally busy months for school districts. This year too is no exception and there are several things to report on this month in the paragraphs that follow: The City Elections, John & Abigail Adams Scholarship, MHS Band Disney Trip, and the PSATs in Methuen. First […]
Tom Duggan -12.20.15|4:40PM METHUEN – Methuen police were dispatched to an odd call Sunday when a woman dialed 911 on her cell phone to complain that a Salem NH police cruiser was trying to pull her over. According to police communications, the woman was asking for Methuen police to stop the Salem police, from stopping […]
Last month, Methuen Village Assisted Living and Compass Memory Support hosted their annual Casino Night, an evening of spectacular food and games, to support a cause. This year, all proceeds were donated directly to the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter. Local individuals, organizations and businesses showed additional support by donating creative gift baskets for the evening’s […]
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is due to make a formal recommendation on whether to adopt the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test or to continue with the MCAS test at their meeting on November 17. In the final weeks leading up to the decision, the debate […]
By: Rep. Linda Dean Campbell – Nov. 2015 Over this past summer, we saw two women graduate from the Army’s Ranger School, our military’s premier course for both leadership and light infantry combat. While there has been a long ongoing debate upon whether American women should fill military occupations associated with close combat, we are […]
METHUEN – Francisco Urena, Massachusetts Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs, is recommending a children’s book “Veteran Heroes In Our Neighborhood” by Valerie Pfundstein and recently introduced the book to VAV Board Members. In an effort to help Secretary Urena with his mission to help educate children about Veterans, VAV donated 26 copies of “Veteran Heroes In Our […]
By: Tom Duggan – November, 2015 Methuen Mayor Steve Zanni was re-elected to his third and final term last month. Methuen has a charter provision that limits the consecutive terms a mayor can serve to three. Mayor’s serve for two years. Mayor Zanni was first elected to the Methuen School committee and then the city […]
PERISOCOPE – With the advance of technology, The Valley Patriot is now using a cell phone application called Periscope to do live video interviews online. On Election Day, we were able to get out to Lawrence and Methuen to interview the candidates and some of their supporters. As soon as we got LIVE on the […]
Last month, The Valley Patriot broke three exclusive stories on-line concerning cover-up situations in the Methuen and Lowell Public School systems. First: Lowell High School Headmaster Brian Martin and his administrative staff tried to cover up the fact that Lowell School Committeeman Steve Gendron’s son, Chris, was engaged in racist behavior at school. Gendron’s son […]
By: Dani Langevin – November, 2015 A study conducted by the America Federation of Teachers in 2013 revealed that U.S. students spent as much as thirty days taking practice tests and/or learning test-taking strategies. Considering how much rhetorical energy is spent by politicians and school administrators about time on learning, how is the time dedicated […]
By: Rep. Linda Dean Campbell October, 2015 The Baker Administration has placed our DCF under new executive leadership that is deeply committed to effecting very necessary improvements in our State’s child protection systems. As a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, I can tell you that the Legislature is highly supportive […]
By: Tom Duggan – Oct. 25, 2015 At least three Methuen Public School students were arrested this week for threatening mass school shootings. The first, a high school student, the other two were 8th graders at the Tenney Middle School. In an exclusive interview with The Valley Patriot on Saturday, Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon […]