Not a postal delivery in Hooksett
A scary incident in Hooksett yesterday warrants our attention. The Hooksett Police Department is warning residents to carefully check their mailboxes and immediately contact them in the event that something other than mail is inside. Prompting the warning is a call they responded to yesterday at fifteen Ridgeview Drive about a suspicious device. The caller reported finding what was believed to be a plastic bottle type bomb in his mailbox. According to Lieutenant Michael Labrecque, officers Aku and Mueller were able to confirm the device was a possible explosive and shut down a portion of Ridgeview Drive to all traffic. The New Hampshire State Police Bomb Unit was called to the scene and Trooper Dade confirmed the device was an acid or so called “soda bottle bomb.” The bomb unit blew up the explosive. The incident is under investigation. In addition to urging residents to call them if they find anything suspicious in their mailboxes, the Hooksett Police Department is asking anyone with information that may assist the investigation to contact Detective Brian Williams at 6 2 4 1 5 6 0 Ext 3 18.
Hassan: Playing hide and seek with bad budget numbers
Governess Margaret Wood Hassan has finally released budget performance numbers on the first year of the biennial budget. In releasing the numbers she heralded a nineteen million dollar surplus. The problem is that the budget required a twenty six million dollar surplus by the end of the first year to ensure there wouldn’t be a deficit at the end of the second. Hassan acknowledged the shortfall, blaming unspecified changes to tax laws in the last quarter of the fiscal year and, surprise, surprise, larger than expected case load growth in the state’s Medicaid program. Hm, didn’t Bedford Senator Andy Sanborn tell us that happened as a result of the expansion of the Medicaid? Anyway, Senate Finance Chairman Jeanie Forrester, Republican from Meredith, said she was very troubled by the numbers and that the shortfall quote “raises serious concerns about her commitment and ability to control spending in Fiscal Year 2015. I hope the Governor will be more forthcoming about sharing spending levels on a monthly basis, which I have repeatedly requested, to ensure the State only spends what it can afford to avoid further deficit spending.” G O P Gubernatorial candidate Walt Havenstein, who will be our guest on Friday morning, issued a statement saying monthly spending updates were needed to take corrective action if the current fiscal year has a deficit. Quote “It is obvious that Maggie Hassan is not showing the kind of fiscal discipline and leadership required to manage state government. Her record of increasing taxes and spending have failed to set New Hampshire on the right course; it’s time for new Leadership.”
Planned parenthood: Big bucks to Hassan
Oh, after issuing her statement, Hassan went on to accept the endorsement of Planned Parenthood in her reelection bid. Radical pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and Emily’s List have contributed nearly a hundred thousand dollars to her campaign war chest. Maybe Maggie can get them to kick in some cash to help her with the budget.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Shaheen: Ducking more debates
Three strikes usually means your out. But not in this case as invisible Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Health Care Queen, has now spiked three formal debates with G O P rival Scott Brown. The most recent is something of a mainstay on the political scene and that is the one hosted by the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, which this year was to be co-hosted by their compatriots at the Nashua Chamber. The Shaheen camp, which has held exactly zero campaign events open to the general public, says the three televised debates to which they’ve agreed, plus the one in the Mt. Washington Valley are enough. They’ve agreed to a forum where each candidate would address the chambers separately. Brown’s camp has said it prefers the face to face debate and has yet to accept the forum format. Brown’s folks, who weren’t exactly lighting up the debate circuit in the primary, were obviously critical of the announcement. N H G O P Chairman Jennifer Horn lit Shaheen up saying Shaheen’s ditched the debates because quote “she is unable to defend her record of voting with President Obama 99% of the time. At a time when Senator Shaheen is on a phony ‘jobs tour,’ it is outrageous that she would try to skip a debate about jobs with two of New Hampshire’s largest and most respected chambers of commerce,” Horn continued, “Senator Shaheen has avoided town hall meetings in New Hampshire, skipped critical committee hearings about national security in Washington, and now she is trying to duck debates. Her disgraceful behavior reminds Granite Staters that Washington has changed Jeanne Shaheen, and it’s time to change Senators in November.”
Stotsky: Coming to Mont Vernon
Folks wanting to learn more about the Common Core national standards will have an opportunity next week. The Mont Vernon Republican Committee is hosting Dr. Sandra Stotsky for an evening forum the Mont Vernon Village School on Tuesday October seventh. The event will begin at seven o’clock. Party Chairman Wesley Sonner said this is a non-partisan event and is open to all! They’re hoping for a strong turnout. Having interviewed Stotsky on a number of occasions, it’ll be a great opportunity for folks to learn more and get their questions answered. Stotsky was the content expert hired by Common Core to validate standards for English, which she refused to do because of their inferior quality. After engineering the standards brought Massachusetts from mediocre to among the best on the planet, she ought to know.
Hassan: Taking piles of cash from your pocket says NH GOP
Finally this morning, the New Hampshire Republican State Committee has launched a new Web site. It’s taxin hassan dot com and is, they say, a website dedicated to chronicling Governor Maggie Hassan’s failed fiscal leadership and support for reckless tax increases and spending.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ starts right now.
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