Lovely Named Committee Chairwoman in First Term

State Sen. Joan Lovely has been named to seven committees on Beacon Hill, including chairwoman of a committee on mental health and substance abuse.

The state senator representing Peabody has been named chairwoman of a Beacon Hill committee just a month after being sworn in to her first term in office. State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) announced on Tuesday that she has been named chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Lovely was elected to the 2nd Essex District seat in the Senate in November, filling the seat held by Peabody Democrat Fred Berry for 30 years. Lovely emerged on top of a field of four Democrats in the September primary and beat Republican Richard Jolitz of Beverly in November. She is not only the first person other than Berry to represent Peabody in the Senate in three decades, she's also the first woman ever to hold that seat. Before …

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Potential Bump in Local Aid May Not Make Final State Budget

Peabody could see more state money if legislators approve the Fiscal 2014 budget proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick, but that's not a given at this point.

Within the ambitious state budget proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick last week, which seeks to focus on education and transportation funding, Peabody is slated to get a 2 percent increase in state aid. State Rep. Ted Speliotis (D-Danvers), who also represents West Peabody, called it a "good bump," but also warned that it may be a "tease" from Patrick, who is hoping to get legislators to approve a proposed increase in the income tax and so-called "sin taxes" on candy and cigarettes. Given the still sluggish state of the economy and job growth, he argues now is not the right time to raise taxes. New state Sen. Joan Lovely briefly addressed the proposed budget on Friday at a forum of North Shore small business owners. She was noncommittal in her …

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Lovely Says Flooding Among Top Concerns for District [VIDEO]

Three weeks into her first term in office, state Senator Joan Lovely addressed small business owners from the North Shore on Friday.

State Senator Joan Lovely addressed dozens of North Shore small business owners on Friday, identifying constituent services and an effort to drop the statue of limitation on child sex abuse as top key focuses. Lovely, a Democrat from Salem, was elected last November and has been in office for 23 days. She takes over for Peabody's Frederick Berry, the former Senate Majority Leader who served for 30 years before retiring. Timely response to constituents is "crucial," she told the North Shore Business Forum as it gathered for breakfast at Danversport Yacht Club. "My time as a city councilor taught me constituent service comes first," she said, after earlier saying she became involved in Salem city government after her concern about the …

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Lovely Sworn in to Massachusetts Senate

Joan Lovely officially began her term as the Senator for Peabody, Salem, Beverly, Danvers and Topsfield on Wednesday.

Salem's Joan Lovely took her seat in the Senate chamber Wednesday to officially start her tenure on Beacon Hill. Lovely was sworn in by Gov. Deval Patrick during a brief ceremony and then took her first vote to return Therese Murray to the Senate presidency -- it was a unanimous vote. The 54-year-old Lovely, a longtime and popular Salem city councilor, defeated Peabody opponents John Slattery and Mary-Ellen Manning along with Salem's Ed Carroll during the Democratic Primary in September. She then easily beat Beverly Republican Richard Jolitz in November for the 2nd Essex District seat. The seat was long held by by Peabody's Fred Berry, who retired last year after 30 years in the Senate. Lovely is also the first woman to hold the office. …

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PHOTOS: PACC Celebrates 81 Years at Annual Dinner

Gould given Ankeles service award, Lovely keynote speaker at PACC annual dinner.

The Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce held its 81st Annual Dinner Wednesday night at Spinelli's. Treadwell's Ice Cream owner and city councilor Tom Gould was recognized for his many years of community service with the annual Harry Ankeles Award. The guest keynote speaker was state Senator-elect Joan Lovely and outgoing PACC Chairman Robert Dionne of Atlantic Ambulance was presented with certificate of appreciation from Mayor Ted Bettencourt.

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Lovely Says She 'Can't Wait to Get Started' in Senate [VIDEO]

Salem Democrat Joan Lovely attributes much of her successful run to a grassroots campaign of knocking on doors all across the district.

Salem Democrat Joan Lovely earned a seat in the state Senate Tuesday in a landslide victory over Beverly Republican Richard Jolitz. With all the official results in, Lovely garnered 71 percent of the vote to Jolitz' 29 percent. Lovely, her family and a roomful of supporters gathered at the Old Town Hall in Salem to celebrate Tuesday night. Lovely arrived just after 8 p.m. and finally took the podium to give her victory speech shortly before 9:30 p.m. "What an amazing year this has been. We started back in January...we started knocking on doors and we've been knocking on doors ever since across this district and the response has just been phenomenal," Lovely said. "I just feel so greatful and so honored to stand here tonight before all of …

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You Ask...Patch Answers

Here's How Peabody Voted in Thursday's State Primary

Make sure to use the viewing tools on each .pdf to get a closer look at the numbers.

Salem's Joan Lovely won the Democratic party candidacy for state Senate yesterday in a landslide, handily taking four out of five communities except for Peabody to earn 50 percent of the vote. The Tanner City, which is the largest city in the district, heavily went in favor of hometown favorite John Slattery, 2,324 to Lovely's 1,487, but it wasn't enough to close the gap for Slattery, who finished behind Lovely in the race with 30 percent of the vote. He was trailed by fellow Peabodyite Mary-Ellen Manning (17 percent) and Edward Carroll of Salem (2 percent). Lovely, in comparison, won big in her hometown of Salem, 3,260 to Slattery's 735 votes. And back in Peabody, she did win one precinct as well by 15 votes -- Brooksby Village. Manning …

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Lovely Wins Senate Primary

Lovely will be in November election.

Joan Lovely secured a spot in the Second Essex Senate race in Thursday's Democratic primary election. The unofficial results show Lovely winning in a landslide with 7,450 votes (50 percent), followed by John Slattery with 4,418 votes (30 percent), Mary-Ellen Manning with 2,610 (17 percent) and Edward Carroll with just 309 votes (2 percent). Click here for a complete look at how the North Shore voted. Lovely will go on to face Republican challenger Richard A. Jolitz in the November election.

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