Clay: Charges dismissed
Jeffrey T. Clay, the man arrested by Alton Police Chief Ryan Heath at the behest of the Alton Board of Selectmen for demanding they resign over alleged abuses of the state’s Right to Know Law, has been exonerated in court. After deliberating over the case for a month, Judge Jim Carroll dismissed the disorderly conduct charges brought against Clay after his February third arrest. Quote
“The silencing is nothing less than censorship of the defendant’s criticisms given at a time and place designated by the board itself for public input,” wrote Carroll, who also wrote that Heath’s actions arresting Clay were quote “content-based censorship and the defendant was acting within the very rules promulgated by the board as well within his constitutional rights under the U.S. and N.H. Constitutions.”
We’ve linked to the article published by the Laconia Daily Sun with all the details of how the case was argued in court and more on the court’s findings. We’ve also linked to our prior stories on the matter for those interested in the background.
Central High: Now taking nominations for their hallowed Hall of Fame
The Central High School Hall of Fame is seeking nominations for new inductees according Dr. Michael Murphy, Chair of the Hall’s board of directors. To be eligible, nominees must have graduated from Central before two thousand seven and the nomination must be submitted before September fifteenth. Anyone wishing to submit a nomination should send an e-mail to central hall of fame at gmail dot com. The e-mail should explain. in an essay of not more than five hundred words, the nominee’s accomplishments and the reasons the nominator believes the nominee should be inducted. Any contact information for the nominee should also be included. A banquet celebrating the inductees will be held in the spring of two thousand sixteen. The Hall of Fame was founded in nineteen ninety five and now includes more that seventy five graduate inductees , including cartoonist Bob Montana, film star Adam Sandler, Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly, Dartmouth College hoop standout Cindy Vaios and, if I’m not mistaken, Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
A graduation controversy has Merrimack High School’s class of two thousand fifteen ready to chuck their tomahawks at school administrators. Seems they’d like to see their classmate Tim Morin walk with his class. According to a petition drive that’s been launched by fellow students to pressure administrators into letting him walk, Tim is Autistic and for personal reasons, won’t receive a diploma this year. According to the petition, he took the G E D pretest and received a phenomenal score. Merrimack High’s graduation is this Saturday.
Thomas: Launches petition
In the petition, they write quote “Being Autistic is already a reason to not feel normal and not being able to walk with those who you have been with for the past 12 years just adds unnecessary struggle. Sign this petition to let Tim walk at graduation and celebrate this time.” Michaela Thomas started the petition just sixteen hours ago and it’s already received nearly fifteen hundred signatures. We’ve linked to it so you can check it out.
Republican muckety mucks aren’t happy with either Fox News or the Republican National Committee over a decision to limit participation in a debate planned for August to the so called top ten candidates in the burgeoning Republican field. In an open letter to both organizations, the signatories wrote quote
NH GOP objecting to “national” candidate criteria
“Historically, it has been the responsibility of early primary and caucus states to closely examine and winnow the field of candidates, and it is not in the electorate’s interest to have TV debate criteria supplant this solemn duty. To do so would undermine the very nature of our process and the valuable service that states like New Hampshire provide to voters across the country.” They went on to say quote “denying candidates an opportunity to showcase their talents and experience in the first televised debate would artificially distort the political process, stifle democracy and competition, and induce voters to consider only those candidates pre-selected by virtue of their name ID rather than their potential as candidates.”
They suggested dividing the debate into two back to back panels either on the same night or consecutive nights, mixing up the field so it splits the top six candidates in public polls and sprinkles in the others so that all get a fair opportunity to present themselves. They also noted how inaccurate polls as the early stages of any campaign are. Dozens of high octane Republicans in the state signed the letter.
Gatsas: Out of negotiations
It looks like Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas has said “no-mas” as the leader of city’s negotiations with its labor unions. Gatsas notified Alderman at-Large Dan O’Neil, Chair of the Board of Alderman and Lord Emperor that he was going to release his role as the city’s negotiator, a role the board asked him to accept a few short months ago. The decision came after the board failed to support the tentative agreement he’d entered into with unions representing the city’s police department. In the letter, Gatsas recommended O’Neil form a committee and appoint three aldermen to the task, as was done on the city’s school board.
