VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL July, 2009 Less than a week ago, the world’s news outlets were filled with the sights and sounds of heroic Iranian citizens risking, and in many cases losing, their lives for freedom. Their government, intent upon perpetuating a seventh century philosophy that denies basic human liberties, had hijacked an election and then proceeded to brutally suppress the resulting protest […]
By: Tom Duggan – July, 2009 Documents obtained by The Valley Patriot last month revealed that operators at the City of Lawrence’s brand new $26 million water treatment facility failed to test the city’s drinking water for a bacteria called E.coli from July 2008 to February 2009. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) […]
By: Tom Duggan – July, 2009 An investigation by the Massachusetts office of Campaign and Political Finance may not have issued their report yet on which elected officials benefited from campaign material printed in the Lawrence Public Schools I’m gong to tell you who they right now. At least three members of the Lawrence School Committee (Morris, Larocque and Mejia) benefited from literature printed […]
By: Tom Dugan – July, 2009 You have to hand it to the poverty pimps at Lawrence Community Works, they really know how to pull a fast one. Last month LCW started their sham campaign called “Yes We Will” where they invited every candidate for office to attend an event so they could size up the competition for their […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL June, 2009 This past Sunday, a gunman fired one shot and killed famed abortionist George Tiller while he attended “church” services in Wichita, Kansas. Tiller is famous because he is one of very few abortionists who, for a handsome fee, will end the life of viable fetuses, sometimes in the 9th month. In most cases these […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL June, 2009 Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini is planning to close the Bradford Fire Station in June and we find that unacceptable. Even more unacceptable is how Fiorentini blames the firefighters for racking up overtime and exhausting the city budget. But the firefighters we talked to showed us hard facts and figures proving that the fire […]
By: Tom Duggan, May, 2009 Lawrence School Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy granted an exclusive interview with The Valley Patriot where he discussed for the first time to anyone, the details of recent media scandals involving his office, teachers and principals under his command and the spate of bad publicity in the daily newspaper concerning the […]
Haverhill to receive $282,000; Methuen $79,000 Posted: March 05, 2009 Congresswoman Niki Tsongas announced today that the City of Lawrence will receive approximately $3,500,000 as funding begins to be released from the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The funding will help create jobs locally through the construction and restoration of public […]
Paying Attention! with Tom Duggan By: Tom Duggan – Posted: February 13, 2009 The Lawrence Historical Commission voted Tuesday evening to approve the demolition of two buildings on Merrimack Street in Lawrence owned by Sal Lupol of Salvatore’s Restaurant, at Sal’s Riverwalk Properties, making way for a multi-million dollar development at the site which […]
Slated to Bring 2,000 New Jobs to Lawrence By: Tom Duggan February 2, 2009 The Lawrence Historical Commission voted Tuesday evening to approve the demolition of two buildings on Merrimack Street in Lawrence owned by Sal Lupol of Salvatore’s Restaurant, at Sal’s Riverwalk Properties, making way for a multi-million dollar development at the site […]
Blanchette calls for “investigation” into how The Valley Patriot obtained public information on his $5,000 Raise The president of the Lawrence city council has called for an “investigation” into how the Valley Patriot obtained his EAF (Employee Action From). The form is part of the city’s personnel file on city employees and shows any […]
Defending the First Amendment and protecting confidential sources PAYING ATTENTION! with Tom Duggan By: Tom Duggan, November, 2008 The most important function a newspaper or media outlet can perform is to serve as a watchdog for the way taxpayer’s dollars are spent in their community and expose information that public officials and those who do […]
Fired Attorney’s Firm Member Made Millions on Taxpayers Valley Patriot Staff – November, 2008 Former Lawrence city hall worker Andrea Traficanti will be back in court next month seeking permanent and total disability benefits after filing a new claim with the Department of Industrial Accidents. Her claim now is that she is permanently and […]
Congratulations to Barak Obama and the incoming Obama administration Valley Patriot Editorial November, 2008 Though many Americans did not vote for Obama and indeed some of us have expressed serious reservations about this competence and the direction he will take this country, now is not the time for such division. Now is the time to […]
Paying Attention! with Tom Duggan October, 2008 Last May the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) notified the North Andover Public Schools that their high school was being put on warning of losing its accreditation. But, it wasn’t until August 25th that North Andover Superintendent of Schools, Marini notified the public that the […]