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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 Deadlocked
on selectman
A
year later, Barney's better
Weare
administrator off to a good start
Hillsborough
County Fair begins the giant pumpkin season
Neighborhood
News wins seven awards at Better Newspaper Contest
Goffstown
Deadlocked on selectman
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
After narrowing their choices down to two
candidates, Goffstown selectmen deadlocked over the issue of
which one should fill the vacant seat on their board.
The seat was left open following the death of John Sarette in
August. The board has the right to choose a replacement to fill
the seat until the next March election. Using a process proposed
by Chairman Robert Wheeler, each member of the board proposed
one candidate.
After a lengthy, often contentious discussion and two secret
ballots at the Sept. 13 board meeting, the list of candidates
was narrowed to Gossett McRae and Henry Boyle. Further discussion
failed to yield a final selection, as the board split 2-2, behind
each candidate. The discussion will be brought up again at the
next meeting, on Monday, Sept. 27.
From the very beginning of the conversation, tension between
Wheeler and fellow board member Barbara Griffin was apparent.
The major bone of contention between the two board members appeared
to be Griffin's general opposition to the selection process format.
Griffin told her fellow board members several times that she
was frustrated with the process being used to select a new member.
"I've tried to talk about what the criteria (for choosing
a new member) are, a couple of times, but we haven't really gotten
anywhere," she said.
At the previous meeting, Wheeler proposed the board adopt the
nomination and ballot system to narrow the list down to two candidates
who would be interviewed before a final selection is made. Despite
this plan, board members agreed that of the final two candidates,
both are so well known, it would be pointless to interview either
one.
Griffin complained that it was "ludicrousness" to interview
Henry Boyle, who had served with all four board members, and
until six months ago, was the board's chairman.
Wheeler agreed.
"I can see absolutely no reason to interview Henry Boyle,"
Wheeler said. "We all know Hank well, and I have no idea
what we could ask him in an interview that we wouldn't already
know the answer."
Board members agreed the other candidate, Gossett McRae, was
also very well known to all four board members.
Stalemate
Although, all four selectmen agreed interviews were not necessary,
the group was evenly divided on who the board should choose to
fill the vacant seat.
Board member Phil D'Avanza introduced Boyle as a potential candidate,
and said he couldn't accept any other candidate.
"In my mind that's the only person I could support for this,"
D'Avanza said, adding that he would rather see the seat stay
vacant than be filled by anyone other than Boyle.
"You may call me stubborn-minded, but that's the way I feel,"
he said. "I'm not trying to slight anyone else. I like everyone
else. But to me, that's the only person I could see going through
this process."
Griffin originally nominated Vivian Blondeau, a budget committee
member and former selectman, but changed to support Boyle.
Wheeler, who originally proposed resident Fred Plett to fill
the seat, changed his vote as well, choosing to support Gossett
McRae.
McRae was originally proposed by board member Bruce Hunter, who
said McRae's background with the fire department makes him an
ideal person to help the board handle the issue of 24-hour, 7-day-a-week
fire coverage, which is expected to be decided on this fall.
Neither of the two factions wavered in their support for either
candidate, and at the conclusion of the discussion, the board
appeared firmly deadlocked.
Hooksett/Weare
A year later, Barney's better
By JENNIFER CLAISE
Staff Writer
jclaise@yourneighborhoodnews.com
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A 12-pound toy poodle named Barney could
possibly be the most spoiled dog in town. But his owners Ruth
and Lou Mariano or, as they would say, his "mom and
dad" wouldn't have it any other way.
"Lou told God that if he got through his ordeal, he wouldn't
complain if (Barney) took his side of the bed which is
good, since now he usually does," Ruth Mariano said. "He's
right up on the top now, on the pillows, and I'll usually wake
up to find him nuzzled underneath my arm."
Barney's "ordeal," which happened just over a year
ago, occured when he was kidnapped from Ruth Mariano's mother's
house in Weare on Aug. 23. About 27 hours later, he was discovered
in a neighbor's driveway. His legs were duct-taped together,
part of his skin and fur had been sheared off, and his right
eye had come out of its socket. Animal control officers suspect
that Barney was dragged on a road by some type of vehicle.
In fact, his torture was so brutal the small dog nearly died.
"He wasn't expected to live,"
Ruth Mariano said. "Of course, they didn't tell us that
until after it looked like he was going to be OK."
