Guinta: Addresses Manchester Police
Congressman-Elect Frank Guinta spent time with the Manchester Police Department yesterday, addressing the officers at roll call. While the contents of his address were not released by his office, his office released the following statement: “As a former mayor and long-time citizen of Manchester, I know firsthand the outstanding commitment and compassion our law enforcement exhibit daily in protecting our communities. For this we are eternally grateful. I look forward to continuing and strengthening our partnership so that our law enforcement agencies have the necessary tools and resources to promote public safety and increase the quality throughout our state.” Guinta was mayor when Officer Michael Briggs was killed on the job and appointed then Captain David Mara to be Chief of the department. Guinta worked aggressively with Mara to change how the city fought crime, taking trips to New York City to learn about their data driven efforts to fight crime.
G-Town High: Gets AP Honor Roll Award
The Goffstown School District announced that Goffstown High School was named to the Fifth Annual A P District Honor Roll by the College Board. Goffstown High School is one of six schools in New Hampshire and only five hundred forty seven across the United States and Canada to receive this recognition. The A P District Honor Roll is based on three years of AP data, from two thousand twelve to two thousand fourteen. The number of Goffstown High students taking A P courses went up by a whopping thirty six percent over the three year period. Though the percentage of students passing the A p tests fell from eighty two to seventy seven and a half percent, the district was well above the seventy percent passing benchmark required to obtain the Honor Roll designation. Goffstown High School Principal Frank McBride thanked Guidance Counselor Marian Akey and the Advanced Placement teaching team for their efforts to boost student participation in the advanced courses.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Green: Waiting for answers
Timberlane Budget Committee Member Arthur Green is looking for answers to questions he posed weeks ago, but has yet to receive. In an email to Budget Committee Chairman Jason Grosky, whose wife Gretchen magically received an un-budgeted eighteen thousand dollar contract for Public Relations services, Green wrote quote “At the Dec. 11 Budget Committee meeting, members were invited to submit questions for response in time for the Dec. 23 committee deliberation, with a deadline for submission of Dec. 14 at 7 p m. Please explain in writing why none of the questions I submitted…were answered. Specifically:
- Were my questions forwarded to the administration?
- Did the administration acknowledge the questions and provide a reason for declining to answer?
- Since we agreed as a committee that you would be the point of contact for these questions, did you take any steps to protect my rights as a member to get a response to these questions?
- If there was no intention to answer my questions, why was I not informed of this in advance so that I could offer reasons for needing the information in before the final committee meeting?” End Quote.
Grosky: Answers not forthcoming
In requesting answers, Green concluded: “This matter concerns not only my individual role as a committee member, but also the Sandown residents whose representation on the committee is being thwarted by denial of information.” We’ve linked to the entire exchange so you can see, once again, the extent to which Timberlane officials avoid answering questions and providing public information.
John Lyscars
Hooksett School Board Chair Joanne McHugh has replied to the request of board member John Lyscars to hold a special joint meeting of the Manchester and Hooksett school board’s to hold a joint meeting to discuss and adopt a long term tuition contract he proposed, modeled on the contract proposed with Pinkerton Academy. Lyscars modified the contract to reflect the city’s willingness to have no minimum student requirement and desire to charge a ten percent premium over actual tuition costs and asked that a meeting be held in the hopes of sending an approved contract to public hearing, along with the Pinkerton proposal, on January sixth. McHugh replied that the board could take Lyscars’ request up at that meeting on the sixth. You can imagine that didn’t go over well with Lyscars, who also took flack from Board Clerk Todd Lizotte for suggesting the special meeting be held. And so, it continues.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ with guest host Lori Green is next!
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