Senate Passes Sweeping Public Records Reform Bill, Conference Committee Named to Create Final Language

Senate Passes Sweeping Public Records Reform Bill, Conference Committee Named to Create Final Language

RELATED STORIES The Massachusetts State Senate unanimously passed sweeping reforms of the state’s impotent public records law last month. Senate Bill 2120, “An Act Improving the Administration and Enforcement of Public Records Law”. The law will make sweeping changes to MGL Ch. 66, which currently states that public agencies and municipalities must turn over public […]

Rep. Lyons Pushes effort to allow 72-hour Medical Hold for Treating Overdose Victims

Rep. Lyons Pushes effort to allow 72-hour Medical Hold for Treating Overdose Victims

BOSTON – State Representative Jim Lyons (R-Andover) today offered an amendment to allow doctors and care givers the power to involuntarily hold overdose victims at a hospital or drug treatment facility for an initial three day period to receive emergency treatment. The amendment, put forth by Rep. Lyons and  Rep. Shaunna L. O’Connell (R-Taunton), was […]

MBTA Pension Fund Subject to Senate Public Records Bill

MBTA Pension Fund Subject to Senate Public Records Bill

Senate Minority Leader Tarr Secures Passage of Several Amendments Boston- The State Senate today adopted legislation to make certain Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Retirement Board records subject to the provisions of a new public records access law. Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) successfully championed the legislation which will apply to all documents made or […]

LRA Board Member Files Injunction to Stop His Replacement

LRA Board Member Files Injunction to Stop His Replacement

Lawrence resident James Patrick O’Donoghue has filed an injunction in Newburyport Superior Court, to try and halt his removal from the Lawrence Redevelopment Authority. O’Donogue was appointed February 4, 2014 to fill the unexpired term of Estella Reyes, who left the board after taking office as a Lawrence City Councilor.  O’Donoghue claims in his filing with the […]

Ethics Commission Accuses Stoughton Town Moderator Howard Hansen – Town Printing Done at His OWN Company

Ethics Commission Accuses Stoughton Town Moderator Howard Hansen – Town Printing Done at His OWN Company

Hansen repeatedly violated several sections of the conflict of interest law between 2009 and 2014 by directing Town printing business to his own printing company The Enforcement Division of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission alleges that Howard Hansen, the Town of Moderator of Stoughton, violated G.L. c. 268A, the conflict of interest law, by directing […]

Haverhill Student Introduces Rep. Dempsey at Annual AICUM Dinner, Speaks of Importance of Need-Based College Grants

Haverhill Student Introduces Rep. Dempsey at Annual AICUM Dinner, Speaks of Importance of Need-Based College Grants

Haverhill resident Stephanie Bellapianta, a freshman at Merrimack College, presented an award to State Representative Brian Dempsey in front of 350 leaders from the state’s higher education sector, at an annual dinner for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM). The December 14 event held at the Seaport Hotel in Boston honored […]

Book On A Mission: “Ward of the State” to Raise Money for Local Foster Kids

Book On A Mission: “Ward of the State” to Raise Money for Local Foster Kids

The story of one foster kid is on the shelves to raise money to help hundreds more. A small non-profit is taking aim at a huge goal. The Foster Kids of the Merrimack Valley is raising money to open a halfway house for kids aging out of the foster system. At the center of their […]

Why I Chose to Run for State Rep. ~ Oscar Camargo

Why I Chose to Run for State Rep. ~ Oscar Camargo

By: Oscar Camargo – Jan. 2015 Since announcing my candidacy, people from the 18th Essex (Andover, Boxford, North Andover, and Tewksbury) have been supportive of my decision. I’m not surprised, given that State Representative Jim Lyons’ three terms have been unaccomplished. Rep. Lyons has accrued one of the lowest committee attendance records in the State […]

Stronger Support by Medical Community Needed to Address Opioid Crisis

Stronger Support by Medical Community Needed to Address Opioid Crisis

By: State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell – Jan. 2016 We have an opportunity in coming weeks in the Legislature to send the Governor a comprehensive piece of legislation to further address the opioid crisis. Legislative action to date includes substantially increased funding for: treatment post-detox; Community Mental Health Centers for both adults and youth; and […]

In Pursuit of Public Records Reform ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES

In Pursuit of Public Records Reform ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES

By: Senator Katy Ives – Jan. 2016 There have been a number of important legislative developments toward tackling public records reform. This month’s column is an opportunity to describe the status of public records legislation in the effort to produce meaningful public records reform this session. At the onset, Senator Jason Lewis filed S.1676, which […]

Rep. Lyons Reviews Legislative Accomplishments at Mid Session

Rep. Lyons Reviews Legislative Accomplishments at Mid Session

“We’ve turned a corner,” said Rep. Jim Lyons, “but we still have a long, long way to go.” Reflecting on the first half of the 2015-2016 legislative sessions, State Representative Jim Lyons (R-Andover) noted that it was a productive year marked by many legislative accomplishments, although vital challenges remain to be addressed. “From the beginning,” […]

Powerball’s Historic Jackpot and What it Means to the Local Economy

Powerball’s Historic Jackpot and What it Means to the Local Economy

By: Tom Duggan, 1-12-15 Massachusetts State Lottery Director Michael Sweeney told the Valley Patriot Tuesday morning that the Powerball jackpot has been adjusted to $1.5B, the largest lottery payout in world history. “It’s really a big win for the state,” Sweeney  said. The Powerball jackpot hasn’t been hit in 19 successive drawings. The last time someone […]

Pain Patients To Suffer in Order to Conceal Drug Cartel Activities

Pain Patients To Suffer in Order to Conceal Drug Cartel Activities

By: Dr. Padmanabhan – December, 2015 In November’s Valley Patriot, I laid out the reason underlying the false government narrative that prescribing pain medicine to patients is the cause of the increasing number of overdose deaths. I was encouraged that finally after 2 years of drum-beating the false government narrative and concealing the massive impact […]

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