The Gorham, New Hampshire police chief has been placed on administrative leave following the release of a video showing a physical altercation inside the police station. 

In the station’s security footage — acquired by Stephen Gregory, of Berlin, New Hampshire, who sent it to WMUR, the outlet reported — Chief Jimmy Willhoite is seen grabbing a man by the throat and shoving him against a wall. 

“Due to the allegations involving our Chief of Police, he has been placed on administrative leave while the allegations are being investigated,” Town Manager Joe Hemings said in a statement to Boston.com. Hemmings denied to comment further on the allegations. 

Gregory told WMUR that the recording captures a confrontation between him and Willhoite that escalated when the chief grabbed Gregory by the neck and pushed him against the station wall. 

Prior to the incident, Gregory was attending the annual Fourth of July carnival in Gorham with his wife and saw a man who, he says, threatened to stab him about two months earlier. 

After the man allegedly yelled at him, Gregory went to the police station to report him — and then the confrontation with Willhoite happened, Gregory told WMUR. 

The state’s Department of Justice Public Integrity Unit and NH Police Standard and Training Council is investigating the incident, Hemmings said.  

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office told Boston.com that it would “neither confirm nor deny any potential New Hampshire Department of Justice Public Integrity Unit matter,” citing state privacy laws. 

Town officials said Gregory was arrested that night and charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct, though Gregory disputes he was arrested, WMUR reported.

“The safety of our community and the integrity of our law enforcement agencies are top priorities for the Town,” Hemmings said. “We take all allegations of misconduct seriously.”

10-minute read

• While NJ’s new e-bike law sought to curb reckless and dangerous cycling, advocates say it is impacting those on low-speed bikes the most.
• The offices of Senate President Nicholas Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin did not respond to emails with basic questions about how to interpret the new law.
• The Motor Vehicle Commission has struggled to interpret the new law with confusing and conflicting information on its website and manual for e-bike owners.

Shannon and Frank Connor tried everything to teach their son how to ride a bike eight years ago, when he was 8 years old, even signing him up for a class.

“It was so sad to watch. Frank and I went every day and then all the other kids were getting it and he wasn’t,” said Shannon Connor, whose son, Jesse, is autistic, has limited verbal skills and struggles with coordination.

Connor began to grapple with the reality that Jesse might never be able to transport himself places independently as a teen and adult.

But in 2023, he tried an e-tricycle, a three-wheeled bike, with pedals and a throttle that gives it a boost up to 20 miles per hour.

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The e-trike’s throttle eliminated the need to pedal and balance so he could focus on steering.

Jesse squealed with unrepressed glee the first time he tried it. “It’s just a dream come true,” Connor said. “It’s a typical boyhood experience that he never would have been able to do without this e-trike.”

E-bikes unlocked a green, healthy form of exercise and independence for a wide range of people who didn’t previously have it, including those with disabilities and seniors who benefit from the extra power when pedaling. They have expanded job opportunities for delivery workers and provided mobility to those who might not have access to a car or who lost their license.

But as e-bike sales have surged, so, too, have injuries and death.

That prompted lawmakers to revise the state’s e-bike law first written in 2019. But what resulted was a widely criticized bill rushed through a lame duck session last year. That legislation — now the strictest cycling law in the country — goes into effect July 19. Since June 26, when the Motor Vehicles Commission began registering e-bikes, it has issued more than 4,100 e-bike registrations and 250 e-bike permits.

Proponents and opponents applauded parts of the new law, such as requiring all e-bike riders to wear helmets and creating a minimum age to ride at 15.

But critics say this law goes too far in overregulating people on low-speed bikes by requiring license, insurance and registration, and not doing enough to curb those on dangerous high-speed e-bikes.

The new law created two e-bike classes.

 A “low-speed e-bike” has pedal assistance from a motor that goes up to 20 mph.

A “motorized bicycle” has four possible definitions, including an engine under 50 cubic centimeters, and it can travel up to 28 miles per hour using pedals or a throttle.

Both classes now require license and registration, and motorized bicycles must also be insured.

Education-first approach to enforcement

Montville Police Chief Andrew Caggiano has seen a drastic increase in children riding e-bikes around town — and getting hurt doing so.

“Legislation was needed and I think this was a good effort to do that,” Caggiano said. “I believe that this legislation will save lives.”

Caggiano said his department is taking an education-first approach to enforcing the new law, and will stop kids and work with parents to make sure they understand the new law, and officers will use discretion for stricter enforcement.

“That’s not going to happen forever, but we will use our discretion at the beginning to focus on educating the public on what’s legal, what’s illegal — just give people the opportunity to a get their license and get the bike registered like they’re supposed to,” he said.

The rushed and confusing changes in the new law made it difficult for both residents — and even the Motor Vehicle Commission — to interpret it and comply, which cycling advocates say has discouraged cycling in the state.

In the months since its passage lawmakers discussed a fix-it bill to address a number of issues.

But the legislature broke for summer on July 1, without passing a fix-it bill.

“I’m open to fixing if there’s issues with e-bikes, but e-bikes are proliferating all over the place,” said Senate President Nicholas Scutari, who championed the new e-bike law, on June 30. “I think we took a good first step.”

“If there are issues with it, I’m open to fixing it,” he said. “I think everyone is.”

Who will feel the law’s effect?

