By: Ana DeBernardo – December, 2015 The sound of vehicles honking their horns at jaywalkers jolts me from my sleep. The smell of exhaust already suffocates me, barely letting me catch my first breath of the morning. It’s another frigid day in December, and I don’t have a coat or socks, or even shoes without holes. […]
By Christine Morabito – December 2015 What we have is a problem of energy inequality. In terms of energy costs, Massachusetts residents pay the highest prices in the nation – three to four times as much per kilowatt hour for electricity. We are so accustomed to paying this exorbitant amount, that we rarely question it. The […]
By: Jeff Katz – Dec. 2015 I have been privileged over the years to meet many notable folks including celebrities from the entertainment world, athletes and elected officials. One man I met about seventeen years ago however, touched me in a different way. He was not a professional athlete, but he had a passion […]
By: Weatherman Al Kaprielian – Dec. 2015 We are now in meteorological winter, which began on December 1st and runs through February 28, 2016. December, January and February are considered meteorological winter. Most of November saw temperatures above normal. This past November will rank as the ninth warmest November for Boston since weather records began […]
By: Rick Bellanti – Dec. 2015 When I was approached to write a monthly wellness column, I knew that my first article was going to be about daily water intake. It’s one of the most important ingredients for your health and wellness and also the easiest to do and keep track of. Water makes up […]
In November of 2013, (then) Lawrence City Councilor Dan Rivera defeated incumbent Mayor Willie Lantigua by 84 votes. After a recount was conducted, and Rivera was again declared the winner, Mayor Lantigua told The Valley Patriot that he would be coming back to run against Rep. Marcos Devers and then, working full time to recall […]
By: Kathy Runge – November, 2015 The election has come and gone and the good news is, I should have no scarcity of material for the foreseeable future. The bad news is that Brian DePena was top vote getter in the Councilor at-Large race. Mr. DePena, I will be thrilled if you prove me wrong. […]
By: John MacDonald – November 2015 The results of the Lowell City Council and Lowell School Committee elections are in. A message that was loud and clear … don’t mess with a local guy. When all things are equal, you put personal feelings aside and support the local guy. The ghost of Jay Lang hung […]
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: Peter Larocque – November, 2015 I remember years ago, a friend of mine who lived down the street from where I lived got a new bike. But this was not just an ordinary bike; it was The New Varoom Bike from Mattel with Stingray handlebars, which came with the sound of a motorcycle. This […]
By: Cindy Annis – November, 2015 One of the most successful couples of the 60s and 70s were Sonny and Cher. Cher was born on May 20, 1946 in El Centro, California. Her real name is Cherilyn Sarkisian. Her parents divorced when Cher was ten months old. Being of a poor, broken home was tough […]
By: Ana DeBernardo – Nov. 2015 It’s a truth universally acknowledged that teenagers all come accompanied by a bad rep. Whether they’re being moody, stubborn, angry, or just plain brats, I’m pretty sure no one would want to be stuck living this age forever. Many people even view the teen years as nothing more than […]
By: Cheryl Hajjar, Nov. 2015 In days past, bullying was somewhat of a norm, or almost even seen as a rite of adolescent passage. Most kids at some point were victims of some sort of bullying whether it be physical, emotional, or a little of both. Today, it is recognized as a serious mental health […]
By: Maria Fiato. Christine Ryan, and Tom Duggan Nov. 23, 2015 MASSACHUSETTS – After nearly five years of trying to get the Massachusetts legislature to reform the state’s impotent public records law, Valley Patriot publisher Tom Duggan says that they have made a good first step towards holding public officials accountable for not turning over […]
By: Bharany Padmanabhan – Nov. 2015 The Obama Administration has to this minute not denied documents furnished to federal courts documenting that the Sinaloa drug cartel are officially supported by the Department of Justice and officially coordinate with the highest rungs of power within law enforcement exactly as James ‘Whitey’ Bulger did for years. HERE […]