Paying Attention! with Tom Duggan October, 2008 Last May the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) notified the North Andover Public Schools that their high school was being put on warning of losing its accreditation. But, it wasn’t until August 25th that North Andover Superintendent of Schools, Marini notified the public that the […]
By: Tom Duggan – September, 2008 The Eagle Tribune newspaper, head-quartered in North Andover and owned by Alabama-based Community News-paper Holdings, Inc. announced last week that at least 52 employees have been laid off in the largest ever downsizing measure taken by the company. In a memo to employees, publisher Al Getler, a […]
Family of hero soldier killed in Iraq says Eagle~Tribune Reporter had to be thrown out of wake and funeral as well By: Tom Duggan – August, 2008 Slain soldier, Army Pfc. Alex Jimenez was captured by Al Qaeda and had been missing for 15 months before his remains were finally found in Iraq. “As hard as […]
By: Tom Duggan – April 2008 NORTH ANDOVER – Several North Andover Middle School students are being investigated by the North Andover police for personal profiles posted on the America On Line Internet service threatening to harm fellow students and naming at least one teacher and a classmate the student pledges to “kill.” These threats […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL February,2008 Last month the Exchange Club of Lawrence honored police officers, firefighters and an EMT workers for their service to the communities of Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover. Among those honored were Lawrence Police Officer Michael Magnan who received one of the Exchange Club’s “Police Officer of the Year Awards” for saving […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE! By: Tom Duggan – January, 2008 The North Andover School Committee is suing their former acting Superintendent Richard Bergeron for illegally giving himself a $4,484.34 raise without school committee approval. A complaint filed in Lawrence District Court claims that Bergeron ordered a payroll clerk to put the additional money in […]
Sandy Gleed This Monday’s special town meeting demonstrated far more about the shortcomings of municipal government than it did about the average citizen’s desire to exert control over wireless communications. The wireless article sparked very legitimate concerns about: * our town’s failure to monitor current cell tower permits * our town’s […]
By: George Vozeolos – December, 2012 With another Special Town Meeting taking place last month, I would like to make it clear what I am trying to do and why. First the why. Our existing town charter was adopted over 22 years ago and North Andover has grown considerably. Like an old sweater, we […]
By: Ralph Wilbur – December, 2007 In the late 1960’s, North Andover was one of the first communities to wholeheartedly adopt the then current fad for “open classroom” teaching. A new high school was constructed without internal partitioning walls and the result was noise, constant distractions and educational bedlam. Generations of North Andover […]
Tom Duggan – December, 2007 Last month, my 7th grade daughter at the North Andover Middle School came home from school and said that she learned in her Spanish class how the leader of Venezuela (Hugo Chavez) was a “good guy” for giving cheap oil to poor people here in the US. She also said […]
By: Tom Duggan – December 2007 WCAP radio (980/AM) may be located in downtown Lowell, but Colonel Sam Poulten and Clark Smidt say they are expanding the Lowell-based news and talk programming on the station to include Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill “and everywhere in between,” says Smidt who took over the station with […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE By: Tom Duggan – October, 2007 NORTH ANDOVER – Tracy Watson has announced to The Valley Patriot that she will run for the Board of Selectman this March. There are two open seats for Selectmen this coming election with the announcements from Selectmen Licciardello and Xenakis of their intentions not to […]
An exclusive interview with Bob Ansin. By: Tom Duggan – October, 2007 Earlier this month, several erroneous Eagle-Tribune stories alleged that Robert Ansin, CEO of sustainable development company MassInnovation, was running out of funds and that asbestos was found inside the Monarch on the Merrimack building. On Sunday, September 16, the Eagle-Tribune ran a […]
Eagle~Tribune Hit Piece Costs Ansin $40 Million PART 1 WEB EXTRA By: Tom Duggan (09/20/07) An Exclusive Interview with Bob Ansin (Part 1) Sustainable developer Bob Ansin has pumped $25 million dollars of his own money into the Monarch on the Merrimack project (MIRACLE ON MERRIMACK ST) to revitalize the old Wood Mill on […]
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – September 05, 2007 In our July edition, I wrote an article entitled “Snookered” that analyzed a highly questionable pro-override campaign postcard distributed by North Andover United (NAU) just days before our recent override vote (See figure below). The group’s postcard cited home sales statistics for […]