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14 Amesbury St. - Lawrence, MA 01840 - (978) 687-191914 Amesbury St. - Lawrence, MA 01840 - (978) 687-1919

Lawrence FirefightersFEDERAL CREDIT UNIONLawrence FirefightersFEDERAL CREDIT UNION

5.25% APY 5% APY

Staff Sgt. Eldon BerthiaumeInfantryman - WWII POW

Staff Sgt. Eldon BerthiaumeInfantryman - WWII POW

InsideInside

Joe Leone

Healey: School Funding toIncrease 8% in 2007

V a l l e y P a t r i o tV a l l e y P a t r i o t Volume 3, Issue 9 September - 2006 32 Pages

"Congress shall make no law..."

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Covering: Lawrence, Methuen, Haverhill, Lowell, N. Andover,Chelmsford, Tewksbury, Dracut, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland

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Editorial/Opinions P. 2 & 3Dr.Ormsby P. 3Haverhill P. 4-5Lawrence P. 10-13Notebook P. 12Methuen P. 20-27Kids & Education P. 14-15N. Andover P. 8 - 9Seniors & Vets P. 28-29Business P. 18-19

Page 21

Methuen Councilor

T h e

** Heroes In Our Midst **

Ted Tripp

Valley Patriot of the Month:

Part II

Sunday LawnmowerOrdinance in Methuen

Bob Andrew Debbie Quinn

The Lt. Governor told Hanna that next years budget will include an 8% increase in suburban school fundingHanna

Continued on Page 15Continued on Page 28

The Valley Patriot’s Ace-Reporter Hanna (left),and photographer, Rachel ( r ight) , withLieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.

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“SOFTWARE-GATE in

METHUEN”

JimFiorentini

Haverhill Mayor

Page 4Lawrence Planning Dir.

MikeSweeney

Page 11

LAWRENCE - In early 1945, Pvt. EldonBerthiaume of the Army’s 3rd InfantryDivision was captured by the Germans inthe small village of Utweiler, Germany. Heand other Americans taken prisoner wereforce-marched deeper into Germany and,after a temporary stay at a transitional POWcamp, ended up at Stalag VA [5A] inLudwigsburg.

Stalag VA consisted of wooden barrackssurrounded by a perimeter of fences andbarbed wire. There were large groups of

Valley Patriot ace-reporter, Hanna, satdown with Lieutenant Governor KerryHealey at Jackson’s Restaurant last monthfor an exclusive interview.

Right now you are the lieutenantgovernor. What does the lt. governor do?

Well, under the state constitution, the lt.governor only has one duty and that is tobe the chairman of the Governor’s Council,which meets once a week. It approvesjudges, justices of the peace, and notarypublics. It also authorizes all the spendingfor the state. Each week we have to vote topay all our bills. Beyond that, though, thelt. governor performs all the duties thegovernor assigns. Governor Romney hasassigned me a number of duties, one ofwhich is to be the liaison to the cities andtowns. Another is that I get to chair theInteragency Council on HomelessnessIssues. I also chair the Interagency Councilon Substance Abuse. I chair the Governor’sCommission on Sexual and DomesticViolence. I also chair something called theSeaport Advisory Council, which workswith the fishing industry to redevelop allour ports.

That’s a lot for a few! What is your daylike?

My day starts very early in the morning.I live in Beverly, so I often get up at five inthe morning to get ready to go to work. ThenI usually drive somewhere in the state for abreakfast meeting. Today I started the daydoing talk radio from my house and thendriving to see a factory where they designequipment to screen luggage for bombs, likethe ones that were going to be used in theplanned terrorist attack last month. Igenerally have some meetings in theafternoon, do a press event and then, atnight, I do things like this: going tofundraisers for a campaign or helping otherRepublican candidates around the state.

2 The Valley Patriot September - 2006

Who Was Disingenuous?

For years the people of Lawrence and visitors to the city have enjoyed themajesty of a giant fountain at the corner of South Union St. and WinthropAvenue. And for years the DPW has neglected to adequately fix up that fountainwhen it fell into disrepair.

