February, 2008 On Thursday, January 24, 2008, a jury of eight citizens rendered a unanimous verdict in favor of Joseph Solomon and Joseph Alaimo in the United States District Court in Boston in the lawsuit brought by Maurice Lariviere. Each of Mr. Lariviere’s five remaining counts was rejected unanimously by the jury after they heard […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE! By: Tom Duggan – January, 2008 The North Andover School Committee is suing their former acting Superintendent Richard Bergeron for illegally giving himself a $4,484.34 raise without school committee approval. A complaint filed in Lawrence District Court claims that Bergeron ordered a payroll clerk to put the additional money in […]
Says he will not resign from Lawrence School Committee by Tom Duggan, posted 1/9/08 BOSTON, – January 9, 2008 – Elected Lawrence School Committeeman James Stokes was arraigned in Federal Court in Boston today after being arrested at Top Donut on Winthrop Avenue by Lawrence Police and Federal Agents. Lawrence Police took Stokes […]
City Clerk’s Internet Porn, Harassment Cost City Thousands By: Tom Duggan – January, 2008 Lawrence’s former assistant city clerk, Jennifer Padellaro, settled her workers’ compensation claims as well as her federal lawsuit against the City of Lawrence last month for $610,000. A settlement conference (called a lump sum conference) took place at the Industrial Accident […]
Tom Duggan – December, 2007 In 1995, a devastating fire ripped through the Malden Mills factory on Broadway in Methuen. Firefighters and police officers responded to the emergency from allover the Commonwealth. As the out-of-town public safety officials began to arrive at the scene, chaos ensued as it became nearly impossible to coordinate […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL November, 2007 Governor Deval Patrick recently stirred up controversy when he stated on a Boston radio program that he is interested in getting rid of police details on state and local construction sites and replacing them with civilian flagmen. If Governor Patrick were to issue an executive order, then only state […]
By: Robert O’Koniewski, Esq. – September, 2007 On the threshold of Labor Day weekend as the unofficial close of summer approached, many of us were enjoying the last throes of warm weather, or preparing our children for the new school year, or just plain wondering “Where did it all go?” In Lawrence, however, […]
June 5, 2007 We love immigrants. Those who come to America to become Americans have been the blood, sweat and backbone of our nation for many years. Those who go through the application process and have come here legally have shown by their behavior that they are ready to live by the laws of […]
PAYING ATTENTION! with Tom Duggan By: Tom Duggan -Monday, May 7, 2007 Last week Siglo 21, (a partially bilingual newspaper) printed the following paragraphs about the ACLU and our website posting about the meeting: (Siglo21) “Tommy Duggan, the director of The Valley Patriot, the only member of the Anglo-American press present at the gathering […]
How People Hear What They Want to Hear Paying Attention! With Tom Duggan By Tom Duggan – May, 2007 Last month the ACLU came to Lawrence for a meeting with citizens who had a beef with the Lawrence police. Packed in the large function room at “Casa Dominicana” on Essex St. were criminals, malcontents, racists […]
April,2007 We’ve noticed that North Andover Licensing Commission members always give a nice little speech to each new license holder about the how strict they are and how they have a “no tolerance policy.” Oh really? Let’s Take a quick look at some recent police calls, shall we? The situations above are very serious in […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL February – 2007 Here we go again in Lawrence where the victim is arrested and treated like the criminal, instead of focusing on the real criminals. Last year, hero Marine Dan Cotnoir was arrested and charged with attempted murder for defending himself and his family when kids outside his apartment on Broadway […]
Defends Grant Spending, Says Eagle~Tribune Attacks on Him and Dept. Motivated by “Racism Against Arab-Americans” By: Tom Duggan – February, 2007 Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon said in an exclusive interview with The Valley Patriot this week that federal grant money from the Department of Justice for thecity’s Weed & Seed program was spent legally […]
By: Methuen Councilor Debbie Quinn – December 2006 A recent newspaper article in the Boston Globe quoted me as saying that I am “definitely pro-blue.” That is an accurate quote, and one I am proud to make as a city councilor and citizen. Our police officers serve and protect us all year long. They miss out […]
December, 2006 Last month, Methuen city councilors tried to inject themselves into the so-called controversy between Police Chief Joe Solomon and the officers and union members under his command. What’s more, they tried to subvert the Methuen City Charter by interfering with Mayor Bill Manzi’s clearly defined duties as the chief executive officer of the […]