VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL February, 2005 Why do we hire public employees? Is it to have them perform an important service that the public requires, or is it to provide the employees a guaranteed paycheck and great benefits? All too often, it seems that we are more concerned with providing employment than we are with ensuring […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN Tom Duggan It’s always cute when a local politician adopts a catchy slogan to help shore up the image of his campaign. And while most voters rightly dismiss these slogans as meaningless rhetoric, one campaign slogan from this year’s North Andover town election begs to be discussed. Political […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL FEBRUARY, 2005 Arabs don’t value freedom. Western civilization shouldn’t try to impose itself on Arab societies. The Arab street prefers dictatorships and can’t be trusted to vote. The Iraqi people are not ready for Democracy. It’s all about oil. And on and on, ad nauseam, the Democrats, once supporters of human rights, […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL FEBRUARY 2005 The 2003 Youth Risk Survey found that 1 in 6 Haverhill High School students (17%) are using hard drugs. In response, Haverhill School Committee member Scott Wood, Jr. has proposed drug testing students. As a 2001 Haverhill High graduate himself, Wood has been close enough to see the seriousness of the problem. He believes […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL January, 2005 The attitude is pervasive. When North Andover was considering a $4 million override several years ago, a Finance Committee member publicly stated, “Our number one objective is to NOT cut any jobs.” Really? We thought that public safety and education might come in first? While that story is now old, […]
January, 2005 Looking back at some news stories of 2004 worthy of mention, there was the story about the Air Force locating a nuclear bomb they had “lost” back in 1958 when two jet planes, one of which was carrying the bomb, collided in midair. The pilot jettisoned it before bailing out, but the […]
By: Jim Rurak, Former Mayor of Haverhill January, 2005 Haverhill’s history seesaws between big plans to promote its urban economy and extaordinary commitments to preserve its rural assets. Unlike Lowell and Lawrence whose land area is completely built up, Haverhill’s urban core makes up only a fraction of its total area. The rest is made up of […]
January, 2005 Somewhere, in that vast horror of newspapers, magazines and books I call my apartment (“A library that vomited,” as I once described it to a friend), is my most valued possession. It doesn’t look or seem like much: an 8 X 10 white index card—no decorations, no fancy printing. Just a white index […]
By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – January, 2005 You may be familiar with Sir Ernest Shackleton’s disastrous expedition to the Antarctic that spanned 22 months from 1914 to 1916. It has been retold numerous times in books, newspaper/magazine articles, and even a PBS Nova special. After considerable hardship, all members of Shackleton’s expedition survived the […]
By Hanna, Age 10 – January, 2005 What is your day like? My day is almost identical to your day; it is very structured. I wake up at six o’clock every morning. I get the kids ready to go and then I drive three of them to school. And then I check into the office […]
By: Hartley Pleshaw – January, 2005 If American radio can be said to have had a post-World War II Golden Age, it manifested itself in Boston from the mid-1960’s to December 9th, 2004. It was the age of Jerry Williams, Charles Laquidara, Danny Schechter, Eddie Andelman and Gene Burns, among others. These talents, and others like […]
January, 2005 Even if we accept that everything Judy Brito says is true, Lawrence Mayor Mike Sullivan is absolutely right when he says that most firefighters in the city of Lawrence are honest, decent, hard-working individuals. They are the men and women who go out and respond to the cries for help from innocent victims […]
Lisa Beamer was recently interviewed on Good Morning America. If you remember, she is the wife of Todd Beamer who said, “Let’s Roll!” and helped take down the plane that was heading for Washington, DC on that terrible morning of 9/11. She said it’s the little things that she misses most about Todd, such as […]
By: Kathleen Corey Rahme – January, 2005 With the holiday upon us, the giving spirit is apparent. But some of us give of ourselves on a regular basis and it is not reserved for a special time of year. It is the gift of oneself that is the greatest gift. I am thinking specifically of […]
By: Craig Floyd – January, 2005 WASHINGTON – As of December 23, 154 law enforcement officers across the nation were killed in the line of duty during 2004. This is the third year in a row that the number has been well below the decade-long average of 164 annual law enforcement deaths. According to the […]