By: Jessica Finocchiaro – June, 2015 NORTH ANDOVER—Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump is the first female to serve as Auditor in the Commonwealth’s history, and she spoke frankly about her experiences at the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce’s “Women in Business Series” last month. Members of the Chamber fielded questions as last minute attendees checked […]
Massachusetts Legislators, members of the media and 1st amendment advocates testified last month before a joint House and Senate committee on Beacon Hill, asking legislators to add penalties to the state’s fake public records law. The law, MGL Ch. 66, states that the keeper of records in any municipality or public agency must turn over public […]
NEIL HARRINGTON IS THE POSTER BOY When I started this journey to reform our state’s public records law five years ago I had no idea that the Town of Salisbury would feature so prominently in my motivations to add stiff penalties for officials who refuse to turn over public documents. Yet, here we are. […]
By: John MacDonald – June, 2015 This past Memorial Day weekend I traveled down to a campground in Rhode Island. It’s a place called Holiday Acres and it has a lot of seasonal campers year round and, of course, many weekenders during weekends in the summer. Those of us who have made the decision and […]
By: State Senator Katy Ives – June, 2015 Last week, I testified on a bill I filed, S.1700, An Act Relative to Obtaining Information, before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. This bill promotes access to information, available to all, within a reasonable time frame and for residents to have recourse in […]
By Christine Morabito – June 2015 As an environmentalist and bird lover, it gives me no pleasure to criticize the largest conservation organization in New England; an organization of which I am a member. Personal conflict aside, it seems apparent that Massachusetts Audubon Society’s support for a massive industrial project threatens thousands of birds a year. […]
BOSTON—Two more friends of convicted Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Boston for their role in impeding the Boston Marathon bombing investigation. Robel Phillipos, 21, of Cambridge, was sentenced this afternoon to three years in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to report to the […]
June 1, 2015 LAWRENCE — Residents looking for help or support from their state senator or state representatives can now find it at City Hall. The Lawrence delegation has opened a local office at Lawrence City Hall, 200 Common St., Mayor DanielRivera and the city’s state delegation announced. The office – Room 203 on the […]
Tom Duggan, May, 2015 The friends and family of a child murdered in 1985 have privately raised nearly $4,000 for a headstone, 30 years after the murder of Michelle Pimentel in 1985. Pimentel’s friends and family raised the money in less than one week after appearing on 980WCAP’s Paying Attention Radio program to tell their […]
AUDIO: Tom Duggan on Afternoon LIVE discusses the state’s impotent Public Records law and how it affects you. (VIDEO of Duggan’s testimony below at 41 MIN mark) Valley Patriot publisher Tom Duggan testified before a sub committee of the Massachusetts State Legislature in favor of a bill he wrote S1700 that would finally put teeth into […]
By: State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell – May, 2015 The Budget passed by the House of Representatives for Fiscal Year 2016 closes a budget gap without tax increases, new fees, and without taking additional money from our “rainy day fund” as we needed to do during the recession and the years following, in order to […]
Independent Expenditure “Super” PACs and other independent groups spent $20.4 million in the 2014 election, according to an OCPF review of disclosure reports filed by those entities. It was the first statewide election in Massachusetts in which Super PACs played a role. The total in 2014 is twice the amount spent by independent entities in […]
Individual Inspector Also Penalized Separately for 6 Fraudulent Emission Tests BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) penalized Commonwealth Motors of Lawrence $15,000 for issuing six fraudulent motor vehicle inspection stickers between July 16 and November 7, 2014. In addition, Commonwealth Motors’ license to conduct automobile emissions was suspended for up to […]
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By: Tom Duggan – May 18, 2015 North Andover voters rejected a measure at Annual Town Meeting Tuesday night, that would have allowed 16 and 17 year-olds the right to vote in local elections, at Town Meeting, and even run for local office. Had the Warrant Article passed at Town Meeting, the question would have gone […]