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FEELING BETTER Though Barney
is blind in one eye and missing fur on his left side, for the
most part he is doing well a year after being bound and dragged
in Weare. His owners, the Marianos of Hooksett, still hope for
a break in the case. (Jennifer Claise Photo)
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And, for the most part, he is OK today,
just about a year after he returned home from a four-week stay
at the Capital Area Veterinary Emergency Service in Concord,
where he battled infection, severe pain and endured the loss
of sight in his right eye. Today, Barney is 5 years old, but
the trauma he endured makes him look much older. His blind eye
is clouded over and has a blueish tint, and a large patch of
fur on his left side is gone, probably forever.
"It looked like some of it might be growing back, but it
doesn't look like it now," said Ruth and Lou's 11-year-old
son, Louie.
Sometimes, Ruth Mariano said, Barney has trouble with his jaw
when he eats. "The vets checked it out, but we're just not
sure what it is."
And sadly, it seems as though Barney may have memories of his
abuse. He has had two episodes where he curled up into a little
ball with his tail between his legs and started whimpering. One
of the times happened when he was in the car.
"He never did anything like that before, ever," Ruth
Mariano said.
But on the whole, Barney acts like any other dog, running and
jumping around, and yapping at strangers. On the day he was released
from the hospital, he eagerly barked at a crowd of reporters
who had gathered to see him.
"We could tell that he was back to his old self," Ruth
Mariano said.
But it's clear that the Mariano family has not returned to normal,
largely because no one has ever been charged with Barney's kidnapping
and torture, they said Sept. 5, when they gathered near their
Hooksett home wearing matching "Justice for Barney"
T-shirts.
The main suspect in the case, Stephen Hess, 19, of Weare, has
not been charged with the abuse, but recently pleaded guilty
to one count of felony falsifying physical evidence, for concealing
two pieces of the duct tape from police. Hess received a 12-month
suspended sentence and was placed on probation and ordered to
complete substance abuse counseling.
Weare police have told the Marianos that the case is still under
investigation, but they have not recently returned calls to the
family, Ruth Mariano said.
And now that so much time has passed, the Marianos are hopeful
that someone might now be willing to come forward with information.
"We believe that someone out there must know something more
about this," Ruth Mariano said. "Now that a year has
gone by, we're hoping that someone might be more willing to talk."
In the mean time, Barney is enjoying all the attention he's getting
almost as much as the Marianos enjoy giving it to him.
"Basically, he needs 24/7 cuddling now, and that's good
because that's what we give him," Ruth Mariano said.
Weare
Weare administrator off to a good start
By JENNIFER CLAISE
Staff Writer
jclaise@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Bob Christensen was recently promoted to
the position of town administrator, but you'd never know it by
looking at his business card.
"Because of the spending freeze, I can't get new ones made,"
he said with a laugh, drawing a sharp line through his former
title of administrative coordinator. "These will just have
to do for a while."
Earlier this summer, the selectmen reinstituted the town administrator
position, thereby eliminating their supervisory role with most
of the town's department heads and employees.
Other than Police Chief Myles Rigney, who reports to the selectmen,
and Fire Chief Bob Richards, who reports to the board of firewards,
all department heads are now supervised by Christensen.
Prior to his promotion, Christensen had served as administrative
coordinator since May of 2003, a position that required him to
act as a liason between the departments and the selectmen.
But the board decided that the administrator position should
be revived, based on the need for daily, centralized leadership.
"At the end of the day, they felt there had to be someone
here who could make decisions and supervise the day-to-day activities,"
Christensen said.
Still, he said, he is the type of manager who puts great stock
in the department heads, allowing them to do their jobs and to
use him as a resource.
"I consider the department heads to be subject experts,"
Christensen said. "I try to have a working knowledge of
what they do, but they are the experts with the skill sets."
And Christensen isn't shying away from one of the town's biggest
concerns: the development of an operating budget that will win
voter support. The town has been operating under a default budget
for six of the past seven years, Christensen said. And in speaking
with other town administrators whose towns have passed successful
operating budgets, he's realized that they spend a lot of time
working with the press and the public to let them know exactly
what the town needs, and why.
"As a resident correctly told me, if we were to need $3.5
million to run the town, then give me a $3.5 million budget,"
Christensen said. "Don't hide what the town's needs are
and hit me with them at the last minute. Let me make my decision
by way of my vote."
And, he added, it's not always the amount of money needed that
people object to.
"It's the way things are done, and the tenor in which they
are presented," he said.
Furthermore, the town is still struggling to find its identity;
while some people welcome new businesses and want to see the
town grow, others want to preserve a more rural character, he
said.
