A total of 15 firearms were seized yesterday in Haverhill, including sawed off shot guns, assault rifles, and handguns, as well as a large quantity of illegal narcotics ranging from heroin, Oxycodone pills, marijuana, and cocaine. Haverhill Police with the assistance of the ATF, DEA, and MA State Police arrested 19 people on warrants Tuesday, resulting […]
By: Tom Duggan – 9.22.15 With only 9% of registered voters in Lawrence participating in the city’s preliminary elections, at least one candidate has found himself one vote shy of being nominated for city council. Rich Russell, a Viet Nam veteran and activist at council meetings, placed seventh in an eight way race, being eliminated […]
JUDGES ORDER DOC091715-09172015142844 A Lawrence Superior Court Judge has put a halt to the recall petition against Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera Tuesday, issuing a temporary restraining order on the collection of signatures against the mayor until his challenge to the initial 100 signatures can be heard by the Lawrence Board of Registrars. A recall affidavit was submitted […]
By: Kathy Runge – August 2015 We’re starting campaign season and I’m already preparing myself for the onslaught of robo-calls and junk mail we’ll be receiving in a couple of months. Please don’t vote for candidates that spend thousands of dollars trying to impress you. The more money a local candidate receives in donations, the […]
WHO’S IN AND WHO’S OUT IN CITY COUNCIL AND SCHOOL COMMITTEE RACES Candidates wishing to have their names appear on the September ballot for municipal elections had until close of business on Tuesday to turn in the required number of signatures. The Lawrence City Council is made up of nine members. Six members of the […]
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 […]
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: Kathy Runge – June, 2015 Myra Ortiz, Candidate for District A Councilor I recently spoke with Myra Ortiz, who will be running against incumbent Sandy Almonte. Myra has made Lawrence her home for 15 years and currently represents District A on the School Committee. Although the school system is under receivership, Ms. Ortiz has […]
By: Kathy Runge – May, 2015 Although, in my opinion, violating the Open Meeting Laws is not unusual for our city council, the newest show of disrespect for city residents has to be the placing of this month’s Semana Hispana fundraising carnival at the South Common with no prior notice given to the neighborhood residents. […]
By Kathy Runge – April, 2015 Council meetings in February and March were a train wreck, but everyone got their vacations in. Councilor Maldonado opened the meeting of March 3 by saying that he hoped meetings would be regular now and they wouldn’t get snowed out anymore, as if that’s the reason their meetings haven’t […]
Lawrence City Councilor Marc Laplante (District F) has filed an Opening Meeting Law complaint to the City Clerk claiming that the city council approved the use of the South Lawrence Common (O’Connell Park) for a carnival without giving proper notice to city residents. The Lawrence City Council has held several illegal meetings without notifying the […]
By: Katy Runge – January, 2015 Happy New Year to all of The Valley Patriot readers! If you missed the City Council meeting of December 16 you should watch it on YouTube (Channel: LawrenceCityCouncil), because it was a gem. Public safety loans were denied, a vote of no confidence in the mayor was attempted and confusion […]
NO CONFIDENCE It was a night of dysfunction and shocking revelations Tuesday night as the Lawrence City Council was set to take a vote of “No Confidence” in Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera only one year into his four year term. The council, mostly made up of holdovers from the Lantigua administration and loyal to the former […]
With all of the problems facing the City of Lawrence, the city council is focusing their efforts on protecting political hacks in city hall and attacking Mayor Dan Rivera. Last month, the council considered a vote of “no confidence” in Mayor Rivera claiming he is playing politics with his firing of Lantigua appointees. The narrative […]
By: Kathy Runge – December, 2014 The election has come and gone, the employee residency requirement has been discussed ad nauseam by the council with more to come, and we’ve had more senseless deaths of young people in Lawrence. The residents of Lawrence can breathe a sigh of relief that William Lantigua isn’t on the […]