U.S. Army National Guard Soldier Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIL

U.S. Army National Guard Soldier Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIL

WASHINGTON—A soldier in the U.S. Army National Guard pleaded guilty today to federal charges that he conspired with his cousin to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization in the Middle East. Hasan R. Edmonds, 23, of Aurora, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support to ISIL, a designated […]

Recall Petition #1 Falls Short Against Rivera, Mayor Says He will Investigate Forgeries and Fraud, Call Out Opponents

Recall Petition #1 Falls Short Against Rivera, Mayor Says He will Investigate Forgeries and Fraud, Call Out Opponents

By: Tom Duggan – Dec. 11, 2015 The recall efforts against Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera was dealt a critical blow Friday as recall supporters fell 655 signatures short of the 5,645 required to trigger a special election to throw Rivera out of office. This is only one of two recall efforts to unseat Rivera. Both recalls are being […]

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL (Dec. 2015) – Recall Against Lawrence Mayor Rivera Must Fail

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL (Dec. 2015) – Recall Against Lawrence Mayor Rivera Must Fail

In November of 2013, (then) Lawrence City Councilor Dan Rivera defeated incumbent Mayor Willie Lantigua by 84 votes. After a recount was conducted, and Rivera was again declared the winner, Mayor Lantigua told The Valley Patriot that he would be coming back to run against Rep. Marcos Devers and then, working full time to recall […]

Lawrence Mayor Says He was “Deceived” on Polartec Closing, Layoffs Come One Day Before Anniversary of Historic Mill Fire

Lawrence Mayor Says He was “Deceived” on Polartec Closing, Layoffs Come One Day Before Anniversary of Historic Mill Fire

Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera says he has been “deceived” in the closing of Polartec on Broadway in Lawrence. The mayor released a statement late on Thursday saying that when he met with the company over their purchasing a similar business in Tennessee. Rivera says he was assured when they made that purchase that the Lawrence […]

Two Lawrence Men Charged in Identity Theft Fraud Scheme, Had More Than 800 Names and SS#’s

Two Lawrence Men Charged in Identity Theft Fraud Scheme, Had More Than 800 Names and SS#’s

BOSTON – Two Lawrence men were charged in U.S. District Court in Boston in connection with a scheme to file fraudulent federal income tax returns using stolen identities. Furvio Flete-Garcia, 42, and Juan Santiago, 36, nationals of the Dominican Republic, were indicted on conspiracy to defraud the United States, theft of government property, access device […]

Salisbury Marina Owner Fined $14,380 for Failure to Prepare Safety Measures Prior to Excavation, Construction Activities  

Salisbury Marina Owner Fined $14,380 for Failure to Prepare Safety Measures Prior to Excavation, Construction Activities  

BOSTON -The owner of a Salisbury marina property, has been fined $14,380 by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP),  for failure to take necessary safety measures prior to initiating construction activities on the site at 179 Bridge Street. The property is owned by the commercial realty firm BM, LLC, and has an Activity and […]

Lawrence Police Take Lawrence Man into Custody on Hoax Bomb on Atlantic Avenue in Boston

Lawrence Police Take Lawrence Man into Custody on Hoax Bomb on Atlantic Avenue in Boston

Dec. 4, 2015|4:04pm UPDATED: 5:25pm LAWRENCE – The Valley Patriot has learned this afternoon that James “Jimmy” Derepentingy of Lawrence was arrested at gunpoint near the Saint Patrick’s School on Parker Street. Derepentingy was wanted in connection with the suspicious package that was detonated on Atlantic Avenue in Boston by the bomb squad early Friday afternoon. The Valley […]

FEDS ARREST LAWRENCE MAN FOR RECEIVING $146K IN STOLEN TAX REFUND CHECKS

FEDS ARREST LAWRENCE MAN FOR RECEIVING  $146K IN STOLEN TAX REFUND CHECKS

BOSTON – A Lawrence man was arrested today on charges that he received stolen U.S. Treasury checks.  Rolfi Espinal, 49, was indicted on 24 counts of receipt of stolen public money and ­­two counts of making false statements.   The indictment alleges that from approximately September to December 2011, Espinal accepted fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks totaling […]

Daybreak Homeless Shelter & Psychological Center in Lawrence Need Your Help

Daybreak Homeless Shelter & Psychological Center in Lawrence Need Your Help

By: Carina Pappalardo As Valley Patriot readers know, The Psychological Center in Lawrence has undergone some major changes this past year. Fortunately, Daybreak Shelter and our other programs, Pegasus House, Women’s View, and Safe Haven are weathering the storm that passed. As you can imagine, it takes a lot to run a shelter the size of […]

Methuen Village Raises $6K for Alzheimer’s Association

Methuen Village Raises $6K for  Alzheimer’s Association

Last month, Methuen Village Assisted Living and Compass Memory Support hosted their annual Casino Night, an evening of spectacular food and games, to support a cause. This year, all proceeds were donated directly to the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter. Local individuals, organizations and businesses showed additional support by donating creative gift baskets for the evening’s […]

An Opportunity to Get Standardized Testing Right

An Opportunity to Get Standardized Testing Right

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is due to make a formal recommendation on whether to adopt the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test or to continue with the MCAS test at their meeting on November 17. In the final weeks leading up to the decision, the debate […]