“Many times our lives have been threatened by people like those today that are marching. And they shouldn’t. They should be thanking us and thanking Jack who gave his life for this community.” Ret. Woburn Chief Phil Mahoney By: Tom Duggan, December 26, 2014 Emotions still run deep in the City of Woburn, Massachusetts four […]
For the past two years, The Valley Patriot has been investigating a series of thefts of newspapers and newspaper boxes throughout the Merrimack Valley totaling an estimated loss of more than $2,200 just this year alone in stolen papers in Methuen, Lawrence and Salem NH. Last month, former Windham State Representative, Attorney Anthony DiFruscia was […]
By: Tom Duggan – December 2, 2014 PREVIOUS STORY UPDATED 6;20 pm 12/4/14 James Kelcourse has held on to his razor thin lead in the 1st Essex State Rep. race recount that wrapped up on Thursday, showing Keclourse defeated Newburyport Democrat Ed Cameron on election day by 12 votes in a three way race that included […]
By: Susan Wilson Laplante – November, 2014 Yes it’s true, backyard chickens are allowed in Lawrence. The growing rage in urban areas to keep a small flock of chickens in your backyard has made its way to Lawrence. Chickens in the city are nothing new. However, without a permit from the Board of Health, those […]
By: Tom Duggan, November 3, 2014 While The Valley Patriot newspaper has a policy against endorsing candidates, each member of our editorial board is free to endorse or make public who we are voting for. Here are my personal picks for the 2014 election season and why. Governor Charlie Baker, Republican As a right […]
This is part II of Valley Patriot publisher Tom Duggan’s interview with Lawrence State Receiver for the Lawrence Public Schools who took over and replaced the school committee nearly three years ago. Jeff Riley interview PART 1 Here DUGGAN: What are your thoughts on the teacher’s union. RILEY: There’s this huge fight in the […]
The Valley Patriot has covered many state corruption stories in the past ten and a half years. What we observed in that time is that scandals come and go, but very rarely does anything ever change. Our editorial board sat down with State Representative Jim Lyons and Shauna O’Connell to ask them the gravity of […]
By: Tom Duggan – October, 2014 While many believe former Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua is now a bad memory never to return, the fact is the man who ruled Lawrence with an iron fist is now positioned as the front-runner in a three way race for his old seat in the Massachusetts House of […]
Political Deceptions Valley Patriot columnist and member of the Methuen School Committee, DJ Deeb wrote in his column this month that voters should choose Republican candidates in the upcoming state elections. Deeb listed a number of reasons to make his case, but is now issuing a public apology to Democrat State Representative Linda Dean Campbell […]
Question #1 on the November ballot asks voters to overturn the legislature’s cowardly move to perpetually raise the gas tax without ever having to take another vote or be held accountable to the taxpayers. A YES vote on Question #1 would repeal the legislature’s action and stop the automatic gas tax hikes. According to the […]
Andover Selectman and candidate for the State Senate, Alex Vispoli spoke out in opposition to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, in Lawrence, being moved from the Plaza on Rt. 114 to near City Hall where there is very limited parking. “We are talking about the Registry so I think moving the location where there’s easy […]
By: Joe D’Amore – Sept. 2014 A former Amherst high school science teacher Ronald Garney pleaded guilty to buying and possessing child pornography. Furthermore , he used a state-issued email address at his school to access the illegal websites. Yet the Supreme Judicial Court ruled on August 18th that he can keep his $28,725-a-year pension. […]
By: Bharani Padmanabhan, MD September, 2014 The Valley Patriot helped the Pelletiers escape the corrupt gag order that Children’s Hospital whistled up from a captured Court to protect Dr. Alice Newton – the Eva Justin of Harvard. Justina Pelletier served Dr. Newton to step on up as an “expert” just as the Mulfingen children launched […]
By: John MacDonald – September, 2014 So often we hear the word “independence” related to politics. Independence is viewed as a valued hallmark of what most of us desire in a politician and ourselves, but do we really know what it would mean to have someone independent in politics? Do we know what electing someone […]
Good grades were something Valeryn Polanco, 18, had always worked hard to earn. So when those grades started sliding her senior year at Methuen High School, leaving her in danger of not graduating on time, Valeryn sought out an opportunity to turn things around. She, along with nine of her classmates, enrolled in the Senior […]