New Hampshire
Casino growth spurt in N.H. comes within inches of Massachusetts border – The Boston Globe
General manager Eric Althaus said the casino has intentionally overstaffed by about two dozen new hires to prepare for peak traffic, noting that March is typically among the busier months for those in the gaming industry.
“We’re in a really good spot right now,” Althaus said Tuesday night, as he sat on one of the plush blue couches that face a two-story TV screen dedicated to sporting events. “But we still have open positions. So anyone that’s looking for a job, by all means, go online and we can start those conversations.”
The Nash, which is operated by ECL Entertainment, isn’t the only casino making big investments within a short drive of the state line. Just about every casino operator in New Hampshire has moved to expand since the state legalized historic horse racing machines in 2021, according to a 2024 market analysis by Spectrum Gaming Group.
While historic horse racing machines look similar to slot machines, their outcomes are based on decades of actual horse race results rather than random numbers.
“Every once in a while, you’ll see somebody playing a game and up at the top you’ll see an actual horse race run across the screen,” said Sheila M. Doherty of Nashua, a player who likes to try her luck on those machines and also on the roulette wheel.
Doherty, who attended a “soft opening” event Tuesday night before the grand opening on Wednesday morning, said The Nash has an impressive variety of games, including some that even she hadn’t seen elsewhere. (She laughed as she said she’s visited “a lot of casinos.”)
Since slot machines still aren’t allowed in New Hampshire, the legalization of historic horse racing machines offered an opportunity for existing race tracks and smaller mom-and-pop gaming operations to expand.
The former Seabrook Greyhound Park became The Brook, which debuted the historic horse racing games in 2022 and embarked on a series of renovations, with further expansion planned. Other gambling businesses, including the Gate City Casino in Nashua and Revo Casino and Social House in Dover, have tackled expansions of their own, and plans are in motion for a massive overhaul of the Hampton Beach Casino as well.
Some have repurposed older or underused buildings rather than starting from scratch. In Rochester, the Lilac Club Casino is slated to open next week in what had been a small, long-neglected mall. And in Salem, a casino is being developed in a former Lord & Taylor department store at The Mall at Rockingham Park.
The growth spurt has come as New Hampshire effectively took a free-market approach to casinos, without imposing additional limits on the number, size, or location of such venues, according to the Spectrum Gaming Group analysis. While the rest of New England had a combined total of nine casinos, as of last year, New Hampshire alone had 10 casinos with historic horse racing machines, according to the analysis. Most aren’t nearly as big as The Nash, and the state has imposed a moratorium on new licenses.
Concerns about problem gambling, addiction, and other negative social impacts associated with casinos have spilled over the state line. City councilors in Lawrence, Mass., passed a resolution last fall saying the planned casino in Salem, N.H., would rely heavily on “targeting the financial desperation of Lawrence’s low-income workers, elderly, and disabled” community members. Salem’s planning board signed off on the project in December anyway.
In Nashua, where the new casino is just about as close to the state line as is physically possible, some local leaders voiced practical concerns about potential jurisdictional complications whenever a law enforcement matter crosses from the casino floor in New Hampshire to the parking lot in Massachusetts.
Nashua Alderman Patricia S. Klee said she has nothing against casinos but worried police might encounter challenges in court stemming from the adult entertainment venue having been placed adjacent to the state line. The Nash isn’t like Sears, she noted.
“This place is going to be open till the wee hours of the morning, where people are drinking … so it’s a completely different type of business,” she said.
The Nash, which will open at 9 a.m. every day, will close at 2 a.m. on Sundays through Thursdays and 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, with no alcoholic drinks served after 1:30 a.m.
Althaus, the general manager, said The Nash has prioritized safety and security for visitors and casino employees. The facility has high-power security systems, police details with both Nashua and Tyngsborough, and safety plans, he said.
Tyngsborough Police Chief Shaun Woods said the two municipalities have a mutual aid agreement in place that allows officers to collaborate across state lines.
The economic upsides that The Nash expects to contribute to the local economy include both a boost to tourism-related tax revenues and charitable contributions.
All casinos in New Hampshire are charitable gaming establishments, meaning they must contribute a share of their revenues to nonprofit organizations. The state stipulates that charities be given 35 percent of the revenue from table games and 8.75 percent of the revenue from historic horse racing machines. On top of that, the state takes 10 percent and 16.25 percent, respectively.
Because of the state’s charitable gaming rules, The Nash projects that it will generate nearly $24 million each year for 104 nonprofits.
Matthew R. Fentross, executive director of the Nashua Children’s Home — which is one of the two nonprofits designated to receive a share of The Nash’s revenues for the current week — said his organization has received $20,000 to $30,000 in charitable gaming revenues in past years from a smaller casino, so this year’s haul will likely be much larger.
Only two of the three programs operated by the Nashua Children’s Home receive funding through government contracts, Fentross said. The third program, which provides transitional living support for young adults, relies on contributions from the public and from charitable gaming, he said.
“That program prevents homelessness for kids who are aging out of residential care, 18 to 22 years old,” he said. “So we provide affordable housing, some job coaching, and assistive programs to help them into adulthood.”
Fentross said the charitable gaming revenue is a significant help for his nonprofit and many others in New Hampshire.
