The Manchester School Board met last night in what proved to be a mercifully short, but not uneventful meeting. After a presentation from the Manchester Community College, Superintendent Debra Livingston presented information to board members regarding the city’s school lunch program. She said it’s not possible for children on the free lunch program to just get milk if that’s all they want because federal guidelines require them to take three of five food offerings. Board members have complained about all the food that’s thrown away under the program and now they know why. The feds make them take food they don’t want just to get milk. Mayor Ted Gatsas asked Livingston to get her explanation of how things happen in writing from the feds so he and or the district could pursue the issue further. Also on the agenda was the so called grab and go breakfast program at the elementary schools. It’s a new system of feeding kids on the free breakfast program necessitated by the change in the school calendar. Ward 9 School Committeeman Arthur Beaudry has complained about kids not having time to eat as a result of the change in the school day, a change Gatsas reminded him and the rest of the board voted for over his objections. Livingston said the kids do have a chance to eat and if time runs short they’re allowed to finish or take their breakfast to class. Assistant Superintendent David Ryan gave an update on the development of The Manchester Academic Standards. Sixty teachers will be working to develop what he called Anchor Standards and benchmarks from pre K through twelfth grade. Principals have been asked to recommend members of their staff with experience in developing standards and the willingness to participate. A session with a facilitator and the sixty teachers is scheduled for December seventeenth and eighteenth. We’ll get those details. Citing an appearance by a board member on a Manchester Public Television show, Gatsas faulted characterizations by a board member to accurately portray the districts efforts to develop its own standards as little more than a way to repackage Common Core . At-Large member Kathy Staub, who Gatsas didn’t name, defended her appearance on that T V show. Gatsas didn’t let her off the hook, though, correctly restating what she said about Common Core remaining in the district. We’ll have more on this during the show.
The shooter involved in Sunday afternoon’s shooting is in custody. Twenty one year old David Hans Hoffens of three thirty one Lake Ave., the address at which the shooting took place, was arrested yesterday. Both shooting victims, twenty two year old Edgar Hoffens, his brother, and twenty year old Charles Cable died from their wounds. Cable was taken from the scene and later died at the Elliot Hospital. Hoffens has yet to be charged in the case as the police have yet to conclude their investigation into what happened.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Looks like Hooksett School Board members John Lyscars and David Pearl have won at least one battle against Board Chair Trisha Korkosz. The agenda for tonight’s special meeting will be the agenda they set when they called the special meeting. We’ll see just how much fun that meeting is as the agenda includes a discussion of the illegal meeting after the last meeting during which Superintendent Charles Littlefield threatened to rip the effing esophagus out of resident Jason Hyde. In an interview on Girard at Large yesterday, Pearl said he expected the meeting would be adjourned before the matter would be taken up even if it was on the agenda since that’s the way things seem to roll out there. We’ll find out tonight. Meanwhile, about two hundred people attended the high school informational session last night where details of the Memorandums of Understanding were discussed with the public. Despite having received additional information from Pinkerton Academy about a tuition contract, that information was withheld pending a review of it at tonight’s non meeting meeting with the lawyer.
Speaking of Hooksett, their police department recently shut down a residential hooker operation. Forty nine year old Darlene Gladstone was arrested after an undercover cop was offered sex in exchange for money. Here’s the thing. It was done at her 10 Harmony Lane home. Neighbors had been complaining to police about the frequent traffic to Gladstone’s home and so a lengthy investigation was launched to determine just why so many men were coming and going from the house. Well, now they know and H P D wants folks to know that residentially based or not, hookers aren’t welcomed in Hooksett. We’ve posted their press release, which includes Gladstone’s photo with this newscast at Girard at Large dot com.
There is a fun event upcoming in the evening of Saturday, December 14th at Milly’s Tavern at 500 Commercial Street in Manchester to help raise money for the Adam Curtis Skate Park renovation project. The event is being hosted by students from Southern New Hampshire University who have adopted this project for the past 2 years. SNHU and Milly’s Tavern Owner, Peter Telge, are generously taking care of most everything including devoting the entire restaurant on the evening of December 14th to this event. No cover charge, just a contribution. The public is invited to attend.
In reference to the town of Hooksett’s alleged “House of Ill Fame on Harmony Lane”, perhaps a certain Manchester Alderman will find himself kicked out of office due to misconduct and will unexpectedly have a lot more free time to practice law. If he could lend the accused madam a helping hand, I’m quite sure it would make for a happy ending.