On Air News Read for June 17, 2016

Granite Hammer passes

The New Hampshire General Court swung the Granite Hammer yesterday.  Legislators were called back into session to take up expansion of the Granite Hammer pilot program that netted ninety four arrests and more than twenty five thousand doses of heroin from the streets of Manchester in eight sweeps, during which state and local police cooperated.  H B 1 0 0 0, which provided one point five million dollars to continue funding for the sweeps and to help the state crime lab get caught up on the months long backlog of crime scene evidence that needs to be processed to put the bad guys in jail, cleared the House on a vote of two hundred thirty five to seventy four and passed the Senate on a unanimous vote of twenty two to nothing.  The bill was sponsored by the majority and minority leaders of both chambers.

Manchester reps voting against the bill, include:  Elizabeth Edwards from Ward Four, Amanda Bouldin from Ward Five, Mark McLean from Ward Eight, Victoria Sullivan from Ward Nine, Tammy Simmons from Ward Ten and Dick Marston from Ward Twelve.  Ward Eight State Rep and Alderman Tom Katsiantonis was listed as “not voting.”

Sullivan: It won’t save lives

Reps from our listening area that voted against the measure include:  James Spillane from Deerfield, Brian Seaworth from Pembroke, Dick Marple from Hooksett, Josh Moore and Jeanine Notter from Merrimack, Keith Murphy from Bedford, John Burt and Nick Zaricki from Goffstown, Neal Kurk from Weare, JR Hoell from Dunbarton, Keith Ammon from New Boston, Al Baldasaro from Londonderry, Carolyn Halstead and Bill Goulette from Milford, Lawrence Kappler from Raymond, state senate candidates Joe Duarte from Candia and Ralph Boehm from Litchfield and gubernatorial candidate Frank Edelblut from Wilton.

We’ve linked to the roll call of the vote so you can take a look.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Sullivan said she voted against the bill after several amendments, including one she offered, that would have aided addicts seeking help failed.  Quote

“For those of us who believe we cannot arrest our way out of it, this is a serious loss…This will do nothing to save lives or help addicts.”

House fails to override several

In other business before the General Court, the House failed to override several vetoes, including bills that would enable people to conceal carry without a permit, impose penalties for the illegal confiscation of firearms during an emergency, like in New Orleans, the so called Croyden Bill, which would allow towns that tuition their kids to other communities to tuition them to private schools, legalize firecrackers, and change the definition of cigars and the administration of the Tobacco Tax.

Cataldo: Unloads on Hassan

State Senator Sam Caltaldo, Republican from Farmington, who sponsored S B 3 3 6, spoke out against Governor Margaret Wood Hassan’s veto of the bill, saying it simply updated the definition of eligibility for a concealed carry license to do away with the discrimination intended by the law.  Quote:

“The original language of the law passed in 1923 was targeted to legally discriminate against ethnic minorities.  With her reckless veto, she has left outdated language in statute that was originally designed to discriminate against Italians, Irish, French Canadians and Polish and still today can be used to discriminate against an applicant on the basis of race, national origin, gender, or sexual preferences… Making sure all Granite Stater’s constitutional rights are protected is the fundamental job of all legislators and I look forward to seeing this statue updated to reflect the need for this common sense change in the future.”

News from our own backyard continues after this.

Guinta: Votes for Defense Act

The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, passed in U. S. House of Representatives yesterday with a vote of two-hundred and eighty-two to one hundred and thirty-eight.  First District Congressman Frank Guinta, Republican from Manchester, said the act prevents another round of base realignments and closures that could impact the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.  Guinta said the shipyard is quote

“a major job and economic engine.  These jobs are high-skilled, high-tech, good-paying ones.  Granite Staters create advanced vessels that defend our shores and project American power at sea, where threats are on the rise.  But our ability to meet them has declined drastically.”

MSD: Input for new superintendent sought

The Manchester School Board is seeking input from the public concerning the hiring of a new superintendent.  H Y A Associates, the firm hired to by the school board to conduct the search is hosting three open forums next week in the district’s headquarters at 195 McGregor Street on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday at six thirty.  The meetings are in addition to focus groups that will be held with parent groups, employee unions, public safety and health officials and businesses.  They’ve also launched an on line survey, which opens today and closes on the twenty seventh at e c r a survey dot com slash Manchester to solicit feedback.  We’ve linked to the survey from this news read at Girard at Large dot com.

That’s news from our own backyard!  Girard at Large hour ___ is next

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