Now DPW Director Frank McCann and City Councilor Marie Gosselin havecooked up a scheme to get grant money by proposing to demolish the fountain(dedicated to Vietnam veterans), build a park and erect a much smaller fountain.

This from the same councilor and DPW director who rejected tearing downthe Veterans Memorial Stadium for a smaller steel structure because, they said,the stadium was a monument to the veterans.

We see no difference.

This fountain is also located at an intersection that Police Chief John Romerocalls the “most dangerous intersection in the city.” So dangerous, in fact, thatRomero is putting up video cameras there. Attracting children and families to alot of land that is located inches from the highest number of car accidents andauto fatalities is not only dangerous and unwise, it leaves the city libel.

We find it inexplainable that the DPW cannot adequately fix a fountain, butis pledging to build a park to maintain instead.

We say, fix the fountain, make whatever upgrades are needed and save thetaxpayers a million or more dollars by treating it with the same respect that wedemanded for the Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Fix The Lawrence Fountain

Valley Patriot*Editorial*

OPINIONS

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At North Andover’s June 5th Annual Town meeting, the School Committeethreatened to cut 23 classroom teachers if its budget was reduced from itsoriginal request to the “To Be Balanced” amount, despite an earlier presentationby members Ormsby, Kelly, and parent Diana Headrick showing that thesecuts could be avoided by accepting painful but alternative non-teacher cuts.Sure enough, only days after Town Meeting these 23 cuts dwindled to a mere1.5 classroom teachers lost.

At the July 10th Special Town Meeting, four members of the North AndoverSchool Committee held hands and threatened to now cut 28 classroomteachers if the trash tax wasn’t passed. This time, they said, they really meantit. When the voters said, “Hell No!” these same four members refused a requestby Dr. Ormsby to reconvene and attempt to salvage as many classroomteaching positions as possible.

Ormsby then urged angry parents to pressure the committee to meet. Theyresponded and sent over 100 e-mails to committee members, forcing an August10th meeting. For a committee that thought there was no reason to meet, itis odd that the meeting lasted five hours. By the end, 12 positions were restored… a significant improvement despite the refusal of the committee to consideradditional options motioned by Dr. Ormsby that would have restored sevenmore teachers.

Those who watched the meeting witnessed the retaliatory ambush on Ormsbystaged by Perry and Whidden, [See Perry’s transcribed attack and Ormsby’sresponse on page 8] claiming that Ormsby had been disingenuous and providedfalse hopes and false information.

Well, let’s see. Dr. Ormsby said there were alternative cuts that could substantiallyavoid the loss of the 51 threatened classroom-teaching positions [the 23 and28 noted above]. Of the initial 23, only 1.5 were cut. After the Special TownMeeting, 12 positions were restored. Had these all been focused on classroomteaching positions, we would be down from 28 to 16. Subtract from this theseven teaching positions that the committee refused to make and you wouldbe down to nine … amazingly, exactly the number of positions that wouldhave been restored by Ormsby’s plan to transfer $380K of the deficit to themunicipal side.

So, who was closer to the mark? The voters weren’t fooled. They knew whowas being disingenuous and who was sending false information.

The Valley Patriot is published by:

September - 2006 The Valley Patriot 3

Thinking Outsidethe Box!Dr. Charles Ormsby

The War on Terror: A Game?Later is Too Late

The Valley Patriot welcomes letters to the editor on any topic. We also welcome column/article submissions fromelected officials, neighborhood associations, community organizers, average citizens, and newsmakers. Though wemay not agree with the opinions expressed in submissions, our mission is to give readers the unique opportunity toreceive important information from those who are driving important public issues without the "creative editing" policyemployed by most newspapers. Submissions from guest columnists/writers in The Valley Patriot are publishedwithout the filtered agenda of an editorial board. If you would like to write a column, letter or article for The ValleyPatriot, please email us at: ValleyPatriot@aol.com

OPINIONSOur Voice is Your Voice

Continued on Page 30

Currently, the war onterror is not thatthreatening, even ifterrorists bring down a fewdozen passenger planes.But, give our religious andfanatic terroristadversaries nuclearweapons and the stakes areraised a thousand fold.

