Mara: Swearing in new officers, recognizing the good works of others
Manchester school administrators and emergency personnel will formally review every aspect of last week’s lock-down at West High School. They will discuss the facts of the incident, assess which procedures went well and identify what didn’t go as planned. The analysis also will include ways to improve safety protocol and prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. And, when this gets done must be some sort of secret because the school district’s press release didn’t say when it would be done. At a press conference last week, Manchester Police Chief David J. Mara said he hoped an incident debriefing would take place yesterday, though he indicated there were a number of unknown variables that would affect when it took place.
Livingston: Bonding request given preliminarhy approval
Debriefing after an emergency is routine practice so that everyone involved can evaluate current emergency plans and procedures to improve safety. The school district’s statement also said that Superintendent Debra Livingston will meet with the school board in a non-public session to brief them on the results of the evaluation. Frankly, while we don’t question their right under the Right to Know Law to have discussions about school security in non-public session, we do question the wisdom of their apparent position against issuing a public report. We’ll have more on this during the show.
Valley Street Cemetery: Fence to be painted
The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce will host “Leadership in Action,” a day of community service where alumni of the Leadership Greater Manchester program will set out to finish painting the two hundred fifty remaining panels of the Valley Street Cemetery fence. The community event will be held on Friday, October third from nine to four on the Willow Street side of the Valley Street Cemetery. Mayor Ted Gatsas, among others, will address the volunteers during a formal program will be held at noon. The Valley Street Cemetery is one of Manchester’s oldest burial grounds and was created as a “garden” cemetery, a popular design during that time. It includes walkways, carriage paths and bridges over the stream that invited residents to stroll the grounds. The burial grounds host some of the city’s prominent leaders, politicians, ministers, engineers, musicians, mayors, two New Hampshire governors, approximately sixty Civil War soldiers, a few veterans of the Revolutionary War and at least one soldier from the French and Indian Wars. Members of Manchester’s first families, including Starks, Straws, Blodgets, Beans, Buntons, and Harringtons are interred there.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Shea Porter: AWOL
To underscore that Democratic Congresswoman Carol Shea Porter hasn’t held a single Town Hall meeting in the past two years, G O P challenger Frank Guinta announced a tour of Kitchen Table Talks in the First Congressional District. A statement released by the Guinta campaign said the Kitchen Table Talks will not only afford them opportunity to hear directly from Granite Staters, but will also provide a stark contrast with how Congresswoman Shea-Porter represents the district. In the statement, Guinta said quote “As a Member of Congress I held 20 town halls, 6 job fairs, 3 manufacturing summits and an Empower, Educate, Engage Women’s Conference. I worked across the aisle to protect our fishermen, Great Bay communities, veterans and more. Simply put, Granite Staters have no voice in Congresswoman Shea-Porter. We will continue to identify problems, seek input, and lay out solutions. These ‘Kitchen Table Talks’ will provide an opportunity on top of our regularly scheduled events to dive deeply into these important topics.” The first Talk will be held this Wednesday October 1 in Merrimack, with events in Rochester, Wakefield, Eaton and Londonderry to follow on subsequent dates. If you are interested in hosting a “Kitchen Table Talk,” please contact jay at teamguinta dot com.
Blood Drive in Merrimack
Help save a life! The date is fast approaching for the American Red Cross Blood Drive hosted by The Merrimack Parks and Recreation Department, located in the Function Hall at Wasserman Park, on Thursday, October 2nd from two to seven. The American Red Cross is facing a shortage that has led to an “urgent need” for blood donors of all types. Please consider donating an hour of your time to give a pint of blood and help to save three lives. You will be someone’s hero! All donors at this drive will receive a Parks and Recreation Water Bottle as a thank you gift for donating. All presenting donors in October will have a chance to win a Five Thousand Dollar VISA card, courtesy of Suburban Propane!
Fire trucks to Parade
The Manchester Police Department is asking motorists to avoid passing through Downtown Manchester starting this Thursday. They’ve published a list of events coming to the downtown from October second through the fifth, and are particularly interested in passers through avoiding the downtown on the fifth. Among the events that will be drawing folks downtown are the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus which opens this Thursday and runs through Sunday with shows Thursday and Friday nights plus three shows on Saturday and two on Sunday. On Sunday, the city will host the Foot Race for the Fallen, YMCA Block Party, the A L S Walk a Thon and the Fire Prevention Parade. We’ve posted the department’s statement, which lists all the event times and any associated street closures and linked to it from this newscast at Girard at Large dot com.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is next!
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/170022209″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
