By: Tom Duggan – October, 2005 Last month the North Andover School Committee approved measures to evaluate academic expectations and goals for students in the North Andover School System. School Committee member Charles Ormsby made a motions, which was unanimously approved. The motion was to intended to support the school committee initiatives adopted last […]
By: Barbara Peary, M.Ed. – January, 2005 My 10 and 12 year olds like to play board games. Whoever wins gloats for quite a while after the game ends. Any solutions? An effective rule to initiate is to always have the winner clean up. Picking up the pieces, sorting them, putting the lid on the box, […]
By: Tom Duggan – September 2005 LAWRENCE – Lawrence School Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy is increasingly coming under fire by candidates for both mayor and school committee, as the city elections in November draw near. Embroiled in public scandal over the alleged assault on School Committeeman Amy McGovern, Laboy has become the subject of controversy […]
PAYING ATTENTION EXTRA Larger than expected crowd turns out for Jorge Gonzalez By: Tom Duggan – August 25, 2005 Lawrence School Committee member Jorge Gonzalez now enjoys the unique distinction of being the only candidate for any office in Lawrence to have been publicly endorsed by the Superintendent of Schools. Last Thursday Gonzalez, (who is in […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN By: Tom Duggan – August 25, 2005 Lawrence City Councilor Marie Gosselin is always complaining about the “measly $97 a week” she gets paid for being a City Councilor. And she is right, of course. Lawrence School Committee members and City Councilors should be paid more for the amount of […]
“I believe that the only way Willie Lantigua can get political power is to control people who truly don’t know what is going on. He constantly stirs the pot of hate for his own political maneuvering. He doesn’t really seem to care who he hurts in the process, either.” ~Lawrence Licensing Commissioner Roger Twomey. By: […]
(June, 2005) They were literally the lifeblood of the American troops fighting against the Nazis and Japanese during World War II. The mariners of the Merchant Marine may have been civilians, but their task of supplying food, arms, medicine, and supplies was critical to the war effort. Often facing Japanese subs or German U-boats, these […]
June, 2005 Lawrence State Representative Willie Lantigua has betrayed the Latino people of Lawrence. He has been playing a dangerous game of race baiting and making racial slurs for far too long, and it is about time someone called him to task for his shenanigans. Lantigua has deliberately misinformed his Dominican constituency about Licensing […]
By: Tom Duggan – April 04, 2005 Just as I reported after the November Presidential election (which was a bittersweet moment), I was again blessed with the same feelings and emotions following this week’s North Andover town elections. Why, you ask? Well, in November I was thrilled with George Bush’s victory, the defeat of […]
By: Tom Duggan: February, 2005 Cpl. Uliano can still hear General George C. Patton telling the troops not to worry about going into combat. Patton told them, “First, the enemy fires and you duck. Then, you fire and the enemy ducks.” This quote seemed humorous when Sy Uliano relayed the story, but I’m sure it […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN Tom Duggan It’s always cute when a local politician adopts a catchy slogan to help shore up the image of his campaign. And while most voters rightly dismiss these slogans as meaningless rhetoric, one campaign slogan from this year’s North Andover town election begs to be discussed. Political […]
By: Tom Duggan – February, 2005 LAWRENCE – After years of complaining about Lawrence residents not being considered for top positions at City Hall, City Councilors rejected lifelong Lawrence resident David Camasso by a vote of 5-4 to be the city’s new Comptroller. Nearly two dozen city residents and community activists turned out […]
By: Tom Duggan – January, 2005 LAWRENCE – Wild nights of cocaine parties and binge drinking were not isolated to the Lawrence 911 Emergency Call Center at the Bodwell Street Fire Station (Fire Alarm), according to former civilian dispatcher Judy Brito. Brito showed up at the front door of The Valley Patriot just days […]
By: Jim Rurak, Former Mayor of Haverhill January, 2005 Haverhill’s history seesaws between big plans to promote its urban economy and extaordinary commitments to preserve its rural assets. Unlike Lowell and Lawrence whose land area is completely built up, Haverhill’s urban core makes up only a fraction of its total area. The rest is made up of […]
By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – January, 2005 You may be familiar with Sir Ernest Shackleton’s disastrous expedition to the Antarctic that spanned 22 months from 1914 to 1916. It has been retold numerous times in books, newspaper/magazine articles, and even a PBS Nova special. After considerable hardship, all members of Shackleton’s expedition survived the […]