New Hampshire

Perry Plummer returns: Dover hires former fire chief on interim basis. Here’s why.

Published

2 years ago

July 23, 2024

Perry Plummer returns: Dover hires former fire chief on interim basis. Here’s why.

DOVER — Former Dover fire chief Perry Plummer has been tapped to serve as the city department’s interim leader as current Chief Michael McShane is away on extended family and medical leave, according to the city.

Plummer, a 25-year veteran of the Dover Fire Department, served as the city’s chief from 2002 until 2011. Appointed by City Manager Michael Joyal Jr., Plummer’s 10-week-long interim deal will be up for approval at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Plummer, 65, would be paid $2,949.91 by the city for working 39 hours each week, per the terms of his deal. The former chief’s first day back overseeing the station was last Monday, July 15.

“Some days it feels like I never left, and other days it’s like I’ve never been here,” Plummer said of the Dover Fire Department. “But everyone has been fantastic. It’s like coming home for me after all this time.”

Plummer’s second chapter leading Dover fire crews is now his third time leading a New Hampshire municipal fire department on an interim basis. His recent stints with local departments includes a brief stop in Rochester before the city hired Dennis Dube as its chief, in addition to leading the Salem Fire Department for a time.

This instance is different, as Plummer stepped in after the former fire chiefs in Rochester and Salem retired, while McShane will return from his extended leave.

Upon McShane’s return, Plummer will revert back to retirement, a stage of life he admittedly hasn’t fully committed to in recent years.

“Obviously it’s an honor to come in and be able to help the department I love and provide some assistance to Chief McShane and his department,” Plummer said Monday. “It’s an honor to be asked to lead departments of such high quality, whether it’s Dover, Rochester or Salem.”

The interim chief’s new Dover contract notes he won’t be eligible for paid leave or paid time off for holidays, nor will he accrue it, while he is employed by the city.

The Dover resident’s career in the city firefighting force began in 1986. He left the department in 2011 to lead the New Hampshire Department of Safety’s Division of Fire Standards and Training and Emergency Medical Services. Plummer in 2012 became the director of the state’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management agency and then worked as assistant commissioner at the state Department of Safety.

Plummer stayed busy after that, helping lead New Hampshire’s efforts to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to residents.

McShane began working with Dover Fire & Rescue in 2005, hired by none other than Plummer. McShane has served as the city’s fire chief and emergency management director since the winter of 2022.

The city’s interim fire chief expects to remain with the Dover department for a few weeks following McShane’s return.

“This is really where I feel most comfortable,” Plummer said.

Plummer’s appointment as interim chief and McShane’s extended leave of absence coincides with the previously-planned retirement of assistant fire chief David Hanna this month, according to the city.

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New Hampshire

Townsend man arrested in connection with two armed robberies in New Hampshire and New Jersey, authorities say – The Boston Globe

Published

10 hours ago

July 10, 2026

Press Room

Townsend man arrested in connection with two armed robberies in New Hampshire and New Jersey, authorities say – The Boston Globe

Authorities allege Joseph Sawyer brandished what appeared to be a handgun during a robbery at St. Mary’s Bank in Nashua, N.H., on June 12.Boston FBI

A Townsend man was arrested Wednesday night in connection with two armed bank robberies in New Hampshire and New Jersey last month, federal authorities said.

Joseph Sawyer, 52, was arrested by FBI Albany’s SWAT team after the bureau’s Boston office and Nashua, N.H., police learned he might be in upstate New York, FBI Boston said in a statement Thursday.

Investigators said the alleged robberies happened at St. Mary’s Bank on Northwest Boulevard in Nashua on June 12 and at a Chase Bank in Boonton, N.J., on June 27.

During both robberies, prosecutors allege Sawyer brandished what appeared to be a black semiautomatic handgun, ordered everyone inside the banks to get on the ground, and demanded their cell phones before stealing cash, according to a criminal complaint filed in New Hampshire federal court.

The complaint alleges Sawyer stole $6,000 from the Nashua bank before fleeing in a Honda minivan. Investigators say he discarded a shopping bag containing the bank manager’s cell phone in a nearby parking lot before driving away.

Investigators linked the two robberies through surveillance footage and license plate reader data, according to court filings. Authorities allege the minivan was driven with stolen New Jersey plates during the Boonton robbery that were later replaced with Massachusetts plates registered to Sawyer’s late father.

Sawyer was charged with one count of bank robbery in New Hampshire, court records show. It was not immediately clear Thursday night if he is being represented by an attorney.

The case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s office for the District of New Hampshire, the FBI said.

Breanne Kovatch can be reached at breanne.kovatch@globe.com. Follow her @breannekovatch.

