http://www.eagletribune.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:23:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200102314.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200102314.html Gordon van Welie An adequate supply of reliable, efficiently priced electricity is critical to the success of New England's economy. The region's power system has had a long history of dependability, but electricity costs have been an issue for businesses and residents for decades. As the region plans ahead, New England's policymakers face a series of decisions that will have an abiding impact on our energy future. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:11:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200001135.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200001135.html If there is trash being dumped on Haverhill's downtown streets, the blame and mdash; all the blame and mdash; lies with the irresponsible people who put it there. That should be clear. But it should be just as clear that if Haverhill is going to be a clean city, attractive to visitors and potential purchasers of all those new condos in the works, it is going to take the effort of the entire community. And sometimes that means cleaning up after somebody else, even if the mess is their fault and it's not your job. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:11:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200001101.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200001101.html With citizenship comes responsibility. Voting, the basic act of citizenship, requires minimal effort on the part of those who would exercise this hard-won franchise, purchased and defended with the blood of patriots. All society requires is that a citizen first register to vote, then show up at the polls. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:09:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000923.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000923.html Can't afford increase Mayor Manzi: an 8 percent raise on water rates? My salary did not increase by 8 percent this year. However, my medical expenses have increased close to that. Food has gone up about 6 percent. Gas has gone up, God only knows how much, but more than I can afford. Taxes are increasing on everything. Everything, Mayor Manzi, including cars, whatever. We haven't got our Massachusetts tax reduction yet. Although we were supposed to go down to 5 percent, but those wonderful minds in Boston have changed their thinking. Mayor Manzi, we cannot afford another 8 percent raise on anything. If you look around at some of the apartment dwellings, they're running water on a regular basis, even when it's raining out. Let them shut the water off. I don't care if their grass is green or not. Mayor Manzi, please have some consideration for the taxpayer. The city of Methuen has been playing games with their water rates for over a year now and they can't seem to get it right. Leave the water bills alone. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:08:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000844.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000844.html It's hard to take a Hitler-worshipper seriously To the editor: Robert O'Donovan (letter writer, July 9), founder of the KKK and Neo-nazi courting NEWP.org, is simply doing his own rewriting of history. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:08:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000802.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000802.html It took a trifecta of free-market ideology, delusion and corrupt Washington leadership to create the conditions that led to the collapse of confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which hold or guarantee more than half of American mortgages. The dive in their stock prices last week gave the Treasury and Federal Reserve officials little option but to draw up taxpayer rescue plans. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:07:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000717.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000717.html Barbara Anderson So there I was, in the presence of Gov. Deval Patrick for the first time, at Armory Park in Salem last week. It was a pleasant evening, hot at home, but the downtown park was shaded and breezy, and Chip found us seats toward the front. Mayor Kim Driscoll did a nice introduction, and then the governor listened to members of the audience, as advertised. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:06:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000630.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000630.html John Milne In an interview that lasted an hour and nine minutes, Republican congressional hopeful John Stephen never once uttered the name of George W. Bush, the Republican president of the United States. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:05:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000550.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_200000550.html Jay Ambrose While disagreeing with Barack Obama on maybe three-fourths of his so-far enunciated political views, I actually like and admire the guy, perhaps as eloquent a speaker and alert an intellect as has pursued the presidency in my lifetime. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:25:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232506.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232506.html The so-called "anti-snob" zoning law in Massachusetts, Chapter 40B, grants great freedom to developers in communities that fail to meet a threshold level of affordable housing. In communities in which the number of affordable housing units is less than 10 percent of the total housing stock, Chapter 40B allows developers to bypass some local zoning regulations. Developers can get fast-track approval of their projects if they agree to set aside a percentage of the units they are building for those with low and moderate incomes. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:25:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232539.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232539.html Every problem is an opportunity and mdash; so the optimists say. And the optimists' view should prevail in Haverhill, where the problem of the impending closure of Haverhill Paperboard Corp. offers an opportunity that could improve both the environment and the city's bottom line. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:23:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232352.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232352.html Add to inflation, job losses, the plummeting dollar and other woes affecting the U.S. economy, the disappearance of the smarts and can-do spirit that used to be hallmarks of American industry. Completed in 1935, the Hoover Dam is still holding back the waters of the Colorado River and producing electricity for much of the Southwest. In contrast, Boston's modern Big Dig has been plagued with problems, including leaky roofs, from the day it opened. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:23:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232322.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232322.html Taxpayers will foot the bill for mortgage crisis To the editor: When homebuilders, mortgage lenders and Wall Street institutions began to suffer losses in the great housing Ponzi scheme, I always knew that the taxpayers would end up paying for their stupidity and illegal activities. It looks like I am right. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:22:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232253.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_198232253.html War and oil Let us see: We are fighting an oil-producing country and we need a lot of oil and gas to fight a war. So the question is why would another oil country sell us oil to fight their neighbor. And who are these countries that are willing to sell us oil to fight someone in practically their own backyard. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:36:00 +0000 http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_197233602.html http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_197233602.html A Lawrence dynasty returns to the streets and mdash; Monday, July 7 This is a great story. It's nice to see that Lawrence has friends that for not seeing each other for such a long time, get back together and have that fire not only for the game but to win for each other.