By: State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell – Feb. 2019 I have filed a number of bills this session to address issues important to the residents of the Merrimack Valley and the Commonwealth. I will be filing additional legislation throughout the session, but some legislation has been put forth at this time as residents have already […]
By: Rick Bellanti – Feb. 2019 Sugar is one of the leading contributors to obesity and people that consume more sugar are more likely to be overweight or obese. For many people sugar and junk foods can become an addiction just like abusing drugs or alcohol. The more cookies, candy and donuts you consume, the […]
By: Brian Genest – Feb. 2019 Here we go in Dracut, again. Town Manager Jim Duggan is getting a pay raise, again. Homeowners are getting higher property taxes, again. “Economic development” is what the politicians in town call it. It’s a very interesting formula: the money comes in and trickles up to Jim Duggan and […]
IG REPORT HAS TONS OF ERRORS…. LIKELY, MAYBE, KIND OF One thing that popped out at me while digesting the IG report on corruption in Methuen was the fact that it never actually concluded anything. It didn’t really rule anything and contained words like “Likely illegal” and “may be” against the law. People who are […]
By: John Cuddy – Feb. 2019 Haverhill’s Anthony J “Tony” Zukas lived at Haverhill Crossing on Amesbury Road near Northern Essex Community College when I interviewed him. The students at Northern Essex Community College, and all of us really, can learn much from this World War II Veteran. Originally, from Scranton, Pennsylvania, he was the […]
By: Bill Cushing – Feb. 2019 From time to time, my column will feature questions asked by readers regarding the world of TV. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have about TV at BillsTVTalk@gmail.com, and I’ll do my best to answer you and may feature your question in a future column. […]
In order to prepare for the possibility that Roe vs. Wade be overturned within this presidency, the states of New York, Virginia, Vermont, and others have been attempting to legalize abortion up until birth. The governor of New York publicly celebrated their new bill while the governor of Virginia stated proudly that their legislation would […]
Feb. 2019 The Inspector General’s report on the approval of the Methuen Superior Officers’ contract was scathing and eye opening to those who have not been paying attention to Methuen politics. The report is harsh with criticism of former Mayor Zanni, current Mayor Jajuga, the previous city council, and others. It detailed how the former […]
By: Aliana Brodmann E. von Richthofen, Feb. 2019 Whoever held out hope that Massachusetts would ultimately come through as a constitutional state had to finally give in. After a three year effort to create better accessibility to and transparency in the handling of public records, the proposed expansion of the public records law to cover the […]
By: Ken Willette – Feb. 2019 The Left’s unsubstantiated theories on Trump’s cozy relationship with Mother Russia have reached a boiling point. It is as if they haven’t fully recovered from the deep psychological wounds of the 2016 campaign, or the fact that Trump is still their president despite their late-night rants on social media. […]
VALLEY PATRIOT BASH! – Put April 5th in your calendar now! The Valley Patriot will be holding our 15th Anniversary BASH scholarship and award night at the Firefighter’s Relief In, 1 Market Street in Lawrence. Each year we honor police officers, firefighters, veterans, and give out college scholarships to local students trying to get to […]
By: Robin Desmet – Jan. 2019 Our pets are always communicating with us, whether it is with their eyes, their voices or their body language. Their insistent meows tell us it is times for breakfast, and their slow blinks tell us that they trust us. Some of their communication is very obvious—we know to back […]
By: Bharani Padmanabhan – Jan. 2019 Everyone of a certain age instantly recalls the Kitty Genovese case, the New York Times’ now-timeless tale of city folk who ignored a murder unfolding before their eyes. Since then Saviano has reported that EMTs in Naples routinely wait in the ambulance for mob victims to die before transporting […]
By: Rick Bellanti – January, 2019 Happy New Year everyone. We made it through another year, whether we stuck to our new year’s resolution last year or not, we are still here (if you are reading this). The question you need to ask is are we in better health than we were last year at […]
BOSTON — The Massachusetts State Senate has unanimously passed a change to senate rules banning nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) regarding incidents of sexual assault, harassment, or discrimination. The rule change, proposed by Senator Diana DiZoglio, D-Methuen, was passed Thursday during a formal session of the senate as part of a customary rules package which is debated and passed at […]