Letter To The Editor
Poverty.
The government has been fighting the “War of Poverty” for 50 years.
Half a century.
Federal and State governments have spent almost 20 trillion dollars
in the process.
The results?
We have never had so much poverty, so many people on food stamps,
and/or so many homeless people.
But if you showed up at Health and Human Services with a cure for
poverty, they would probably throw you out.
Government is no more interested in a cure for poverty than an
undertaker is in finding the fountain of youth.
If government were truly interested in helping the poor, it would
remove all of the obstacles, governmental obstacles, which prevent
poor people from improving their situation.
For example, zoning ordinances.
You can put as much lipstick on that pig as you want, but zoning
ordinances are intended to and designed to keep poor people out!
Zoning Ordinances effectively restrict where poor people can live.
And by restricting where the poor can live, zoning ordinances are
restricting their access to better housing, to employment
opportunities, as well as to better educational opportunities.
Zoning Ordinances also restrict the type and supply of housing
thereby increasing the cost to the poor of existing housing.
Zoning ordinances target poor people without ever mentioning them,
but the effects on poor people are no less pernicious.
It is the height of hypocrisy for people to parade around saying how
much they care about the poor and/or how much we need to help the
poor, and then, in the same breath, say, “But you got to have
zoning.”
Jack Kelleher
4-H Horse Quiz Bowl
Left: The top 10 individual winners
in the Senior Division at the NH 4-H Horse Quiz Bowl Contest: Top
row L to R: Ashley Foss, Merrimack County 6th, Emily Hauptman,
Merrimack County 7th, Hana Testerman, Merrimack County 4th, Jackie
Johnson, Rockingham County 1st, Cody Gleason, Rockihgham County,
10th. Front Row: Courtney Duclos, Merrimack County 5th, Maria Young,
Hillsborough County 2nd, Keelin Berger, Rockingham County 8th, Kayla
Murphy, Rockingham County 9th. Missing: Amie Weagle, Coos County
3rd.
The NH 4-H Horse Quiz Bowl Contest was help on Saturday January 17th
at Pembroke Academy in Pembroke NH. Seven Senior Teams and Four
Junior Teams competed with other 4-H members from throughout NH to
demonstrate their horse knowledge in a fast paced contest. In
addition to the competition, there were opportunities to visit the
activity room to participate in some hands-on learning about horses
and horse care, to meet new friends from other parts of the state
and to guess the identity of some uncommon horse equipment.
Rockin Daddios Concert February 9, 2014 - Suncook Senior Center
Due to the forecast for snowy weather this free concert was moved to
it’s snow date of February 9th at 12:30pm. The Rockin’ Daddios
bring back some of the best loved songs of the late fifties and
early sixties sung in a doo- wop style with the accent on harmonies
and fun lyrics. The center is located at 398 Black Hall Road,
Epsom, NH. If you would like to attend the 11:30am luncheon, please
call the center at 485-4254. Join us us for some musical enjoyment!
Letter To The Editor
My name is Scott Elliott, recently I introduced myself as a
candidate running for the position of Road Agent in Epsom. Today I
would like to outline some of my goals to enhance the effectiveness
of the Highway Department if I am elected.
As a former employee of the Highway Department, I understand the
need for efficiency both fiscally and in work performed. If
elected, I would ask to utilize available computer software designed
to track the costs of the Department. This is beneficial to the
Town in a number of ways.
First, it helps manage how and when work is performed by allowing
multi-year planning.
Second, by tracking costs of contractors, inventories and supplies
to maintain our roads puts the Town in a better position when
purchasing Highway Department supplies and negotiating with
contractors for current and future upkeep of our roads.
I welcome any questions or comments you may have for
me, I can be reached by phone at 509-0595, or email at
[email protected].
Thank you,
Scott
Letter
To my constituents in Allenstown, Epsom, and Pittsfield,
I hope everyone survived the storm as well as we did – Tuesday’s
hearings were postponed to Wednesday, so we needn’t travel, and
never lost power. On Wednesday, then, I presented HB216, which
allows all regulatory boards to recover from miscreants the costs of
the investigations.