Friday, September 1, 20066:30PM

Opening Ceremonies of the 83rdAnnual Feast of the Three Saints.Streets are lined with vendors sellingfood and feast memorabil ia.Amusements, games and rides for allages.

8:00PM FREE ”Concert on theCampagnone Common” Featuring:”American Tenor MichaelAmante”

An evening of romantic music featuring the richtones of Michael Amante with world-famous HerbBernstein conducting and accompanied by thevery popular Tommy LaMark Orchestra.

Opening Act: International Singer andsongwriter Romina Arena

National Anthem: Performed byAmerican Idol 5 Finalist Ayla Brown

Saturday, September 2, 2006 - 7:30 PM - Torch Light Parade -9:00PM - Performingon the Main Bandstand,”Joey Dee and TheStarliters “featuringDavid Brigati andBobby Vali, Who canforget “The PeppermintTwist” Ya , Ya, Ya,What Kind Of Love IsThis, and many more60’s favorites.

Sunday, September3, 2006 - 10:00AMLiturgy Honoring TheThree Saints Holy Rosary Church Corpus Christi Parish - 3:00PM -Procession of the Three Saints Holy Rosary Church - 4:15PM - Performingon the Main Bandstand

”The Reminisants” Boston’s favorite Oldies Band. 7:00PM -”Benediction” St. Alfio Society Hall on Common Street - 7:45PM SaintsReturn to the Church - 8:00PM - Performing on the Main BandstandThe Saint Alfio Society presents the young and exciting Italian singer“Franco Corso” Singing many of your favorite classic Italian songs.

83rd Annual Feast of the Three SaintsSSSSSaint Alfio Fidalfio & Ciranoaint Alfio Fidalfio & Ciranoaint Alfio Fidalfio & Ciranoaint Alfio Fidalfio & Ciranoaint Alfio Fidalfio & Cirano

Labor Day Weekend

It’s the story that the journalistic elitewould rather just go away. In theaftermath of Reuters’ admissionthat one of its photographers,Adnan Hajj, had manipulated twowar images from Lebanon afterbloggers smoked out his crudePhotoshop alterations, and all920 of his Reuters photoswere pulled, evidence of farmore troubling photostaging and mediadeception in the Middle East continues topour in.

Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs(littlegreenfootballs.com) calls it“fauxtography.”

One of Hajj’s photos was an iconic imageof a dusty dead child with a clean bluepacifier clipped to his shirt, paraded by acorpse handler at the site of an Israeliairstrike in Qana, Lebanon. Mainstreamjournalists have sneered at bloggers’suspicions, first raised at EU Referendum(eureferendum.blogspot.com), that some ofthe gruesome photos from that scene mayhave been staged. Washington Postphotographer Michael Robinson-Chavez,who was at Qana, huffed: “Everyone wasdead, many of them children. Nothing wasset up.”

But last week, a German television stationaired damning video footage from the sceneshowing a lead propaganda director(dubbed the “Green Helmet Guy”)positioning a young boy’s corpse, yankingit from an ambulance, placing it on twodifferent stretchers for the cameras andpushing bystanders out of the way forclearer shots.

Fauxtography: The MediaScandal Continues

This Lebanese version of horror filmdirector Wes Craven was identified bythe Associated Press in a softballprofile as “Salam Daher,” who told thereporter, “I am just a civil defenseworker. I have done this job all my life.”To clear-eyed readers, that’s aninculpatory statement, not an

exculpatory one. How many more“jobs” has Daheroverseen? And how manymore media stage managers

like Daher are out there?

