Sununu: More action needed
G O P gubernatorial candidate Chris Sununu is calling for action on the state’s opioid epidemic. In a release issued yesterday, Sununu reiterated his call for more aggressive drug education programs in school, starting in the fifth grade, the creation of workforce pathways to help those in recovery find jobs, reducing prescription fraud and abuse, ensuring pharmaceutical companies and doctors are advising patients of the risks posed by opioid narcotics, expanding access to treatment by reforming the regulations that stand in the way of opening new recovery centers, increasing resources for local and state law enforcement through programs like Granite Hammer, increasing penalties for drug traffickers and dealers, banning the synthetic opioid Pink, and reforming the Good Samaritan Laws which, though well intended, said Sununu, have created a loophole for drug dealers to slip by the law. We’ve linked to the details of his program from this news read at Girard at Large dot com.
Van Ostern: On the Dartmouth Hitchcock dole
Sununu also issued a statement yesterday calling on Democratic rival Colin Van Ostern to return more than fifty thousand dollars in campaign contributions from Dartmouth-Hitchcock and employees of its affiliates. Emails obtained by a Right to Know request showed that Dartmouth officials colluded with state officials to develop a Request for Proposals to manage New Hampshire Hospital, the state’s mental health facility. Dartmouth Hitchcock ended up being the only bidder for the thirty seven million dollar contract, which critics say was so rigged in its favor it was the only one who could bid. Said Sununu quote:
Colin Van Ostern has answered the question as to why he has been unwilling to re-bid this flawed contract, having accepted more than $50,000 in campaign contributions from Dartmouth-Hitchcock and its affiliates’ employees…Sadly, this has become New Hampshire’s own version of pay to play…Mismanagement on the part of the administration has turned into mistrust and potentially malfeasance…I call on Colin Van Ostern to either return the money to Dartmouth-Hitchcock-related employees, or demand that the contact immediately be re-bid.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Timberlane Taxes: No end in sight
The state has released the final calculation of the amount which the towns must gather in property tax to pay for the Timberlane Regional School District. The final numbers are bound to raise eyebrows as the Timberlane tax rate will go up in Atkinson by six point seven percent, Danville by four point one percent, Plaistow by three point five percent and Sandown by a whopping nine point one percent.
According to an article published by former Timberlane Budget Committee Member Arthur Green, the district as a whole is demanding five point eight percent more from the property tax payers districtwide, despite a further drop in enrollment. Last year, district had three thousand six hundred seventy three students. This year it has three thousand five hundred eight one. Green says it’s the ninth consecutive year of declining enrollment which started in the two thousand seven-eight school year when enrollment was four thousand six hundred fifty three.
Green: Spending is out of control
Said Green, quote:
Taxes are going up because Timberlane School District spends too much. The school district spends too much because it is grossly overstaffed, and is protecting its level of staffing at all costs to the taxpayer, despite steeply declining enrollment. Other similar school districts are producing better results with far fewer staff.”
Green used the occasion to fault Sandown selectmen Tom Tombarello, Jonathan Goldman and Terry Trainor for their vote to discontinue the withdrawal feasibility study which was looking into Sandown’s departure from the Timberlane Regional School District, an option Green said had the potential to deliver superior education for a permanent taxpayer saving of one million dollars per year. Green said Tombarello, Goldman and Trainor are quote “fighting tooth and nail to protect the district from having to respect the taxpayers of the town and the school district.”
Dentist offers candy buy back
This Halloween, Tri-Town Family Dental wants to help you earn cash for your candy and support our troops. They’re offering to pay a buck a pound for Trick-or-Treaters’ candy, up to ten pounds per family. Unopened candy will be collected Monday, November 7th through Monday November 14th, during regular office hours and will be shipped to U.S. military personnel deployed in combat overseas as part of Operation Gratitude. Tri-Town Dental says that global sugar consumption for children increases by about 2 percent annually and currently sits at fifty million tons per year, which means parents need to be sure their children’s teeth are being cared for now more than ever. Candy, they warn, not only hurts children’s teeth, it can lead to hyperactivity and weight gain. Tri-Town Dental is located at 50 Pinewood Road in Allenstown.
That’s news from our own backyard! Girard at Large hour ___ is next.
