Region

Podcast: Groveland Native Says Her Oscar-Winning ‘Navalny’ Aims to Bring Justice

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A Groveland native, who picked up an Oscar Sunday for the documentary “Navalny,” said her larger goal is to help secure justice for the Russian dissident who survived state-sponsored poisoning and now is jailed in solitary confinement. Geralyn White Dreyfous, who went to Pentucket Regional High School before attending Harvard, was part of the team that won an Academy Award for the film Navalny. Appearing Wednesday on WHAV’s morning show, “Win for Breakfast,” she says the film tells the story of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption activist exposing corruption on the local and national levels in Russia. “For that he was poisoned with a chemical toxin called Novichok and went into heart arrest on a plane leaving from Siberia, a small village. He was then medivacked from Russia to Germany where he rehabilitated and they were able to investigate the toxin and where it came from and the movie really exposes what’s called ‘state sponsored assassination’ of which there have been many under Putin’s reign,” she explains.

Business Bulletin

Podcast: Howard Details Plans to Merge Merrimack Valley and RTN Credit Unions; March 29 Vote

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Merrimack Valley Credit Union members are being asked to vote in about two weeks to approve a merger with RTN Federal Credit Union. Members will cast votes at a special meeting to approve the merger and update the bylaws to reflect RTN’s field of membership, which covers those who “reside, work or attend school in Worcester County…and immediate family members.” Merrimack Valley Credit Union President and CEO John J. Howard, appearing last week on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program, said there have been many credit union mergers over the years within the industry and involving Merrimack Valley Credit Union. “What happens is we become part of our family tree. Unified is a part of our family tree. Ocean Spray Credit Union is a part of our family tree.

Business Bulletin

During Tour of Covanta, Haverhill Rotarians Learn of Company Plans for a Carbon-Negative Future

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Haverhill Rotarians came away from a recent tour of Covanta in Ward Hill understanding the company is a major recycler and power provider that is not only reducing carbon emissions now, but plans to lead a carbon-negative future. Covanta Area Asset Manager Mark Van Weelden told club members during a lunch and tour the Haverhill operation processes 602,000 tons of trash per year that otherwise would have been landfilled with zero energy or recycling recovery. He said the plant generates enough electricity to power 32,000 homes for one year and separate more than 16,000 tons of metal that is sent to a recycling facility. “We wish to thank the many Haverhill Rotarians and city leaders who visited us to ask questions and tour our facility for several hours. Their outstanding questions about our facility allowed us to explain our past and future sustainability goals coupled with a continued high level of environmental leadership,” Van Weelden said.

Haverhill

Podcast: In Time for St. Patrick’s Day, Haverhill’s O’Malley Discusses ‘So Far from Home…’

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St. Patrick’s Day is a day of celebration, but many arriving Irish in the late 19th century had to cope with loneliness. Retired professor Patricia Trainor O’Malley, who spent years teaching at the now-closed Bradford College in Haverhill, reflects on the times in her book, “So Far from Home: Letters from Ireland to Family in America.” It is based on more than 200 letters sent to her grandparents in the 1880s and 90s when they first emigrated to Haverhill. The letters tell wonderful stories, written by ordinary people, O’Malley says while appearing during a recent interview on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program. “Poor farmers, fisherman cousins, young women writing to their cousin over in America, filled with sadness because of a lot of  ‘We’ll never see you again’ comments or ‘Things are very tough, can you send us some money?’ comments, but there are also comments from a sister in Ireland talking about young people gathering around the house on a Sunday so they could dance out on the grass or sing or play ball.

Business Bulletin

Podcast: Haverhill Chamber’s Eberhardt Says Getting Down to Business Means Able to Get to Work

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The business of “taking care of business” is wide ranging and one aspect is actually getting to the workplace. Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Alexandria Eberhardt said businesses are on the same page as employees when it comes to making sure people can get to their jobs. Eberhardt, a guest this week on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program, said she found Congressman Seth Moulton in agreement during a recent business summit at Salem State University Enterprise Center. “As we know, looking at transportation, obviously the MBTA has issues, but also looking at regional rail lines and all of that. When we talk about transportation, those two things need to go hand in hand.

Community Spotlight

Understanding Drug Addiction and Life-Saving Help Focus of Programs, Starting Monday

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Understanding more about addiction and receiving training to help save people are two programs being organized by Eammon’s Heart in Haverhill, with the first on Monday. “Heart to Heart: Surviving the Storm” is described as “A discussion on the drug crisis and how to help your children survive it.” It takes place Monday, Feb. 27, from 6-8 p.m., in the Johnson Auditorium at Haverhill Public Library, 99 Main St. Founder Helen Sheehan’s son Eammon died from an overdose in 2019. Eammon’s organs, including his heart, were donated to five people.

Community Spotlight

Podcast: Haverhill Exchange Club Plans 21st Annual Rick Barry St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast

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The wearing of the green and all things Irish will be on display when the Haverhill Exchange Club holds its 21st Annual Rick Barry St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast. Exchangites Ron Carpenito and Kerrianne Petalidas discussed the upcoming fun for a good cause during a live appearance last week on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program. Carpenito says a lot of work goes into the event. “Probably the biggest highlight of this event is the continuing saga of St.

Education

Last Chance Tonight for Public to Shape Future of Whittier Tech Before Building Committee Meets

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The public may weigh in tonight on options for renovating or replacing Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School. Superintendent Maureen Lynch was a guest yesterday morning on WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program, and says tonight’s meeting is the last one before the school’s building committee make its choice Friday. “We’ll be looking at the three options we’ve been asked to look at as part of our feasibility study, and we’ll be looking for community input. Then, on Friday, we’ll be making a decision about which of those three options we plan to pursue as we move forward in the feasibility study,” she notes. Lynch says there are three options—a code upgrade, a code upgrade plus an addition or a new building altogether.