Not all photographers overseas have theirheads in the sand. Last week, Middle East-based photographer Bryan Denton, whosework has appeared in The New York Times,revealed on the professional photographywebsite Light Stalkers (lightstalkers.org)that he had observed routine staging ofphotos — and even corpse-digging — byLebanese stringers:

“[I] have been witness to the dailypractice of directed shots, one case where agroup of wire photogs were choreographingthe unearthing of bodies, directingemergency workers here and there, askingthem to position bodies just so, even removebodies that have already been put in gravesso that they can photograph them inpeople[‘]s arms.” Denton noted that he hadwitnessed the photo choreography atnumerous protests and evacuations, as wellas at an Israeli airstrike location in Chiyeh,Lebanon. Denton followed up with a secondpost reporting that respected photographerfriends of his in Lebanon informed him that“this was not an isolated incident” and that“this has been something [I]’ve noticed

Continued on Page 24

Michelle MalkinAn Op-Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal

on August 15th, entitled “What Year is it?1938? 1972? Or 1914?” by Ross Douthat (anassociate editor at the Atlantic Monthly),compared the models used by variousforeign policy camps when debating thebest strategy for pursuing our War On Terror.

Douthat contrasts the position taken byvarious factions in the foreign policydebates by comparing each faction’sanalysis of ourcurrent situation toa different historicalperiod during thelast century.

Six “points intime” are refer-enced to illustratesix different foreignpolicy pre-scriptions:

1942: “… westand in Iraq todaywhere the U.S. stoodshortly after Pearl Harbor:bogged down against a fascist enemy andduty-bound to carry on the fight to victory.To the 1942ist, Iraq is Europe and the Pacificrolled into one, Saddam and Zarqawi are theHitlers and Tojos of our era, suicide-bombersare the equivalent of kamikazes — andGeorge Bush is Churchill, or maybeTruman.” Adherents include George Bush,John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and JoeLieberman.

1938: Those who believe that “Iran’smarch toward nuclear power is theequivalent of Hitler’s 1930s brinkmanship.While most ’38ists still support the decisionto invade Iraq, they increasingly see thatstruggle as the prelude to a broader regionalconflict, and worry that we’re engaged in

Munich-esque appeasement.” Prominentadherents include Bill Kristol and NewtGingrich. Douthat continued, “If you hearsomeone compare Ahmadinejad to Hitler,demand a pre-emptive strike on Iran, orsuggest that the Hezbollah-Israel battle is anecessary overture to a largerconfrontation, you’re listening to a 1938ist.”

1948: Those “who share the ’42ist and’38ist view of the war on terror as a major

generational challenge,but insist that we

should think about it interms of Cold War-style containment andmultilateralism, notIraq-style pre-emption.” Adherents:A motley crew ofliberals and“ c h a s t e n e d ”neocons.

1972: Thisperspective “holds that

George Bush is Nixon, Iraqis Vietnam, and that any attack on Iran orSyria would be equivalent to bombingCambodia.” Adherents include MichaelMoore, John Kerry, and the editors of theNation.

1919: “The old-guard faction (ofconservatives) that damns its own party’sleaders as sellouts to the other side.

For ’19ists, Mr. Bush is Woodrow Wilson,a feckless idealist bent on sacrificing U.S.interests and global stability on the altar ofmessianic liberalism. Adherents include PatBuchanan, William F. Buckley and GeorgeWill.

4 The Valley Patriot September - 2006HaverhillMayor Fiorentini's Monthly Newsletter

Chapter 40R District MakesHaverhill the Leader in

Transit Oriented DevelopmentRecently, the mayor and the City Council

worked together to rezone a portion of itsdowntown. Under the rezoning proposalsubmitted to the state, developers will beallowed to redevelop the upper floors ofvacant shoe factory buildings as residencesand the first floor will be retail andcommercial . The redevelopment would beallowed as a matter of right provided thedeveloper meets strict design standardsdesigned to preserve the historic look andfeel of the area.

Currently, we have twenty three (23)vacant floors on Washington and WingateStreets, and numerous largely vacantbuildings on Locust Street, Locke Street andEssex Streets. Some of these buildings havebeen vacant for as long as sixty years.

We have made redeveloping our oldfactory buildings a key goal in revitalizingour city. Our first ever brownfields granthas allowed us to assess several areas forpossible pollution, and removes a key barrierto redeveloping buildings. The rezoning,which is called a Chapter 40R Smart GrowthOverlay District, adds a critical tool in ourefforts to revitalize this area.

