By: State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell July, 2105 Francis “Fran” Gradzewicz, longtime resident of Methuen, was joined by her husband Thomas, her daughter Karen Hayden, and myself, as they brought their case regarding the lack of clarity in current law governing end-of-life medical care to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Fran testified in front […]
By: Tom Duggan – July, 2015 Salisbury Town Manager Neil Harrington has once again violated state laws governing public records. This time, laws governing the retention of public records as part of a lawsuit. The lawsuit in question was filed by the Tomaselli sisters. Harrington is claiming that permanent documents being sought by Gracemarie and […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL July, 2015 Those who work in the “news” industry are obsessed with promoting lies and half-truths to destroy political candidates they do not like, instead of just doing their jobs and reporting the news. Last month, Donald Trump became the latest to fall victim to the liars in the “news” media, as […]
By: Tom Duggan – July 14, 2015 BOSTON – Lawrence City Councilor Marc Laplante was on Beacon Hill Tuesday testifying for passage of his legislation to increase fines for illegal dumping in Lawrence. If passed, House Bill 1258 would let the City of Lawrence increase the maximum fine for illegal dumping from $300, to between $5,000 and […]
Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon said it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Just before 4AM Saturday morning, Methuen Sgt. Shawn Moore happened to be patrolling Lawrence St. when he saw three suspicious men near Methuen Liquors, who fled when they saw the officer. Sgt. Moore was […]
By: Sheila Mullins – June, 2015 Warm weather… aaaaaaaaaah. Perfect! It’s time to think about warm weather ingredients. Of course coconut & rum are part of the ingredients this month. How could one go wrong with that? Seriously? And, what about feeding a crowd? Boy, oh boy! This feeds a CROWD. I’m talking 12-16 people. […]
By: Bill Cushing – June, 2015 There was a time when summertime meant reruns on TV for 3 months. That is no longer the case. Now summer is a whole new TV season. New programming from all directions will appear over the next few weeks and take you through the summer months. Let’s take a […]
By: Cheryl Hajjar – June, 2015 Many of us at one point in our lives have either been in an abusive relationship or have known someone in an abusive relationship. When we think of abuse however, we think of it as either physical or mental. What about financial? Financial abuse is the silent form of […]
By: Dr. Frank MacMillan, MD June, 2015 Human beings are hardwired towards addiction. Modern society has evolved a mind-boggling number of traps that ensnare members of the human family in all sorts of compulsions or addictions. Compulsion drives a large part of our economy. Think about it. Advertisers and marketers want to know what buttons […]
By: Dani Langevin: June, 2015 Last month I had the pleasure of visiting Methuen High School and sitting in on a meeting of the GSA (Gay Straight Alliance). Several of my colleagues and I are currently organizing such a group at the Marsh Grammar School and wanted to see one in action. I was very […]
By: Paul Murano – June, 2015 Two monumental things occurred this past week: the Irish vote on “same-sex marriage” and the media embrace of Bruce Jenner’s claim to being a woman. How did we get here? As I’ve mentioned on my radio show Beneath the Surface, we have either entered an era of insanity, or […]
By: State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell June, 2015 Massachusetts gets an F grade for access to public records according to some very respected public interest groups. A number of bills have been filed to change this including legislation filed by Senator Ives and co-sponsored by both Representative DiZoglio and myself. As a member of the […]
June 26, 2105 Haverhill Police Detectives say they arrested Methuen resident Matthew Homan (33, of 40 Danberry Dr.) on 2 counts of Open and Gross Lewdness earlier this week. According to police, Haverhill Detective Sean Scharneck was conducting surveillance in the area of Lawrence St. on Wednesday morning while children were walking to school due. Scharneck […]
PUBLIC RECORDS SIDENOTES By now you know I’m in a fight to change the state’s fake public records law. One of the things not really discussed in the many stories this month about that fight is the MMA, or the Massachusetts Municipal Association. This is a group that opposes putting penalties on public officials who […]
Massachusetts Legislators, members of the media and 1st amendment advocates testified last month before a joint House and Senate committee on Beacon Hill, asking legislators to add penalties to the state’s fake public records law. The law, MGL Ch. 66, states that the keeper of records in any municipality or public agency must turn over public […]