From Woodstock to Vietnam By: John Cuddy – June, 2020 Bill McCann was born in 1950 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He grew up in the Tower Hill Section of the city. Bill attended Lawrence High School and transferred to North Andover High School for his Senior Year. He graduated in June 1969 and applied to attend […]
UPDATE…. 2-10-18 ARRANGEMENTS HAVE CHANGED: Family and friends are invited to visiting hours on Sunday February 11, 2018 from 2pm to 4pm at The Dewhirst-Boles Funeral Home, 80 Broadway, Methuen. A Funeral Mass will be on Monday February 12 at 11:00am in Sacred Heart Church, 321 S. Broadway, Lawrence. Burial with military honors will follow […]
Sullivan says same suit filed twice before, expects dismissal again By: Tom Duggan – September, 2011 LAWRENCE – On February 9, 2007 (then) Public Works Director Frank McCann was suspended by (then) Mayor Michael Sullivan for a myriad of reasons. At issue was a $400,000 cost overrun on the paving project of High Street, […]
Last month, at The Valley Patriot’s 20th Anniversary BASH, not only did the newspaper give out $58,000 in scholarship money to local students but several people were honored for their work in the community with recognitions and awards. THE JOHN RATKA HERO VETERANS AWARD Because honoring Veterans is so much a part of what we […]
By: Tom Duggan – July 31, 2019 An electrician for the City of Methuen – Dan Tulley – has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Methuen Mayor Jim Jajuga in federal court alleging political retaliation and an offer of political payoffs in exchange for his step-son’s support on the Methuen Police Superior Officer’s contract. Complaint Tulley, […]
SALISBURY FREE CASH? – Why would Town Manager Neil Harrington and Sewer Commissioner/Selectmen transfer $460,000 from the Sewer Enterprise Fund (SEF) – and name it “free cash” when it absolutely is not free cash? On May 19th voters spoke up at Town Meeting saying Salisbury had special “Step 3” Federal Grant conditions in order to […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL For years we have called for investigations into what State Rep. Jim Lyons called the “criminal enterprise” of the Lantigua Administration in Lawrence. For years we have detailed in this newspaper the myriad of questionable and sometimes blatant criminal actions of those on the taxpayers dime at Lawrence City Hall. Now, Lantigua’s […]
By Tom Duggan – April 4, 2014 Attorney Carmine DiAdamo is suing the City of Lawrence for $5MIL, after Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera made it clear to him that the City of Lawrence was no longer interested in continuing the lease of his building at 255 Essex Street. DiAdamo’s downtown building has housed the Lawrence […]
Current and Former Political Officials Ask Judge for Leniency at Degnan Sentencing Hearing By: Tom Duggan: April 3, 2014 Willie Lantigua’s former Chief of Staff Lenny Degnan will pay a fine of $10,000 and serve 18 months in the Middleton House of Corrections for his role in soliciting a bribe from Allied Waste, the company that contracts […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL JANUARY 2014 Earlier this month former Lawrence City Councilor Dan Rivera was sworn in as Lawrence’s new mayor after defeating the once-thought unbeatable, William Lantigua by 82 votes. We know all too well the problems Lawrence faces and the long road ahead of Mayor Rivera just to get the city to stop […]
“If Attorney DiAdamo is now stating he is ‘shackled’ and he cannot produce that evidence, it is not the courts obligation, nor ours, to give him the keys by granting an order of protection. If his client, the City of Lawrence has not given him a waiver of confidentiality, if he doesn’t have evidence to […]
Parents of Murdered Children of the Merrimack Valley (POMC) held a candlelight vigil and remembrance last month on the steps of Lowell City Hall. This was the fifth annual remembrance held in Lowell. Former Lowell Mayor Rita Mercier, a regular attendee at the annual event, addressed the group of more than 40 people gathered to […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL – OCTOBER, 2013 In September of 2006 The Valley Patriot wrote an editorial calling out Lawrence DPW Director, Frank McCann and Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan for their failure to repair one of Lawrence’s most famous landmarks: The Vietnam Veterans’ Fountain located at the gateway to the city on Winthrop Avenue and […]
By: Tom Duggan – June 2013 The DiAdamo and DiAdamo Law Firm has been paid millions of dollars over the last ten years representing the City of Lawrence on worker’s compensation claims, rental payments made to the DiAdamos for the Lawrence School Department Central Offices on Essex Street, payments made for their representation of the […]
By: Tom Duggan – November 12, 2012 Just days after taking office in 2010, Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua, his Chief of Staff, Leonard “Lenny” Degnan of North Andover, and then DPW Director Frank Mcann of Haverhill, were involved in a transaction with Patriot Ambulance Company, a private contractor that provides ambulance services to The City […]