Hero in Our Midst, Ted Cole – Valley Patriot of the Month (May, 2005)

By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – May, 2005 Andover, Mass. – “I was furious at what they did,” said Ted Cole, recalling his emotions after hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Less than 24 hours later he and his two brothers were in line at the recruiting station in Lawrence. “The line was out the […]

Valley Patriot of the Month (April, 2005) – Haverhill’s Mike Buglione- Heroes in Our Midst

  By: Dr. Charled Ormsby – April, 2005  HAVERHILL, Mass. – Shortly after his 22nd birthday and nine months before Pearl Harbor, Michael Buglione went to his draft board and requested to be taken in the next round. Heck, he thought, it’s just “Goodbye dear, I’ll be back in a year.” Well, it was over […]

Public School Drug Testing Should be Mandataory

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 […]

Drug, Competency Testing Long Overdue

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, […]

Firefighter Heroes – Paying Attention with Tom Duggan

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 […]

Waste, Overruns & Mismanagement

By: Paula Porten & Tom Duggan – December 2004  For the last two years, residents of Lawrence have been calling the construction of a $110 million high school “The Big Dig of Lawrence,” because of its price tag. For months, School Committeeman Amy McGovern and Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy have been questioning the quality of work […]

Representative L’Italien Stop Using The Church

Representative L’Italien Stop Using The Church

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL  December, 2004   State Representative Barbara L’Italien has consistently supported two public policies that violate the teachings and core doctrine of the Catholic Church, abortion and gay marriage.  Last month, while staunchly defending her right to espouse these anti-Catholic positions, she publicly attacked pro-life activists who were holding a sign that read […]

Republicans Must Stand & Deliver

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL November, 2004 The voters have spoken. Republicans have been entrusted with the power to establish and direct government policy. President Bush won a clear victory in both the popular vote and the Electoral College. The Senate is now 55% Republican and the House of Representatives has a 53-54% Republican majority. Republican Governors […]

MA Rep. Barbara L’Italien’s Attack on the Catholic Church

PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN     Tom Duggan – November, 2004  Massachusetts State Representative Barbara L’Italien should be ashamed of herself. She has not only taken a public stand against two of the Catholic Church’s teachings, abortion and gay marriage, (she favors both) the liberal legislator was seen on election day verbally attacking and […]

Hanna’s Education Corner – An Interview with Lawrence School Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy

By: Hanna, Age 10 – October, 2004 What is the difference between a teacher, a principal and a superintendent? Teachers work most directly with the students in the classroom. Principals run the schools and are in charge of everyone in the school building. Superintendents are in charge of all the schools. We make sure that […]

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

Lawrence School Committee uses State Tax Dollars on Cell Phones…for Themselves   By: Tom Duggan – July, 2004   LAWRENCE- In the first three parts of this series, The Valley Patriot reported that Lawrence School Committee members had:  1) wasted thousands of dollars on lavish meals at the One Mill Street restaurant at state taxpayers’ […]

Common Sense School Reform

Frederick Hess, Beacon Hill Institute – June, 2004 (Guest Columnist)   A Measure of the Need for Reform America’s schools are in a state of crisis. Few of our schools are excellent, many are mediocre, and yet we, the adults responsible, are content to tinker and theorize. Demands for radical change are consistently met by protestations […]