Family of hero soldier killed in Iraq says Eagle~Tribune Reporter had to be thrown out of wake and funeral as well By: Tom Duggan – August, 2008 Slain soldier, Army Pfc. Alex Jimenez was captured by Al Qaeda and had been missing for 15 months before his remains were finally found in Iraq. “As hard as […]
By: Tom Duggan – June, 2008 The Valley Patriot was invited into the Selimiye Mosque in Methuen where an interview took place with several members, including Shaban, Yusef and Hussein. More than 250 families are members and worship at the Selimiye Mosque on Oakland Avenue in Methuen. Most are from Turkey and hail from Methuen […]
May, 6, 2008 METHUEN – “We love her. We want to adopt her and take care of her, (and give her) anything she needs.” These are the words of Methuen City Councilor Debbie Quinn and Methuen Fire Department and Veterans Affair employee Dottie Avery when speaking of Riverbank Vice President and Branch Manager Veronica Calixto. […]
By: Tom Duggan – April 2008 NORTH ANDOVER – Several North Andover Middle School students are being investigated by the North Andover police for personal profiles posted on the America On Line Internet service threatening to harm fellow students and naming at least one teacher and a classmate the student pledges to “kill.” These threats […]
By: Tom Duggan – February 2, 2008 Imagine that you have been voluntarily admitted to the hospital to recover from an illness or injury and another patient sexually attacks you while you are trying to recover. According to a patient’s complaint (name withheld), that is exactly what happened to her after being admitted to […]
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 […]
By: Tom Duggan – December 2007 WCAP radio (980/AM) may be located in downtown Lowell, but Colonel Sam Poulten and Clark Smidt say they are expanding the Lowell-based news and talk programming on the station to include Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill “and everywhere in between,” says Smidt who took over the station with […]
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 […]
An exclusive interview with Bob Ansin. By: Tom Duggan – October, 2007 Earlier this month, several erroneous Eagle-Tribune stories alleged that Robert Ansin, CEO of sustainable development company MassInnovation, was running out of funds and that asbestos was found inside the Monarch on the Merrimack building. On Sunday, September 16, the Eagle-Tribune ran a […]
By: Tom Duggan (09/05/07) An ethics complaint has been filed against Lawrence City Councilor Nunzio DiMarca for a trip he admittedly took to Italy last spring. DiMarca’s plane fare and expenses were all paid for by a local businessman whom he openly lobbied for at the city council table and behind the scenes with other elected […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE Tom Duggan August August, 2007 Almost exactly one year after a gun was found at the home of Lawrence City Councilor Grisel Silva, the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission has cleared the district “B” councilor of allegations that she used her influence as an elected official to cover up the fact that […]
Tom Duggan (07/03/07) Lawrence Superintendent of Schools Wilfredo Laboy has been under fire by critics over the last month for his decision to house newly arrived immigrant students with lack of English proficiency in the “old” high school building on Haverhill Street once the new $110 million campus is officially opened. Teacher’s union president Frank McLaughlin […]
June 5, 2007 NORTH ANDOVER – While property taxes in North Andover continue to rise each year, and with an override on the horizon, and the average taxpayer in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts experiencing a property tax bill increase of 4.7% from fiscal year 2006 to 2007, some elected officials in North Andover actually saw […]
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: Tom Duggan – January 2007 Lawrence City Council President Patrick Blanchette has been on a mission for the last few months. His mission: create a firestorm around Budget and Finance Director John Griffin so that he either quits or gets fired, create a firestorm around Caroline Ganley (who has left) and Planning Director […]