Gumming up the works
Mischievous things may be afoot under the Golden Dome. (That’s the State House for those of you in…) The New Hampshire Municipal Association is trying to derail H B 1 7 8, “AN ACT establishing a commission to study processes to resolve right-to-know complaints.” Seems they’re not happy that the bill doesn’t enable them to appoint members to the proposed committee. As written, the bill creates a committee whose membership includes a member of the House appointed by the speaker; a member of the Senate, appointed by the president; the attorney general or his designee; a member from local government, appointed by the governor; a member who shall have brought suit “pro se” under the Right to Know Law, appointed by the governor; a member from the N H Press Association, Right to Know N H, and the N H Civil Liberties Union, each appointed by their organization; and a random citizen appointed by the governor.
Chirichiello: Bill would study costs
Our sources say the Municipal Association is lobbying hard to gain seats at the table, appointed by themselves, and also to combine the bill with H B 1 8 3, “AN ACT establishing a commission to study costs of requests for information under the right-to-know law,” proposed by Derry Town Council Chairman and State Rep. Brian Chirichiello.
Advocates for H B 1 7 8 don’t want members from the Municipal Association added to the committee established in the bill saying they have a long history of advocacy against the Right to Know Law, often backing measures that impede a citizen’s right to get public information. They also question the association’s motives noting the its past advocacy for bills in favor of charging citizens an hourly rate in advance of providing requested public information and opposition to bills that would provide citizens with an alternate method of resolving Right to Know disputes without having to file lawsuits in superior court.
The Association says it should have a seat at the table because it represents cities and towns in the state. Its critics say it is a special interest lobbying group that uses the tax dollars paid by member communities in dues to lobby against the interests of the citizens that pay the taxes and want more accessible government.
Stay tuned, class. We shall discuss.
March for Life this weekend
Tomorrow, New Hampshire Right to Life will host its annual March for Life and related events to protest the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal throughout the land. Sixty million unborn children have had their lives extinguished since the Supreme Court issued the ruling in 1 9 7 3.
- At 9:00, a Memorial Service for the babies dumped at the Concord Landfill, Old Turnpike Rd, Concord will be held.
- At 10:00, Catholic Mass will be held at St. John the Evangelist Parish.
- At 11:15, they’ll rally on the State House steps.
- At 11:45, the actual March For Life will proceed from the rally, around the Concord Feminist “health” Center, then back to St. John the Evangelist where refreshments will be served in their Activity Center beginning at one. Keynote Speaker Jennifer Lahl, Founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, will address the crowd. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice.
Naile: The Guru is in
Also tomorrow, Ed Naile, Chairman of the Coalition of N H Taxpayers, will host an open house in their offices at 8 North Main St in Concord, starting at around 9:00 AM to informally answer questions about town meetings and other things that may be happening in your town or school district. The public is welcomed to come on by and to bring any documents pertaining to your issue. Ed is the fountain of ALL knowledge on local and state matters! He really is!
News from our own backyard continues after this.
The Manchester Police Department will host a FREE seminar in preparation for its upcoming police exam. The seminar will be held on Monday, February 27th from 6:00 to 9:00 p m at the Walker Auditorium in Robert Frost Hall at Southern New Hampshire University. They will be discussing the requirements for the test, the testing process and how to prepare for the upcoming exam.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Officer Carl Accorto at 7 9 2 5 4 5 2. Additional details of the event may be obtained by visiting manchester p d dot com. No registration is required.
Open house for an open house
The Manchester School of Technology is hosting an open house at 100 Stanton Street in the Queen City tomorrow from ten to Noon. They’ll be showcasing a house built by students in its Career and Technical Education program. Every year, students in the program build a house and put it on the open market for sale. Last year’s three bedroom, three bathroom home sold for three hundred twenty five thousand dollars!
Supervised by their instructors in the carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC trades, the students do nearly all of the work. You are invited to see this year’s building in progress. The walls inside have not yet been sheet-rocked, so visitors will have the opportunity to see the building’s bones, including the plumbing and electrical work. There are about two dozen homes on the street that have been built by students in the program over the years, so you can also see how they’ve held up over time.
MST: CTE students welcomed
Current high school sophomores from Manchester, Londonderry, Bedford and Goffstown interested in enrolling in the school’s two-year C T E Program to learn these and other trades are encouraged to attend this special open house, ask questions, and see what can be accomplished by students in one school year.
That’s NEWS from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is next!
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