Birdsell: Senate kills another voter bill
Last week, the New Hampshire Senate shot down S B 4, which would have established a ten day residency requirement on voters. District Nineteen Senator Regina Birdsell, Republican from Hampstead, expressed her disappointment with the vote on the compromise bill saying that quote
“We owe it to New Hampshire citizens to ensure that those who are in the voting booth next to them have a vested interest in the communities they are impacting through elections, however, the Senate failed to pass important legislation that would have strengthened elections in the Granite State.”
Retiring Republican senators David Boutin from Hooksett and Jerry Little of Weare broke party ranks and voted with the Democrats to kill the bill. (NOTE: Our initial report that Senator Nancy Stiles of Hampton was one of two Republicans who voted against the bill has been corrected. We apologize for our error.)
Stiles: Doesn’t trust daycares to screen workers
Senate Bill 4 5 3, which is said to strengthen the criminal background check process for child daycare providers, is now law. Bill sponsor Senator Nancy Stiles, Republican from Hampton, said the state is obligated to ensure that all licensed daycare facilities are unquestioningly safe environments for children. Now, anyone working in child daycare must undergo multiple background checks, including checks of abuse and neglect registries, as well as sex offender lists, in all of the places an individual has lived in the previous five years.
MSD: Super search starts
The Manchester School Board’s Special Committee on the Superintendent Search has its first meeting tonight at six. Similar to other meetings, the public is able to give comment in a public forum. This meeting will be held in the conference room of the district’s headquarters at 1 9 5 McGregor Street.
Pembroke School Board: The fun continues
Well, we’ve now had a chance to look at the policy changes the Pembroke School Board rammed through last week. It would appear as if the position of board chair has been remade to be king, as it now has sole discretion over whether or not agenda items submitted by members of the public, which they apparently rule over, are included on the agenda. The new rules make clear that only board members can suggest items be added to the agenda for discussion. And, if you’re a member of the media or the public, unless you ask for agenda materials in advance, including documents up for discussion, they won’t be available. This is not exactly consistent with the Right to Know Law.
Chairman Serafin: All hail!
When it comes to public participation, well, good luck with that! The board eliminated the second input session, which happens toward the end of the meeting, and limited the session at the beginning of the meetings to fifteen minutes, unless extended by the board. His Highness the Chair will determine if plebes who wish to address topics not on the agenda, or who do not reside in the district, get to speak, the attendance of their children in the schools they oversee notwithstanding.
Oh, and if the board deems that it is pressed by a heavy agenda, it can vote to suspend all public input. By the way, they struck the part of the policy where it says they desire citizen presence and input at meetings.
Sherman: Protected from public criticism
Complaints about district personnel? Forget about it! Has to be done through proper channels, which don’t include raising them publicly with the board. If it’s about the superintendent, the new rules do say the board will determine whether or not it’s heard in public or non-public session, which is another violation of the Right to Know Law, but it doesn’t say how the complaint is to be made to the board since all complaints are to be made through the superintendent.
Folks, you just can’t make this stuff up.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Dubbe
The Manchester Police Department arrested two people and seized over twenty-six thousand dollars of drugs yesterday after a two month long investigation. Detectives found thirty three year old Victoria Dubbe, of Manchester, outside of 1101 Elm Street at approximately one in the afternoon while preparing to execute a search warrant on apartment three oh six at that address. Detectives then executed the search warrant and arrested forty one year old Dshawn Collins from Springfield, MA, inside the apartment. Investigators seized one-hundred and sixty-two point eight grams of crack cocaine, forty-two grams of cocaine, and sixty-five point six grams of heroin.
Collins
Manchester’s finest also announced the arrest of eight residents on outstanding warrants as part of Operation GHOST. Those wanted had outstanding warrants for Criminal Mischief, Felony Theft By Unauthorized Taking and Criminal Trespass, Burglary, Felony Theft By Unauthorized Taking and Criminal Mischief, Stalking and Violation of Protective Order, Felony Theft By Unauthorized Taking, Felony Criminal Threatening, Conduct After an Accident, Simple Assault and Violation of Bail Conditions.
Not kidding…
The department will also hold yet another sobriety checkpoint in the city on Friday, June tenth and Saturday, June eleventh. F Y I, we’re still waiting for a reply to our Right to Know Request seeking stats from prior checkpoints. We sent a reminder this morning since they’re well beyond the five day response time spelled out in the law…awkward.
Coffee with a Cop! Bring your mug!
Manchester P D is bringing back their “Coffee with a Cop” events. Join members of the Community Policing Division at the McDonald’s on Second Street from nine to eleven tomorrow morning. The coffee’s on them, of course.
72 years ago today
Today is the seventy second anniversary of D-Day, the day Allied armies stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. If you know a vet from WW II, time’s running short to say thank you yet again.
Ali
Finally, he floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee. Muhammad Ali died over the weekend. He was seventy four.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is next!