“It’s huge,” he said.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
A New Hampshire motorcyclist who had been missing since the Fourth of July was found dead in Shelburne late Thursday night.
State police say they received a request from the Berlin Police Department just after 7:30 p.m. Thursday for help locating 41-year-old Wesley Grondin — the Berlin man was last seen riding his motorcycle on Saturday, July 4, and had been reported missing.
Troopers received a call a couple of hours later, around 10:10 p.m. Thursday, from a concerned resident who had been out looking for Grondin along Route 2 in Shelburne. The person told police they had found Grondin dead, along with his Harley Davidson.
According to state police, a preliminary investigation determined that Grondin was riding his Harley on Route 2 westbound in Shelburne when, for reasons that remain under investigation, he crossed over into the opposing lane, struck a post, and came to a final rest in the wood line.
The crash is believed to have occurred just before midnight on July 4. At this time, police say there’s no indication that another vehicle or person was involved.
All aspects of the crash remain under investigation, however. Anyone with information that may assist investigators is asked to contact Trooper Hunter Newsham at Hunter.P.Newsham@dos.nh.gov.
KEENE, N.H. — A Nashua woman who had a town clerk falsely certify a marriage that never happened so she could claim her late partner’s property has been sentenced to seven days in jail, placed on probation and ordered to repay thousands to his estate.
Attorney General John Formella said Wendy Leedberg‑Snow, 60, turned to Winchester Town Clerk Jim Tetreault after the death of her longtime partner, Eric Leedberg — who was born in Lowell — using the falsified license to pose as his spouse and lay claim to property from his estate, an effort prosecutors describe as an attempt to rewrite the couple’s history for financial gain.
“This case involved a deliberate effort to manipulate official government records and exploit the death of a loved one for personal financial gain,” Formella said in a press release announcing the sentencing. “Our vital records system depends on honesty and integrity, and those who seek to corrupt that system will be held accountable. I want to thank the investigators and prosecutors whose work ensured justice for the victim’s family.”
According to Leedberg’s obituary, he was 53 when he died on Oct. 12, 2023, following a two‑year battle with cancer.
In the obituary, Leedberg-Snow is described as his “significant other.”
Prosecutors said Leedberg‑Snow moved quickly after his death, relying on Tetreault’s signature to fabricate a marriage that never occurred and position herself as Leedberg’s surviving spouse.
Tetreault, who was a New Hampshire justice of the peace at the time, falsely signed the marriage license claiming he had officiated the couple’s wedding. He later admitted he never performed any ceremony for Leedberg‑Snow and Leedberg and had no personal knowledge of them ever being married.
Leedberg‑Snow used the fraudulent certificate to obtain property from Leedberg’s estate, including a pickup truck and trailer, and later attempted to influence a witness connected to the scheme.
Leedberg‑Snow pleaded guilty in Cheshire County Superior Court in Keene to felony counts of solicitation to commit vital records fraud, title fraud, theft by misapplication of property and witness tampering.
In addition to her seven‑day jail term, she must serve two years of probation, pay $4,600 in restitution, return the truck and trailer to Leedberg’s estate and comply with a suspended three‑and‑a‑half‑ to seven‑year prison sentence, which means the sentence only takes effect if she violates the conditions of her probation.
Tetreault, who continues to serve as Winchester’s town clerk and “fully cooperated with the State’s investigation,” according to prosecutors, pleaded guilty in April to notarial misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor. As part of a negotiated plea, prosecutors dropped a felony charge of vital records fraud. He was sentenced to 90 days in the house of corrections, all suspended for two years on good behavior, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine plus a $240 penalty assessment.
He resigned his commissions as a justice of the peace and bail commissioner and agreed not to seek recommissioning as a justice of the peace or notary public during the two‑year suspension period.
Tetreault could not be reached for comment at his office number.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
SARGENT’S PURCHASE – On Saturday, personnel from multiple rescue crews teamed up to help an injured woman get off of Mt. Washington to seek medical treatment.
At approximately 7:45 AM, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers were notified that a staff member at the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Lakes of the Clouds Hut had taken a serious fall at the hut and was left unable to walk.
Fish and Game subsequently mobilized search and rescue personnel to come and help evacuate the young woman from her remote location.
By 10:00 AM, members of the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team (AVSAR), Pemigewassett Valley Search and Rescue Team (Pemi), AMC and Fish and Game had gathered at the Base Station of the Cog Rail. The Cog Railway generously donated room on their trains, and rescuers and equipment were given rides up Mt. Washington to the West Side Trail, which allowed for a shorter and less strenuous 1.6 mile hike than other routes.
By 11:20 AM rescuers were at the hut with the patient. The patient was subsequently packaged in a litter and prepared for an overland carryout back to the Cog tracks.
Rescue personnel made steady progress, and by 2:15 PM had made it back across West Side Trail and to the train tracks. A Cog Railway train picked up the whole rescue party and brought everyone back down the mountain. Once roadside, the patient was evaluated by personnel from Twin Mountain Fire and Rescue.
She was ultimately driven from the scene by a friend and went to Memorial Hospital in North Conway for further evaluation
and treatment of multiple injuries related to her fall. The patient was identified as Cali Turner, 26, of Willimantic, Maine.
Fish and Game would like to thank all of the people and organizations involved in this rescue effort. Through the help of everyone, the rescue was a great success and got done in a timely manner.
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