A couple of statistics stand out to us regarding the New Boston master plan meeting. One is that the average New Boston home costs $386,162. The other is that the range of prices for homes currently for sale in New Boston is $179,000 to $785,000. Our conclusion – you’d better be rich if you want to own a home in New Boston. Your average retail manager, school teacher, firefighter or weekly newspaper editor will never have the income to buy a house at those stratospheric prices.

Those in attendance at the master plan meeting realized that having only expensive homes is not the best thing for New Boston. The town needs to have some affordable housing, if only for the older people who want to stay in town and for the children now growing up in New Boston to be able to afford. Now is the time for residents to make it clear in the master plan that such housing is wanted and arrange for it to be built. A diverse community is a stronger one economically, and will benefit New Boston in the long run.

— Editorials published by Neighborhood News Inc. are written by an editorial board. The board is composed of Publisher and President Amy J. Vellucci, Executive Editor Ginger Kozlowski, Managing Editor Christine Heiser and News Editor Susan Clark.

To the Editor:
Goffstown junior baseball is about to kick off our 47th season of Little League baseball with the annual opening day parade on Saturday, April 29, at 8 a.m. sharp.

Starting at Maple Avenue Elementary School, the parade will continue through the downtown, ending at the baseball fields by the Villa Augustina.

I would like to begin by thanking the community for their continued support. Without the numerous local sponsors, community organizations and volunteers, we would not have endured this test of time and most certainly would not be able to service the 400-plus children from the towns of Goffstown, Dunbarton and New Boston.

But given the success of our program, we currently face an important crossroads. We have tried to keep the registration fees reasonable despite the increasing costs of utilities, equipment and insurance.

One of the primary reasons that the cost of player registration fees have not increased significantly is because we have been able to run a very successful concessions stand, which from a monetary standpoint has offset many of these higher expenses.

Kris Shaw, the current director of concessions, who has done a wonderful job over the past couple of years, has said that we are at least two cooks short of what will be needed to keep our concessions stand open for every game. She is also planning on retiring after this season as the director.

The most pressing need is to find volunteers for the upcoming season to either cook on a weekday evening or a few hours on Saturdays or both. Long term, we are looking to train someone to take Kris’s position and ideally that would begin this season.

If we are unable to get volunteers, we may be forced to reduce the hours that concessions will be open. Unfortunately, that will mean increased registration fees next year, but beyond that, the concession stand is a beehive of activity at the field.

For those children dragged to their big brother’s game, it is what gets them by. For coaches and umpires it allows for a quick bite between games. For players, it is time spent with their teammates just hanging out while eating a hot dog. When it is closed, it is amazing how much less electric the place is. It would be unfortunate to resort to this.

So let’s hear from you. We will train anyone 18 years or older. You don’t have to have a child in the league, just the time to help out. Please contact Kris Shaw at 603-497-2146.

Thanks again to everyone who makes our Little League program one of the most successful in the country.

Come out on April 29 to see the police cars, the fire truck, the GHS band, a couple of new championship banners and at least 500 beaming smiles.

John A. Riehl
Goffstown

To the Editor:
I would ask that you stop publishing Brian Wright’s “column” in The Goffstown News, and give other people a chance to give their perspectives. And please stop publishing the political logo of the Free Staters, unless you want to give the same opportunity to all groups (NRA, Greenpeace, MADD, Union of Concerned Scientists, ACLU, Cato Institute, etc. etc.) that want to say something.

If the “column” is about political views, it’s not appropriate to give one group a repeated and special opportunity to speak their mind.

If the “column” is not about political views, what’s the point of publishing it with a political group’s logo? Last week’s “column” was a rambling discourse about the YMCA. If you need space to be filled, I’m sure you can find something more newsworthy.

I have no objection to your publishing Mr Wright’s (or anyone else’s) letters to the editor, as a citizen of one of our communities — but you’ve given him special status and that’s uncalled for.

Jason Sachs
Goffstown

To the Editor:
Prison is supposed to offer an opportunity to turn your life around, so why does New Hampshire have as many as 50 percent of its women prisoners, once released, circling right back into prison?

The New Hampshire House has before it an unprecedented opportunity to take action on a bill with the potential to turn around the rate of recidivism for female offenders, and in so doing, to reduce exorbitant costs to taxpayers.

