Bump Says Findings Pointing to Persistent Deficiencies in Payment System BOSTON, MA — Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today announced that during a one year period, her office’s Medicaid Audit Unit identified more than $17.6 million in unallowable, questionable, duplicative, unauthorized, or potentially fraudulent billings at MassHealth. She estimates that corrective actions would save $8.6 million […]
BOSTON, MA — State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today testified before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means in support of her budget request, where she highlighted the work her office is doing to assist state agencies and departments to modernize government services and improve the effective management of government resources. “One of my priorities […]
BOSTON – Two former corrections officers at the Essex County Correctional Facility were sentenced recently in U.S. District Court in Boston for their involvement with smuggling Suboxone into the Essex County House of Corrections – Middleton for inmates. Katherine Sullivan, 32, of Londonderry, N.H., was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs […]
By: Jeff Katz – Feb. 2017 There are those times when you just have to shake your head, pour another cup of coffee, shake your head and then rinse and repeat. America’s left wingers are absolutely apoplectic and it is nothing if not thoroughly entertaining. Some of this nation’s most delicate of flowers are still […]
By Duncan Burns – Feb. 2017 Now that The Presidential Election is over, and Donald Trump has since been elected President, the controversies surrounding his platform while he was running continue to follow him into his Administration. Aside from the circus surrounding President Trump’s cabinet confirmation hearings, President Trump has started, as he promised, to […]
As a municipality, the City of Lawrence does not collect enough in local property taxes to pay for even half the cost of fire, police, schools, and other essential services. As such, Lawrence gets millions of dollars every year from the state and federal government. In the past 30 years, billions of taxpayer’s dollars have […]
By: Kathy Runge – January, 2017 In December ex-District A Councilor and potential mayoral candidate Sandy Almonte verbally abused a Lawrence police officer at the scene of an accident involving her son. Elsewhere in this month’s edition she is quoted as saying: “He acted like he didn’t know me, and told me I couldn’t pick […]
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed a resolution Thursday to condemn the recent Executive Order issued by President Donald J. Trump which bars entry to the United States for certain nationals from seven Muslim-majority nations. The resolution recognizes the unique importance of immigration to the history of Massachusetts since its founding, through the present. […]
By: Dr. Bharani Padmanabhan – January, 2017 Medscape and other medically-oriented web organizations periodically conduct surveys of physicians nation-wide on various topics such as physician burnout, compensation, best places to work and so on. Around once a year the ethics survey comes out and is always worth examining. One question from this year’s survey […]
By: John MacDonald – Jan. 2017 STORY PHOTO: GEORGE DELUCA According to Wikipedia “damn those pesky websites with interesting historical information.” “ Lowell, Massachusetts was incorporated as a town in 1826 and Lowell High School opened shortly after in 1831. One of its earliest homes was a small brick building on Middlesex Street owned by […]
During the reign of Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins we have seen political relatives hired to major, high-paying jobs, sober houses located in crack neighborhoods in Lawrence, complaints of employees (or vendors) having relationships with inmates, sweetheart deals given to high price donors (like Wayne Capolupo), and a group of corrections officers who are overworked, […]
By: Tom Duggan, January, 016 For the last few months, The Valley Patriot has been sifting through dozens of complaints about the police chief and the inner workings of the Boxford Police Department. In any case where accusations are made against a public official, we requested public records, interview people involved, go to the town […]
The Horse Racing Jobs and Education Ballot Question Committee has agreed to a $125,000 civil forfeiture, paid to the state’s general fund, to resolve campaign finance issues related to the 2016 state election, according to a disposition agreement between the committee and OCPF. OCPF concluded that the committee, which supported Question 1 concerning expanded gaming, […]
Audit Report – HERE BOSTON, MA — Auditor Suzanne M. Bump today is calling on the Office of Court Interpreter Services (OCIS) to improve its payment processes, particularly for per diem court interpreters. Bump’s recommendations come as part of an audit of OCIS, which found expenditures were made without ensuring that OCIS obtained and verified […]
Dec. 19, 2106|10PM Former Lawrence City Councilor Sandy Almonte has been arrested again, this time in Lawrence after police learned she had a warrant for her arrest out of North Andover for driving without insurance. The former District “A” (Prospect Hill) councilor resigned back in August of this year after being arrested in Nashua, NH, […]