Lawrence Receives Federal Funds to Hire 6 Police Officers Lawrence Must Pay $125,000 and pick up full tab after 3 years. “This year all new officers hired under the grant must be military veterans that have served at least 180 days of active military service, any part of which occurred on or after September 11, 2001.” […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL June, 2012 Receiver Jeffrey Riley’s plan to improve the educational opportunities for the children of Lawrence contains a few ideas that, if fully exploited, may improve performance. That being said, the parents of Lawrence’s school children and the taxpayers that fund this educational debacle, were both left out of the process of creating this […]
By: Dani Langevin – June, 2012 This has been a particularly difficult work year for me. It started off with me being taken away the very first day of the school year by ambulance because of heart arrhythmia. Everything checked out fine and I haven’t had another episode since. Two weeks later I missed […]
By: Paul Murano – June, 2012 People feel most offended when they know deep in their heart something is true. Consider this point as you read this column. In the heat of a political year when Democrats concoct a war on women and Republicans deny it, we ask the question: Is there a war […]
By: Peter Larocque – June, 2012 I would like to respond to an Editorial entitled, “Bake Sale Band Flap” that was published in the Eagle-Tribune on 5/13/2012. Towards the end of the editorial, the writer makes a conclusion concerning the crux of the matter, “when Legislators hand off their power to control the fine […]
By; Tom Duggan – June, 2012 Former Methuen Mayor and Democrat candidate for State Senate in the Massachusetts First Essex District race, Bill Manzi, called into “Paying Attention!” with Tom Duggan and co-host Paul Muranao on WCAP radio 980AM to talk about where he stands on the issues facing Massachusetts Voters. The First Essex […]
By: Ken Willette – June, 2012 I have observed with great dissatisfaction political decisions being considered or enacted by our local leadership in Methuen. With each questionable decision, I have come to the same conclusions: when are real government reforms going to be implemented and how much will these recent actions to augment the […]
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – June, 2012 You’ve probably heard of “Conservative Democrats.” Lately they have been as scarce as hen’s teeth. Locally, I viewed the late Senator Steve Baddour (still breathing, but no longer a state senator) as a Conservative Democrat. While we had a modest overlap of views, […]
By: Jeff Katz – June, 2011 There are times as a father where your son can just plain make you proud. I look back on some of those times now, as my oldest son Harry embarks on the next part of his scouting journey which I hope and pray will one day bring him […]
By: Gerry Nutter – May, 2011 On April 26th for the 2nd time since February the Lowell City Council received a “White Paper” dealing with suggestions of how the Council should spend taxpayer dollars from a Political Action Committee based here in Lowell named Move Lowell Forward. In the 2009 election this “non-partisan citizens […]
By: Kenneth Willette May, 2012 I was quite amused to learn recently that Deval Patrick will be making the rounds on the national press circuit as an official spokesperson for the Obama re-election campaign. I am actually thrilled that he is the national spokesperson, because his dubious record on crime, illegal immigration and tax […]
By: Rob Eno – May, 2012 After completing work on a $32.5 billion budget, Speaker Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop) said the budget process was, “the most open and transparent we can have”. The non-partisan Center for Public Integrity, among others, strongly disagrees. They recently gave Massachusetts an F for openness and transparency in our budgeting […]
Tom Duggan – May, 2012 State Representatives Brad Hill (R) says that he took exception to comments made in a Valley Patriot story this month on a set of bills that could put animal shelters and resources out of business and he called The Valley Patriot newsroom to set the record straight. “I thought The […]
By: Christine Morabito, President Greater Boston Tea Party May, 2012 Growing pains are inevitable for any fledgling organization. The Tea Party in Massachusetts was stretched to its outer limits over the past few weeks as our focus and mission were put to the test. The Greater Boston Tea Party and other large Tea Party groups […]
Morality Matters! By: Paul Murano Whoever wins the battle of language inevitably wins the war. This principle is nowhere truer than in culture wars, where false philosophies depend on manipulation of the language to convert the uncritical masses to a particular worldview. We are now at the end of our second generation that is conditioned […]