By: Tom Duggan – July, 2011 During the late 80’s, former Lawrence Mayor Kevin Sullivan tried to orchestrate a recall election against two members of the Lawrence School Committee who opposed his Emerson College relocation plan. That effort, backed with money, resources and the help of the daily newspaper, failed. In the early 90’s, former Lawrence Mayor Larry Lefebre lost a […]
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 […]
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 […]
By: Brian Genest – 03/24 Dracut voters, beware. Josh Taylor, a bitter and angry second-time candidate for Selectman, is spreading lies about the town’s financial situation—and officials are calling him out. Here’s some irony that can’t be overlooked and shouldn’t be forgotten at the ballot box: As The Valley Patriot celebrates two decades of vigorously […]
And Return To Living In A Tent By: Dr. Bharani Padmanabhan – Feb. 2024 When interviewed by the spineless Governor’s Council after declaring she wanted “to serve” on the bench, Debra Squires-Lee recalled time spent in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming and said “From the time I was 10 until I was 15 […]
By: Philippe Thibault, Jan. 2024 The greatest philosophical questions in the world are often passed off as a gag line. What is the sound of one hand clapping? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a noise? There are academic discussions that can be made from these […]
BENEATH THE SURAFACE with PAUL MURANO By: Paul Murano – Jan. 2024 Do you ever wonder how things in our society got so bad? All of a sudden? Do you feel like you live in an age of insanity? What happened!? This is a question that baffles all people of good will today, especially those […]
By: Ken Willette ~ 12-23 Finally, a liberal at the Washington Post (WP) has called for the retirement of Joe Biden. You know that you are in deep trouble with the Democratic Party hierarchy when a WP writer– who has forever served as the message board of the Democratic National Committee (DNC)– begs you not […]
By: Brian Genest – 12-23 As we get ready to usher in a new year, here’s a look at some of the highlights and happenings from 2023 in Dracut. * The Dracut Scholarship Foundation’s annual telethon raised more than $162,000. Since it began, the scholarship foundation has awarded nearly $2 million in scholarships to 1,700 […]
By: Brian Genest 10-23 There can be a fine line between good government and bad government; in Dracut, a recent meeting of the so-called Tri-Board was an example of absurd government. At that gathering about town finances and potential future budget deficits, made up of the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and members of the […]
By: John Cuddy 10-23 Raised in Methuen, Massachusetts, where he returned to over thirty years ago, ninety-year-old Robert Lister and his daughter Joan, recently met with the Valley Patriot to tell his story. Growing up, he had three sisters and one brother. Robert attended Lawrence High School for a while before joining the US Navy […]
By: Valley Patriot Staff (10-23) As most of you know by now, Valley Patriot publisher Tom Duggan is home and recovering from a near death illness that took the expertise, skills, and a few medical miracles from the teams of doctors and medical professionals who struggled for more than 10 days to keep Duggan alive. […]
By: John Cuddy – 7/23 Lawrence’s James George Hajjar, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the Plains neighborhood in Lawrence, a community of Lebanese, Sicilian, and Irish, a few blocks northwest of Campagnone Common, named after three Lawrence brothers, who were killed in the Normandy Campaign of World War II. James […]
By: John Cuddy – 05-23 Despite the fact that I arrived with a two-pound box of Tripoli’s cookies, ninety-nine-year-old US Army Veteran Salisbury’s Robert “Boots” Chouniard, spent a good part of our time together, on his rowing machine, vigorously working out. He walks a mile a day, rows, lifts weights, and travels worldwide. Boots spends […]
By: John Cuddy – 12/22 Lawrence’s Ed Murphy grew up in the South Lawrence East neighborhood, living in Veteran’s Housing at the Lawrence Stadium Projects as his dad, Edward J. Murphy was a Navy veteran. He later moved to Bailey Street with his parents and three sisters. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in […]