Police and Fire phones to go down

The Bedford Police and Fire departments announced that their phone systems will undergo upgrades that will take them off line from Midnight tonight to six A M tomorrow morning.  The upgrades actually started last night at Midnight, which put the system off-line until six this morning,  but they didn’t tell anybody it was happening until a notice was issued at five yesterday evening.  Those who need to contact either department for non-emergency purposes while the system is down are asked to dial 4 7 1 0 3 5 3.  Emergency 9 1 1 service will not be affected.

Bedford reps press for public water hookup

Three state representatives have called on Saint Gobain Performance Plastics in Merrimack to connect more than one hundred Bedford properties to the Manchester Water Works.  The properties have all been contaminated by perfluorooctanic acid from the plant.   Deputy House Majority Leader John Graham, Assistant House Majority Leader David Danielson and Assistant House Majority Whip Terry Wolf, three of Bedford’s seven state reps., sent a letter to Saint Gobain’s Director of Environment, Health and Safety, Edward J. Canning, making the demand. 

Hundreds of properties in Merrimack, Litchfield, Amherst, Bedford and Manchester have been contaminated by the chemical from the plant.  Mayor Ted Gatsas quickly negotiated a deal that resulted in Saint Gobain paying to connect contaminated properties in South Manchester to the city’s water system.  The work has long since been done. 

Gatsas: Got job done for Manchester residents

In the letter, lawmakers wrote, quote: 

“The residents of these homes have been significantly impacted since they learned of the contamination in April 2016.  Families cannot brush their teeth, rinse food or drink water from the tap in their own homes. Residents had expected to be hooked to municipal water by November 2016. While many homes in southern New Hampshire have been connected to public water, Bedford property owners have not and they have been told to wait for a decision in late September.”

Calling the delay, “unacceptable,” the lawmakers said that the people of Bedford cannot wait for this to be dragged out until the spring of 2018.

Batman: Willard in Halloween costume?

Manchester Police Chief Nick Willard has used the powers vested in him by city ordinance to decree that the children of Manchester shall be allowed to Trick or Treat on Halloween, Tuesday, October 3 1st from six to eight.  As is the custom in the Queen City, residents who want Trick or Treaters to come to their home should leave the outdoor light on, preferably the one near the door they want used.  Those who can’t be bothered by the little ghouls and goblins in search of candy should keep the outdoor light off until Trick or Treat is over.

News from our own backyard continues after this.

Jasper: Gets data

Late yesterday afternoon, New Hampshire House Speaker Shawn Jasper, Republican from Hudson, released information on fraudulent voting he obtained in response to a request he made to Secretary of State Bill Gardner and Safety Commissioner John Barthelmes.  Jasper’s inquiry sought statistical information on the efforts of both departments to match voter checklist information with records of the Department of Safety.  In a statement released yesterday, Jasper said he requested the information to help the legislature assess the effectiveness of the state’s current election laws and determine what, if any, future legislation was needed to improve voter registration and verification processes.

The numbers are in

Here’s what we know based on the information provided in response to Jasper’s request:

  • 6, 5 4 0 individuals registered to vote on November 8th, 2 0 1 6 using an out-of-state driver’s license.
  • As of August 30th, only 1, 0 1 4, or fifteen and a half percent, of those voters have since been issued a New Hampshire driver’s license.
  • As of August 3 1st, of the remaining 5, 5 2 6 individuals, only three point three percent had registered a motor vehicle in the state.
  • Also as of August 3 1st, 5, 3 1 3, or eighty one point two percent, of the individuals who used an out-of-state driver’s license had neither held a New Hampshire driver’s license nor had registered a vehicle in the state.
  • 1 9 6 people on the checklist are being investigated for having voted in New Hampshire and at least one other state.

But wait, there’s more and we’ve published it with this news read at Girard at Large dot com.  And, yes, expect we will discuss.

Birdsell: Plaintiffs pulled out of federal court

In a related news item, District Nineteen State Senator Regina Birdsell, Republican from Hampstead, issued a statement following a federal court’s decision not to hear the lawsuit filed by the state Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters.  Attorney General Gordon MacDonald petitioned Federal District Court to hear the case brought to block implementation of Senate Bill 3, which allegedly tightens up our state’s “drive by” registration and voting laws. 

In her statement, Birdsell said the lawsuits originally claimed the law, which she sponsored, violated both state and federal law, but that the Democrats and the league dropped the claims pertaining to the U. S. Constitution, leaving the federal judge no choice but to send it back to the state court.  Said Birdsell, quote: 

“This decision was made by the plaintiffs in order to keep the lawsuit in New Hampshire’s courts, which tells me they lack confidence that their case would hold up in the federal court system.  I remain confident that the New Hampshire court system will find the language in SB 3 to be constitutional and look forward to the process ahead.”

Libasci: To ordain deacons

The Diocese of Manchester has announced that The Most Reverend Peter A. Libasci, Bishop of Manchester, will ordain ten men to the Permanent Deaconate tomorrow morning in a Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral which starts at ten.  Those who will be ordained include: 

  • Kevin Cody
  • Karl Cooper
  • Joseph Dion
  • Leland Fastnacht
  • Richard Hilton
  • Stephen Kaneb
  • Fintan Moore
  • Randy T. O’Neill
  • Terry Sullivan
  • Lam Tran

Once ordained, they will be deacons in the church.  The faithful are asked to pray for them.

That’s NEWS from our own backyard!  Girard at Large hour ___ is next!