Tripaldi: Ran away Monday morning
MISSING: Shaunna Tripaldi of Franklin was last seen yesterday morning around 11:30 at “Y D C” in Manchester. She and another detainee reportedly fled the facility’s grounds. Shaunna is five foot three, approximately one hundred fifteen pounds. She has shoulder length, dyed red hair with orange highlights, fair skin and blue eyes. She is believed to have been wearing khaki pants, white sneakers and a brown sweatshirt. Anyone with any information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Manchester Police Department at 6 6 8 8 7 1 1 or her mother Donna Wasil at 4 5 5 0 9 9 1. Our thanks to the loyal listener who brought this to our attention on Facebook last night and to Shaunna’s very worried mother for providing us with the necessary details in response to our follow up call. We’ve posted a picture she forwarded with this news read at Girard at Large dot com. NOTE: The correct police agency to call is the NH State Police 271-1162.
Vote today!
It’s Election and Town Meeting Day in most of the towns in our listening area and several items of consequence will be decided by voters. Among the most hotly contested is a Citizens’ Petition Warrant Article in Sandown which, if passed, will direct the Timberlane Regional School District to again study the feasibility of Sandown leaving the district. Residents unhappy with how both the district and the town handled the study last year, including 2 current selectmen, 3 current Budget Committee members, 2 current state reps., 1 current school board member, 3 former school board members, 1 former chief of police, 2 former chairmen of the Board of Selectmen, 1 former Timberlane School Board Chairman and 1 former chairman of the planning board, signed petitions to put the question back on the ballot.
Green: Blasts robo-call, dirty tricks
Those opposed to the question hit a new low yesterday as a robo-call from Michelle Livingston, a member of Citizens Against Withdrawal, told Sandown voters that a “yes vote” on the withdrawal article would legally obligate Sandown to form its own school district. Quote: “That is absolutely false,” said school board member Donna Green in a blog post she wrote in response. Quote:
“A ‘Yes’ vote sends a withdrawal plan to the NH Board of Education. If the BOE approves the plan, then and only then, will the plan go to the district for a school district-wide vote. IF that vote approves Sandown’s withdrawal, then Sandown can form its own school district.”
The New Hampshire House Public Works committee voted on an amendment last Wednesday that would have stripped funding for a commuter rail study from the Ten Year Highway Plan. The amendment to H B 2016 failed on a 10 to 10 tie, leaving the funding in the plan. Representatives Erin Hennessey, Republican from Littleton, and David Milz, Republican from Derry, were concerned that the ten year plan included four million dollars to further study the commuter rail in New Hampshire.
Milz: Good money after bad
In a statement, Milz said quote:
“It’s clear that the commuter rail funding issue didn’t win, and rather as a result of a tie vote, was left in the bill. A solid half of the Public Works committee disagreed with the concept of including this money in the highway plan…At this time commuter rail seems to be a money pit, and I’m not interested in exposing taxpayers to anymore wasteful spending on this issue.”
Hennessy: Rail spending is “irresponsible.”
Hennessey expressed similar concerns saying quote,
“We’ve heard a multitude of stories from other states that there is zero return on investment in commuter rail, and we’re not interested in throwing more money at a project that requires a perpetual subsidy to operate. Commuter rail is a gamble New Hampshire cannot afford. Anyone who reads Massachusetts news is fully aware of the costs and debacles of the MBTA, and asking our taxpayers to fund a program that partners with them, or expands their model into New Hampshire is just not responsible.”
Despite the failure of the amendment, the committee voted 18 to 2 to recommend passage of the bill, which will be before the full House during the session days tomorrow and Thursday.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Livingston: Didn’t know she had to answer questions?
The Manchester School Board’s Curriculum and Instruction Committee held a special meeting last night to allow the public to comment on the district’s proposed Curriculum Management Plan. In addition, the meeting was intended for the public to be able to ask questions of the administration about the plan. However, it didn’t seem the administration understood that as Superintendent Debra Livingston was somehow under the impression that officials would simply consider comments and answer them at a later date. She said she didn’t expect there would be questions and answers after being questioned by the night’s first and only speaker.
Benard: Did her homework
As the testimony from the one member of the public who spoke continued, Livingston and Assistant Superintendent David Ryan did end up answering some of the questions posed. While there were several people in attendance, Patrice Benard of Ward Eight was the only resident to speak the forum. She was mainly concerned with the wording of the document, which she referred to as “edu-speak,” and with the inclusion of national and state guidelines. She said it was quote “clear that parent input hadn’t been sought in the document’s creation.” Many of her questions were asked to understand what something meant or gain details as to what or why the district would use certain information to evaluate the effectiveness of curriculum. Many of her comments objected to the rigid imposition of standards that would not allow teachers the flexibility needed to work with the kids in their classrooms.
Porter: What about the parents?
Comments from two other members of the public were also addressed by the committee. Debora Olszta of Ward Nine sent an email explaining her grievances. Similar to Benard, Olszta disagreed with most of the document’s wording and wanted the entire section that discussed the parents’ responsibilities deleted. Ward Five Committee Member Lisa Freeman read a communication she’d received from Ward Eight resident Michael Porter who noted that the word “parent” was used only twice in the twenty one page document, which he said needed to open lines of communication with parents.
Friese: Fast fingers captures meeting details!
Thanks to our very own Melanie Friese, you can you can find all of the comments and questions raised and the answers given in the Live Blog Forum under Oh My BLOG! at Girard at Large dot com. We’ve linked to it from this news read for your convenience.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is next.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/250836063″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
