(READ PART 1) By: Ted Tripp – May, 2006 METHUEN – As 85-year-old Luther McIlwain slowly walks around the kitchen table in his Pleasant Valley home, it is obvious that this Tuskegee Airman has a lot more story to tell about his military experience during World War II. Each little parcel of information he shares […]
Read PART II By: Ted Tripp – April, 2006 METHUEN – Everyone meeting Luther McIlwain for the first time immediately realizes there is something special in the air. Even a short conversation with the 85 year-old veteran of World War II causes you to think about the greater social and political issues of our time. Every […]
By: Tom Duggan – March 2006 While suburban cities and towns like North Andover are cutting their teaching staff and eliminating art and music programs due to lack of funding, Wilfredo Laboy and the Lawrence School Committee have chosen to use state education dollars for out of state travel conferences (to the tune of $4,000) […]
What Does Your Fifth Grader Know About AIDS? February, 2006 Does your fifth grader know about AIDS? Does your fifth grader know of the “myths of AIDS”? Do you want your fifth grader being taught about AIDS in school? Many parents in North Andover this week are asking themselves these same questions after their children […]
By: Tom Duggan – February, 2006 Don Campbell joined the military in 1978. He was commissioned into ROTC at Pittsburgh State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. After serving active duty for his first two years in Kansas, Don was sent to Germany at the height of the cold war and stationed at various bases around the […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL February, 2006 The owners and editors of The Valley Patriot signed the marriage petition to allow the voters of Massachusetts to vote on whether or not marriage should be defined as between a man and a woman. Decisions of this import and scope, impacting traditions that have stood for thousands of […]
By: Tom Duggan -January, 2006 NORTH ANDOVER – Lawrence native Bill Callahan served his country in two wars, World War II and the Korean War. After completing his military service, he has also spent decades volunteering in the community and working to help others. When Bill Callahan graduated from Lawrence High School in 1945, the […]
EDITORIAL When the average voter goes to the polls during local elections, he is usually not thinking of party politics. During local races, average voters look at individual candidates and cast a vote based upon which man or woman can serve their community better. A candidate’s party affiliation rarely comes to play during local races. […]
By Dr. Charles Ormsby – December 6, 2005 ANDOVER, MA – John Doherty had a lot of family history to uphold. His family had lived in Andover for over 150 years and the Doherty Elementary School is named after his uncle, Bill Doherty, after he served 39 years on the Andover School Committee. John’s […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL November, 2005 Some Massachusetts legislators are always seeking newer and better ways to mug the Massachusetts taxpayers. The ongoing effort to allow the children of illegal aliens to attend state colleges at the same cost as legal residents, rather than at the higher out-of-state rate, is another example of flouting the […]
By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – November, 2005 Harvey Gibeau was born in Lawrence in 1923 and after high school he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930s. He vividly remembers the ever-present sense of patriotism that prevailed. Patriotism was a common household word and was an expected personal trait in his family. In […]
By: Charles Ormsby – September, 2005 NORTH ANDOVER – Alexander Milne rarely speaks of his wartime experiences, even with fellow veterans. Such conversations were uncommon even with his brother, Donald, who served on the Battleship Texas at Normandy, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and who passed away two years ago. Alex found it difficult to […]
By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – January, 2005 We have been bombarded with news stories recently detailing the abysmal state of public education in the US. It is a theme I have been preaching for decades and a disaster that I am now witnessing up close and personal. The spate of recent articles was prompted […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL August, 2005 You cannot put a price on democracy. Yet, the city of Methuen recently tried to cancel their preliminary election, officials said, because too few candidates took out nomination papers. Why have a preliminary election, they asked, and spend thousands of tax dollars when most races for mayor, school committee and city council are uncontested? […]
“I believe that the only way Willie Lantigua can get political power is to control people who truly don’t know what is going on. He constantly stirs the pot of hate for his own political maneuvering. He doesn’t really seem to care who he hurts in the process, either.” ~Lawrence Licensing Commissioner Roger Twomey. By: […]