New Hampshire
Give Back NH: New Hampshire Preservation Alliance
Every other week on NHPR, we like to highlight a New Hampshire nonprofit that’s providing a great service, right here in the Granite State. On this week’s Give Back New Hampshire, we’ll be hearing from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. Founded in 1985, the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance strengthens communities and local economies by supporting and encouraging the revitalization and protection of historic buildings and places.
New Hampshire Preservation Alliance
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New Hampshire Preservation Alliance
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Jennifer Goodman: My name is Jennifer Goodman. I’m the executive director of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance.
Beverly Thomas: And my name is Beverly Thomas. I’m the deputy director of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance.
Jennifer Goodman: New Hampshire Preservation Alliance helps with all kinds of projects all over the state, from really light touch assistance, like somebody who’s looking for help on a roof treatment or a moisture issue in their old house, to a very, very complicated save of an old mill building, old school, old industrial project of some sort.
Beverly Thomas: We have a very active barn program here in New Hampshire. We love our barns in New Hampshire. Want to see them stay, love to see them reused and restored. So we have a great, very active program with educational resources on our website. We do barn tours to help promote barn preservation.
Jennifer Goodman: I think we’re really fortunate in New Hampshire to have really special places and people who are energized and willing to help steward and save and reuse them. Barns are one example of what we would even call an endangered species that are very vulnerable to loss across the state, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. So our work is all about trying to help them survive and thrive.
Paula Gilman: My name is Paula Gilman and I’m from Gilmanton, actually, Lower Gilmanton and my friend Sue Kelley Leclerc and I first went to the Preservation Alliance way back in 2016 because we wanted to revitalize and restore the Kelley Corner Schoolhouse, and it’s the only one room schoolhouse that still exists in Gilmanton that’s owned by the school district, where there were at one time as many as 18.
They also helped us with the First Baptist Church in Lower Gilmanton. In order to get a grant, number one, you have to be on the state register or the Federal Register, but then you have to have a building assessment. And we were shocked when we found out the cost of a building assessment. Then we were happy to learn that the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance will help with a grant from them towards that building assessment.
Jennifer Goodman: We’re so fortunate to have leaders like Paula and Sue to help move these projects along. So it’s a great, great synergy.
Jennifer Goodman: Preservation Alliance works statewide in every town and city across the state. It’s fun talking to you here in Concord, where there’s great preservation activity going on, people taking care of their old houses [or a] Main Street that’s really historic and vibrant, great reuses like churches for housing, and where even our office is in the old stable building for the Eagle Hotel.
There’s also preservation challenges here in Concord, like there are throughout the rest of the state. Farms that are vulnerable on the edges, there’s commercial buildings that need additional investment, and we’ve been working really hard on the historic Gasholder building. It’s the last of its kind in the country, and we’ve stabilized it in conjunction with its owner, Liberty Utilities. But it still needs a new life, it needs a next chapter, and we’re working really hard on that.
Paula Gilman: The Kelley Corner Schoolhouse or the First Baptist Church could not have been done without New Hampshire Preservation Alliance backing us. So that’s that’s a huge, huge thank you, a huge shout out to New Hampshire Preservation Alliance.
New Hampshire
Bank Robber, Sexual Assaulter, With 40-Plus Year Criminal History, Wanted On Parole Violation: NH DOC
CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is asking for the public’s help in finding a sex offender and robbery convict, with “violent tendencies,” who is wanted on a parole violation.
Michael J. Wells is 60, white, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs around 150 lbs. He has dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. Officials said Wells sometimes uses the following aliases: “Michael Morris,” “Michael Morse,” and “Michael Kirby.” He has Tasmanian devil, star, moon, and skull tattoos on his right arm and a cross over a skull with a spider web on his left arm.
The warrant against Wells was issued by the New Hampshire Parole Board as well as Manchester police for duty to report, after accusing him of absconding from parole and failing to register as a sex offender.
“In December 1994,” an alert stated, “Wells was convicted of aggravated felonious sexual assault and as a result, is required to register as a Tier III sex offender for the remainder of his life. Wells is currently on Parole Supervision for robbery.”
In December 2018, Wells robbed the Citizens Bank in Manchester, passing a note stating, “I have a gun. No tracking. No dye bag. $20-$50 quickly. No alarm.” In August 2021, he committed the same offense under similar circumstances, officials said, after he was placed on escape status from the Calumet Transitional Housing Unit. He was arrested in Massachusetts a few weeks later.
Wells is known to frequent both Concord and Manchester.
Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.
Wells criminal history dates back more than four decades, according to superior court records, after he was accused of forgery in Nashua in August 1985. In June 1988, he was convicted on one forgery charge.
Wells was accused of theft in 1990 and he pleaded guilty to the charge a month later.
Wells was accused of bail jumping in February 1989.