My committee heard four bills this time: HB201, acquiring access
rights to four dams, including the Cass Road Dam in Epsom. The state
owns the dams and is actually planning to repair them soon, but
needs rights of way so they have access to the (privately owned)
embankments. I’ll support this since the landowners have the right
to refuse granting the easements. HB254 would allow town, as well as
state, employees to use “restricted’ lakes for rescue operations and
training. The committee like the idea but will be looking to narrow
this authority slightly, especially not wanting to give a blanket
permission for training exercises on the most sensitive lakes. HB259
simply changed the reporting date of the economic development
strategy; it had no opposition. HB272, designating the entire Ham
Branch River watershed in Easton as a protected river, was the most
complex. Nobody objected to protecting the river; the entire issue
was the blanket exclusion from the comprehensive shoreline
protection act! I’m on a subcommittee to look into where the
requirement for protected rivers comply with this act originated,
and to review (and possibly change) the requirements.
We also voted out of committee HB167, requiring two state agencies
to develop a plan to attract water-using businesses, which we agreed
was unnecessary. HB174, establishing a committee to study changing
the name of “DRED” (Department of Resources and Economic
Development) was also recommended to be killed.
Interested readers can email me for my newsletter, with more details
than fit here.
Representative Carol McGuire
[email protected]
782-4918
Letter To The Editor
Ice is not nice on your roads. It’s (ice) not good for anyone. It’s
bad for your schedule, your car, and possibly your health. The exact
reasons hold true for Highway Departments and sub-contractors. If
the roads become icy because it’s raining then treating the road
becomes an issue because sand doesn’t work for as long as it takes
the truck to go around the next corner. Rocks work real good as long
as the ice isn’t hard as a rock but nevertheless many times better
than sand. Salt only works on flat paved roads with little or no
crown and not for long.
After it stops raining what to do next. Well there are thousands of
combinations to think about, which start with air temperatures
rising and/or lowering, ground temp, humidity, surface structure or
lack of and many many more. But most importantly will whatever
choice that is made will it work and for how long.
Your Road Agent
Gordon R Ellis
Letter To The Editor
Winter has set-in in pretty good order and we are about half way
through the 30 year cooling cycle. We’ve, as you already know, had
some snow and ice and very few days above freezing. Historically we
get a January thaw, but we have missed it 2 years in a row. Gas and
oil prices are back temporarily to where they could and should have
been for the past 6 years.
Let’s get a brief remembrance of snow maintenance. What made me
think of this subject is the snow roller that was used to roll over
roads was sold this summer. It had been kept inside a barn all those
years. I’m not sure when we started plowing with trucks but before
that ,the snow roller packed the snow so sleighs could be used to
get around and get products to the railroads. Also, in the winter
there were winter roads.
Up until around mid-1960’s most of the plowing was done after snow
storms were over, and before automatic sanders we would get into the
back of a dump truck and shovel sand onto the roads. Imagine what
OSHA would think of that.
I am not sure which was the driving force, whether the expectations
forced the equipment to get faster and better, or the improvements
in equipment changed the expectations. Nevertheless the roads are
plowed more often and we are able to be much more mobile in the
winter.
Bless you,
Your Road Agent
Gordon R Ellis
Epsom Food Pantry
Well, we have had quite a week. What with blowing snow, drifts,
freezing cold, and tough traveling, I feel as if we have really been
tested for our endurance to New England weather. Yet our Food Pantry
has been open and ready to help folks. We are still receiving
wonderful donations both in food and money which, of course, is a
great help. Remember our hours are 10:00 to 12:00 on Saturday,
12:00 to 2:00 on Wednesday, and, of course, by appointment in an
emergency.
Call the Pantry, 736-4024, or me at 219-3025 and you will be taken
care of.
Until next time,
Priscilla
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