By: Tom Duggan – September 17, 2012 In the wake of two more members of the Lantigua administration being indicted last week, State Representative Jim Lyons, (R) Andover, is calling Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua’s administration a “corrupt criminal enterprise” that should no longer be enabled by the state taxpayers. Lyons says that the corruption […]
By: Anne Knowles – September, 2012 As a new resident of Frye Circle, in Andover, I was interested in the location and development of such a pleasant setting for a home for senior residents. The complex contains 96 units. It is named after the Frye family, the first member of the family to make […]
By: Anne Knowles – September, 2012 September has been designated as Senior Center Month, in the town of Andover. Many residents of Andover have not yet made use of this center, and the many programs, recreational activities, trips, and interests, that a fully informed staff can show the 60 plus Andover resident. There is […]
By: Kevin Cuff – July, 2012 Nearly forty years ago, my family taught me the values of civic RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. As a member of our hometown School Committee, my mother took positions that, at the time, were extremely controversial, challenging and polarizing. Her perseverance taught me that everyone including your established school systems […]
By: Anne Knowles – March, 2012 Andover is one of the best known towns in Massachusetts. It offers great schools, a well managed town and residents from all corners of the world that make this town their home. Andover has an exciting history going back in time to the first settlers around 1634 and […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – November, 2011 The results of the Massachusetts legislature’s redistricting commission, at least as far as the House and Senate are concerned, are official. In a fair world we would have legislative districts that represent a common interest and have geographic integrity, but no one has ever called the political environment […]
LYONS’ AMENDMENT CLEARS THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 5, 2011 BOSTON – State Representative Jim Lyons (R-Andover), joined by his Republican House colleagues, introduced a “transparency in spending” amendment to the state supplemental budget that passed the House of Representatives. Titled “An amendment to account for budget expenditures,” the Lyons-authored amendment directs the […]
By: Jamison Tomasek – June, 2011 I noticed from Facebook the number of people that grew up in Lawrence and settled in the Merrimack Valley is very high. While this might not just be a Lawrence thing, it seems particularly pronounced here. The Lawrence Diaspora (migration) doesn’t seem like a random scattering. Almost everyone who […]
By: John McCormack – November, 2010 Boxford voters mirrored New Hampshire and the majority of the states in the November 2, 2010 midterm elections even as Massachusetts bucked the Republican wave along with the other New England states and other-worldly places like New York and California. Republican candidates swept all contested elections, even Secretary […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL November, 2006 The anti-Semitic hate group “Wheels of Justice” was recruited to speak to the children of Andover High School by their equally anti-Semitic physics teacher, Ron Francis. And when the principal canceled the group’s visit because no opposing views were being represented, these so-called “peace activists” had to be escorted out […]
Classroom Credit to Support Terrorism? Ron Francis is an Andover High School teacher, co-chair of the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party, leader in the Somerville Divestment Project and, as some in thecommunity would argue, is “anti-Semitic.” “Ron Francis’ politics, statements and actions are anti-Semitic,” says Eric Danis, a graduate of Andover High School. “Both his […]
By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – January, 2005 We have been bombarded with news stories recently detailing the abysmal state of public education in the US. It is a theme I have been preaching for decades and a disaster that I am now witnessing up close and personal. The spate of recent articles was prompted […]
PAYING ATTENTION WITH TOM DUGGAN Tom Duggan – November, 2004 Massachusetts State Representative Barbara L’Italien should be ashamed of herself. She has not only taken a public stand against two of the Catholic Church’s teachings, abortion and gay marriage, (she favors both) the liberal legislator was seen on election day verbally attacking and […]
By: Dr. Charles Ormsby – March, 2004 If you are a parent of elementary school children, you’ve probably seen it: elaborate make-work homework assignments, cutting and pasting extravaganzas, overly complex and roundabout procedures to add or multiply numbers, estimation exercises that won’t quit, and the use of calculators in place of traditional arithmetic […]