By: Tom Duggan, June, 2011 With several law enforcement agencies investigating the finances and political dealings of Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua, and the Boston media finally waking up to his political shenanigans, the question most people are asking is: can Lantigua survive? Let me start by saying that I’ve known and studied the political genius […]
By; Tom Duggan – May, 2011 Lawrence School Committeeman Sammy Reyes (District D) has written a scathing letter to the city council demanding that education funds (which were used for city services) be repaid to the school children of Lawrence. In his letter, Reyes threatens to turn in the Lantigua administration for misappropriation […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – May, 2011 A recall effort is underway in the City of Lawrence. The process of a recall is contained in the City Charter (hereafter Charter). Section 9.7 entitled “Recall of Elected Officials.” As this section is written in government lingo, it does require a careful reading as well as some […]
By: Peter Larocque – April, 2011 According to Wikipedia, (meaning quick encyclopedia), a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia, Public Safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, crimes or disasters, (natural or man-made). In the United States we have the […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – April, 2011 While everyone wants to feel good and say nice things, it is hard to feel good or say nice things about what is going on in the Lawrence Schools. Yes, there are successful students there. Yes, there are great teachers, and yes there are good programs and happy […]
By: Jon Golnik – April, 2011 The Republican tide that swept through the country on November 2nd seemingly stopped short in Massachusetts. While Republicans won 16 state representative seats (doubling their number), how is it that we lost a state senate seat and failed to win any state wide race or a Congressional race […]
Valley Patriot Editorial ~ April, 2011 When will the people of Lawrence say “enough is enough” and start a recall petition against Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua? In the year and a half Lantigua has been mayor, he has not only laid off cops and firefighters but has publicly attacked them at every turn, calling them […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL MARCH, 2011 In the real world, ordinary citizens who bribe lawmakers for favors suffer serious consequences. Big fines and/or jail time are the rule. But this is not so with public employee unions. These groups donate thousands of dollars to the election campaigns of lawmakers, who in turn, favor them with […]
February, 2011 Valley Patriot readers will recall that last summer, residents living near the Shawsheen River reported the smell of raw sewage and a foul, cloudy discharge coming from a stormwater drain behind the South Lawrence East School. In May of last year, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a letter to Lawrence DPW Director […]
SCULLY RETURNS! By: Tom Duggan – February, 2011 When Lawrence School Superintendent Jim Scully was fired by the School Committee back in 1997, the injustices were numerous. He was accused of misspending public dollars by a School Committee that had approved every single expenditure they fired him for. The press, in particular Boston […]
Freedom of Information Laws MUST be Respected Valley Patriot Editorial February 5, 2011 Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua seems to think he owns the City of Lawrence. Since taking office in January of 2010, the Boston Herald and The Valley Patriot have reported Lantigua refusing to comply with Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Those are requests […]
By: Peter Larocque -January, 2011 As we begin 2011, should we even dare ask this question? It would seem to me that before we place a list of complaints at the feet of our Public Schools we should at least let them know what our expectations are! It is totally unfair to our public […]
By: Gerry Nutter – December, 2010 Since we are in the Holiday season, I thought I’d save time and hand out my Christmas presents to the area politicians a little early so they don’t forget I got them something. Some you may get and others only a few may get but it’s done in […]
An ongoing Series on Tomorrow’s Heroes: Honoring Marine Recruits who Said: “Send Me” By: Tom Duggan – December, 2010 As a strong supporter of the military, I was honored when the local recruiter from my area, Sgt. Natasha Young asked if I would be interested in going to Parris Island, South Carolina and witness […]
By; Robert O’Koniewski – December, 2010 Recently state treasurer-elect Steve Grossman was whining in the press about legislation his pal, U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), had filed to legalize on-line video poker across the country. Grossman’s gripe? Legalized on-line poker would hurt, allegedly, the Massachusetts state lottery’s revenues and the almost $900 […]