By: D.J. Deeb – April, 2011 The Dracut Town elections are just a few short weeks away on Monday, May 2nd. A debt exclusion issue, the Selectmen, School Committee, and Town Moderator seats are proving to be most contentious races this year. As I wrote in last month’s column, the Massachusetts School Building Authority […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – April, 2011 While everyone wants to feel good and say nice things, it is hard to feel good or say nice things about what is going on in the Lawrence Schools. Yes, there are successful students there. Yes, there are great teachers, and yes there are good programs and happy […]
By: Gerry Nutter, April – 2011 “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (or the one).” Mr. Spock I have used that phrase before but it comes to my mind every year around budget time for the Lowell Public Schools. The week after this paper hits the newsstands Lowell will […]
By: Jon Golnik – April, 2011 The Republican tide that swept through the country on November 2nd seemingly stopped short in Massachusetts. While Republicans won 16 state representative seats (doubling their number), how is it that we lost a state senate seat and failed to win any state wide race or a Congressional race […]
By; Tracey Zysk – January, 2011 Christmas Day December 25, 2010 was one like no other for my Sweet Lani. As many of you know, I adopted Lani from a high kill shelter in Texas this past August. Sweet isn’t even a word nice or kind enough to describe my precious 3yrs old Boston […]
By: Gerry Nutter – January, 2011 Last February now former State Sen. Steve Panagiotakos proclaimed “The Private Can’t afford the Public Sector anymore.” As we begin 2011 those words need to be kept in mind as area school committees’ negotiate new contracts with teachers and administrators. Nowhere is this more relevant than The Greater […]
By: Nathan Webster III, – January, 2011 I remember the day I got the call that my dad was in the hospital with pneumonia. It was the day after my mom died from congestive heart failure. The day after Christmas 2008. I dreaded another hospital visit. I thought it would be another routine visit […]
By: Tracey Zysk ,January, 2011 Personal trainers help clients with diabetes improve their health and wellness. North Andover, Mass. – (December 20, 2010) – The Fitness Together Massachusetts Owners Group, including the local North Andover Fitness Together studio which specializes in one-on-one personal training, is proud to announce it has raised more than $50,000 for […]
By: Lonnie Brennan – January, 2011 A few folks were chatting the other day about the upcoming tax increase for the schools, when my friend Tim cut through the air and simply stated “start saving.” His words cut right to the core. It’s a done deal he thinks. There’s “too many of them, and […]
By: Dani Langevin, Valley Patriot Lesbian Columnist – January, 2011 As an eighth grade teacher I see bullying almost on a daily basis. As a student I was at both ends of bullying. I remember bullying a boy in third grade because he was heavy and ran funny. In high school, I was bullied […]
By: Attorney Robert O’Koniewski – January, 2011 As the New Year dawns, the fiscal clock is ticking for Lawrence. It should be a watershed year for the folks residing at 200 Common Street. It is do or die time, just as the state prepares to send even less money to cities and towns this […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – January, 2011 It would be helpful to read Part 1 of this from last month’s Valley Patriot, but to briefly recap the first article finished with the conclusion that Lawrence is a city that votes overwhelmingly Democratic and this influences any election where the people of the city play a […]
By: Gerry Nutter – December, 2010 Since we are in the Holiday season, I thought I’d save time and hand out my Christmas presents to the area politicians a little early so they don’t forget I got them something. Some you may get and others only a few may get but it’s done in […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – December, 2010 I was recently a candidate for the Massachusetts State Senate representing Andover, Dracut, Lawrence and Tewksbury. I have time on my hands to write this because I lost the election. While doing well in the towns, I lost Lawrence, and I lost it big. Voters, VP readers or […]
By; Robert O’Koniewski – December, 2010 Recently state treasurer-elect Steve Grossman was whining in the press about legislation his pal, U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), had filed to legalize on-line video poker across the country. Grossman’s gripe? Legalized on-line poker would hurt, allegedly, the Massachusetts state lottery’s revenues and the almost $900 […]