In a Chapter 40R district, no specialpermission is required to put residences inthe upper floors of factory buildings. Twomonths is cut off the permit time, a keyingredient. For investors in downtownbuildings, time is money. Investors inbuildings with a view towards the river areencouraged to orient their buildings towardthe waterfront, and encouraged to preservea view corridor so that the river, our greatestasset, can be seen by all. Parking isrequired— but developers are encouragedto contribute towards a new parking garagethe city hopes to build in the downtownarea. The state offers a bonus of $600,000to rezone its downtown towards a 40Rdistrict, and Haverhill stands to be one ofthe first cities in line for the bonus.

Today, Haverhill is beginning to succeedin redeveloping its factory buildings. The

Beacon Project,one of the largestdevelopers inMassachusetts,is developing theold CabotF u r n i t u r ebuilding into 163units in upscaled o w n t o w nliving. The firstever artists loftsare now for salein downtownHaverhill. TheFranchi building on Washington Streetoffers riverfront views. Forest Cityinvestors, the largest residential developersin the entire country, have filed preliminaryplans to redevelop the old Hamel LeatherBuilding into upscale housing withrestaurants and shops on the first floor. Noone can say for certain if these plans willsucceed, but we can certainly say this: Wehave made more progress over the last twoyears in redeveloping old factory buildingsthan has been made in the past severaldecades.

The Chapter 40R Zoning Overlay Districtis another crucial tool in our toolbox torevitalize Haverhill. Under the 40Rapplication we filed with the state, Haverhillis the leader in redeveloping old factorybuildings which are near train stations toallow the upper floors of those buildings tobe used as housing.

Bar Hours Should Be CutBack - We Need Tough

Action To Curb Bar Violence

I am asking the License Commission toend 2:00 a.m. bar closings and immediatelystep up enforcement of downtown bars. Thisaction comes after a fracas during acelebration for a local boxer

It is absolutely critical that we keepdowntown safe and family oriented. Thetypes of incidents that occurred last weekwill not be tolerated.

Therefor, I will be asking the LicenseCommission to roll back the hours of

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downtown barsfrom 2:00 a.m. onSaturday to 1:00a.m. and from 1:00a.m. on weekdaysto midnight.

I will also beasking the LicenseCommission tostep upenforcement ofd o w n t o w ntrouble spots andwill continue

having additional foot patrols in thedowntown area for the foreseeable future.The earlier bar closings were designed tosend a strong message that misbehaviordowntown would not be tolerated.

The 2 a.m. bar closings were intended ona trial basis. The later closing hours havenot worked. Our police departmentcontinues to note increased problemsduring the late night hours. I will be withthe police downtown late Friday night untilclosing so that I can see for myself what theproblems are.

I am also asking the Fire Department andthe Health Department to begin checkingdowntown establishments to make certainthey are not overcrowded. Downtown is asafe area. We intend to keep it that way.

2006 PRELIMINARYSUMMER SCHOOL REPORT

Last year, we became only the second cityin the State to have mandatory summerschool for kids in danger of failing theMCAS test. We had 26 kids attend theprogram in 2005, and 17 kids this year. Thesekids needed extra focus in order to bepromoted to the seventh grade. This year,the summer school classes met four days aweek for one month.

While all the results are not in yet, it issafe to say that the program is a success.

The major part of the success is the kidswho are told that they need to improve theirgrades or attend summer school, and whobring up their grades so that they do nothave to attend. We notified 23 students inFebruary that unless their grades improved,they would spend the summer in school.

Six of them improved enough to get thesummer off!

Of the remaining 17 students, 16 of thempassed in summer school and will be able toattend the next grade. In 2005, we had similarresults. Forty-one students were told toattend summer school. Fifteen students

pulled up their grades enough to avoidhaving to go and twenty-six kids had toattend. Of the twenty-six, one moved outof the district, one was held back and theremaining 24 kids were moved onto grade 7.

