By: Tom Duggan – August 7, 2013 OTHER METHUEN STORIES Former State Senator James Jajuga is running for Methuen City Council At Large (city wide). Jajuga is a Vietnam Era Veteran, was a member of the Massachusetts State Police, is former Public Safety Commissioner and is the former […]
LISTEN TO HOUR ONE (RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD) Russia takes a hard line on gays and the gay community is outraged…. but are we supposed to respect other people’s cultures? Who are WE to say that their culture is wrong and OUR culture is right? I mean that is what we have been told by […]
BREAKING…. Tom Duggan – July 30, 2013 (OTHER PUBLIC SAFETY STORIES) A Massachusetts State Trooper who committed Suicide yesterday was under investigation for criminal activity while on duty Saturday night. He was relieved of duty pending the investigation and […]
By: Tom Duggan – July 26, 2013 Billerica DPW director Abdul Alkhatib says there are no shenanigans going on with his town’s public bid to purchase fire hydrants. He told the Valley Patriot that the public bids requests by the town were not tailored to favor (a) certain large American company, but a Valley Patriot […]
Expansion Opens Information on Level 2 Offenders to the Public Under current Massachusetts law, the public only has access to information on Level 3 sex offenders. Such limited resources inspired State Representative James Arciero (D-Westford) to sponsor legislation, endorsed by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, geared to reforming the Commonwealth’s registry board. Arciero […]
By Dr. Padmanabhan – July, 2013 This column was triggered by a gushing puff piece published naturally by Brian McGrory’s newspaper – The Boston Globe – on May 21, 2013. Even by their standards, that piece was a new low. This particular gusher was about the second $125 Million given to Harvard by a Swiss […]
Representative Jim Lyons (R-Andover) reports that Andover, Tewksbury, Boxford, and North Andover will receive an increase in Local Aid in Fiscal Year 2014. “When I was first elected State Representative in 2010, I promised that Local Aid would be my top priority,” said Lyons. “I have fought tirelessly for more equitable funding for our […]
By Dani Langvin – July 2013 It’s time to think outside the igloo. We, here in the Merrimack Valley, live in an area of extreme weather patterns. Summers can be excessively hot and wet or dry, and winters are snowy and unpredictable. Because of these extremes, schools have been shut down due to flooding (a […]
By: Peter Lrocque – July 2013 God Bless and hope you all had a happy July 4th. I would like to thank all of the members of the Lawrence City Council for making the decision of whom to vote for and who not to vote for in this year’s city elections very easy! Thursday June […]
By: State Representative Linda Dean Campbell – July 2013 The Legislature successfully passed the FY14 budget Monday after a prolonged conference committee between the House and the Senate. It was worth the wait. I am pleased with the overall package that increases our Rainy Day fund, keeping it within the top four highest funds in […]
By: Tom Duggan – July 18, 2013 Lawrence Firefighter and community activist Manuel “Juan” Gonzalez launched his official campaign kickoff for Mayor Thursday night before a packed room of about 100 people at the Firefighter’s Relief In. Flanked by former Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan, Lawrence City Councilor Marc LaPlante (District “F”), and Mount Vernon Neighborhood Association […]
BOSTON – State Representative Diana DiZoglio (D-Methuen) joined her colleagues in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in passing legislation that provides immediate funds for reforms to the electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system and the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). The bill updates EBT oversight measures included in the FY ’14 budget and advances continuous […]
By Jeff Katz – July, 2013 I am happy to reflect on the fact that as a young man I was in a number of what were then called “advanced” courses. I excelled in English, history and social science and the Philadelphia school system provided me with an opportunity to delve deeper and more […]
The 2011-12 state election cycle saw typical political action committee activity in Massachusetts, even with the addition of independent expenditure PACs, according to a study published by OCPF that examines campaign finance activity by PACs. PACs reported making $2,637,514 in direct contributions to state and county candidates in 2011-12, a period that did not include […]
By Sandra Stotsky, special to the Valley Patriot Why Massachusetts needs to defund implementation and testing of Common Core’s current standards In this essay, I suggest why Common Core’s English language arts and mathematics standards need revision before further implementation in any Common Core state—and well before tests are given that are based on these […]