By: Tom Duggan – August, 2009 First Mercury then Sodium Bisulfite When Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan found out that mercury was being illegally stored at the old water pumping station on South Street two months ago, he ordered Inspectional Services Director Myles Burke and the Lawrence Fire Department to inspect other city owned property to […]
By: David Abdoo – August, 2009 The City of Lawrence has a public works problem. You know that. I know that and anyone who lives or visits Lawrence knows that. What we present to the world is the following: pockmarked streets, heaving sidewalks, ballparks with 18 inch grass, public rights of ways strewn with […]
By: Tom Duggan – August, 2009 Last fall, Former Chairman of the North Andover School Committee, Alfred Perry, was arrested and charged with embezzlement, larceny and insurance fraud. The charges stemmed from allegations that he stole money from his business, Internet Insurance Agency. He was arranged in Lawrence District Court and last month there was […]
By: Tom Duggan – July, 2009 Documents obtained by The Valley Patriot last month revealed that operators at the City of Lawrence’s brand new $26 million water treatment facility failed to test the city’s drinking water for a bacteria called E.coli from July 2008 to February 2009. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) […]
By: Tom Duggan – July, 2009 An investigation by the Massachusetts office of Campaign and Political Finance may not have issued their report yet on which elected officials benefited from campaign material printed in the Lawrence Public Schools I’m gong to tell you who they right now. At least three members of the Lawrence School Committee (Morris, Larocque and Mejia) benefited from literature printed […]
By: Tom Dugan – July, 2009 You have to hand it to the poverty pimps at Lawrence Community Works, they really know how to pull a fast one. Last month LCW started their sham campaign called “Yes We Will” where they invited every candidate for office to attend an event so they could size up the competition for their […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL June, 2009 Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini is planning to close the Bradford Fire Station in June and we find that unacceptable. Even more unacceptable is how Fiorentini blames the firefighters for racking up overtime and exhausting the city budget. But the firefighters we talked to showed us hard facts and figures proving that the fire […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL Look up in the sky! It’s a bird … It’s a plane … May, 2009 No … it’s Representive David Torrisi (DNorth Andover) coming to rescue the beleaguered taxpayers and business owners of the Merrimack Valley. Joining Rep. Torrisi, in voting against an increase in the state sales tax from 5% to 6.25% was Representative. Linda […]
By: Tom Duggan, May, 2009 Lawrence School Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy granted an exclusive interview with The Valley Patriot where he discussed for the first time to anyone, the details of recent media scandals involving his office, teachers and principals under his command and the spate of bad publicity in the daily newspaper concerning the […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL April, 2009 Last month, The Eagle~Tribune website reported that a suitcase with a cell phone taped to it was left on the steps of Lawrence District Court with a note that read “Call police, call the Tribune, call Tom Duggan”. (Tom Duggan is editor of The Valley Patriot). The story was picked up by […]
Haverhill to receive $282,000; Methuen $79,000 Posted: March 05, 2009 Congresswoman Niki Tsongas announced today that the City of Lawrence will receive approximately $3,500,000 as funding begins to be released from the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The funding will help create jobs locally through the construction and restoration of public […]
Paying Attention! with Tom Duggan By: Tom Duggan – Posted: February 13, 2009 The Lawrence Historical Commission voted Tuesday evening to approve the demolition of two buildings on Merrimack Street in Lawrence owned by Sal Lupol of Salvatore’s Restaurant, at Sal’s Riverwalk Properties, making way for a multi-million dollar development at the site which […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL February, 2009 In March and August of 2008, the City of Lawrence did not perform the states’ required monthly chlorite testing on the city’s drinking water. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection fined the city of Lawrence $5,750 for failing to do those mandated chlorite tests and has warned the city it will face […]
Slated to Bring 2,000 New Jobs to Lawrence By: Tom Duggan February 2, 2009 The Lawrence Historical Commission voted Tuesday evening to approve the demolition of two buildings on Merrimack Street in Lawrence owned by Sal Lupol of Salvatore’s Restaurant, at Sal’s Riverwalk Properties, making way for a multi-million dollar development at the site […]
From the Desk of Congressman Niki Tsongas By: Congressman Niki Tsongas – January 12, 2009 WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Niki Tsongas today reintroduced two bills to address and improve the quality and continuum of mental health care available to veterans. Recognizing the sharp increase in post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health wounds […]