When we monitored those kids in gradeseven, we found that 15 out of 24 kids whohad failed in grade 6, were now passing ingrade seven—one with an A average and 4with a B average and 4 with a C average and3 with a D average.

Nine kids continued to be challenged,primarily due to lack of good attendance.In total, of the 41 kids who were failing andtold to attend summer school, only onestayed back, and all but nine of them passedthe next year.

Altogether, in 2005 we have a 76%success rate—a phenomenal success rateunder any means of measurement. Mycongratulations to the school departmentand to the people who run the summerschool program for a job well done.

Congratulations!

Congratulations on Haverhill’s ownCarlos Pena for being chosen to play withthe Boston Red Sox organization! Carlos isthe first player ever from Haverhill HighSchool to play in the major leagues. We arehoping to get Carlos here for a celebrationsometime in the off-season.

Congratulations to the Haverhill Gazettefor a wonderful job in its adopt a park inMonument Square.

Congratulations to City Councilor DavidSwartz, former City Councilor Bill Chase (Billhas always been there for kids and forsports), Roger Lemire, Trinity Ambulance,Whittier Health Networks and LeonardBierbrier Associates for stepping up to theplate and volunteering to help theDibenedetto Family Charity tournament.

The tournament was scheduled to becancelled because they did not have thefunds to pay all of the fees. These folksstepped up to the plate and offered to help.(The festival organizers always were willingto pay a flat fee.)

Although the family is from out of thecity, the vast majority of the players in thetournament are from Haverhill, and I amgrateful to those who stepped up to help. Iam proud of all of you. Helping people,and solving problems, is what we are allabout.

You can email Jim Fiorentini atmayor@cityofhaverhill.com

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September - 2006 The Valley Patriot 5Haverhill

Haverhill (NECC) ProfessorMark Palermo

Random ThoughtsMCAS Scandal is a Disgrace

HAVERHILL'S FUTURE!HAVERHILL'S FUTURE!Jim Rurak, Former Mayor of Haverhill

Dowsing is theancient art of findingunderground waterwith a forked stick,usually from a willowtree.

Famous Lawyer F. Lee BaileyHolds a Fundraiser at his LynnHome for CongressionalCandidate Rick Barton

Congressionalcandidate RickBarton (left),w h o ’ sc h a l l e n g i n gJohn Tierney,campaigns withfamous defenseattorney F. LeeBailey.

F. Lee Baileywith Karen

Reddy,campaign

manager forEvan O’Reilly,

a candidate forState

Representative

Ship Haverhill on Crash Course

The message was sent from the corneroffice in City Hall. Haverhill had turned thecorner. A budget was balancedwithout layoffs, downtown wascoming back and crime was down.

All was well in the city ofHaverhill.

The summer came and recentevents have shown the messagewas “spin.” Haverhill has notmoved forward and is starvingmore then ever for a strong leader to occupythe corner office. The summer months haveshown the faults with the direction we aresailing in and we must change course soonor it may be too late. Recent events haveproven the claims from the captain ofHaverhill’s ship are simply false. I will onlytouch on a few of those waves that are quitehigh as I’m only allowed one column permonth.

First is crime. We have been told by themayor that all is well. Haverhill is safe tolive, work and visit. However, the past fewweeks in downtown Haverhill show that itmay not be as safe as we have been led tobelieve. Two stabbings over a two-weekperiod in downtown Haverhill have resi-dents wondering can they dine there safelyand business owners worried about the con-sequences of the sudden surge in violentcrime.

The police chief has said we need moreofficers to make Haverhill safe and despitethe recent violent crime the captain of ShipHaverhill disagrees. In my opinion, therecent surge in violence, the fears of resi-dents and business owners, along with thepolice chief’s comments that we need moreofficers, may have a severe adverse effecton the hope of downtown Haverhill comingback.

The second big wave I want to touchupon is leadership itself. An issue that

required leadership this summer was thestolen MCAS exam, yet leadership was the

last thing Haverhill got from its captain.

