Anti-Abuse Bill Moves to Governor Baker’s Desk Boston- Legislation intended to enhance humane treatment of animals, and punish those who engage in animal cruelty, has received final legislative support following approval by the House and Senate today on Senate Bill 2646, Protecting Animal Welfare and Safety. The legislation furthers anti-abuse measures first secured in the 2014 Protecting […]
By State Senator Katy Ives – Aug 2017 The Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Department of Mental Health license youth group homes throughout the state that house adolescents removed from their families. Over the past few years, the City of Haverhill has seen a significant surge in calls from group home staff, […]
VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL The Valley Patriot hosted two debates in the Essex County Sheriff’s race last month. During the Democratic Party candidate debate, superintendent of the Middleton jail, Michael Marks, explained that the Sheriff’s Department needs more than $71M to operate. He also explained that the legislature only gave them $50M last year as […]
Legislative panel oversees consumer protection, alcohol licensing policy BOSTON — Sen. Barbara L’Italien has been appointed the new Senate chairman of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, succeeding the late Sen. Thomas Kennedy, who passed away last month. Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, announced the appointment Thursday following a formal session […]
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 […]
AUDIO: Tom Duggan on Afternoon LIVE discusses the state’s impotent Public Records law and how it affects you. (VIDEO of Duggan’s testimony below at 41 MIN mark) Valley Patriot publisher Tom Duggan testified before a sub committee of the Massachusetts State Legislature in favor of a bill he wrote S1700 that would finally put teeth into […]
By: Senator Katy Ives – May, 2015 On April 22, 1965, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the Massachusetts Legislature in a Joint Session comprised of State Senate and State Representatives. This was the first time Dr. King spoke before a legislative body. Six months prior to this visit, he had won the […]
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO HOUR 1 CLICK TO DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO HOUR 2 The Show is produced by George Papoulias In the first hour today Tom, Paul and George talked about Paul’s participation in the annual pro-life march and the propaganda surrounding the abortion industry. Killing time while waiting for the live […]
By: Tom Duggan – December 15, 2013 Last month all three of Lawrence’s State Representatives voted in favor of Voter ID in Massachusetts. This is odd given that we are told day in, and day out by the Democrat leadership, and the so called “news” media that people who support Voter ID are, in fact, […]
By: State Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives, September, 2013 In 2007 a federal audit found that about one in seven elderly residents were being given antipsychotic medication in nursing homes despite the fact that those drugs carry a “black box” warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A “black box” warning is designed to call […]
Boston, MA: As taxpayers across the Commonwealth begin to feel the effects of new and higher taxes today, public records show that many of the legislators who voted to implement these higher taxes, such as the one on gasoline, are also benefiting from taxpayer funded reimbursements for when they travel to the Statehouse. Per diems […]
By: Jeff Katz – July, 2013 If you felt a little extra tug on your wallet recently that’s because our Beacon Hill payroll patriots decided that you just were not doing your part. It seems that you were not paying your fair share, so the profiles in courage who sit in our General Court decreed […]
LISTEN TO HOUR ONE (RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD) Russia takes a hard line on gays and the gay community is outraged…. but are we supposed to respect other people’s cultures? Who are WE to say that their culture is wrong and OUR culture is right? I mean that is what we have been told by […]
By: Stephanie M. Davis – July, 2013 The FY2014 budget ball now sits in Governor Deval Patrick’s court. Having been finalized and reported out of its legislative conference committee on June 30th, the governor has 10 days to approve or veto it either partially or entirely or to amend it in portions. A veto can […]
Expansion Opens Information on Level 2 Offenders to the Public Under current Massachusetts law, the public only has access to information on Level 3 sex offenders. Such limited resources inspired State Representative James Arciero (D-Westford) to sponsor legislation, endorsed by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, geared to reforming the Commonwealth’s registry board. Arciero […]