Lawrence Councilor LaPlante Responds to Mayor Lantigua’s State of the City Address

“He did make mention during his speech that crime was the lowest in ten years. That’s not the case. It’s actually a 36% increase in felonious crimes since Lantigua has been in office. That increase was on his watch. That translates to 665 felonious incidents above average. That’s a huge impact on the people and […]

Playing the Class Envy Card

  By: Ralph Wilbur – December 2012 The difference between the tax rate on earned income versus the rate on income generated from capital gains has lent some success to Obama’s “envy the rich” campaign. It has given Democrats the edge in demagoguery by implying that millionaires like Warren Buffett get taxed less than their […]

If you don’t vote, you’re part of the problem

VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL   October, 2009 Last month, the city of Methuen held a preliminary election for mayor and city council and only 9% of the registered voters bothered to participate. In Lawrence, only 30% of the registered voters participated in their preliminary and that was considered unusually high. Though many candidates would like to blame their opponents or the […]

Tracy Watson to run for Selectman

  VALLEY PATRIOT EXCLUSIVE By: Tom Duggan – October, 2007 NORTH ANDOVER –  Tracy Watson has announced to The Valley Patriot that she will run for the Board of Selectman this March. There are two open seats for Selectmen this coming election with the announcements from Selectmen Licciardello and Xenakis of their intentions not to […]

Are North Andover Officials Out of Touch with the Citizens

  Ted Tripp, North Andover Taxpayers Association – April, 2005   That’s a fair question to ask.  Just as recently as three years ago, North Andover voters showed up in huge numbers to overwhelmingly reject a $4 million tax increase by means of a Proposition 2 ½ Override. The School Committee, the Finance Committee and […]

Haverhill’s Future

By: Jim Rurak, Former Mayor of Haverhill January, 2005  Haverhill’s history seesaws between big plans to promote its urban economy and extaordinary commitments to preserve its rural assets.  Unlike Lowell and Lawrence whose land area is completely built up, Haverhill’s urban core makes up only a fraction of its total area. The rest is made up of […]

Blanchette Chosen as Council President Frechette elected Vice President in Lawrence

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 […]