8-9-2013 News

Swords were drawn at the Hooksett School Board on Wednesday night but all parties retreated.  Vice Chairman David “The Pariah” Pearl challenged Chairman Trisha “The Gavel” Korkosz in an attempted coup for the chairmanship of the embattled board.  The general idea was that if someone who actually knew how to run a meeting, would let people speak AND abide by the board’s policies were the chair, maybe there wouldn’t be so much strife.  Only John “Angry Elf” Lyscars agreed.  Pearl’s challenge went down on a predictable 3 to 2 vote.  However, all was not lost.  The multiple policy changes the board made in violation of its own policy on changing policies, a topic discussed with Pearl in an interview on Girard at Large on Wednesday, were reversed to ensure the rights of those in the minority were protected.  Multiple complaints that had been filed by board members against the board and by citizens against members of the board were either withdrawn or dismissed.  It seems as if all parties have withdrawn to neutral corners and will try to play nice in the sandbox again next time.  We shall see.

Yesterday, I, your Humble Host, opined that Plan Pinardville would create a whole lot of preexisting nonconforming uses that would be very problematic for property owners if passed.  Looks like I may have been wrong on that point.  Concerned residents drew my attention to language on page thirty four of the document, which is available with this news read at Girard at Large dot com, and noted that it says private frontage shall conform to and be allocated in conformance with the tables that create common front yards which appear to strip private property owners of the rights to control their own property.  Residents also assert that language in the document not only prohibits new residential properties from having a backyard, but also subjects current backyards to takings by the town to enable the creation of alleyways or other public passageways to divert traffic off existing roadways.  They also expressed concerns that if the substitute plan, which narrows the focus to only the commercial industrial corridor along Mast Road as demanded by Planning Board Chairman John Hikel, is adopted it will have a cascade affect on the surrounding neighborhoods that will eventually force zoning changes throughout the area.  Looks like we have a lot of weekend reading to do.  On a related note, we are still awaiting a reply to our request that the addresses and contact information of the ad hoc committee members be released.  Pinardville Form-Based Code Client Draft WITH CD3 and SD1 8-5-13  Pinardville Form-Based Code Client Draft WITHOUT CD3 and SD1 8-5-13

News from our own backyard continues right after this.

The bats of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats connected this season for fourteen thousand dollars in donations from Dead River Company to the New Hampshire Food Bank. The donation is the culmination of “Score 4 for Hunger,” a season-long promotion that gave fans even more reason to root for the home team. For each home game where the Fisher Cats scored four or more runs, Dead River Company donated $400, up to $14,000, to the New Hampshire Food Bank. Through August 2, the Fisher Cats had scored four or more runs 35 times, generating $14,000 for the NH Food Bank. The New Hampshire Food Bank, a program of New Hampshire Catholic Charities, distributes more than 8.4 million pounds of food annually. It is the only food bank in New Hampshire. The registered agencies (local food pantries, shelters, social service organizations) that are supplied by the New Hampshire food bank serve more than 140,000 New Hampshire residents each year.

Right On Strategies is calling on Senator Jeanne Shaheen and congresswomen Carol Shea Porter and Annie Kuster to subject their staffs to Obamacare.  In what will come to a surprise to no one, President Barry and gang have worked out a deal exempting the good folks in Congress and their staffs from the Obamacare law which actually requires senators and congressmen and their staffs to obtain health insurance created by or made available through the exchanges in the law.  Problem is that those folks enjoy really big subsidies on their current health plans which would go away, causing a significant increase in what they’d have to pay for their insurance under Obamacare, like the rest of us.  Well they didn’t like that and a deal was struck.  Shaheen and Shea Porter both voted for the law and Kuster supports it.  Right On Strategies wants to know will they live by what they forced on the rest of us?  Indeed, all fair minded people want to know if the people we elect will follow the rules they adopt for the rest of us.

Speaking of which, keep an eye on the New Hampshire Department of Insurance.  Senate President Peter Bragdon, Republican of Milford, sent a letter to  D O I Commissioner Roger Sevigny asking him just how it can be he’s applied for and accepted grant money to implement parts of Obamacare without permission from the legislature which passed legislation saying you can’t do that and is studying the matter.  We’ve got the letter here in the news cast.  Oh my head…

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