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Concord School Board Member Seeks Input On New Middle School Gym Space, Other Features

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Concord School Board Member Seeks Input On New Middle School Gym Space, Other Features


CONCORD, NH — One of the new Concord school board members elected last year is asking residents for more feedback about some features of the new $200 million middle school proposed for the east side of the city.

Liz Boucher, who represents Zone B (Wards 5, 6, and 7), has created a G-doc form and requests comments about some of the school’s proposed features. She noted in the questionnaire that the data-gathering process was “created solely” by her and is “not representative of other members” of the board of education. Boucher also linked the latest presentation and video by Concord TV of the meeting on June 18.

Boucher focuses on several features that nibble around the edges of the project.


The questionnaire samples opinions about various auditorium sizes — 900 seats, 600 seats, 450 seats, a stage in a space like a gym, what the Rundlett Middle School currently has, or none at all. The proposed 900-seat performing arts center costs $6 million, while a 450-seat venue is around $4.2 million. Participants can choose a single answer.

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While the city and school district are separate entities, the city does own the historic Concord City Auditorium, which is not used nearly as much as it should or could be, and seats close to 900. In the past, the district has utilized the Audi for functions.

Concord High School also has an auditorium named after Christa McAuliffe.

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Another question is about sports fields.

At RMS, there are four overlapping fields. The questionnaire offers eight answers, and participants can choose from any of them. The costs of field construction range from $1.1 million for a baseball-softball field to $1.4 million for a multi-use synthetic field. A track and lawn field is around $1.7 million.

The RMS gym, which has been renovated repeatedly during the past 45 years, is 7,800 square feet. The district is proposing a 9,000-square-foot gym, but $1.2 million could be saved by building a 6,000-square-foot gym.

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Another question was about a 5,000-square-foot multipurpose room for wrestling and cheerleading. RMS currently has a second gym where wrestling matches are held, with bleachers and a performance stage for concerts. Reducing the size would save around $600,000.

Another multiple-choice question involves installing an $18.7 million geothermal heat pump or saving about a million dollars by installing air-source heat pumps with a supplemental boiler. Solar panels are also proposed for $1.5 million to $3.25 million.

An external ramp between the school’s first and second floors, costing $3.7 million, was also proposed and is being reconsidered.

Participants can offer additional comments or concerns and are asked to leave their name and voting ward, too.

Boucher said in the questionnaire that the “cost estimate ranges” from $136.2 million to $166.7 million, depending on adding some of the design features. These figures are actually the price, not the cost. The cost needs to include interest on the debt, which pushes even the low price of the building to the $200 million range.

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View all the documents for the new Concord middle school project linked here. The latest financial estimates can be found here.


Business Administrator Jack Dunn clarified some of the financials while adding the numbers the district was toying with were very early estimates.

Patch has been performing back-of-the-envelope math on the varying pricing schemes with a proposed 4 percent interest rate. But Dunn said it will probably be closer to 4.5 percent — pushing the final cost even higher than previously thought.

The district has around $16.1 million in its facilities and purchase renovation expendable trust fund and more than $26.1 million in all its trusts. This is the amount of money property taxpayers have been overtaxed in recent years. In fiscal year 2025, nearly $1.6 million was transferred into the facilities trust—money that was supposed to go into taxpayers’ pockets as part of more money being pushed out by the state to schools.

One confusing part of the most recent financial figures shared with the public was a tax hike figure of $32 on a $350,000.

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Circling back to the lowest price figure of $136.2 million, Dunn said the district was figuring state aid to be about $49 million. The district would then amortize the leftover $87.7 million at 4.5 percent. The first-year payment would be around $6.8 million. Dunn said by using $3.4 million in the first year, the tax rate could be brought down to about 9 cents per thousand or $32 for a $350,000 house assessment.

Using the $136.2 million figure and about $72.3 million in interest payments based on the $87.7 million financed ($136.2M minus $49M in state aid equals $87.7M), without using any of the trust funds or selling off any current land assets the district has, including the former Eastman School land or the current RMS parcel, the final cost of the new middle school, at its lowest level, is around $208.5 million.

Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.



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New Hampshire

Windham Man Indicted On Strangulation Charge: Superior Court Roundup

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Windham Man Indicted On Strangulation Charge: Superior Court Roundup


BRENTWOOD, NH — A Rockingham County grand jury indicted the following people recently.

Francine Annesse Allen, 59, of Cove Road in Salem on a felony theft by unauthorized taking charge. She was accused of stealing merchandise from Walmart in Salem on Feb. 20 after being convicted on theft charges twice before.

Virgilio Ceballo Arias, 22, of Brookfield Street in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on receiving stolen property, concealing the identity of a vehicle, and two possession of altered, forged, or counterfeited title charges, all felonies. In Salem, on March 20, he agreed with Estuary Lanfranco, E.G., and Xaviel Rodriguez Torres to knowingly retain a stolen 2022 Honda CR-V, possessed a 2023 Acura TLX with a VIN removed, and possessed altered titles from New Jersey with the name of another person who did not own the vehicles listed, according to the indictments.

