By: Ana DeBernardo – November, 2013 Over the summer, I attended a Christian camp called C.A.M.P.S., an acronym that stands for Christ As My Personal Savior. This was my second consecutive year attending C.A.M.P.S., and I had also gone to SnowCamps, the weekend retreat version of C.A.M.P.S., during the winter. I can honestly say that my […]
By: Peter Larocque – November, 2013 First let me say congratulations to Mayor Elect Dan Rivera. I am so proud of the kind of campaign that you ran. You kept it clean! You didn’t go down to your opponent’s level and play in his backyard. You stayed above the negativity and stayed the course! You […]
METHUEN FLAG RETIREMENT CEREMONY Methuen, MA – Mayor Steve Zanni invites residents to join him for Methuen’s Annual Flag Retirement Ceremony at the Veterans Lot in Elmwood Cemetery on Friday, December 6th. Scheduled for 12:00 p.m., this annual ceremony features the respectful burning of approximately 5,000 flags. “This is the appropriate and dignified way to […]
Pavel Payano, Vice Chair of the Lawrence School Committee, has launched an exploratory committee for the Democratic nomination to succeed Senator Barry Finegold to the Second Essex and Middlesex District. Senator Finegold has announced his intention to run for State Treasurer in 2014. Payano has set his sights on becoming the first elected Latino Senator […]
By: Paul Murano – November, 2013 November is the month when religious traditions remember the dead. It is a fitting month to do so. The clock gets turned back an hour and the world becomes a darker place; leaves fall, grass dies, birds evacuate, and various mammals hibernate until spring. Death is in the air […]
READ PART I This is part 2 of an exclusive interview with state appointed receiver Jeff Riley who is now in control of the Lawrence School System. VP: Talk a little bit about the grants that come in that are not part of the budget process. JR: There are different opportunities to go out […]
By: State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell – November, 2013 State Representative Brian S. Dempsey (D-Haverhill), Chairman of the House Committee on Ways & Means, along with State Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives (D-Newburyport), Representative Linda Dean Campbell (D-Methuen), Representative Diane DiZoglio (D-Methuen) and Representative Lenny Mirra (R-West Newbury) announced today that the Massachusetts Department of […]
By Tracey Zysk – November, 2013 On April 24, 2013 the unthinkable happened. I had just completed a very long day of work. In fact it was my busiest day of the week. I had walked twenty four dogs and was absolutely exhausted. I was looking forward to going home, spending time with my adorable […]
VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH By Helen Mooradkanian – November, 2013 At 6:54 a.m. Sunday, December 7, 1941, the quiet midnight watch was about to end for 20-year old Gerald L. Halterman, U.S. Navy, Yeoman 3rd Class. An urgent message came in on the teletype in the communications office at Pearl Harbor, 14th Naval District, […]
By: Tom Duggan – November 25, 2013 Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua took to the Spanish Language airwaves today to concede defeat to Lawrence City Councilor Dan Rivera just two days after Rivera won a heavily scrutinized recount by 82 votes. Lantigua said after the concession that he is going to support a smooth transition and […]
By: Lonnie Brennan – November, 2013 According to the 2012 Georgetown earnings records, recently obtained by The Valley Patriot, the Georgetown School Department spent $331,585.09 on substitute teachers in 2012, just $6,892.13 less than it spent on its entire fire and ambulance salary outlays for the year. The records revealed that 106 individuals received […]
By: Jeff Katz – November, 2013 Do you remember back in the olden days when dinosaurs roamed the earth and we had to walk up hill to school…both ways? You know the age when we rode bikes with no helmets and swam without goggles. There was a time when American kids were fairly sturdy creatures capable […]
I don’t understand all this complaining about ObamaCare by America’s conservatives. The fact of the matter is that ObamaCare, and what we have seen so far about its enrollment Web site, should be praised by conservatives. Since I first joined the ranks of conservatives I have constantly heard complaints that America’s youth lack perseverance, and […]
By: Tom Duggan – November, 2013 Condon and Knowles now seem to be backing the Tomaselli sisters’ claim that the project cost was not $80M On October 7, 2013 the Salisbury Board of Selectmen held a meeting where the “$80 Million Lie” was discussed. The Tomaselli sisters of Salisbury have long contended that the total […]