First, the mayor wanted the localpolice to investigate, and then he

didn’t want them involved andaccording to the police chiefwould not answer the chief’srequest for information. The chiefof police went as far as to make acomment I have never heard any

department head make and get away with.He said that either he had to go or the mayordid.

Then, last week the mayor claims hewanted the local police involved from thebeginning. Can you keep up with all of theseflip-flops from the captain? Because I’msurely lost. It seems that there is no core setof beliefs or values from the corner officeand decisions are made based upon whichway the wind is blowing that day.

The captain of any city must stand by hisconvictions and stand up for what hebelieves in. When you stand for nothing,you fall for everything. At the last councilmeeting, President Hart claimed that thereis a serious problem with trust between thecouncil and mayor.

The mayor led the council to believe onething and then he said and did another.That’s not leadership, that’s an opportunistwho is out to make himself look good at theexpense of anyone who crosses his path.

Haverhill is sailing in the wrong direction,without a strong leader in place and if wecontinue on our current path, Haverhill mayhave the same fate as the Titanic.

Scott Wood is in his first term as amember of the Haverhill SchoolCommittee. You can contact him atwood45106@aol.com

Scott Wood, Haverhill School Committee

S c h o o lCommittee memberScott Wood wantsto make public thesuperintendent’sreport on themissing MCAStest.

I agree that this disclosure is an importantstep in restoring public confidence in theintegrity of the test and urge the SchoolCommittee to release the report at its nextmeeting. But confidence will not be restoredunless the report addresses two key issuesand certain high ranking public officials takesome dramatic actions.

First, the report must address the claimmade by the person who sent the MCAStest to the paper, namely, the test was givenout ahead of time so as to help improvestudent scores. Even if only one test wasmissing, it could have been copied and usedby individuals who would not in alllikelihood be willing to admit that they didit. If the report brushes this claim aside asthe raving of a disgruntled employee, thepublic may still wonder about the claimitself. The report must reassure us that ifthe test was stolen, it was not used aheadof time to improve MCAS scores.

Secondly, the report must explain howMCAS security could have been so easilybreached. At the same time, it should outline

new security measures which will make arepeat of this episode virtually impossible.Otherwise, the public may expect it couldhappen again.

I’ll withhold further comments about thereport until such time as I may read it.

Now for the public officials. I have neverseen such bizarre behavior amongHaverhill’s top ranking officials as wasdisplayed in this MCAS incident. Mostdramatically was the claim of the police chiefthat either he or the mayor had to go. If thiswas said in the paper, one can only imaginethe turmoil that goes on behind closeddoors! Then, when the pair apparently wereworking together, what did they do? Theythreatened the school superintendent withsubpoenas and grand juries. Has any mayoror chief so threatened a schoolsuperintendent to the extent that suchthreats necessitated an emergency meetingof the School Committee?

For the public to have confidence in theMCAS test and the investigation about themissing one, it must have confidence in theofficials whose responsibility it is toadminister the test and protect its integrity.How can this happen when it appears thatthe highest ranking city officials aredivided? It looks like the city has two heads,the mayor vs. the chief; and a creature with

In June, I attended The American Societyof Dowsers 46th Annual Convention atLyndon State College in Vermont. Lyndonis a picture-post card village with a towngreen and bandstand in Vermont’spicturesque Northeast Kingdom.

The convention was populated by anassortment of crystal gazers, psychics,necromancers, new-age pagans, alchemists,astrologists, shamans and too many oldbeatniks and ageing hippies, includingmyself.

The one thingthey all had incommon was theydidn’t fit easily intothe mass culture.Vermont has alwaysattracted icono-clasts.

Dowsing is theancient art offinding underground water with a forkedstick, usually from a willow tree. In Vermontalmost every village has dowser or “waterwitch” who will find underground water,usually for a small fee or a case of beer.With the high cost of well drilling, dowsingis still an option for many Vermonters fromthe old school.

