Summer Job Training Program in Methuen By; Tom Duggan – May, 2012 Methuen School Superintendent Judy Scannell has reinstituted a jobs training program for graduating students who are not attending college after they get their diploma. Scannell says the “Pathways” jobs program is funded by a federal grant and was in place “for about ten years […]
Thinking Outside the Box With Dr. Charles Ormsby Dr. Charles Ormsby – May, 2012 “I was in a meeting once, and I gave an analogy to my staff about my philosophy of enforcement … how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, they’d […]
By: Robert Irving – May, 2011 Celebrity TV Endorsements – Robert Wagner is back on TV in a toned down commercial for reverse mortgages; this time for Guardian First Funding Group out of New York and Philadelphia. According to an employment ad, this company operates a Call Center and hires telephone representatives as they […]
By: Dr. Rami Rustum – April, 2012 Pain relief at the end of life is a top priority task for patients, family caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Failure to achieve such goal has enormous consequences with tremendous distress to patients, a sense of failure by family caregivers, and moral distress of professionals who understand that the […]
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX SIMPLE MATH Only 25 percent of Lawrence’s eighth grade students, based on MCAS test results, are proficient in mathematics. The percentage of proficient students increases to only 27 percent in tenth grade (winter 2011), but this can hardly be considered progress since there are roughly 12 percent fewer students remaining to […]
By: Paul Murano – April, 2012 Victoria Reggie Kennedy, wife of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, was slated to be the 2012 commencement speaker at Anna Maria College in Paxton, a Catholic college in the Diocese of Worcester. Her invitation was rescinded by the college last week when the bishop got wind of it. In […]
By: Peter Larocque – April, 2012 The response to an article in March’s Boston Magazine entitled, “Lawrence, MA: City of the Damned” by city politicians and community activist young and old has me scratching my head. I do understand some of their reasoning, but in the end it is just more of the same, […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL April, 2012 The media coverage of the recent Trayvon Martin case (where a black man was shot to death by a Latino) should have Hispanics in the United States in an uproar. Oddly enough, we have not heard one story in one media outlet showing this to be true. Without speculating on […]
It’s time to stop circling the wagons and shooting IN Christine Morabito – April, 2012 The Tea Party’s relationship with U.S. Senator Scott Brown has been dysfunctional at best. In February, leaders from 7 Massachusetts Tea Parties sat down with Brown’s staff to establish an open dialogue and express concerns about his voting record. Despite […]
PUPPYLOVE WITH KATE WHITNEY By: PuppyGirl Kate Whitney – April, 2012 This month I decided to write about a subject that is not very pleasant – testing on animals. I was on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) website one day (www.peta.org) and came across a whole section that promotes awareness about […]
VALLEY PATRIOTS OF THE MONTH By: Helen Mooradkanian – April, 2012 When 25-year-old Corporal George A. (Tony) Lutz, II, U.S. Army, of Virginia Beach, VA, was killed by a sniper’s bullet outside Fallujah on December 29, 2005, only six weeks into his deployment in “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” his tragic death set in motion a […]
Mass. Dept. of Agriculture has Conflicts of Interest: DOA Employees In Bed with Dog Breeders Tom Duggan – May, 2012 The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) has been targeting and harassing dog “rescues” in Massachusetts for years. They are the state agency in charge of regulation and enforcement of the animal industry it the […]
By: Peter Larocque – March, 2012 The way the Massachusetts Law that allowed Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester to Takeover Lawrence’s Public Schools is being implemented could be Unconstitutional! According to this law, the Commissioner shall appoint a Receiver to a School District that has been declared chronically underperforming by the State Board of Elementary and […]
By: Dennis Prager – March 2012 New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addressed the American Israel @ Affairs Committee (AIPAC) last week. In the few words reported by the Weekly Standard magazine, he said just about everything one needs to know about Israel; about America and Israel; and about American political leadership: “America should stand by […]
March, 2012 Thank you President Janssens and thank you for your continued leadership of the Council. I’d also like to thank all of the Councilors for their work and dedication to the City. These past few years have not been the easiest of times for the City, but working together we have persevered. In order […]