By: Cecelia Calabrese – January, 2012 Want a crash course in decision making, leadership and teamwork skills? Tell it to the Marines! That is what Mary Payne of Dracut, Massachusetts did when she spent a week at the Marine Corps training facility at Parris Island. Mary is the College Relations Counselor at Lowell High School. […]
By: Lawrence “Lonnie” Brennan – January, 2012 There’s a bridge in Haverhill, you all know it. Just as you get through the speed-trap zone in Groveland, you cross the river. The bridge is old, rusted and generally falling apart. Instead of properly maintaining the bridge, the state is simply building a new bridge alongside […]
By: Peter Larocque – January, 2012 As of the time this article went to print, The Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mr. Mitchell Chester held meetings with the Lawrence Teacher’s Union, Lawrence Parents and Community members, and finally with the Lawrence Public School Personnel. His message to all is that he is […]
A Middlesex County Superior Court Judge has issued a restraining order against Andover resident Clark Smidt the soon-to-be former majority shareholder of 980AM WCAP radio in Lowell. Despite a court agreement between Smidt (and his former business partner) Colonel Sam Poulten, giving Poulten control of station operations in a buyout deal, Lowell police say […]
Prisoners in “Sober House” on Crack Corner Have No Supervision, Escapes Continue with No Accountability Paying Attention! with Tom Duggan Tom Duggan – January 2012 LAWRENCE, MA – The intersection of Oxford and Lowell Street is known as “crack corner” by Lawrence Police because the amount of drugs and drug dealers in the neighborhood is staggering. […]
UNBECOMING! 12-07-11 Over the years, embattled School Committee Chairman Chris Allen has worked very hard to help the public school children of North Andover get a better education. But, Allen’s behavior of late has overshadowed much of the good her efforts might have accomplished. First, Allen was engaged in using school department resources (and employees) […]
December, 2012 North Andover School Superintendent Christopher Hottel handed The Valley Patriot a bill for $7,099 to fill a freedom of information request last month. The Valley Patriot had requested copies of all emails, sent and received by members of the school committee and the superintendent covering a 30 day period just prior to and […]
PUPPY LOVE WITH KATE WHITNEY By: Kate Whitney – December, 2011 This month celebrates my four year anniversary writing for this fantastic newspaper! First and foremost, I want to give a big thank you to Tom Duggan (editor of the Valley Patriot). Without the “VP”, there would be no Puppy Girl column. Tom […]
By: Tom Duggan – December, 2011 Wakefield – Former State Senator and candidate for Lt. Governor Richard Tisei announced last month that he will seek the republican nomination for congress in the hopes of unseating democrat John Tierney. Flanked by supporters and members of the media, Tisei said that he was going to make jobs […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN By: Tom Duggan – December, 2011 Last month, The Valley Patriot received several calls from North Andover residents saying that they had seen former high school wrestling coach Dave Castricone coming and going from School Committee Chair Chris Allen’s Belmont St. home. Others called to report that the Allens […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE!! Tom Duggan – Valley Patriot Publisher NORTH ANDOVER – School Committee Chairman Chris Allen thinks that the Merrimack Valley Tea Party and town activist Ted Tripp are “small minded” for opposing the proposed meals tax on the town meeting warrant last week. She also believes, or at least says she believes, that […]
November, 2011 LOWELL – In 2007 Clark Smidt of Andover and Sam Poulten of Chelmsford bought 980AM WCAP radio in Lowell from longtime owner Maurice Cohen. At the time, the two pledged to expand the reach of the station and promised to keep the focus of the station “live and local.” Since then the […]
November, 2011 LAWRENCE – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) today celebrated the opening of the newly expanded and renovated Senator William X. Wall Experiment Station in Lawrence, following a $30 million upgrade that transformed the old state environmental laboratory into a state-of-the-art “green” building. The old facility was built in 1954 and […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN By: Tom Duggan – November, 2011 At Large City Council All three Lawrence City Councilors at Large were reelected last month garnering more votes than the three challengers. Council President Frank Moran topped the ticket city wide with Roger Twomey placing second and Dan Rivera winning a seat […]
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 […]