The e-bike law will impact a wide swath of New Jersey residents, of whom more than 1 in 10 don’t have a car, making it the third highest rate of households without a vehicle of any state.

People with suspended licenses, who might rely on an e-bike to get to work or appointments because they can’t drive, can no longer legally ride them because of the new law. Undocumented workers, who may use e-bikes as deliveristas or to get to jobs, may hesitate to register e-bikes to avoid being in national databases used by Immigration Customs and Enforcement.

In addition to requiring a license and registration, e-bike owners have to provide the Motor Vehicle Commission with six points of identity and proof of bike ownership, such as a receipt, affidavit from the current owner or notarized bill of sale.

Advocates warned that people who can’t afford cars are often those at the lowest income levels and could end up encountering police more often if e-bike riders are being stopped for license, insurance and registration, or other requirements like head lamps and a rear light.

Law puts Jesse’s e-trike in gray area

Now, at 16, Jesse Connor confidently hops on his trike to go to the park with his friends, gets ice cream at the local Carvel, and rides around to wash cars in the neighborhood for a little cash.

The local crossing guards and police in their 3-square-mile town know Jesse well. You can’t miss him with his neon vest, high-visibility helmet, Autism awareness stickers and flags affixed to the trike.

The e-trike was life-changing for Jesse, who unearthed a new level of independence that seemed out-of-reach a few years ago.

It was also life-changing for the Connors, who opened an e-bike store in Shrewsbury last year, and founded “3 Wheels from Jesse,” a nonprofit that gifts electric tricycles to people on the autism spectrum to help them get to jobs and see friends and family.

“I want to leave this Earth making it better than when we got here and, to me, giving people mobility” was the way to do that, Connor said.

But for Jesse, the state’s new e-bike law puts his e-trike in a gray area.

Another year, another blow to Pennsylvania transit riders.

Keystone State Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the annual budget into law last Sunday, and for the fifth year in a row, public transportation has been left to financially starve. The approved budget contains no funding for transit operations, continuing a streak that forces every agency to scrounge for its own money, to varying degrees of success.

“We’ve been left out for far too long,” remarked Connor Descheemaker, Statewide Campaign Manager for Transit for All, PA! The organization rallied transit riders to send more than 50,000 letters to state representatives and the White House-eying governor calling for transit funding, reaching every legislative district in Pennsylvania.

Those calls went largely unanswered. Riders in Lehigh Valley are now bracing for route eliminations and trip cancellations, despite already paying increased fares. Lancaster County paratransit riders will pay more as well, beginning next month.

Low-income, disabled, and rural Pennsylvanians will lose access to jobs, healthcare, and loved ones. That reality hasn’t stopped their governor from declaring victory.

In a speech at last week’s budget signing ceremony, Shapiro uttered a total of three words about the state-sponsored mobility crisis: “There’s more I want to do – like raising the minimum wage, funding mass transit, and expanding access to affordable housing,” he said.

Shapiro seems to understand the need for well-funded transit. Last year, he sent $220 million to Philadelphia to boost SEPTA’s barren maintenance fund following a series of onboard fires.

One-time relief won’t keep buses running, though.

Shapiro has failed, and failed, and failed again to pass his landmark transit policy. His initial proposal would increase the share of sales tax revenue going to public transit by 2 percent. The blame isn’t all his: Even after he watered down his proposal to a 1.75-percent increase, statehouse Republicans failed to support it.

Even if it had succeeded, it’s too little, too late: The sales tax change would still be $92 million short of the $384 million that Transit for All, PA! estimates is needed to prevent further service cuts in public transportation across the state.

Transit for All, PA! has previously lobbied for its legislative package, which would have increased taxes on car rentals and leases, and raised a new tax on ride shares.

Like Shapiro’s plan, that failed, too.

“The General Assembly has deferred action to invest fully in public transit,” state Sen. Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia), who had authored the ride share component of the legislative package. “Despite the continued activation and involvement of tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians … we will once again face this issue in 2027.”

Pennsylvania’s last semblance of adequate transit funding ended in 2021 with the expiration of Act 89. The 10-year allocation covered statewide transportation expenses, including roadway maintenance and transit operations. 

As soon as Act 89 money dried up, agencies turned to Covid relief grants to stay afloat. Those grants, provided through the American Rescue Plan, ended in 2024. Several agencies have gone so far as to pillage their own fixed-route budgets to continue federally mandated paratransit services.

Call it luck, a Band-Aid, or a bad omen; riders on Philadelphia’s SEPTA and Pittsburgh’s PRT are momentarily safe from service cuts and fare hikes. Following last year’s budget disaster, Shapiro permitted the two agencies to raid their own maintenance funds to temporarily pay for operations.

Now, both are pausing upgrades, deferring basic maintenance, and reckoning with the realities of operating – but not fixing – a large-scale transit system.

State highways, on the other hand, received $775 million in new funding from Shapiro’s budget deal.

Transit advocates in Pennsylvania are shifting strategies to preserve essential transit services. A June decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, allowed slot machines to be taxed at a higher rate.

Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers have shown interest in using revenue from the so-called “skill games tax” to fund transit. The legislature must agree on a tax rate and structure, but declined to do so before finalizing the budget.

“Anytime that there is a discussion of new revenue in Pennsylvania, it needs to include public transportation,” Descheemaker said. “We are losing public transportation actively, right now in Pennsylvania. Public transportation needs to be at the center of those conversations.”