Monthly Archives: June 2008

Plowed Streets a luxury?

Posted on June 15, 2008 by billmanzi

Todays Tribune has a story on the expense of snow plowing in Methuen titled “plowed streets a luxury”. The gist of the story is that Council Chairman Phil Lahey, a retired DPW worker who plowed streets for many years, maintains … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen | 4 Comments

Tim Russert Passes Away

Posted on June 13, 2008 by billmanzi

Tim Russert, the NBC News Washington Bureau Chief and the host of Meet the Press, has died suddenly, apparently of a heart attack. Russert, who was 58, was recording for the Sunday Meet the Press program when he was stricken. … Continue reading →

Posted in National News | 3 Comments

Readiness Schools

Posted on June 13, 2008 by billmanzi

Matt Viser of the Boston Globe reported yesterday that Governor Deval Patrick will unveil a proposal for a new type of public school that will resemble in some fashion charter or pilot schools. From the Globe: Governor Deval Patrick, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen, State News | 3 Comments

The Phoenix eats humble pie

Posted on June 12, 2008 by billmanzi

As a final note on the weight loss competition with Lawrence Mayor Michael Sullivan I must happily accept the congratulations offered by David Bernstein of the Phoenix Talking Politics blog. . As many remember Mr. Bernstein predicted a big win … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen | Leave a comment

The stress on mass transit

Posted on June 11, 2008 by billmanzi

With gas prices soaring the country is experiencing serious hikes in the utilization of mass transit. While that correlation is not exactly rocket science our traditional underfunding of mass transit as a country will have consequences as ridership goes up. … Continue reading →

Posted in National News | 11 Comments

The Tax Story

Posted on June 10, 2008 by billmanzi

The Tribune is running a story today that essentially says that I am “blaming” the City Council for “raising taxes”. The story comes out of last nights budget workshop where I agreed to restore $400,000 to the Fire Department budget. … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen, Methuen City Council | 3 Comments

The Al Franken Decade

Posted on June 9, 2008 by billmanzi

Writer/comedian Al Franken won a resounding victory in Minnesota at the Democratic convention, earning the right to face Republican Norm Coleman in November for the U.S. Senate seat. Franken had been dogged by criticism of some of his writing as … Continue reading →

Posted in National News | 8 Comments

O’Reilly makes the ballot

Posted on June 7, 2008 by billmanzi

Attorney Ed O’Reilly crossed the fifteen percent threshold at today’s Democratic convention, ensuring a September primary with John Kerry. (I have endorsed John Kerry in this race). The delegate count was 1994 to 580, giving O’Reilly about 23 percent. The … Continue reading →

Posted in National News, State News | 6 Comments

Hillary Calls for Democratic Unity

Posted on June 7, 2008 by billmanzi

Hillary Clinton, in an eloquent speech, called for Democratic unity and endorsed Barack Obama today. Senator Clinton’s speech, while expected, was a fine talk that put to rest any talk of her not being totally supportive of the party nominee. … Continue reading →

Posted in National News | 4 Comments

Methuen’s Budget

Posted on June 6, 2008 by billmanzi

I have submitted to the City Council the FY 2009 budget. This budget, attached in pdf form, is an austerity budget that deals with the city’s fiscal crisis head on, imposing some pain that will allow us to get through … Continue reading →

Posted in Methuen, Methuen City Council | 4 Comments