Local voices chime in on a variety of topics.
I’ve heard elected officials in Manchester responding to criticisms about their mishandlings of the homelessness crisis by saying “homelessness is a complicated problem”. For those of us who face the horrific consequences of these mishandlings out on the streets it certainly can be complicated. However the solution is quite simple.
Outrage has been sparked in Manchester by a classroom activity conducted in concert with a lesson on the Holocaust. The activity, “The Wheel of Power and Privilege,” is meant to be a self-reflection on your own inherent power and privilege. People have suggested it’s wrong for students to feel “uncomfortable” in their classroom while discussing these things that are largely outside of their own control (race, religion, ability, etc.).
There is such a man, and he goes by the name of Herman McDerman. But I must also mention to you that Herman McDerman is not a man, rather an eraser and a character that I created when I was in the fifth grade.
I graduated from Memorial High in 1965. Many of my classmates, facing the draft anyway, enrolled in the Armed Forces. Most of us had never heard of Vietnam, but that December, just when many of my classmates reported to bootcamp, President Johnson committed 195,000 soldiers to Vietnam. In 1969, the year I graduated from college, around 543,400 American men and women were serving there. By April 30, 1975, 2,709,918 Americans had served in uniform there; 58,148 died in the conflict. Another 100,000 were completely or badly disabled.
The White House wants to eliminate federal support for public media. Congress will vote soon on a proposal to slash millions from NHPR and NHPBS’ budgets. About six percent of NHPR’s annual budget and 18 percent of NHPBS’ is at risk. This funding sustains our statewide emergency alert system, local watchdog reporting, and shows like Morning Edition, PBS News Hour, Granite State Challenge, and Civics 101.
Almost nightly now, for months, I’ve been vicariously living through the characters in the show, arguably one of the most successful sitcoms of all-time. There is something about “Cheers,” more than three decades after the series concluded in 1992, that still speaks to our collective understanding of comradity, conviviality and community.
Born near Mannheim, Baron Karl von Drais’ invention was sparked by hardships following The Year Without A Summer, which resulted from the explosion of Mount Tambora, halfway around the world.
I live in Bedford and in March 2025 the town overwhelmingly voted “NO” (3663 NO to 1220 YES) on a petition warrant article to implement a tax cap on the school budget. Therefore, I was confused and upset when five of the seven of our district’s representatives in the NH House voted in favor of implementing automatic budget caps on school budgets. Our town helped to elect those five representatives, and they knew how Bedford had voted in March. Why weren’t they thinking of their constituents?
In many places, libraries are facing budget cuts, closures, or even attacks on the kinds of books they carry. This is just not right. Reading is a gift to be shared by all. Others have no right to remove books from shelves to reduce access for others.
At the April 15th budget hearing, hundreds of community members showed up in support of our school district, with 60 speaking in favor of adequate funding. Only one individual spoke in opposition, a reflection of the disconnect between educators, students, families, and the reckless actions of some members of our Board of Mayor and Aldermen.