By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives June, 2014 It has been a busy month in the State House, most significantly with the state budget, which the Senate passed on May 22. I’m happy to report that during the process I was able to secure key funding for priorities and initiatives that are important for citizens throughout […]
On May 1st The Valley Patriot requested of the Town of Salisbury to produce “documents showing the legal cost and all other costs for the town’s multiple lawsuits and legal issues with the Tomaselli sisters from 2005 to present…”. On May 13th, the town responded three days past the ten day requirement set forth by […]
By Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives The Massachusetts State Senate has formed a special committee to study drug addiction and treatment options in Massachusetts and aims to address an epidemic of opiate addiction in the state. In response to rising levels of drug addiction, the committee plans to review current treatment options and will make recommendations […]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR4PzEKaC0M &w=380&h=320] State Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives (D-Newburyport) has received the first ever Valley Patriot 1st Amendment Award at the newspaper’s tenth anniversary BASH last month. The 1st Amendment award is given to individuals who show with their actions that they value the 1st Amendment to the Constitution and are willing to fight for it. […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives April, 2014 April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. I’m glad to report two recent developments that will strengthen safety for our children in the Commonwealth. There have been significant discrepencies in child services this past year; one being the serious challenges at the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) […]
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD HOUR 1 (right click to save to your IPOD or desktop) CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD HOUR 2 Today Tom and Paul talked about the Valley Patriot’s upcoming Tenth Anniversary BASH and the three new columnists joining the Valley Patriot lineup (Dr. Frank MacMillan, Hypnotist Jerry Valley and Former Eagle Tribune publisher […]
March 16, 2014 The days of public officials refusing to comply with the state’s public records law are almost over. So says State Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives (D), Newburyport who told the Valley Patriot on Wednesday that a Massachusetts joint House and Senate Committee on Public Administration has given a favorable recommendation to House Bill H2846, an […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives – February, 2014 Senators Barry Finegold, (D-Andover), Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), Richard Moore (D-Uxbridge), Eileen Donoghue (D-Lowell), James Timilty (D-Walpole), Joan Lovely (D-Salem), Richard Ross (R-Wrentham), and Don Humason (R-Westfield), recently filed legislation to require juveniles convicted of first-degree murder to serve a minimum of 35 years before becoming eligible for […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives – January, 204 A year ago I was sworn in as the State Senator of the First Essex District, representing the communities of Amesbury, Haverhill, Merrimac, Methuen, Newburyport, North Andover and Salisbury. It has been a very busy and productive year, during which I have advocated for initiatives that have […]
By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives – December, 2013 At the end of this year’s legislative session, the Senate took up a bill to increase Massachusetts’ minimum wage rate from the current $8.00/hr. to $9.00 in 2014, with automatic increases to $10 in 2015 and $11 in 2016. These increases would also be tied to the […]
We started off the year of 2013 losing our good friend and colleague, Ronnie Ford of Methuen. We missed him all year and it would be impossible to start a “year in review” without remembering Ronnie and his family. AUDITOR SUZANNE BUMP & ALL THOSE MISSING EBT CARDS Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump conducted an […]
PHOTOS More than eighty people attended the annual Menorah Lighting on the North Andover Common Monday night as Rabbi Asher Bronstein of Chabat Merrimack Valley praised G-d that we live in a country that still respects religious freedom, “even in the public square”. Jews and others from across the Merrimack Valley sang on the common […]
By: Senator Ives – November, 2013 In the latest effort to support veterans, military members and their families in Massachusetts, the Senate unanimously passed legislation in October to expand benefits, increase access to services, and strengthen the recognition and honor given to our service men and women. Senate Bill 1876, “An Act Relative to Veterans’ […]
By: State Senator Kathleen Ives (D) Newburyport October, 2013 Last week, I gave testimony before the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture in support of two important pieces of legislation before the committee. I spoke in support of House Bill 695, “An Act Preventing the Disposal of Hydraulic Fracturing Wastewater” and House Bill […]
By: State Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives, September, 2013 In 2007 a federal audit found that about one in seven elderly residents were being given antipsychotic medication in nursing homes despite the fact that those drugs carry a “black box” warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A “black box” warning is designed to call […]