While women are being locked up with ever-increasing frequency and rising costs in corrections budgets, we spend precious little time providing services or programs that will enable these women to confront and overcome the root causes that have led them to prison.

Using the successful model of other states, the House will soon vote on Senate Bill 262, which creates an administrator of women offenders and family services within the department of corrections, and establishes an interagency coordinating council on women offenders to recommend cost-saving and effective corrections programs.

An advisory council made up of government and community organizations, together with the administrator will, for the first time, focus New Hampshire’s correction system on addressing the needs of this unique population.

The end result could potentially save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I recently had the opportunity to visit the women’s prison in Goffstown. Without programs that are specifically tailored to assist these women, they are likely to return, with taxpayers footing the bill for second, third and subsequent incarcerations, and for the corresponding costs of foster care for their children.

At the Goffstown women’s prison we know that in 2003, the cost per year to incarcerate one woman was $23,938. It also costs an average of $25,000 per year to have one child in the foster care system.

Because New Hampshire’s women prison population has an average of 2.5 children, the costs of putting these mothers in prison, and their children in foster care can add up to $75,000 per inmate per year.

A program in Maryland’s women’s prison decreased recidivism to 3 percent, and that state is modeling its success to expand the program to the men’s system.

Please let your voice be heard in support of SB 262. Log onto the New Hampshire Legislature Web site and e-mail or call to support this important legislation.

Sylvia Larsen
Senate Democratic Leader

To the Editor:
It has been said many times that, “The truth shall set you free,” but it seems quite clear that Americans today cannot handle the truth. Our politicians lie to us daily and it doesn’t seem to register in the collective national psyche. Through television, newspapers and other corporate-owned mass media, we are now among the most manipulated people on the planet.

Most Americans can not or do not want to see the connection between the economic elite that controls the creation and availability of money and the governments that create the wars. Why do you think there is always enough money for war and never enough to achieve peace and justice for the average citizen? Who benefits? (cui bono)

Do you really think all these world events happen by coincidence? The same small private groups who control the international money supply (think Federal Reserve) also control the media that tells us what is happening. This alliance of government, transnational corporations and international bankers controls the IMF, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the intelligence agencies that spy on us (NSA, FBI, CIA).

George W. Bush said on December 18, 2000, “If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.”

Do you think that he and his imperial masters are joking? Let us not delude ourselves. They control the armies that will control us when that dictatorship comes.

Now, go back to sleep if you think everything’s all right.

Charles B. Carr
New Boston

To the Editor:
Laid off your manufacturing job? Are you finding new “service” jobs pay much less? Are your wages stagnating below inflation, as 80 percent of U.S. workers find? Is your health care insurance becoming unaffordable or nonexistent? Do you work hard only to find your family living paycheck to paycheck?

Do you find yourself forced to turn to credit to maintain a modest standard of living? Do you have the same pension security as your dad? Does it now take two incomes to cover your basic bills? Can your kids afford a needed college education without a burdensome, sometimes prohibitive, student loan bill to repay? Have your credit card rates jumped even though you make your payments?

Do your parents struggle to pay immense costs for the lifesaving drugs they need, when in nearby Canada, the costs are affordable? Are you concerned that your retirement savings will expire before you do? Does it bother you that the national tax burden is being shifted from the wealthy on to the wages of working folks as progressive taxes are replaced by regressive taxes favoring wealth?

Why is this all true? Because the working families of America don’t have any lobbyists in Washington handing baskets of cash and perks to Congress. The courts have ruled that it is legal to shower Congress with money, trips, etc., as it is “free speech.”

Money is speech. I guess then that, even though average families don’t have baskets of “free speech” cash to offer, the situation is acceptable. The Congress becomes the Camelot Court of Cash and the needs of working families are ignored.

Think I’m exaggerating?

Look for yourself at the laws out of the last Congressional sessions. A bankruptcy bill written by the credit card industry, an energy bill written by oil companies, a Medicare drug bill written by the drug industry, Environment bills written by polluting businesses, a social security change proposal written by big financial companies who stand to reap billions, and many more.

Check it out for yourself.

Power corrupts. What is legal is unethical. Sadly, I have little hope for change until Congress is replaced with people who ask themselves, “What have I done for the people today?” instead of “Which lobbyists are coming to our fundraiser?”

Jeanne Stapleton
New Boston