41 years ago, 4 bombings swept up the seacoast from Boston to New Hampshire

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

Terrorism in Boston used to be a somewhat regular occurrence. And in 1976, the city saw it from all angles, from radical leftists to hardline busing segregationists.

However, the violence reached its pinnacle 41 years ago (Today), when a series of four bombs targeted cornerstones of the area’s civic institutions. Two National Guard trucks at an armory and a plane at Logan airport were destroyed. Another went off in a Newburyport courthouse. A post office across the border in Seabrook, New Hampshire was also blown out. | More…

| Boston.com

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BROKE, BUSTED, AND DISGUSTED

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

Most people have, at one time or another, been broke. Of course, the term is subjective. I have friends who say they were broke as teenagers, but their family had plenty. They just didn’t have an abundance of disposable income. Others have been working from paycheck to paycheck and still aren’t able to keep up with all the bills.

I’ve been broke, busted, and disgusted more than once. There is such a thing as a money mentality. It can be distorted, especially if you’ve suffered abuse. Child sexual abuse is a core violation that tends to leave victims with a sense of unworthiness and brokenness that extends to every area of life. Money is a tool, but much like food and clothing, we cannot do without it. We need it to survive. Abuse causes our survival instincts to manage differently than stability does. It affects our money mindset in ways that can be detrimental. | More…

Darlene Pawlik | The Darling Princess

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Some Takeaways on NH Education Spending Study by the NHCPPS

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies recently released a study titled Education Finance in New Hampshire – Headed to a Rural Crisis.  The Center is decidedly left of center, but the study is well worth the read because it contains a lot of useful information.  Here are some takeaways, albeit probably not the takeaways the authors intended.

First, by way of background, as I demonstrated ten years ago here and here, the Claremont decisions are political decisions.  That is, they are inconsistent with the text, the structure and the history of the New Hampshire Constitution and represent activist judges setting policy under the guise of interpreting the law.  In other words, the judges didn’t neutrally apply the law; they decided to write their policy preferences into the Constitution and attempted to make it appear that they were merely interpreting the Constitution. | More…

| Ed Mosca Blog

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Popular Manchester NH bakery closing after 30 years

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

Kathy West drove 90 minutes each way Thursday to pick up custard pita and fruited turnovers from Kay’s Bakery.

“We just discovered them last week,” said West, who lives in the Sullivan County town of Washington. “I just find a good thing, and it’s not going to be here anymore.”

West won’t be the only one disappointed that the Lake Avenue bakery is hanging up its rolling pin after 30 years.

Holding up a square of spinach pita he bought, Manchester resident Ron Auger said: “This was sometimes my breakfast here.”

July 14 will be the final day for people to pick up their Greek and French Canadian specialties.

“We’re tired,” said Regis Chagnon, who, with partner Kay Skilogianis, have operated the bakery since 1987. | More…

| New Hampshire.com

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Republican Review: The Budget, What they are saying…

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

Another successful legislative season has concluded for the summer and Republicans have once again passed a responsible conservative budget that helps the state live within its means while taking care of our state’s top priorities. Papers across the state have offered praise on the recent budget and we wanted to share some of the highlights with you. | More (PDF)

| NH House GOP.com

Posted in Budgets, Legislation, Republicans | Tagged , | Leave a comment

NH Court: Drug Company Can’t Object to State’s Outside Counsel

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

New Hampshire used outside council to milk oil companies in the MTBE scam. Is this any different?

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Supreme Court has cleared away one obstacle to the state’s investigation into marketing practices by large pharmaceutical companies.

The attorney general’s office subpoenaed five companies nearly two years ago demanding they turn over millions of pages of internal marketing materials and other information. The goal was to see if the companies have been deceptively marketing opioid drugs, many of which get diverted and contribute to the state’s addiction and overdose crisis. | More…

| US News

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How Small Town Papers Have Kept Community Trust

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

Pardon me if I disagree as to the authenticity of “small town newspapers.”

Large media outlets could learn from small town newspapers about being authentic and winning the trust of readers. Small town papers have “been around since frontier days,” says Georgia College Journalism Professor Christina Smith and points out they are “doing relatively well in the chaotic media landscape.” | More…

| NHPR

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Group aims to save New Hampshire farmland

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

KENSINGTON, N.H. (AP) – A conservation group is working to protect a family-owned dairy farm in New Hampshire to ensure that it will not be developed in decades to come.

The owners of Bodwell Farm in Kensington agreed to sell a conservation easement to the Southeast Land Trust of New Hampshire or SELT, thus restricting the future uses of the land. The Bodwell Farm, which is only one of five dairy farms in Rockingham County, is surrounded by more than 2,000 acres of undisturbed land.

| Washington Times

Posted in Around New England, Environment, Property Rights | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Survey Teams Seek to Confirm Maine, New Hampshire Tornados

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

Damage survey teams from the National Weather Service are heading out to determine how many tornados touched down in Maine and Vermont on Saturday.

The weather service in Gray, Maine, issued seven tornado warnings, the most it ever had issued in a single day or even an entire year. Its preliminary report lists five tornados in Maine and a funnel cloud spotted in New Hampshire, but some of that information is based on social media postings. In West Bridgton, Maine, law enforcement said trees and houses were damaged and roads were impassable from debris. | More…

| US News

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58% of Democrats Say Their Party Needs New Leadership

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

Some Democrats are saying it’s time for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to go, arguing that losses in this year’s special congressional elections show that their party needs new, younger leadership. Most Democrats agree.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just 31% of Likely Democratic Voters believe the current national leadership of their party is representative of most Democrats. Most (58%) feel instead that the party needs to find new leaders. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided. | More…

| Rasmussen

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