Methuen Police did the Work

Valley Patriot Editorial  March, 2008 What started off as a paperwork dispute between the Department of Justice and Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon has resulted in (among other things), other officers accused of being paid for work they did not do. The fact is, the U.S. Department of Justice has never questioned whether or not […]

WCAP RADIO/980AM expands to Lawrence, Methuen & Haverhill

WCAP RADIO/980AM expands to Lawrence, Methuen & Haverhill

    By: Tom Duggan – December 2007   WCAP radio (980/AM) may be located in downtown Lowell, but Colonel Sam Poulten and Clark Smidt say they are expanding the Lowell-based news and talk programming on the station to include Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill “and everywhere in between,” says Smidt who took over the station with […]

Methuen’s Police Chief Joe Solomon Speaks Out

Methuen’s Police Chief Joe Solomon Speaks Out

Defends Grant Spending, Says Eagle~Tribune Attacks on Him and Dept. Motivated by “Racism Against Arab-Americans”      By: Tom Duggan – February, 2007 Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon said in an exclusive interview with The Valley Patriot this week that federal grant money from the Department of Justice for thecity’s Weed & Seed program was spent legally […]

Hero in Our Midst – Tuskegee Airman Luther McIlwain, Part 1 – Valley Patriot of the Month

Read PART II By: Ted Tripp – April, 2006 METHUEN – Everyone meeting Luther McIlwain for the first time immediately realizes there is something special in the air. Even a short conversation with the 85 year-old veteran of World War II causes you to think about the greater social and political issues of our time. Every […]

Sex Ed Reform

Sex Ed Reform

What Does Your Fifth Grader Know About AIDS? February, 2006 Does your fifth grader know about AIDS? Does your fifth grader know of the “myths of AIDS”? Do you want your fifth grader being taught about AIDS in school?  Many parents in North Andover this week are asking themselves these same questions after their children […]

Heroes in our Midst – Don & Linda Dean Campbell – Valley Patriots of the Month

Heroes in our Midst – Don & Linda Dean Campbell – Valley Patriots of the Month

By: Tom Duggan – February, 2006 Don Campbell joined the military in 1978. He was commissioned into ROTC at Pittsburgh State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. After serving active duty for his first two years in Kansas, Don was sent to Germany at the height of the cold war and stationed at various bases around the […]

“New” Faces in Methuen

November, 2005 The running joke before last week’s election was: “who is going to LOSE by a wider margin, Marcos Devers in Lawrence or Ellen Bahan in Methuen?”  Well, Ellen won that one, but not much else. She lost the mayoral race to Bill Manzi by a margin of 28% to 68%, a resounding victory […]

Hero in our Midst – Frank Shimko, E-4 Communications Specialist – Valley Patriot of the Month

  By: Charles Ormsby – October, 2005 Frank Shimko, E-4 Communications Specialist Frank Shimko didn’t think his future lay in Nebraska, so at 19 he enlisted in the Army. It was the summer of 1965. Not long afterwards, he found himself on the other side of the world and in harm’s way. Frank was born […]

Hero in Our Midst – Charles Bruderer – Valley Patriot of the Month

By: Charles Ormsby  – July, 2005 Charles Bruderer of Methuen is just wrapping up his military career. He will be leaving the National Guard after 33 years of service to our country and a record that recently won him the Meritorious Service Medal. Born in Ogden, Utah and raised in Brigham City, Charles found himself between jobs […]

Valley Patriot of the Month! Sylvio “Sy” Uliano – Heroes in Our Midst

By: Tom Duggan: February, 2005 Cpl. Uliano can still hear General George C. Patton telling the troops not to worry about going into combat. Patton told them, “First, the enemy fires and you duck. Then, you fire and the enemy ducks.” This quote seemed humorous when Sy Uliano relayed the story, but I’m sure it […]

A Call To Serve

By: Kathleen Corey Rahme – December, 2004 Who are those individuals who have answered the Call to Serve? Do we know our veterans? If you watch MCTV, Methuen Community Access Television, Channel 22 Call to Serve, a show dedicated to recording the oral histories of World War II veterans you would recognize some of them […]