At the conference, I learned that dowsinghas morphed into much more than lookingfor water. Some of the lectures wereinteresting. Like a farmer that measuresEMF- exposure to electrical and magneticfield pollution and its effects upon humansand animals. Or the workshop on the

mysterious crop circles, flattened geometricpatterns that appear in wheat fields inBritain and even the United States. But someof the lectures were the product ofoveractive imagination and wishful thinking.One guy, for instance, gave a lecture abouthow he gets 50 miles a gallon on his 6-cylinder Ford Explorer by meditating andswinging a pendulum over the engine beforehe drives it.

He cautioned that the governmentdoesn’t want us toknow about thisbecause “they arein league with theoil companies.” Iwas skeptical ofthis claim, ofcourse, but not ofthe entire con-ference. I have seenreal dowsingbefore.

In the 1950’s, my father was thesuperintendent of distribution for theLawrence Gas Company. The greaterLawrence gas distribution system containsmany miles of underground gas lines.Nowadays the system is computerized, sodiagnosing problems is relatively easy.

But in the old days, locating low pressureareas or leaks in the labyrinthine system ofdistribution was art, not science. My fatherwas, in a Zen Buddhist sense, one with thesystem.

American Society of Dowsers

Continued on Page 6

Continued on Page 11

6 The Valley Patriot September - 2006

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One of his many talents was dowsing,Only my father didn’t dowse for water witha willow twig; he dowsed for gas lines, andhe used brass rods. This was no will o’ thewisp caprice, but serious business. A workcrew complete with air compressors andjackhammers would be dispatched to a citystreet. But where to dig? Time is money;the crew would be waiting for directions.They don’t just tear up the whole streetuntil they find the offending gas main.That’s where my father came in.

He carried in his company car two brasstubes about six inches long and a half inchwide. He would hold the tubes upright infront of his body. In each brass tube was awire bent in an L-shape and free to swing inany direction. When he would walk over agas line, the two brass rods would swingimmediately into a straight line as ifmagnetized.

It was not a vague, wishy- washy motion,but a real, pronounced magnetic force thatacted on the rods. It was an amazing thingto see. And he was dead-on right every time.Stranger still was that none of the crewseemed to think it was a big deal-as if thiswere the most natural thing in the world! Iasked my father a number of times to showme how to do it, but I could never learn. Iwould take the brass rods, walk across thestreet, and nothing would ever happen.

I asked him recently about dowsing. Hejust said matter-of-factly that “some of theguys could do it.” He doesn’t rememberwhere he learned it; he’s unimpressed withwhat -to me- is a formidable ability. He justsays that some people have magnetism. Myfather is a meat-and-potatoes, World War 2veteran, and a no-nonsense guy- about asfar away as you can get from the ShirleyMacLaine, New Age lifestyle.

I would like to bring my father to theconvention next year, but I don’t think hewould be interested. Instead of discussingthe engagement of earth energy, whicheverybody at the convention does, heactually does it.

If you are not convinced, I don’t blameyou. It’s one of those things you have tosee yourself. But the earth is indeed ancientand mysterious and with all our inventionswe don’t understand much about anything.If you doubt this, just try to answer a 4-year-old’s questions about life. As Hamletsaid, “There are more things in heaven andearth, Horatio, than are dreampt of in yourphilosophy.”

Mark Palermo is a professor atNorthern Essex Community College inHaverhill and is the past vice-presidentof the faculty union. You can email himat markpalermo@lycos.com.

Society of Dowsers: From Page 5

LAWRENCE – The Home Health Foundation is recruiting men and women throughoutthe Merrimack Valley to join our Home Health Partners program. Members of HomeHealth Partners contribute just a few hours each week assisting in key projects orserving on one of our annual event committees. Currently, Home Health Foundation isseeking civic-minded volunteers to assist with administrative tasks.

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Home Health Foundation Family of Agencies is comprised of three not-for-profitagencies; Home Health VNA, Merrimack Valley Hospice and HomeCare, Inc. Togetherthe three agencies serve more than 80 communities throughout the Merrimack Valleyand Southern New Hampshire. For more information, visit them on the web atwww.homehealthvna.org.

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