7-31-2013 News

Manchester Alderman at-Large Joe Kelly Levasseur intentionally stalled the investigation into whether or not thirty four year old Joni Nunn was assaulted by Manchester police officer William Soucy at the fifty two year old’s Hooksett home.  That was the finding of our investigative report into allegations made by Levasseur that police in Manchester and Hooksett weren’t taking action on the accusation and were stalling the investigation to protect one of their own.  Levasseur acting as Nunn’s attorney, told Nunn NOT to proceed with a follow up interview requested by Hooksett Police Sergeant Janet Bouchard just two weeks after Nunn decided she wanted to press charges.  That directive stopped the investigation in its tracks for an entire month, leading Bouchard to advise Nunn in an email that she’d suspended the case given her apparent lack of interest in moving forward.  Later in the day that email was sent, Levasseur left a threatening phone message for Hooksett Police Chief Peter Bartlett accusing the investigator of not wanting to bring charges and threatening to go public if an arrest wasn’t made.  It would take two more weeks before schedules would allow the interview to occur, a total of six weeks after Levasseur told Nunn not to do the interview.  The materials we obtained from both departments on Right to Know requests are part of the story we’ve posted to Oh My BLOG! at Girard at Large dot com.

The Hooksett Police Department is warning home care providers in the area of a serious scam.  On July 29th and 30th, Hooksett P D received complaints from home care providers referencing suspicious calls they received over the weekend.  A male  identifying himself as “John” stated his son “Bobby” had a severe head injury, was ambulatory, however, he had difficulty with speech and eyesight.  John stated he was on his way to help Bobby change his diaper when his car broke down and was unavailable to meet the provider.  The male caller left an address and telephone number which came back to Granite Street in Hooksett.  H P D is urging all home care providers to follow their company’s policies and procedures when receiving intake calls for service at odd hours.  Providers are advised to be leery of callers who claim to be unavailable to conduct a proper intake before services are rendered.  If a call is received and the person on the phone is claiming to be in need of medical attention tell them to hang up and call 911 for medical assistance.  Anyone with information about these calls or anyone who has received similar requests are asked to contact Hooksett Police at 6 2 4 1 6 5 0.

News from our own backyard continues right after this.

The Manchester School District has a new Assistant Superintendent of Schools.  Former Central High School Assistant Principal David Ryan, a former candidate for the Hooksett School Board and current Principal of Nashua North High will soon take the reigns of the position that oversees the district’s curriculum and instruction functions.  It wasn’t without controversy though as the vote to approve Superintendent Dr. Debra Livingston‘s choice went eight to six after an unexpected closed door session on the nomination.  Debra Langton, Christopher Stewart, Arthur Beaudry, John Avard, Jason Cooper and Roger Beauchamp were opposed.  Ted Rokas was absent.  The opponents faulted Livingston for recommending a salary that was six thousand dollars higher than the top salary advertised.  Avard and Beauchamp told Girard at Large after the meeting they also didn’t feel that Ryan met the qualifications specified for the job.

The school boards in Hooksett and Manchester approved a mediated settlement to the tuition contract dispute that’s roiled both communities for nearly a year.  In an ironic twist, Hooksett School Board members John Lyscars and David Pearl, the two who don’t want to be bound to any one community for high school services, opposed the deal which releases Hooksett from its obligation to send all of its high school students to Manchester.  In exchange, Manchester will see a two hundred seventy five dollar increase in revenues to offset the tuition loss in the coming school year.  That revenue increase will continue in the following school year in which there will be a twenty percent increase in tuition paid by Hooksett.  Hooksett will also have to notify Manchester of the number of students it will send by the first of December each year.  The current tuition agreement will terminate at the end of the current school year and be replaced by the terms of the arbitrated agreement, which we’ll post after this morning’s show.

Plan Pinardville got walloped by Pinardville residents at the ad hoc committee’s public hearing last night.  More than half of the nearly 30 residents that showed up spoke and all of them were in opposition.  We’ll get the details from Goffstown Today dot com publisher Bill Wynne later in the show.  Apparently, he not only covered the event, a former member of the town’s planning, zoning and economic development boards he let fly with his own comments.  We’ll have the exclusive in the 8 o’clock hour.

That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large Hour ___ is just 30 seconds away!