By: Tom Duggan – August, 2004 LAWRENCE – Two years ago the Lawrence City Council agreed to grant a small portion of land at the Veterans Memorial Stadium for construction of a new Lawrence High School. At the time, the Council was assured that no more land would be needed and if there were any […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL July, 2004 Let’s start out with where we agree: We would all like everyone’s wages (in real terms) and standard of living to be higher. The question is not the objective, but how to achieve it. John Kerry thanks you can just pass a law and … Shazam!! – $7/hour minimum […]
Some People Never Learn PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN By: Tom Duggan – July, 2004 Former North Andover School Committeeman Diane Huster still doesn’t get it. After being thrown off the School Committee two years ago by the voters, Huster continues to engage in the very same personal attacks and viscous political tactics that […]
Lawrence School Committee uses State Tax Dollars on Cell Phones…for Themselves By: Tom Duggan – July, 2004 LAWRENCE- In the first three parts of this series, The Valley Patriot reported that Lawrence School Committee members had: 1) wasted thousands of dollars on lavish meals at the One Mill Street restaurant at state taxpayers’ […]
Frederick Hess, Beacon Hill Institute – June, 2004 (Guest Columnist) A Measure of the Need for Reform America’s schools are in a state of crisis. Few of our schools are excellent, many are mediocre, and yet we, the adults responsible, are content to tinker and theorize. Demands for radical change are consistently met by protestations […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL June, 2004 Too often we get immersed in details and lose sight of the big picture. The case for going to war in Iraq was (and continues to be) overwhelming. The bottom line is that Iraq was the best target for keeping terrorism away from our homes and our families. You constantly hear […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL May, 2004 “Wheels of Justice” is an organization made up of individuals who disguise themselves as an advocates of “peace” and love for all. They were recruited to speak to two sophomore classes at North Andover High School by history teacher Barry Humphreys, who didn’t clear it with Superintendent Harry Harutunian […]
By: Tom Duggan – May, 2004 While other communities in the Merrimack Valley are counting every penny and making difficult cuts to services and personnel, foregoing luxuries like out-of-state travel, and appealing to the state for more funding, the Lawrence School Committee appears not to have similar concerns. Last month, while no other superintendent […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN By: Tom Duggan – May, 2004 Recent headlines in Merrimack Valley newspapers have proven that the sacred cow ideologies of public education espoused by liberals are in fact, myths. Myth #1 Money equals education: Most people have bought into the myth that spending more money on education results in […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL April, 2004 While working on your Federal tax returns you may come across the following general rule taken verbatim from Title 26, Subtitle A, Chapter 1, Subchapter Q, Part II, Section 1311 (a): General rule — If a determination (as defined in section 1313) is described in one or more of […]
Lawrence School Committee is All Talk, No Action Tom Duggan (April, 2004) Last month The Valley Patriot exposed an exclusive news story about former (and one current) Lawrence School Committee members misusing education dollars to feast at the most expensive restaurant in the area, One Mill Street. Of course, there were the usual denials as […]
Tom Duggan 03-08-04 For the past three years members of the Lawrence School Committee have been billing the taxpayers for plush dining at the city’s most expensive restaurant: One Mill Street. Then School Committeemen Noah Shannon, Pedro Arce, Suzanne Piscitello, Nancy Kennedy and current member George Gonzalez all dined with Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy and his […]
March, 2004 When Lawrence City Councilor Marcos Devers was council president (2001-2003) there were no limits on discussion. Members of the public and fellow councilors had no limit on debate as long as the topic was on the agenda. Devers had a basic philosophy that his fellow councilors would be wise to adopt; more […]
By: Tom Duggan – March, 2004 Lawrence – Mayor Michael Sullivan says that even if police investigations are capable of eliminating all auto insurance fraud in the City of Lawrence, “auto insurance rates still won’t go down.” Sullivan, touting the hard work of Police Chief John Romero and the Lawrence Police Department, said that […]
CLICK TO VIEW IN OUR TURN PAGE VIEWER CLICK TO DOWNLOAD PDF