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New Hampshire

Trans athletes drop lawsuit to gain access to girls’ sports in New Hampshire after SCOTUS ruling

Published

20 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

Trans athletes drop lawsuit to gain access to girls’ sports in New Hampshire after SCOTUS ruling

Fighting the transgender sports ban is ‘utterly misogynistic’: Riley Gaines

Fox News discusses the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold transgender sports bans. Former NCAA All-American Riley Gaines states it’s ‘insane’ to challenge biological sex in sports, asserting boys should not compete in girls’ sports. She calls the opposing movement ‘misogynistic,’ advocating for female athletes’ rights and fair competition, a view echoed by Education Secretary Linda McMahon. This highlights the contentious issue in women’s sports.

A pair of trans athletes in New Hampshire have dismissed their lawsuit to challenge the state law that protects girls’ sports after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Title IX ruling on June 30.

The trans teenage plaintiffs, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, originally filed the lawsuit in 2024 to challenge a current New Hampshire state law prohibiting trans athletes from participating in girls’ sports. The lawsuit later expanded to add President Donald Trump’s administration to the defendants after Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order on Feb. 5, 2025.

The lawyers for the trans athletes claimed Trump’s executive order, along with parts of a Jan. 20 executive order that forbids federal money from being used to “promote gender ideology,” subjects the teens and all transgender girls to discrimination in violation of federal equal protection guarantees and their rights under Title IX.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

A transgender athlete and the Supreme Court (Getty Images)

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire then ruled last year that female athletes represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys were permitted to intervene in the case to defend the state’s women’s sports law and the administration’s executive orders.

Now, after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling, which protects state laws that ensure only females compete in girls’ sports, there is no room for the trans teens to fight the law in New Hampshire.

“Women and girls deserve privacy, safety, and equal opportunities. That can’t happen when males are competing in women’s sports, taking spots on women’s athletic teams, and winning women’s championships,” ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Litigation Strategy Jonathan Scruggs said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.

USA POWERLIFTING, ONCE IN TRANS ATHLETE LAWSUIT, SUPPORTS SCOTUS RULING: ‘LAW HAS CAUGHT UP WITH THE SCIENCE’

“President Trump’s executive orders and New Hampshire’s law recognize common sense and track Title IX, the federal law that ensures equal opportunities for women in athletics. We are grateful this case is coming to an end and that New Hampshire is free to protect its female athletes.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Tirrell and Turmelle’s attorneys at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) for a response.

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A protester waves a transgender pride flag outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Building on June 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. Advocates organized a rally in response the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in US v. Skrmetti, in which the justices ruled to uphold state bans on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The SCOTUS rulings in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, the high court upheld state laws requiring student-athletes to compete on sports teams that correspond with their biological sex at birth rather than their gender identity, in a 6-3 decision.

However, there are still 23 states, including California, New York and Massachusetts, that don’t have any such laws, and some of those have laws to protect trans athletes in girls’ sports.

Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire Gov. signs law requiring schools to out trans kids

Published

1 day ago

July 9, 2026

Press Room

New Hampshire Gov. signs law requiring schools to out trans kids

New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte (Getty Images)

New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte has signed legislation requiring public school employees to disclose information about transgender students to their parents or legal guardians, reversing a 2024 state Supreme Court ruling that upheld students’ privacy rights in certain circumstances.

Ayotte’s office announced on 2 July that the legislation had been signed into law. Under SB 430, educators must respond to written requests from parents for “material information” about their child, even if a student has asked that the information be kept confidential or fears negative consequences at home.

Supporters of the legislation, such as Republican state Senator Tim Lang, argue the measure strengthens parental rights and enables families to better support children who may be struggling. “If you don’t tell the parent, the parent can’t watch for the signs of self-harm,” Lang told New Hampshire Public Radio.

Educators and LGBTQ+ advocates, however, say the law places teachers in an impossible position by forcing them to choose between complying with the law and protecting vulnerable students. Megan Tuttle, president of NEA-New Hampshire, the state’s largest teachers’ union, said in a statement that the legislation is “vaguely written and risks putting educators in a position of outing a student.” She added that schools should remain places where every student feels “safe, seen, and free to be themselves.”

Aimee Terravechia, executive director of LGBTQ+ advocacy group 603 Equality, warned the law could erode trust between students and educators while speaking with New Hampshire Public Radio. “Schools should be a place of learning… and a place of critical self-examination,” she said. “Placing educators into a role of monitoring and reporting removes the trust necessary for a thriving academic environment.”

The legislation also effectively overturns a 2024 New Hampshire Supreme Court decision, in which justices ruled that keeping a student’s gender identity confidential did not unlawfully interfere with parents’ rights, noting that parents still retained numerous ways to support and communicate with their children outside the classroom.

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