city year
City Year New Hampshire, the outfit that places red clad young folks into several Manchester elementary schools to assist teachers and interest kids in learning, announced the appointment of  five new members to its Board of Directors.  Kerri St. Jean, Emily Gray Rice, Chris Dolloff, David H. Cassidy, and Justine Vogel have joined the eleven members of the board.  City Year recently completed another successful year serving twenty seven hundred at-risk students in six of the state’s highest-poverty public schools, achieving perfect retention of its fifty AmeriCorps members in full-time service.  With the addition of five distinguished leaders to its board, City Year anticipates continued success both with the launching of a new class in September – the Fifteenth Anniversary corps – and with a plan to expand needed service capacity in the future.  We posted their release, which includes brief biographies of the new appointees with this newcast at Girard at Large dot com.
Crystal Lake:  Closed by E. Coli

Crystal Lake: Closed by E. Coli

 

The Manchester Health Department announced yesterday that the public beach at Crystal Lake will remain closed to swimming due to elevated levels of E. coli bacteria.  The elevated bacteria levels were identified in water samples taken on Monday and Tuesday.  Water samples taken at other locations on Crystal Lake did not find elevated levels of the bacteria.  The Health Department re-sampled the area yesterday morning.  The results are expected today.  The public beach will remain closed until E. coli levels are found to be acceptable.

ClockThe Manchester School District finally sent us the coming year’s school calendar in a workable format we could post on line without having to upload documents that you have to click to see.  We’ve published it on Girard at Large and linked to it from this newscast.

News from our own backyard continues after this

Rubens:  No on eminent domain for Northern Pass

Rubens: No on eminent domain for Northern Pass

G O P U S Senate Candidate Jim Rubens derided recent announcements that land needed to complete the controversial Northern Pass project, which would bring cheap, clean hydro power from Quebec to New England, could be taken by eminent domain.  The project, championed by P S N H parent company Northeast Utilities, has been fiercely resisted by some in the North Country afraid that the necessary power transmission lines might despoil their pretty views.  Rubens said it was quote “wrong for anyone to use the police powers of the state to steal one’s property for the profit of another.  Northern Pass is attempting to cloak its private transmission project as having a public purpose, where no such public purpose exists, (I can’t believe he’s serious about that, editor’s note) and thereby allowing property to be taken from New Hampshire property owners against their will.”  End quote.  He said neither incumbent Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen nor G O P rival Scott Brown could be trusted to fight for the North Country as they’ve received thousands of dollars in contributions from interests backing the project.  We’ve posted Rubens release and will likely have something to say about this during this morning’s show.

Shaheen:  Stimulus $$ for hubby's company?

Shaheen: Stimulus $$ for hubby’s company?

Shaheen might have bigger problems on her hands than Northern Pass.  Seems that she and her husband Bill are refusing to answer media inquiries regarding their financial stake in California company that received stimulus dollars shortly after Bill became an official advisor to the company and bought a lot of its stock.  The company, a start up named  Ultrawave Labs Inc., was developing new imaging technology to detect breast cancer.  Shaheen not only pushed hard for the stimulus package that ultimately brought almost eighty thousand dollars to her husband’s new client, she lobbied for another hundred fifty million in research funding, some of which may have benefited the company.  According to the Boston Globe, which broke the story to which we’ve linked, both Shaheens have declined multiple requests for comment.  That’s prompted State G O P Chair Jennifer Horn to demand that the Shaheens come clean on their business dealings, alleging ethical questions and conflicts of interest with Bill’s law and lobbying firm.  In two thousand and nine, Shaheen and Gordon, Bill’s firm,  launched a quote “Stimulus Opportunities Team” writing quote “Shaheen & Gordon is proud to announce its Stimulus Opportunities Team to assist public and private sector clients seize the opportunities available in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.”  End quote.  Looks like they weren’t kidding!  We’ve linked to what they posted on their site at the time for your review.

O'Neill:  Hosts Obamacare fundraiser for Shaheen

O’Neill: Hosts Obamacare fundraiser for Shaheen

Oh, one other item regarding Senator Shaheen.  She recently attended another out of state fundraiser, this time in Boston.  A series of tweets from that fundraiser hosted by prominent mega-lobbyist Tom O’Neill disappeared after widespread criticism.  Shaheen attended the event at O’Neill and Associates to discuss “the effects of the [Affordable Care Act] on [New Hampshire’s] healthcare landscape” according to tweets that were deleted.   G O P Chair Jennifer Horn slammed Shaheen, who has refused to hold open town halls in New Hampshire to discuss ObamaCare, or anything else for that matter, saying quote “Senator Shaheen is happy to talk about health care with fat cat Boston lobbyists who represent insurance companies, but she refuses to hold a town hall meeting with New Hampshire voters who are directly affected by her deciding vote for ObamaCare.”  Jen, what do you expect from the person who demanded her Republican rivals not accept out of state funds as she travels the country from coast to coast and points in between literally doing what she’s demanded they not?  Oh My HEAD!

That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is straight ahead.