Massachusetts Governor-elect Charlie Baker has a tough job ahead of him. We believe Baker must identify and address the rampant corruption epidemic plaguing the state before he can adequately tackle the budget deficit left by tax and spend Democrat Deval Patrick, the incompetence at DCF, a Parole Board out of control, an EBT welfare program […]
By: Tom Duggan, November 3, 2014 While The Valley Patriot newspaper has a policy against endorsing candidates, each member of our editorial board is free to endorse or make public who we are voting for. Here are my personal picks for the 2014 election season and why. Governor Charlie Baker, Republican As a right […]
READ PART 1 HERE The Valley Patriot has covered many state corruption stories in the past ten and a half years. What we observed in that time is that scandals come and go but very rarely does anything ever change. Our editorial board sat down with State Representative Jim Lyons and Shauna O’Connell to ask […]
By: David “D.J.” Beauregard – October, 2014 At first glance, most political observers would neglect to see any similarities between this year’s race for Governor of Massachusetts and the upcoming Presidential campaign in 2016. When one digs a little deeper into the details, it becomes clear that the race unfolding in our backyard is going […]
The Valley Patriot has covered many state corruption stories in the past ten and a half years. What we observed in that time is that scandals come and go, but very rarely does anything ever change. Our editorial board sat down with State Representative Jim Lyons and Shauna O’Connell to ask them the gravity of […]
By: Tom Duggan – October, 2014 While many believe former Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua is now a bad memory never to return, the fact is the man who ruled Lawrence with an iron fist is now positioned as the front-runner in a three way race for his old seat in the Massachusetts House of […]
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO HOUR 1 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO HOUR 2 Paying Attention is hosted by Valley Patriot Publisher Tom Duggan. Tom’s, Co-host is Paul Murano. Paying Attention with Tom Duggan is produced by Chris Poublon of Dracut. Paying Attention airs on 980WCAP in Lowell, Massachusetts on Saturday’s from 10am to […]
By Tom Duggan, May, 2014 Massachusetts State Auditor Suzanne Bump says, “It’s not enough” that Governor Deval Patrick is replacing the state’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) Commissioner, telling a crowd of women in North Andover last month that replacing the head of DCF would do little to protect children while the policies and […]
By: Dr. Bharani Padmanabhan May, 2014 The definition of a “Child Welfare Advocate” in Massachusetts is someone who supports total secrecy within the Juvenile Court system and sealing every document so even the children allegedly being advocated for are under threat of prosecution for releasing their own records – for their own protection of course. Docket […]
By: Tom Duggan – May 21, 2014 Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has signed what has been called “The Lantigua Bill” by some lawmakers after the former Lawrence Mayor refused to file his campaign finance reports with the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finances. The new law, authored by State Representative Diana DiZogio (D-METHUEN), will […]
[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. […]
“I know what I can do and I’ve been doing a lot, probably more than you know, and more than the public is entitled to know under the law.” ~ Governor Deval Patrick By: Tom Duggan, 4/24/14 Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick was confronted today on his way into an event at University of Massachusetts in […]
By: Dr. Bharani Padmanabhan – February, 2014 Attorney General Martha Coakley made a lot of noise prior to her last election about public entities not being allowed to force nondisclosure agreements onto whistleblowers and other employees. Turns out it was just that, noise. In a very important report this week, the Globe revealed that it had […]
By: Tom Duggan – December, 2013 Republican Alex Vispoli is a member of the Andover Board of Selectmen. Pavel Payano sits on the Lawrence School Committee. The contrast between the two could not be more stark or obvious. Vispoli is a seasoned veteran of Andover Politics, while Payano is still serving his first term on […]
Given that we have confidential informants in Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole, we were able to get an advanced copy of Santa’s Christmas list and it’s pretty obvious from what we can see, who has been naughty and who’s been nice. Here is what Santa is planning on leaving under the tree for […]