By: John MacDonald – July, 2015 As summer is upon us in Lowell the hard work of those seeking elected office really begins. The hot summer days for these candidates will be filled with door knocking, long conversations and attending summer parties where Lowellians gather. Discussions for City Council candidates will be centered on the […]
July 29, 2015 LISTEN TO RYAN AND TOM 980WCAP’s Ryan Johnston interviewed Valley Patriot publisher Tom Duggan about his Public Records Bill H3665 on Beacon Hill and why the full vote on the bill did NOT take place today in the House of Representatives.
By: Kathy Runge, July, 2015 The City Council, led by Council President Maldonado, a.k.a. Lawrence’s Ambassador to the UN, has been busy in the last month. The FY16 budget got approved with Maldonado providing the only dissenting vote. He proposed a series of potential cuts and argued for them while acting as president of the […]
By: Councilor Dan Grayton – July, 2015 After a couple weeks of delay, the council passed the fiscal year 2016 municipal budget on June 29th. The $156 million dollar budget was approved on a 7-2 vote with myself and Councilor Ron Marsan voting in opposition. The biggest topic of discussion throughout the night was the […]
By: Jeff Katz – July, 2015 My usual writing ritual involves a hot cup of coffee, extra cream, no sugar in a specific mug. If that coffee is not in one of my official writing mugs, well, there’s some major writer’s block that I am sure to encounter. Today, in addition to the coffee […]
By: Al Kaprielian – July, 2015 We are now in hurricane season, which runs from June 1st to November 30th in the northern hemisphere. Hurricanes form when the ITCZ (inter tropical convergence zone) moves north of the equator. The ITCZ is where different wind flows meet. Where the wind flows meet or come together, we […]
By: State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell July, 2105 Francis “Fran” Gradzewicz, longtime resident of Methuen, was joined by her husband Thomas, her daughter Karen Hayden, and myself, as they brought their case regarding the lack of clarity in current law governing end-of-life medical care to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Fran testified in front […]
By: DJ Deeb – July, 2015 June proved to be a busy and interesting month for Methuen Public Schools. The Federal Government is once again meddling in our schools through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by requiring that school lunch prices be increased. First off, Congratulations to the Class of 2015 who had a […]
July, 2015 Now that his pal Willie Lantigua is out of office, you will hardly find another politician in Lawrence as slick and sleazy as City Council President Modesto Maldonado. Maldonado was a part of the Lantigua machine. His job in that span of four years on the council was to advance Lantigua’s agenda and […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL July, 2015 Those who work in the “news” industry are obsessed with promoting lies and half-truths to destroy political candidates they do not like, instead of just doing their jobs and reporting the news. Last month, Donald Trump became the latest to fall victim to the liars in the “news” media, as […]
By Christine Morabito – July 2015 Supporters of Cape Wind desperately want you to believe that those opposed to the massive offshore industrial project are afflicted with the “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) syndrome. This conjures up images of affluent, elitist Cape Coders, who cannot bear to have their precious views spoiled by unsightly turbines. […]
The Pulse with John MacDonald and Tom Duggan. LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD HERE Tonight, Tom Duggan filed in for John. IN the first half of the show he interviewed State Senator Barbara L’Italien about the increase in local aid and the grants that have been approved for Lawrence and surrounding communities. In the second hour Tom […]
By: Bharani Padmanabhan – July 3, 2015 Valley Patriot readers may be familiar with the 17 month long ordeal suffered by young Justina Pelletier at the hands of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the huge effort it took from 100,000 ordinary people from across this great land who came together to […]
By: Sheila Mullins – June, 2015 Warm weather… aaaaaaaaaah. Perfect! It’s time to think about warm weather ingredients. Of course coconut & rum are part of the ingredients this month. How could one go wrong with that? Seriously? And, what about feeding a crowd? Boy, oh boy! This feeds a CROWD. I’m talking 12-16 people. […]
By: Bill Cushing – June, 2015 There was a time when summertime meant reruns on TV for 3 months. That is no longer the case. Now summer is a whole new TV season. New programming from all directions will appear over the next few weeks and take you through the summer months. Let’s take a […]