Daniel Joseph Banks, 54, of Milton Road in Rochester on three felony attempted falsifying physical evidence charges. He was accused of attempting to delete his LandAirSea GPS account on June 5, June 8, and June 9, 2023, in Portsmouth to impair an investigation.

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Dannie K. Barrett, 54, of Middle Street in Portsmouth on three felony arson-pecuniary loss more than $1,000 charges. He was accused of starting dumpster fires on Jan. 25, Feb. 4, and Feb. 17 on Middle Street in Portsmouth, damaging property owned by Waste Management.

Melissa Ann Boucher, 35, of Myrtle Street in Manchester on bail jumping and two driving while being certified as a habitual offender committed while on release charges, all felonies, as well as a disobeying an officer charge. She was accused of providing a false name to a Salem police officer on March 12 and driving on Pelham Road. Boucher was also accused of driving in the North Broadway Crossing Plaza in Salem parking lot on March 4. On April 11, she failed to appear in Salem District Court, leading to the bail jumping charge.

Rebecca Christine Brown, 25, of Asbury Street in South Hamilton, MA, on possession of MDMA and possession of ketamine, both felonies, as well as driving under the influence on Interstate 95 in Hampton Falls on Jan. 25.

Rachel Marie Burlington, 35, of Marsh Lane in Hampton Falls on a felony count of unauthorized use of a propelled vehicle or rented property. She was accused of exercising unauthorized control over a 2021 Nissan Versa, owned by National Rental, between May 8 and June 2, 2021, in Londonderry.

Edwin Zayas Correa, 31, of West Lowell Avenue in Haverhill, MA, on possession of oxycodone and possession of fentanyl, both felonies, as well as driving under the influence and operating without a valid license charges. He was accused of driving on Interstate 93 in Londonderry while under the influence and possessing drugs on Jan. 30.

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Do you have a news tip? Please email it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella’s YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the NH politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.



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Manchester Police Decry Illegal Fireworks As Group Breaks Ordinance

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Manchester Police Decry Illegal Fireworks As Group Breaks Ordinance


MANCHESTER, NH — The Manchester Police Department is reminding locals that fireworks are illegal after a group of people were caught lighting them early Thursday morning.

The report was made around 12:20 a.m. on Lake Shore Road near Massabesic Lake, from where officers received several noise complaints.

Authorities arrived at the scene to find five people — two adults and three juveniles — with fireworks in the middle of the road and remnants that were still smoking, police said.

Find out what’s happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“City ordinances were issued and the juveniles were picked up by their parents,” according to police.

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Police added that several reports have been made in the past few months of illegal fireworks being lit and disturbing residents in the area of Island Pond Road and Lake Shore Road.

Find out what’s happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Manchester officers are increasing enforcement in the area and will continue to enforce the city ordinances,” according to police. “As the Fourth of July holiday approaches, please remember it is illegal to set off fireworks in the city of Manchester.”


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To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.



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Meet the collector behind Portsmouth Athenaeum’s NH primary exhibit

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Meet the collector behind Portsmouth Athenaeum’s NH primary exhibit


It was the dashboard dolls that did it.

A circa-1964 set depicting candidates President Lyndon B. Johnson and Sen. Barry Goldwater put Durham attorney Susan Roman on the path of collecting political memorabilia at a young age.

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The dashboard dolls were a gift from her uncle, and are on display at the Portsmouth Athenaeum’s Randall Gallery — right beneath a pair of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ famed mittens. Roman was Sanders’ New Hampshire operations director during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

Her massive collection of posters, signs, buttons, toys, jewelry − and just about anything else you can think of − is a bipartisan delight.

“My collecting runs the gamut,” she said. “I am not partisan in my collecting.”

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This is good news for those who visit the Portsmouth Athenaeum exhibit, “First in the Nation: New Hampshire Presidential Primaries, 1920-2020,” which runs through November.

“I’m a huge supporter of the New Hampshire primary and retaining its first-in-the-nation status,” Roman said. “We are small enough that it’s possible to meet all or almost all the candidates in person and hear their ideas directly without the filter of mass media.

“You can stand in living rooms sharing coffee or at neighborhood barbecues with someone who will become president.”

Athenaeum members Mary Jo Monusky, Ceal Anderson and Mara Witzling co-curated the exhibit.

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Roman, a member of the University of New Hampshire Class of 1974, campaigned for Democrat George McGovern starting in the summer of 1971. McGovern lost in 1972 to President Richard Nixon.

That year Roman helped organize the first mass voter registration event on the University of New Hampshire campus. The 26th Amendment, which lowered the eligible voting age from 21 to 18, had been ratified in 1971.

“It was an amazing day,” Roman said of the turnout at the UNH field house.

The exhibit also features images of candidates campaigning in New Hampshire by photographers Jim Cole, Renee Giffroy, Roger Goun, Meryl Levin, and Michael Sterling. A video montage by Dennis Kleinman compiles presidential campaign slogans and songs from 1920 to 2020.

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The exhibit is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.

The Portsmouth Athenaeum, 9 Market Square, is a nonprofit membership library and museum founded in 1817. The research library and Randall Gallery are open Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, call 603-431-2538 or visit portsmouthathenaeum.org.



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