By: Cheryl Hajjar – July 2013 It was 1999 and while the century was coming to a close and Prince was singing his iconic song , blogging was about to become one of the most used words in pop culture. A blog, as it is known today is a website that contains material of personal […]
By: State Representative Linda Dean Campbell – July 2013 The Legislature successfully passed the FY14 budget Monday after a prolonged conference committee between the House and the Senate. It was worth the wait. I am pleased with the overall package that increases our Rainy Day fund, keeping it within the top four highest funds in […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives BOSTON – Following a press conference that Senate President Therese Murray held Monday morning, the Senate is due to take up a comprehensive welfare reform bill on Thursday aimed at making state assistance transitional. The bill addresses cyclical issues that prevent recipients from transitioning off of welfare as well as […]
By: Tom Duggan – July 18, 2013 Lawrence Firefighter and community activist Manuel “Juan” Gonzalez launched his official campaign kickoff for Mayor Thursday night before a packed room of about 100 people at the Firefighter’s Relief In. Flanked by former Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan, Lawrence City Councilor Marc LaPlante (District “F”), and Mount Vernon Neighborhood Association […]
BOSTON – State Representative Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen) joined her colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in passing legislation that provides immediate funds for reforms to the electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system and the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). The bill updates EBT oversight measures included in the FY ’14 budget and advances continuous […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL July, 2013 At issue was Attorney Richard D’Agostino, who was applying to replace McQuillan as city solicitor after the council voted not to renew McQuillan’s contract. While D’Agostino was being questioned at a public hearing, McQuillan was feeding questions and damaging information to Councilor Atkinson in an attempt to stop D’Agostino from […]
By: Tom Duggan – July 17, 2013 With Jeanne Pappalardo leaving the city council because of term limits this year, three people are seeking to fill two seats on the city council representing Methuen’s West End. Incumbent Councilor Sean Fountain, School Committeeman George Kazanjian and Methuen’s most outspoken member of the school committee Evan Chaisson […]
By Tom Duggan – July, 2013 Always outspoken and often controversial, the West District Councilor has had her share of political scuffles over the last six years, but even those who had an adversarial relationship with Pappalardo say they respect her even though they were on opposite sides of most political battles. “Jeanne Pappalardo is […]
By Sandra Stotsky, special to the Valley Patriot Why Massachusetts needs to defund implementation and testing of Common Core’s current standards In this essay, I suggest why Common Core’s English language arts and mathematics standards need revision before further implementation in any Common Core state—and well before tests are given that are based on these […]
By: Tom Duggan – July, 2013 According to documents obtained by The Valley Patriot, Carmine and William DiAdamo of the DiAdamo and DiAdamo Law firm are not only the worker’s compensation attorney’s for the City of Lawrence, but the money they made on the city for rental payments of their Essex Street buildings under the Lantigua […]
Asphalt Operation in Dracut Penalized $54,150, company agrees to Improve Street Drainage for Surrounding area BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) penalized PJ Keating Company $54,150 due to wetlands and water quality violations at its property on Bridge Street in Dracut. PJ Keating Company, a foreign corporation with a local office in Lunenberg, […]
D.J. Bettencourt – June, 2013 SALEM, NH – Keller Williams Realty associates today donated their time to “Give Where They Live” as part of RED Day, one of the biggest events in the real estate industry. Short for “Renew, Energize and Donate,” RED Day was created to unite Keller Williams Realty offices and associates in […]
VALLEY PATRIOT OF THE MONTH By: Helen Mooradkanian – June, 2013 In that assault landing on Morotai, 45 LSTs (landing ship, tank) lined the shore. Offshore coral reefs and boulders caught landing craft. Troops, vehicles, and supplies were unloaded onto the beach—with no opposition from the 500 or more Japanese caught there by surprise. But […]
By: Dani Langevin – June, 2013 When parents are denied the right to have contact with their children you have what is called Parental Alienation Syndrome or PAS. This is not simply a burden that an alienated parent must bear, but their children too, must deal with being forced to live without one of the […]
By: D.J. Bettencourt – June, 2013 All persons have the right to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves, their families, their property and the State. ~ Article 2A, New Hampshire Constitution Immediately following the 2012 elections, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan and legislative Democrats began filing legislation to strip Granite Staters of their […]