By: D.J. Bettencourt – APril 2013 The Mercatus Center, on the campus of George Mason University, is billed as an “education research and outreach center” and does something incredibly rare for an institution within higher education. It thinks seriously about freedom and how states can protect and expand it. Not ironically, Mercatus takes its […]
By: State Senator Katy O’Connor Ives – April 2013 As the legislative session heads into the spring, there are a series of important issues facing the Commonwealth. I’m highlighting transportation funding and child safety in this column. As always, I welcome your thoughts on these and other issues. Trains, roads and taxes Beacon Hill […]
By Helen Mooradkanian – April 2013 The “island hopping” strategy in the Pacific had proved successful as the Marines secured one island after another in their advance toward the Japanese mainland: Roi and Namur in the Marshall Islands (February 1944), Los Negros (March 1944), Wake Island (May 1944), Saipan and Guam (July 1944), and Tinian […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL – APRIL 2013 Lawrence City Councilor Dan Rivera is running for mayor against incumbent Willie Lantigua. We find that odd. For the last two and a half years, Lawrence City Councilor At-Large, Dan Rivera has approved nearly every hack appointment made by the embattled Mayor Lantigua. His approvals included the now indicted […]
By: John Lenotte – American Legion – March, 2013 Recently I had the opportunity to travel as part of a group from Massachusetts to attend the annual American Legion Washington Conference. We were joined by other Legionnaires from across the country. There were a number of committee meetings and I attended the Legislative Commission meeting […]
By: Helen Mooradkanian – March 2013 Having arrived in France only in mid-November, they were somewhat inexperienced. Auffay, Luneville, Bining, and Rohrback did not really prepare them for the nightmare of Herrlisheim. Herrlisheim became their “baptism by fire.” It was there that they lived up to their name, the “Hellcats” Division. Snow 15 inches deep […]
By: Tracy Watson, North Andover Selectman, – March 2013 This recent week has brought much media attention to my family. This attention has come due to the fact that my son Cameron received what has recently been dubbed a “fat letter”. These letters are sent to the homes of children throughout the state of Massachusetts […]
By: Mara Dolan Turning on CNN after a lovely Valentine’s dinner on the town with the blossoming young woman who is my daughter, I was appalled at what I saw. Hundreds of people stranded on an ocean liner, their vacation ruined, while news cameras recorded every moment for a rapt nation, grateful to be snug […]
By: Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist In 1998, Massachusetts passed what was hailed as the toughest gun-control legislation in the country. Among other stringencies, it banned semiautomatic “assault” weapons, imposed strict new licensing rules, prohibited anyone convicted of a violent crime or drug trafficking from ever carrying or owning a gun, and enacted severe penalties for […]
By Attorney Christine Sullivan The husband and wife both love their children and spend as much time with their children as possible. There has never been any physical or mental abuse in the marriage, but the marriage simply isn’t working. After a stressful weekend of arguing, the husband tells the wife that he wants a […]
By: Joe D’Amore March 2013 I bore witness today to the unbreakable bond of a small community that observed the passing of a sweet soul at our place of gathering, the Congregational Church . For countless generations this place has accommodated every condition experienced by humanity ; from joy, to elation, celebration and at times […]
By: DJ Bettencourt New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan’s decision to balance her proposed budget and fund the state’s infrastructure needs by assuming revenue generated by an expanded gaming proposal has sparked widespread debate across the Granite State. While much of that debate has centered on the wisdom of assuming revenue from a source that has […]
Little more than 9 years ago, The Valley Patriot was just an idea. That idea was to provide an alternative voice for Merrimack Valley newsmakers and community leaders who were frustrated by the lack of adequate local coverage in other media outlets. We wanted to publish a newspaper that was different. We wanted a […]
By: Debbie Quinn – February 2013 On January 16, 2013 Jack Trottier, a 17 year old Tyngsboro High School student, was snowboarding in his friend’s backyard when the unthinkable happened; he fell after going off a two foot jump and landed the wrong way. Jack was transported to Children’s Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery […]
By: Deb Papalia – February 2013 On January 25, my husband and I traveled by bus to Washington DC to march in the bitter cold to remember the 55 million unborn babies who have died in the last 40 years because of the infamous court ruling of Roe v. Wade that legalized […]