In 1994, Wells was accused of aggravated felonious sexual assault, sexual assault, and second-degree assault charges in Nashua. In December 1994, he pleaded guilty to the second-degree assault charge. Wells was found guilty by the court on one aggravated felonious sexual assault charge in January 1996.
Wells was also accused of escape in December 1998.
In 2005 and 2006, more charges were racked up, including four acts prohibited counts in Nashua, a false report to law enforcement, receiving stolen property, two acts prohibited counts in Salem, and forgery in Manchester. Wells was found guilty on two of the drug charges in Salem and the Manchester forgery charge, while the others were nolle prossed.
In April 2019, Wells was convicted on the December 2018 bank robbery charges. He was given a three-and-a-half-to-10-year sentence with 136 days of time served credit and a 10-to-20-year sentence, suspended for 10 years.
New Hampshire
N.H. lawmakers to vote on increasing tolls, civil rights, and k-12 education – The Boston Globe
One proposal (Senate Bill 627) would generate more than $53 million per year in estimated revenue for turnpike projects by essentially doubling what certain cars pay on the state’s toll roads.
The cash fare for Hampton’s main toll booth on Interstate 95, for example, would jump from $2 to $4 for cars and pickup trucks. The toll wouldn’t increase at all for motorists who use New Hampshire’s E-ZPass transponders.
“Surrounding states already have the same in-state discount structure in place,” Democratic Representative Martin Jack of Nashua wrote on behalf of a House committee that unanimously recommended the bill.
A potential hitch: Governor Kelly Ayotte. She’s expressed opposition to the whole toll-hiking idea, and proven she’s not afraid to use her veto pen.
Modifying civil rights standard
Another proposal (Senate Bill 464) would add a few words to the state’s Civil Rights Act. Instead of addressing conduct that is merely “motivated by” a legally protected characteristic, the proposed revision would address conduct that is “substantially motivated by hostility towards the victim’s” protected characteristic (such as their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability).
The prime sponsor, Republican Senator Daryl Abbas, an attorney, testified the change was small and aligned with the law’s intent. But the attorney who oversees the Civil Rights Unit at the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Sean Locke, testified in opposition, saying the proposal could reduce protections, especially since the meaning of “substantially” is somewhat vague.
The House is also weighing a proposed amendment that would add a few more words than Abbas’s version, potentially narrowing the Civil Rights Act’s applicability a bit further.
Open enrollment for K-12 schools
A third proposal up for a vote on Thursday (Senate Bill 101) would make every K-12 public school in New Hampshire an “open enrollment” school. That way, students could freely choose to transfer to a district other than the one where they live.
The proposed policy is controversial, partly because of how schools are funded. Districts rely mostly on local property taxes to cover their costs, as the state government chips in relatively little, and property tax rates vary widely from one community to the next. That generates concern about who will foot the bill when a student transfers.
In light of those concerns, Republicans are offering a compromise amendment to SB 101 that would require the state to provide more money per pupil that a district receives via open enrollment, as the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Democrats are offering their own amendment to establish a study commission on this topic, rather than adopt the proposed policy now.
Lawmakers have until May 14 to take action on the bills that came from the other chamber, though they have until June 4 to iron out any discrepancies.
Amanda Gokee of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
New Hampshire
Boston MedFlight expands into NH
Boston MedFlight often touches down at the scene of some of the worst tragedies in New England – where minutes can mean life or death for a victim. The critical care transport operation is now expanding with a new base in New Hampshire.
The organization is hosting an open house at the new Manchester location on Thursday.
Boston MedFlight flies a critical care transport paramedic and nurse on every flight. Jaik Hanley-McCarthy says their helicopters and ground vehicles are equipped to handle just about any emergency medical procedure.
“Anything that can be done in the ICU,” explained Hanley-McCarthy. “We have a mobile lab so we can draw blood and run labs in real time.”
Boston MedFlight now has five bases across the region.
“Having a base in Manchester just expands this Boston-level care even further north to the more remote areas of the state,” said Hanley-McCarthy.
Boston MedFlight operates as a network of bases and some of the locations are staffed 24 hours.
Chief Executive Officer Maura Hughes says the nonprofit operation survives on public and private donations.
“We provide about $7 million in free care every year to patients,” said Hughes. “Not every hospital can be everything to every patient. We’re really the glue that keeps the health care system together.”
Heather Young says her daughter, Teighan, is still alive because she was flown for a critical assessment and procedure after falling off a truck and hitting her head.
“She should not be driving and walking and talking and all the things she’s doing as quickly as she is,” said Young.
Teighan just turned 18 and plans to go to college to study the medical field.
“I want to be a nurse and help other people,” she said.
It’s stories like this that keep the men and women who work Boston MedFlight focused on their mission.
“I think we just go call by call and try to do the best we can,” said Hanley-McCarthy. “I think when we stop and truly think about it, I think that weight is pretty heavy.”
Boston MedFlight also has a yearly reunion where patients and the team get together here in Bedford to meet and check in on their progress. It really shows you how connected they are to the people they help.
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