Blanchette Pats himself on the back while purposely trying to create budget deficit, state takeover By: Tom Duggan, December, 2009 Under the leadership of Council President Patrick Blanchette, the Lawrence City Council spent the last two years taking “symbolic” budget votes, blaming the Sullivan administration for their own inaction, and refusing to pass […]
PAYING ATTENTION with Tom Duggan – November, 2009 Few people can really understand the magnitude of the changes that are about to occur in the City of Lawrence with the election of State Representative Willie Lantigua (da chief). Not only did Willie win an overwhelming victory on Election Day, but almost every one of […]
By: Robert O’Koniewski – November, 2009 The votes are in and Lawrence finally has met demographic expectations to attain its first popularly elected mayor of Hispanic descent. We will not use the trite adjective of “historic” to describe State Representative William Lantigua’s victory over District E City Councilor David Abdoo, as that has really […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL November, 2009 In last month’s race for the Mayor’s office in Lawrence, Willie Lantigua (da chief) defeated David Abdoo. While we have some serious reservations about Lantigua’s ability to manage the city of Lawrence, as well as the character of those insiders he has surrounded himself with, today is a new day. The election is […]
By: Tom Duggan – October, 2009 ELECTION EDITION Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan is finishing his final term because the city charter limits the mayor’s job to two, four year terms. Sullivan defeated Isabel Melendez in 2001 and Marcos Devers in 2005. Ironically Willie Lantigua endorsed and supported Isabel Melendez in ’01 but flipped in ’05 […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL October, 2009 Last month, the city of Methuen held a preliminary election for mayor and city council and only 9% of the registered voters bothered to participate. In Lawrence, only 30% of the registered voters participated in their preliminary and that was considered unusually high. Though many candidates would like to blame their opponents or the […]
By: Tom Duggan – October, 2009 Only half of the ten candidates running for mayor in Lawrence filed their campaign finances reports with Lawrence City clerk Billy Maloney by the September 15th deadline before the primary. By state law, candidates for all municipal offices must record and file a detailed accounting of all money raised and spent on […]
By: Tom Duggan – September, 2009 There are ten candidates running to replace Lawrence Mayor Mike Sullivan in the September 22nd city primary elections. The top two candidates will face a runoff election on November 3rd. Here is a snapshot of each candidate. David Abdoo Abdoo is the District “E” city councilor representing South […]
Valley Patriot Editorial May, 2008 The nationwide exposure of Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s church rantings provides startling insight into the kind of challenges facing this country’s progress toward better race relations. It was indeed an eye-opener for most Americans to learn about the lies, racial slurs and divisiveness being preached to some black congregations. The Reverend Wright […]
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 […]
By: Tom Duggan – November, 2007 LAWRENCE – Five elected officials in the city of Lawrence were fired by the voters on election day, as growing discontent among voters saw three members of the Lawrence city council rejected on election day and two members of the Lawrence School Committee being replaced by newcomers. Eight out […]
By:Tom Duggan – October, 2007 District “A” – Council president survives … barely Lawrence city council president Patrick Blanchette rightly brags that his family name has been on the ballot in the Prospect Hill section of Lawrence for more than 25 years. However, the embattled District “A” councilor nearly lost his seat on […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE By: Tom Duggan – October, 2007 NORTH ANDOVER – Tracy Watson has announced to The Valley Patriot that she will run for the Board of Selectman this March. There are two open seats for Selectmen this coming election with the announcements from Selectmen Licciardello and Xenakis of their intentions not to […]
“I will Support a Border Fence and Deporting Illegals” September 21, 2007 Fifth District Congressional candidate Jim Ogonowski visited Lawrence again Friday morning holding a press conference at the Lawrence Fire Station on Lowell Street. Ogonowski spoke for ten minutes before a small crowd of Lawrence residents declaring his support for deporting illegal […]
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, […]