By: Ronnie Ford – April, 2012 Central Catholic High School introduces their first Spanish American Hall of Fame recipient. His name is Jonathan Cruz. Jonathan stands at six feet seven inches. And believe me when I tell you, the size of his body isn’t even close to the size of his class and personality. Not […]
By: Diana DiZoglio, March, 2012 Methuen native Jaime Bellavance Coelho is running the Boston Marathon for children’s literacy. ReadBoston is a children’s literacy non-profit that raises money for after school reading programs to support inner city schools. The money she is raising will go toward the Storymobile program, which will distribute free books to kids […]
By: Methuen Mayor Bill Manzi – March, 2012 “With the City of Methuen in the middle of a battle over outsourcing the Information Technology Department (City Council rejected Mayor Zanni’s proposed privatization) former Mayor William Manzi offers a primer on privatizing municipal services, using the White Paper by Stephen Lisauskas and the Pioneer Institute […]
By: Ronnie Ford – March 2012 Over the past few weeks, we in Methuen have experienced a first attack regarding our government or at least part of our government, the Housing Authority. Believe me, you ain’t seen nuttin yet! The latest battle lines have been drawn between Kenny Martin and some councilors, hiding beneath the […]
By: Eva Montabello When telling a story about “strength of spirit”, Methuen City Councilor Jamie Atkinson wholeheartedly embodies the statement. A lifetime of health hardships hasn’t stopped him from continuing to cross items off of his “bucket list”. From his recent election win to a Methuen City Council seat with a focus on […]
By: Ronnie Ford – February 2012 Bruin’s goalie Tim Thomas has the right stuff, stood up for his opinion and didn’t join team mates to meet the president. He exercised his freedom of speech and movement. Let his teammates bask in the Glory of being the Champs and seen at the White House. It doesn’t […]
Looking Back at 8 Years And 100 Editions of Exclusive News And Views! February – 2012 Looking Back On Our First Edition Next month The Valley Patriot will celebrate our 8th anniversary. It’s quite a milestone considering that the experts in the industry and the local pundits predicted our doom from day one […]
Diana Fay Dizoglio – January, 2012 With heavy hearts people from all across Massachusetts honored four firefighters who lost their lives this holiday season. Among these brave fathers, husbands, brothers and sons was firefighter Robert George of Methuen who unexpectedly passed away just a few days before Christmas. Robert or “Robby” as his close […]
Welcome to The Great Hall of the Nevins Memorial Library, another shining jewel among the many that makes us all wonderfully proud to live in Methuen. Thank you all for being here today. I am honored by the opportunity that the citizens of Methuen have given me. I look forward to working with all of […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – November, 2011 The results of the Massachusetts legislature’s redistricting commission, at least as far as the House and Senate are concerned, are official. In a fair world we would have legislative districts that represent a common interest and have geographic integrity, but no one has ever called the political environment […]
Book review by Dottie Avery – November, 2011 The Author of THE RECURRING DREAM, Bill Arcand, was born and raised in Lawrence, MA. He moved to California in the early 70’s where, he says, “there was a great movement of the Holy Spirit and revival was sweeping all across the land, especially in California.” […]
By: Diana Dizoglio One hopes that tough times will produce humility, strength of character, and eventually growth and change. As anyone who has faced a challenge knows, however, this process is A LOT easier said than done. When you are faced with losing your home, your car is broken down and you’ve lost your job–how […]
By: Diana Fay DiZoglio – November, 2011 At polling locations across the Commonwealth this past Tuesday, families of candidates came face to face with their challenger’s family. Many were forced to hold signs alongside their challenger’s kin for hours at the polls. As anyone who has ever volunteered in a campaign can attest, come […]
By: Diana Fay DiZoglio – November, 2011 Methuen mayoral candidates Stephen N. Zanni and Al DiNuccio both ran rigorous campaigns on opposite platforms. While Zanni was deemed the more fiscally liberal supporter of municipal employees, DiNuccio was known as the voice for change as he looked to rein in spending. Zanni barely topped the […]
By: Tom Duggan – October, 2011 Methuen Firefighters Union President Tim Sheehy publicly called for all firefighters who live in the City of Methuen to oppose the candidacy of mayoral candidate Al DiNuccio during a meeting of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts. The meeting was held at the Lawrence Firefighter’s Relief Inn in Lawrence […]