New Hampshire

I’m outraged by New Hampshire’s treatment of Geno Marconi: Letters

Published

2 years ago

August 12, 2024

Press Room

I’m outraged by New Hampshire’s treatment of Geno Marconi

Aug. 9 — To the Editor:

I am outraged with the “paid administrative leave” of the Port Director, Geno Marconi and all the secrecy around it.

I chaired the Ports and Harbors Advisory Committee for ten years. I was appointed by Governor Lynch and reappointed for another 5 year term. I also chaired the Piscataqua Maritime Commission (Sail Portsmouth) for 10 years where we brought Tall Ships to Portsmouth.

I worked with Director Marconi very closely in both capacities and I can say without a shred of doubt that he is “by the book” and an imminently fair and honest man.

As Chair of Sail Portsmouth I worked with Director Marconi to bring Tall Ships to our community, to have a safe and enjoyable event, and to make sure the interests of the State’s Ports and Harbors were safeguarded. It was truly an honor to work with someone that is so protective of our NH citizen’s assets. Remember, these Ports, Harbors and waterways belong to all NH citizens from Colebrook to Seabrook.

As Chair of the Ports and Harbors Advisory Committee, I saw instances where people thought the NH RSA’s and administrative rules did not apply to them, and Director Marconi upheld the NH Laws and the policies of the Port to the letter. It made some people very upset that they could not get the rules bent for them.

While I do not have any factual information as to the nature of the suspension, I suspect that someone that regularly uses the Ports and Harbors assets of the State is not happy that they did not get their way, or the PDA wants something that Director Marconi opposes.

It is sad that in this day and age, someone with the ear of a Governor or powerful politician can intentionally inflict emotional distress and destroy the reputation of someone that is merely trying to follow the rules.

Now with the suspension of his wife from her position as a State Supreme Court Justice, the pressure is turned up. Governor, you have messed with the wrong people. Director Marconi is not one to be pressured to resign. He is a by-the-book man, and you are about to learn that lesson.

So when Director Marconi is reinstated, as Secretary of Labor Ray Donovan under Reagan said “….which office do I go to to get my reputation back?”

Donald Coker

Strafford

My Holocaust survivor father warned us not to be complacent about democracy

Aug. 8 − To the Editor:

Part of what makes this country great is our diversity of opinions and thoughts. However, we should not be each other’s enemies and should have civil discourse among citizens with differing beliefs. I long for the Republican Party of John McCain when he showed his respect for then Senator Obama in that notable Muslim discussion with an ill-informed voter.

Donald Trump however, expresses his dictatorial power goals as he praises world leaders who are dictators. He speaks openly about being a dictator on day one. The Republican Party has become a party of the extreme. I feel that those of us who consider ourselves either “middle of the road” or progressive need to call out extremism for what it is, a danger to our 250-year-old democratic experiment.

My parents were Holocaust survivors who arrived in this country in 1940. My father always reminded me that when he lived in Germany, Jews were well integrated in German society and did not anticipate the threat to their existence. He warned me never to be too complacent with democracy. And here we are, with a Republican candidate for president who is threatening to deport ten million people, including Dreamers.

I have had conversations with friends and seen editorial writers say they will not vote for Kamala Harris, despite their reservations about Trump. These are people who were part of the Republican Party that once believed in compromise, a balanced budget, and educational opportunities for all. I strongly encourage those who are planning on voting for a third party to reconsider and vote for Kamala Harris. The health of our democracy is too important to make any other choice.

Warren Daniel

Durham

Two camps unite to support Harris

Aug. 8 − To the Editor:

You’ve got them, I’ve got them: A friend or family member in the “other” political camp. If you’re a registered Independent, perhaps you’ve got more: People you laugh with, walk dogs with, complain about sports with, but with whom you never talk politics and have rarely seen eye to eye politically.

Until now. Thanks to two high-profile NH GOP leaders, the two camps can agree on a positive future.

A new Presidential campaign, “New Hampshire Republicans for Harris,” welcomes into its tent those who hold conservative values and democracy dear but put truth and country over divisiveness and cultism. Co-chaired by a retired executive director of the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority and a former Green Beret, the new group understands that the way forward is through electing Kamala Harris.

Check it out.

Robin Mower

Durham

Harris-Walz have seven times more experience than Trump-Vance

Aug. 9 − To the Editor:

Experience matters.

Camala Harris and Tim Walz have 36 years of political experience. Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, collectively, have five years.

Harris’ record: vice president (four years), U.S. senator (5 years), California attorney general (six years), and district attorney (four years). Tim Walz has been a governor for five years and was U.S. representative for 12 years before that. And that doesn’t count his many years of public service as a high school teacher and coach.

Trump “served” as president for four years. Vance was a U.S. senator for less than a year.

If for no other reason − and there are LOTS of other reasons – experience and competency should lead all voters to support Harris and Walz Nov. 5.

Cathy Wolff

Kittery, Maine

Small businesses need child care support

Aug. 7 − To the Editor:

As the owner of a small business that provides child care in a variety of settings, I know first hand the struggles that businesses and families go through to find affordable, convenient child care. This crisis, deepened by soaring costs and limited availability, forces parents and caregivers into making sometimes desperate choices: from settling for subpar, unreliable care to cutting back hours or even leaving the workforce.  

Through my business, A Place to Grow, we have worked to expand innovative solutions to this challenge, including by offering in-business child care services in addition to dedicated, stand-alone facilities. But I still hear from people across the state, and particularly from small business owners like me, that there is not enough state or federal support to help address the cost of providing child care.

The repercussions are profound, affecting both family financial stability and broader economic productivity. That’s why I’m joining my fellow small business owners nationwide in calling on our elected officials to address this crisis by prioritizing child care initiatives.

Nearly 80 percent of my fellow small business owners recently surveyed by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices said they support policy makers taking action to increase federal funding for programs helping families access affordable child care. Seventy percent voiced support for increasing tax credits to businesses who locate or provide child care for their workers.

I was encouraged by a recent visit from Senator Maggie Hassan to my business, where we discussed the child care challenges facing New Hampshire. Senator Hassan and our federal delegation have been leaders in pushing for federal resources, and we need more to step up alongside them.

It’s time to invest in our children, support working parents and caregivers, and strengthen our economy.

Jennifer Legere

Exeter

Trump spews endless lies and the media sleeps

Aug. 10 − To the Editor:

Trump spews endless lies and the media sleeps. No questions, no pushback about the $10 million from Egypt, let alone the repetitive Big Lie.

No pushback around his claim that his economy, and employment numbers were better than Biden’s, or the lies about migrant crime.

Trump goes on and on, while prominent journalists hammer Karine Jean-Pierre about Biden’s neurological exams.

Where are those prominent journalists and newspapers that brought down Nixon, published the Pentagon papers, exposed Watergate?

Isn’t $10 million from Egypt worth a Watergate exposure, or even just a question?

Malcolm Odell

Exeter

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New Hampshire

Senate panel endorses reporting exemption for players on New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Published

3 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Senate panel endorses reporting exemption for players on New Hampshire Fisher Cats

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New Hampshire

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

Published

15 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.

“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.

“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”

Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.

“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.

He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”

Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks with voters in Keene, New Hampshire, on March 7, 2026.

Anne Bryson

For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.

“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”

Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.

CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with political commentator Jack Cocchiarella at an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on March 5, 2026.

Anne Bryson

Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.

29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.

“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.

While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.

“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,

“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.

“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.

Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.

“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.

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New Hampshire

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Local News

Police say the Attleboro man was driving 104 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 202 near in Rindge, New Hampshire.

A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway.

Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski.

The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said.

The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police.

He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said.