Fiscal Year 2018 State Budget Update ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES

Fiscal Year 2018 State Budget Update ~ IN  YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES

  By: Senator Katy Ives – August, 2018 The Massachusetts Legislature recently passed a $41.88 billion state budget for FY19 and directs a $367 million deposit into the Stabilization Fund, to ensure our state’s fiscal health and protect Massachusetts’ future. It also prioritizes our cities and towns, education, and those most in need of help […]

Foster Parent Recruitment Funding in the State Budget is Priceless ~ IN YOUR CORNER with SENATOR IVES

Foster Parent Recruitment Funding in the State Budget is Priceless ~ IN YOUR CORNER with SENATOR IVES

By: State Senator Ives – July, 2018 One of my budgetary priorities this year was to increase funding for the Foster Care Parent Campaign line item in the Fiscal Year 2019 State Budget. The House Budget maintained the funding levels at $250,000. The Senate version of the budget allocated $750,000 to expand the Foster Parent […]

Keeping Schools Safe ~ IN YOUR CORNER with SENATOR KATY IVES

Keeping Schools Safe ~ IN YOUR CORNER with SENATOR KATY IVES

Bu: State Senator Katy Ives – June, 2018 School shootings are becoming too common an occurrence across the country. The discussion of gun control and mental health treatment has surfaced as possible solutions and safety drills are now as common as fire drills. During this surreal time, I’ve had the opportunity to learn about a […]

Methuen Police Detective Receives Gift of Caring Award

Methuen Police Detective Receives Gift of Caring Award

Methuen Police Detective William Kannan received the Gift of Caring award from the Trauma Intervention Program last month. (Courtesy Photo)   METHUEN — Mayor James Jajuga and Chief Joseph Solomon are pleased to announce that Methuen Police Detective William Kannan received the Gift of Caring award from the Trauma Intervention Program (TIP) of the Merrimack […]

Senate Funds Narcan Bulk Purchasing to Bring Down Cost for Municipalities ~ IN YOUR CORNER with SENATOR KATY IVES

Senate Funds Narcan Bulk Purchasing to Bring Down Cost for Municipalities ~ IN YOUR CORNER with SENATOR KATY IVES

By: State Senator Katy Ives – May, 2018 The State Senate included funding in the Fiscal Year 2018 supplemental budget for the Municipal Naloxone Bulk Purchase Trust Fund, which allows municipalities to purchase naloxone for municipal first responder agencies at a discounted rate. I filed an amendment to this supplemental budget that would allocate $150,000 […]

Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Buying Explosives, Guns, with Intent to Murder Federal Judge, Former AG

Massachusetts Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Buying Explosives, Guns, with Intent to Murder Federal Judge, Former AG

CONCORD – United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today that Edward McLarnon, 69, of Malden, Massachusetts, was sentenced to serve 25 years in federal prison for receiving firearms with intent to commit murder and other related charges. After a six-day trial, McLarnon was convicted on January 30, 2018, of: (1) receiving an unregistered silencer; (2) […]

Team Zingales/Century 21 Gives $1K Scholarship to LHS Star at Charity BASH!

Team Zingales/Century 21 Gives $1K Scholarship to LHS Star at Charity BASH!

FIREFIGHTERS RELIEF’S IN – 1 MARKET ST., LAWRENCE Each year Joe Zingales and Rosanna Zingales-Lopez from Century 21 TEAM ZINGALES in Methuen donate at least $1,000 for our Valley Patriot BASH Scholarships. This year they picked a superstar to receive this college scholarship, Christian Kinsley from Lawrence High School and a star basketball player. Joe Zingales […]

New Opportunities through the NECC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Center ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES

New Opportunities through the NECC  Culinary Arts and Hospitality Center ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES

By: State Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives –  Jan. 2018 In the 2017 legislative session, I worked closely with Representative Frank Moran to get $1 million in state funding released that Northern Essex Community College (NECC) needed to move forward with plans to create a Hospitality and Culinary Arts Center in downtown Haverhill. This was a […]

Psychological Center Raises $50K+ to Raise Awareness, Saves Lives

Psychological Center Raises $50K+ to Raise Awareness, Saves Lives

This year’s Psychological Center’s Overcoming Obstacles Gala – Unmasking Stigma was held on Friday, October 13, 2017 with a sold-out crowd of more than 250 in attendance. The event raised more than $50,000, and the beautiful event space and food were generously hosted by Michael Agricola, Salvatore’s Italian Restaurant. All monies raised are used for […]

Requiring Prevention and Reporting of College Sexual Violence ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR KATY IVES

Requiring Prevention and Reporting of College Sexual Violence ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR KATY IVES

By: Senator Katy Ives – Nov. 2017 The State Senate unanimously passed a comprehensive bill that would require higher education institutions in Massachusetts to set in place requirements on how campus police report and disclose an incident of dating violence, sexual assault or stalking. S.2191 filed by Senator Moore. An Act Concerning Sexual Violence on […]

Making Housing Affordable for First Responders ~ IN YOUR CORNER with SENATOR IVES

Making Housing Affordable for First Responders ~ IN YOUR CORNER with SENATOR IVES

By: Sen. Kathleen O’Connor Ives – October, 2017 I recently testified on a bill I filed S733, “An Act Relative to Access to Housing for First Responders,” This legislation would allow MassHousing, an independent, quasi-public state agency focused on providing financing for affordable housing, to create a special home loan program for first responders who […]

Protecting Children from Secondhand Smoke ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES

Protecting Children from Secondhand Smoke ~ IN YOUR CORNER WITH SENATOR IVES

By: Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives I recently testified before the Joint Committee on Public Health to encourage the favorable report of H1170 “An Act to Protect Little Lungs,” filed by Representative Paul Heroux. This bill would ban smoking in a car if a child is small enough to be in a car seat and carry […]

Vargas Put Lives At Risk – VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL (9-17)

Vargas Put Lives At Risk – VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL (9-17)

*EDITORIAL* State Rep. Brian Dempsey of Haverhill is vacating his seat. There are three candidates seeking the Democratic Party nomination in the October 10th special election. They are: Paul Magliocchetti and Andy Vargas. * Eva Montibello did not qualify for the ballot just days after this editorial was published. Last month, The Valley Patriot interviewed Paul […]

Montibello Seeks to Replace Dempsey, Says Vargas Put Lives at Risk

Montibello Seeks to Replace Dempsey, Says Vargas Put Lives at Risk

Haverhill resident Eva Montibello has joined Andy Vargas and Paul Magliochetti in the race for the Democratic nomination for the state representative seat being vacated by Brian Dempsey. Montibello has a child in the public schools and works at the Homeless Empowerment Project part-time. “I also have my own marketing consultancy business and I’ve also […]

Too Big To Fail Lives on in 2017

Too Big To Fail Lives on in 2017

By: Duncan Burns – August, 2017 What if someone told you that since 2010, a banking company has been caught for: Foreclosure fraud, student loan abuses, money laundering, whistle-blower retaliation, violation of Americans with Disabilities Act, employment discrimination, wage & hour violations, Service Members Relief Act violations, Family Medical Leave Act violations, anti-trust violations, False […]