Local voices chime in on a variety of topics.
Since learning of Nickenley’s death, we have called for accountability, transparency, and justice. The public has a right to understand what happened, and New Hampshire’s Collective Power Coalition continues to await the results of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office investigation.
A significant factor contributing to this problem is the close relationship between pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
The easiest vote last Tuesday night would have been to hide behind Manchester’s tax cap and pretend that the city’s financial challenges could somehow solve themselves.
One of the most adult traits is the ability to bite our tongues and not express every thought that passes through our minds.
Donald Trump, John Sununu, and the rest of the MAGA cohort claim to care about veterans, but their actions say otherwise.
As someone who has spent years working in mental health, recovery, housing, and community services, I know the statistics. I know the programs. I know the policy solutions. I’ve sat with people through some of the darkest moments of their lives. I’ve helped connect people to resources, encouraged them to keep going, and reminded them that they matter.
Change, my friends, is a part of life. We don’t always like it; it can cause us fear and anxiety (especially because there are often many unknowns), but it happens in all our lives.
Recently, during the debate on HB 1300, over property tax caps, Representative Ross Berry (R-Weare) accused the House Democrats of laughing at the fact that Granite Staters are being taxed out of their homes. Au contraire, we were chuckling at his fake concern when he lamented that “something must be done.”
I’m a baseball guy so “up” first is a former neighbor (we lived just houses away from each other), a former peer (we both taught at the same high school), and a former MMHS coaching staff member (we both coached at Memorial). His name is Peter Perich.
Representative Kathleen Paquette is correct about one thing: taxpayers deserve accountability.
Manchester has been led by people for decades who do not care that spending more money on buses would increase the value of business properties which would increase the tax revenues from business properties.
There is a troubling argument being made in Manchester right now: that supporting the tax cap, questioning the school budget, or asking for accountability somehow means a person wants to cripple public schools.
MSD’s financials are an open, verified book. A recent independent audit by Plodzik & Sanderson gave the District a clean opinion with explicit praise. Any insinuation of misrepresented financial statements is flatly false.
The MAGA movement likes to call what I’m writing about here a symptom of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), but I am not deranged or creating any of this information in my own head. Sure, his cult members have been successful in convincing themselves that objective reality is “fake news” perpetuated by the liberal media, but anyone with eyes and ears knows this isn’t the case.
The brainchild of three men, Ray Valliere, Fred Jasinski, and Tom Monson, the re-named “Dunk-N-Diamonds,” was formed to provide a group of friends, comprised of umpires and coaches, an opportunity to get together on a weekly basis.
I always thought I was younger when I first heard about Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The debate over the fiscal year 2027 budget in Manchester drags on, with no apparent end in sight. At the last Aldermanic meeting the regular crew of anti-Manchester residents came out. It was the usual suspects who spoke, those who believe Manchester should not spend one more red cent on anything. They are not interested in fixing our roads, fully funding contracts for police or fire or keeping the West Side library open. Additionally, their disdain for public education is quite evident, not wanting the Manchester School District to be adequately funded. In essence it’s okay with them if Manchester reverts back to 1985.
For the first week, I kept hoping that my songs, and my songs only—Neil Young, Deer Tick, the Dead, Ike Reilly, etc—would play because I’m selfish.
But then a strange phenomena started to occur.
While I’ve felt nervous and had sweaty palms before using my three minutes at a BMA meeting, I never felt like I was in danger of violence or even witnessing violence while in the chambers at City Hall.
For years, New Hampshire conservatives and libertarians have wrapped themselves in the language of “local control.” They warn against government overreach, defend the authority of local communities, and condemn top-down mandates from Washington.