Hickey: More stats
The pace of the opioid crisis seems to have slowed a bit. On Friday, just shy of halfway through the month, Manchester Fire Department Emergency Services Officer Christopher Hickey released stats showing there’d been thirty two overdoses and one death thus far. That compares with eighty one overdoses and eight deaths for the month of July last year. If the current trend holds, it would reflect a significant improvement over last July.
Safe Station: Continues to grow
Meanwhile, the number of Safe Station visits continues to rise, with more than two dozen having taken place just in the last week, bringing the total to nineteen hundred thirty six since the program was launched on May fourth of 2 0 1 6. A total of one thousand three hundred fifty four people have gone to a Manchester fire station seeking help with their addiction. Of that number, three hundred twenty seven have made more than one trip. Only about one third of those who’ve made the trip are Manchester residents.
Scratching an itch…
Operation Poison Ivy. That’s what the Manchester Police Department named a sting operation designed to rid the neighborhood around Enright Park in the center city of prostitution. The department said members of the Community Policing, Patrol and Special Enforcement divisions made ten arrests Thursday night, including six women who propositioned male officers who pulled over posing as johns and four men who pulled over to chat with female officers posing as prostitutes. Poison Ivy started to itch at four o’clock and the scratching didn’t stop until just after Midnight on Friday morning.
Bourke: The Running Man
Speaking of M P D, they had an arrest on Friday that sounded like it came out of a movie script. Coty Bourke, a drug court participant who was wanted for violation of his probation terms, was spotted at about four thirty in the afternoon near Catholic Medical Center. When Officer Fleming approached Bourke to place him under arrest, Bourke took off, running toward Two Ninety Three, which he ran across, before jumping off the highway onto the riverbank.
Fleming followed him down the riverbank before losing him. Several officers responded, set up a perimeter and began a search. Ultimately, at about twenty minutes to six, Officer Cataldo, his K9 partner Lord and Officer McKennedy located Bourke hiding in the thick brush along the riverbank. Bourke was taken into custody and charged with Resisting Detention, Reckless Conduct and Violation of Probation.
Sununu: Applauds his appointee
Governor Christopher Sununu has lent his support to Attorney General Gordon MacDonald’s criminal investigation into whether or not officials at St. Paul’s School in Concord have endangered the welfare of children. MacDonald announced the probe last week, citing the school’s recently released report documenting thirteen incidents of inappropriate sexual conduct between teachers and students at the school, the high profile case of Owen Labrie, which drew attention to predatory games of sexual conquest among students, and another recently reported sexual assault between two students. In a statement issued Friday, Sununu said, quote:
St. Pauls: Scrutiny intensifies
“Nothing is more important than the safety, security, and wellbeing of our children, and I am encouraged by the Attorney General’s actions to investigate the alleged abuse at Saint Paul’s School. Sexual assault will not be tolerated in New Hampshire, and I commend the Attorney General’s office for taking aggressive action to fully investigate this matter.”
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Supervisors of the Checklist to meet
The Supervisors of the Checklist in Hooksett announced they will meet tonight in the Council Chambers at Town Hall to finalize voter registration lists prior to the July 2 5th special election for senate in District 16, which includes the towns of Hooksett, Dunbarton, Candia and Bow along with Manchester wards One, Two and Twelve. This is a public meeting required by the law that says quote:
“Supervisors shall be in session for the correction of the checklist which shall be 6 to 13 days prior to the election and upon which all hearings shall be finally closed. “
According to the statute, the supervisors, quote:
“must hold session for the correction of the checklist for no less than 30 minutes and at the discretion of the supervisors for additional hours.”
We suspect the other communities involved have made similar announcements, so check their Web sites.
Georges: Running again
While we’re on the topic of elections, candidates continue to file for office in Manchester…Kind of! On Friday:
- Ward Three School Committee Member Mary Georges filed for reelection.
- Thomas E. McGee, of Alpine Street, filed for school board in Ward Ten.
With those filings, so far, there will be primary contests for alderman in wards Two, Four, Eight, Nine, Eleven and Twelve. The victors of those races will move onto the general election in November, which will also see contested races for alderman, based ONLY on last week’s filing, in wards Three, Seven, and Ten. For Board of School Committee, at the moment, there are contested races in November in wards Two, Three, Four, and Ten.
Where oh where have the candidates gone?
The filing period ends this Friday. Some expect a busy week given the number of races in which there either is no contest or, interestingly, no candidate. The filing period for ward offices, including moderator, clerk and selectman, is also open through close of business on Friday. We’ll keep you up to date.
That’s NEWS from our own backyard! Girard at Large hour ___ is next!
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