New Hampshire
‘Thoughtful, kind, and always thinking of others’: Community mourns loss of Newton family of four – The Boston Globe
“Throughout everything, Lyla was thoughtful, kind, always thinking of others, and an amazing friend,” Alkon said in an email Saturday. “The outpouring of grief among her friends, peers and classmates from Brookline and beyond upon learning of her and her family’s tragic passing, is a tribute to how many lives she and her family touched in a loving, profound way.”
She said Lyla and Matthew Goldstein were deeply proud of their daughters and the adults they were becoming.
Valerie, an alum of Newton South High School, graduated from Syracuse University in May and was working as a fifth-grade instructor in Rocky Mount, N.C., as part of Teach for America, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Violet Goldstein was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, according to a college spokesperson. Violet’s college roommate, Finleigh Lewis, said she was “a beautiful source of light” who radiated kindness and genuine care for every person she met.
“They were both outstanding,” Alkon said of Valerie and Violet during a phone interview later Saturday afternoon. “As was Lyla, as was Matt, really all of them were outstanding.”
A relative of the Goldsteins declined to comment when reached by phone on Saturday. Other family members could not immediately be reached.
The family lived at 29 Margaret Road in Newton, according to city records, where flowers were left on the front steps Friday. City officials said the Goldsteins were active in community events.
Alkon said Lyla was a “dedicated Girl Scout troop leader” when her daughters were in the scouts. A former three-sport athlete at Brookline High School, Lyla Goldstein continued playing basketball throughout her adult life, Alkon said. She was also listed as a board member of the Newton Girls Basketball Association.
Newton City Councilor Bill Humphrey, whose district includes the Goldsteins’ neighborhood, recalled chatting with Lyla and Matthew Goldstein when he’d be out knocking on doors.
“I remember that Valerie would write in to the City Council about her passion for a more sustainable world and a just society as soon as she was old enough to vote, and she asked me to help her with a class project on local environmental policy,” Humphrey said in a statement on social media. “I know many leaders, activists, and educators found both sisters to be memorable and engaging over the years. All four of you will be missed by our community and beyond.”
Goldstein was an eighth-grade math and health teacher at the Edith C. Baker School in Brookline, according to Justin Brown, the president of the Brookline Educators Union. He led the math league and the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance.
Brookline Superintendent Linus J. Guillory Jr. said in a Friday statement that Goldstein was “an exceptional educator” and “beloved” member of the school community.
He also inspired his colleagues. A woman who said she worked across the hall from Goldstein said in a social media post that he “took care of everyone around him – his family, his coworkers, his students, etc.”
“He could find the upside to every situation,” she wrote.
The Goldsteins had been expected to arrive at a holiday gathering on Wednesday, but family members contacted authorities when the four did not answer phone calls and messages, officials said. Wakefield police responded to the home at 2962 Province Lake Road and found the four adults dead inside late Wednesday afternoon.
New Hampshire investigators identified the home’s gas heating system as the source of the carbon monoxide leak, officials said. New Hampshire State Fire Marshal Sean Toomey said Friday that investigators believe there was “some sort of malfunction” with the system that prevented carbon monoxide gas from exiting outside the home.
“We’re still looking into all the details of that failure at this point,” he said.
Town records from Wakefield, N.H., show that the Goldsteins purchased the five-bedroom lakeside home in 2017. The property, which was built in 1984, is located on Balch Lake.
Several pictures on Matthew Goldstein’s Instagram page showed the family swimming and kayaking on Balch Lake. A video he posted Dec. 22 showed one of his daughters splitting wood outside the house. After the news of their deaths, the post has received a flood of condolences in the comments.
Toomey said “there were no carbon monoxide alarms” in the home. He urged New Hampshire residents to make sure they have working carbon monoxide detectors and check with their relatives and neighbors to make sure they do as well.
“Carbon monoxide is a silent killer,” he told reporters. “It’s colorless, odorless, and it will mimic flu-like symptoms, headaches, nausea. Especially at this time of year, with all the regular illnesses going on, it can be mistaken for something else, and that stresses the importance of having the working carbon monoxide alarms in your homes at this point.”
The office of the state’s chief medical examiner determined Goldstein’s cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, and the manner of his death is pending. The cause and manner of deaths of Lyla, Valerie, and Violet also remain pending, officials said. No further information was released Saturday.
Toomey said the state typically sees two or three deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning in a given year, but the number rose above 10 in 2024, including the Goldsteins. He expressed sympathy for the family and their relatives and friends, as well as the first responders who found the family in the home on Christmas Day.
“This has been a terribly tragic year for both fire deaths and carbon monoxide deaths,” he said. “I think it wears on all of us. … To lose a whole family of four right in the peak of the holiday season, it hits home even more.”
Tonya Alanez of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
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.
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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