"There's a running contention over what people want the
town to be," he said. "Many say that they don't want
Weare to become like a city, and they say that 'This is why we
moved to the country.' But you have to ask it's 2004
is this really the country anymore?"
To get feedback from the community, Christensen has been moderating
a series of public input sessions on the budget process.
The next two scheduled sessions will be held Thursday, Sept.
16, at the town office conference room from 7 to 8:30 p.m., and
Monday, Sept. 27, at the Christ Community Church Auditorium from
6:30 to 8 p.m.
"We're not holding these so that the community can hear
what we want to do," he said. "Instead, we want to
hear from people about things that they support, or things they
object to or have complaints about."
But Christensen's promotion is not the only thing occupying his
time these days.
His sons Ethan, 10, and Elijah, 8, whose pictures cover his office,
keep him busy 'round the clock, he said.
He coaches basketball, baseball and soccer for the Weare Athletic
Club, and is also an avid outdoorsman.
"But I've gone deer hunting for eight seasons in a row,
and I've never gotten a deer, so I guess I'm a pretty pathetic
hunter," he joked.
From 1993 until 2002, Christensen was the pastor of the Christ
Community Church, where he said he spent his time constantly
focused on others, always trying to climb the next hill.
"It came to a point where I needed to put the focus on my
family," he said. "And my life has never had more meaning
than it does now, not just because of the promotion, but because
it's an affirmation of where I've come from and of the leadership
I've tried to bring to the town."
And despite the political environment in town, which Christensen
admitted can get rather heated, he said he is confident he can
handle any problems in stride.
"My world view is bigger than this chair," he said,
"and at the end of the day I'm not going to be crushed by
whatever happens here."
Christensen can be reached through the selectmen's office at
529-7535, or at his new e-mail address: rchristensen@
weare.nh.gov.
Hillsborough
County Fair begins the giant pumpkin season
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FINAL ADJUSTMENT These horses
were all strapped up and ready to pull a plow. No, they aren't
pulling the truck behind them they give that job to the
plastic cows. The fair ran from Sept. 10 to 12 in New Boston.
(Devon Cormier Photos)
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BIG ONE Three-year-old Samantha
Boulay reaches out to touch a giant pumpkin as she enjoys her
first fair. The pumpkin was much bigger than little Samantha,
but her
curiosity got the best of her.
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GOAT PILLOW Eleven-year-old
Justin Prince sits with his goats as the fair got underway Friday,
Sept. 10. Prince said the goats are very friendly and as excited
as he was to be at the Hillsborough County Fair.
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Neighborhood
News wins seven awards at Better Newspaper Contest
The staff of Neighborhood News Inc. earned
seven awards in the New Hampshire Press Association's annual
Better Newspaper Contest. The awards were presented to the winners
at the association's annual banquet on Friday, Sept. 10, at the
Manchester Country Club in Bedford.
Sportswriter Marc Thaler got two awards, first place in Sports
News for a story on the struggle to fund the Goffstown High School
football team, and second place for his contribution to a feature
on identity theft. Sharing in the prize for Feature Story for
the identity theft story were former Goffstown News editor Henry
Metz and former staff writer Kate Benway; that feature story
was published in all four Neighborhood newspapers.
Benway also won second prize for Spot News Story for her coverage
in The Bedford Bulletin of the shooting of a police officer in
Bedford. Editor Susan Clark also had a role in this story.
Staff writer Russ Choma took first place for Education Story
or Series for his three-part series on education funding, which
ran in all four Neighborhood newspapers.
Kristin Crawford won first place for Sponsorship Pages, Black
and White, for her Downtown Manchester advertising section, and
Ginger Kozlowski won second place for Front Page for The Hooksett
Banner, a design category.
Jamie Gorton of Hooksett, now a junior at West High School, was
awarded High School Writer of the Year. The entries included
his coverage of two town meetings and an Eagle Scout feature
in the Banner.
Amy J. Vellucci, publisher and president of Neighborhood News
Inc. and vice president of the New Hampshire Press Association,
said she's proud of her staff's accomplishments.
"We publish four quality, free community newspapers every
week, full of local news and advertising, and it's nice to be
recognized by your peers for the hard work that goes into these
publications," said Vellucci.
Neighborhood News Inc. publishes The Bedford Bulletin, The Bow
Times, The Goffstown News and The Hooksett Banner, with a total
circulation of 38,800.
The Bedford Bulletin is mailed free to every home in Bedford
and The Bow Times is mailed free to every household in Bow, Hopkinton,
Contoocook and Dunbarton. The Goffstown News and Hooksett Banner
are distributed free in many southern New Hampshire locations.
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