By: Tom Duggan – November 4, 2014 For the second year in a row the alliance between Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera and State Representative Marcos Devers resulted in what Rivera calls “miracle wins” against the once thought unbeatable former Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua. “Nobody thought we could beat Lantigua last year and we did. […]
By: Tom Duggan, November 3, 2014 While The Valley Patriot newspaper has a policy against endorsing candidates, each member of our editorial board is free to endorse or make public who we are voting for. Here are my personal picks for the 2014 election season and why. Governor Charlie Baker, Republican As a right […]
READ PART 1 HERE The Valley Patriot has covered many state corruption stories in the past ten and a half years. What we observed in that time is that scandals come and go but very rarely does anything ever change. Our editorial board sat down with State Representative Jim Lyons and Shauna O’Connell to ask […]
CLICK to LISTEN TO OR DOWNLOAD HOUR 1 CLICK to LISTEN TO OR DOWNLOAD HOUR 2 Rosemary Smedile refused to come in for a debate with State Rep Diana DiZoglio so we gave DiZoglio time to talk to the voters about why she should be elected. Congressional candidate Ann Wofford also joined us she is running against […]
Station’s License to Conduct Inspections Faces Two-year Suspension; Stayed Pending Compliance BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) penalized Western Avenue Auto Body of Lynn, Inc. $44,000 after two of the station’s inspectors were found to have conducted 22 fraudulent automobile emission inspections over a five-day period during the fall of 2013. The […]
Intervened to stop the eviction of his brother from NBHA housing The State Ethics Commission issued a Decision and Order (“Decision”) finding that Bruce Duarte, a senior property manager at the New Bedford Housing Authority (“NBHA”), violated section 19 of G.L. c. 268A, the conflict of interest law, by directing NBHA staff to stop […]
By: Jeff Katz: October, 2014 On the heels of the most major security breach to ever take place at The White House we see the first ever case of Ebola in the United States of America. Is there a connection? You bet your rear end there is! Regardless of your personal political inclinations you must […]
The Valley Patriot has covered many state corruption stories in the past ten and a half years. What we observed in that time is that scandals come and go, but very rarely does anything ever change. Our editorial board sat down with State Representative Jim Lyons and Shauna O’Connell to ask them the gravity of […]
By: Tom Duggan – October, 2014 While many believe former Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua is now a bad memory never to return, the fact is the man who ruled Lawrence with an iron fist is now positioned as the front-runner in a three way race for his old seat in the Massachusetts House of […]
Political Deceptions Valley Patriot columnist and member of the Methuen School Committee, DJ Deeb wrote in his column this month that voters should choose Republican candidates in the upcoming state elections. Deeb listed a number of reasons to make his case, but is now issuing a public apology to Democrat State Representative Linda Dean Campbell […]
By: Christine Morabito – October 2014 If Ballot Question 2 passes in Massachusetts this November, your grocery bill and your honey do list will increase significantly. This ballot initiative expands the bottle bill of 1983 to include a 5 cent deposit on bottled water, juice, iced tea, sports drinks and other non-carbonated beverages. As has […]
Question #1 on the November ballot asks voters to overturn the legislature’s cowardly move to perpetually raise the gas tax without ever having to take another vote or be held accountable to the taxpayers. A YES vote on Question #1 would repeal the legislature’s action and stop the automatic gas tax hikes. According to the […]
CLICK to LISTEN TO OR DOWNLOAD HOUR 1 CLICK to LISTEN TO OR DOWNLOAD HOUR 2 Today Tom and Paul talked about Barbara L’Italien’s interview with the Lowell Sun. Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon called in to talk about open house day at the Methuen Police Department and David D’Archangelo also called in to talk about his […]
CLICK to LISTEN TO OR DOWNLOAD HOUR 1 CLICK to LISTEN TO OR DOWNLOAD HOUR 2 Today Tom and Christine talked about Massachusetts ballot questions and Tom took the republican party to task for being hyper partisan and deceptively portraying Democrats. Paying Attention is hosted by Valley Patriot Publisher Tom Duggan. Tom’s, Co-host is Paul […]
Bump’s Bureau of Special Investigations Protects Program Integrity Boston, MA – In a report issued today, State Auditor Suzanne M. Bump said examiners within her office’s Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI) identified more than $9.5 million in fraudulently obtained public assistance benefits and services in Fiscal Year 2014. This total represents a nearly 34 percent […]