Reyes Demands Lantgua Pay Back School Funds

  By; Tom Duggan – May, 2011   Lawrence School Committeeman Sammy Reyes (District D) has written a scathing letter to the city council demanding that education funds (which were used for city services) be repaid to the school children of Lawrence. In his letter, Reyes threatens to turn in the Lantigua administration for misappropriation […]

Where’s the Punch Line, Mister President?

Where’s the Punch Line, Mister President?

  By: Jeff Katz -May, 2011   Yesterday was a big television day for me. I came home after slaving over a hot microphone for four straight hours, made some lunch and joined my lovely bride on the couch. We had TV to watch and nothing was going to stop us. First up, Showtime on […]

Hundreds Rally to Save Saint Mary’s School

Hundreds Rally to Save Saint Mary’s School

Catholic Church to Close Saint Mary’s After Promising to keep it Open By: Tom Duggan – May, 2011 Hundreds of students, parents and supporters of Saint Mary’s School of the Assumption in Lawrence, rallied and held a vigil Saturday to oppose the decision of the Boston Archdiocese of the Catholic Church to close the school […]

Superintendent Evaluation is Meaningless

Superintendent Evaluation is Meaningless

  By: Peter Larocque – May, 2011 When words in our English Language are used without any adherence to their meaning or definition, the result is meaningless! Please allow me to explain. To put things in perspective, here’s a little timeline without re-hashing all the details. Former Lawrence School Superintendent Dr. Laboy went on sick […]

The Recall Process in Lawrence

The Recall Process in Lawrence

  By: Jamison Tomasek – May, 2011 A recall effort is underway in the City of Lawrence. The process of a recall is contained in the City Charter (hereafter Charter). Section 9.7 entitled “Recall of Elected Officials.” As this section is written in government lingo, it does require a careful reading as well as some […]

Beware of the Backyard Breeder

  By: Tracey Zysk – April, 201 It’s puppy season! It’s that time of the year when families decide it is a great time to bring a puppy into their homes. People constantly ask me, “Do you know a good breeder? “ Or they ask me for names of breeders of specific breeds. After I […]

World Vets begin Animal Rescue in Japan

World Vets begin Animal Rescue in Japan

By: Tracey Zysk – April, 2011 Life can change in a minute, literally. Last month I wrote an article educating readers on the importance of Animal Evacuation Plans. I submitted that article to the Valley Patriot March 3 and just days later March 11, 2011 Japan was destroyed by an earthquake and a tsunami. Who […]

FROM THE DESK OF MAYOR MANZI

By: Methuen Mayor Bill Manzi – April, 2011 Municipal health care continues to be a dominant political issue for localities, with both Governor Patrick and Speaker Deleo advocating reform that would allow savings of over $100 million per year statewide. The Legislature held a hearing on this subject a couple of weeks back, but as […]

Zimini, Paquette & Jenkins Are Best for Dracut

  By: D.J. Deeb – April, 2011 The Dracut Town elections are just a few short weeks away on Monday, May 2nd. A debt exclusion issue, the Selectmen, School Committee, and Town Moderator seats are proving to be most contentious races this year. As I wrote in last month’s column, the Massachusetts School Building Authority […]

Let’s talk About Public Safety

  By: Peter Larocque – April, 2011 According to Wikipedia, (meaning quick encyclopedia), a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia, Public Safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, crimes or disasters, (natural or man-made). In the United States we have the […]