By: Tom Duggan – May, 2004 While other communities in the Merrimack Valley are counting every penny and making difficult cuts to services and personnel, foregoing luxuries like out-of-state travel, and appealing to the state for more funding, the Lawrence School Committee appears not to have similar concerns. Last month, while no other superintendent […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN By: Tom Duggan – May, 2004 Recent headlines in Merrimack Valley newspapers have proven that the sacred cow ideologies of public education espoused by liberals are in fact, myths. Myth #1 Money equals education: Most people have bought into the myth that spending more money on education results in […]
Tom Duggan 03-08-04 For the past three years members of the Lawrence School Committee have been billing the taxpayers for plush dining at the city’s most expensive restaurant: One Mill Street. Then School Committeemen Noah Shannon, Pedro Arce, Suzanne Piscitello, Nancy Kennedy and current member George Gonzalez all dined with Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy and his […]
By: Tom Duggan – March, 2004 Lawrence – Mayor Michael Sullivan says that even if police investigations are capable of eliminating all auto insurance fraud in the City of Lawrence, “auto insurance rates still won’t go down.” Sullivan, touting the hard work of Police Chief John Romero and the Lawrence Police Department, said that […]
Tom Duggan – 2004 WAKEFIELD – Lt. Governor Kerry Murphy Healey called for the resignation of Senator John Kerry yesterday before a packed room of Republican supporters at the Sheraton in Wakefield. Introducing former EPA Secretary (and former New Jersey Governor) Christie Todd Whitman to the group of GOP loyalists, Healey said that Kerry […]
By: Tom Duggan – February, 2004 North Andover Superintendent Harry Harutunian informed the School Committee and the public that North Andover High School has been put on warning of losing its accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). But, Harutunian said that the NEASC report was faulty because it was based […]
(on Loan from Tom Duggan’s Private Archive) Text of Marcos Devers’ Speech 01/02/2004 Good evening: Mr. Mayor, City Councilors, current and past authorities, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight we are saying farewell to two years of great achievements performed by the City Council that served during the term 2002-2004. Councilors Alvarez-Rodriguez, Blanchette, Dimarca, Frechette, Gosselin, Kolofoles, […]
Vote Latino Campaign still Sore Spot with Some By: Tom Duggan – January 2, 2004 Lawrence – District “A” (Prospect Hill) Councilor Patrick Blanchette was elected president of the Lawrence City Council Friday night after the swearing in of all new city officials. Blanchette faced opposition from Carlos Matos, a newcomer, who was nominated […]
By: Tom Duggan – December 3, 2003 (originally published on tommyduggan.com) LAWRENCE – After two successful years of reforming the City Council presidency and reshaping the decorum at Council meetings, Lawrence City Council President, Marcos Devers says he is taking himself out of the running for the spot in January and stepping aside “to […]
By: Tom Duggan – November 18, 2003 (on Loan from Tom Duggan’s Private Records – Published originally on tommyduggan.com) According to some current and soon-to-be City Councilors there is a move afoot to replace Council President, Marcos Devers in January with Council Vice-President Patrick Blanchette. Some on the Council have complained that President Devers created […]
Why do they Hate you so much Mr. President? By: Tom Duggan This column was originally posted on tommyduggan.com in November of 2003. Yesterday, a reporter asked President Bush why the protesters hate him so much. Bush gave the diplomatic answer, saying that “freedom is wonderful” and reminding the world that the people of […]
Just Who or What is Meditrol Inc.? By: Tom Duggan (originally published in 2003, tommyduggan.com) The only people who seem to care about the answer to that question are the politicians and the men and women of the Lawrence Police Department. Meditrol Inc., is a billing and management company that contracts with the City […]
Of Our Expose on Planning Board Member Israel Reyes Part 11 PAYING ATTENTION! WITH TOM DUGGAN Before there was a Valley Patriot (established in 2004) there was tommyduggan.com, a blog before there were blogs, a news webpage before there were news webpages. Long before there was an Eagle Tribune web page or a boston.com there […]
Planning Board Member is Already Fleecing the System Part 1 Originally published on tommyduggan.com (10-10-03) PAYING ATTENTION! WITH TOM DUGGAN Before there was a Valley Patriot (established in 2004) there was tommyduggan.com, a blog before there were blogs, a news webpage before there were news webpages. Long before there was an Eagle Tribune web […]
By: Tom Duggan (originally published on tommyduggan.com 05/19/03) The Lawrence City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday night on a proposal to require all Lawrence residents to show photo identification before they vote … just as Lawrence residents who are Dominican citizens must show n ID when they vote in Lawrence for the […]