MANCHESTER, NH – Something new and exciting is brewing on the exploding Manchester dining scene – next in a series of farm fresh dining experiences that includes locally-distilled spirits.
The next installment of The Farmers Dinnerwill take place on June 22 at XO On Elm in Manchester, featuring a five-course meal locally sourced and endorsed by a team of regional foodies.
More than exquisite food, The Farmers Dinner aims to up the ante while promoting a sense of community and focused awareness about the importance of knowing where your food comes from.
Organizer Keith Sarasin explains that home-style seating is a deliberate and essential element of the fine dining series.
“We set up the dining room with a home-style seating plan and have guest speakers and local farmers interact with the diners between courses, which encourages interaction among the diners and speakers,” says Sarasin.
Family-style dining enhances the sense of community for The Farmers Dinner.
The menu is crafted from ingredients that are in season and picked fresh. Since this is the first time The Farmers Dinner has been planned in Manchester, Sarasin has added a special twist.
“We decided to bring in award-winning mixologist Jared Bracci who will be pairing New Hampshire made spirits from Djinn Spirits in Nashua with courses using local in-season flavors. This spirit pairing is optional but we think the customers are going to love the amazing flavors that Jared is mixing up,” says Sarasin.
The Manchester Food Co-Op will present a progress report on efforts to bring a co-op to the city, and how that will also work toward building community.
Generation Farm of Concord will be on hand to discuss organic produce, including how to grow organically in your garden, and why it’s important to understand the benefit of organics.
Great Harvest Bread Co. of Nashua will be discussing how they incorporate locally sourced flavors into their bakery, and Rickety Ranch of Hollis will be talking about their efforts to help rescued animals in our area.
The Farmers Dinner allows diners to meet the people who are growing and preparing their food. In addition, diners receive recipes listing local area farms and information on how to prepare the dishes they have that night. Vegetarian options are always available.
For additional information, email: info@thefarmersdinner.com
Tickets are $65 per person and can be purchased at www.thefarmersdinner.com [an additional +$20 for spirit pairing.]
Hillsborough County Attorney Patricia LaFrance. Courtesy photo
Hillsborough County Attorney Patricia LaFrance welcomes the challenge from her former boss, Dennis Hogan, who on June 3 announced his intention to run for re-election as County Attorney, a post he lost to LaFrance in 2012.
“Dennis says he cut spending, but he didn’t. The legislature did that. What he failed to say is that those cuts devastated our office. The workload increased dramatically, and I don’t believe he fought hard enough to retain jobs,” LaFrance said. “That’s why I made the decision to run, based on his failed leadership at the time.”
LaFrance, who plans to run again in November, was responding to information posted on Hogan’s campaign website , announcing his candidacy, which reads: “I created budgets that spent 8% less money than when I arrived and I increased efficiency by studying then changing the work flow. That was done while the office handled a record amount of cases.”
LaFrance said Hogan does not have the experience needed as a prosecutor to do the job, and welcomes the chance to defend her record as county attorney.
“Maybe this time Dennis will be willing to debate me – he wouldn’t debate me last election. I’ll debate Dennis Hogan right now,” LaFrance said. “I’ll gladly compare my record with his.”
Filing period for the November 2014 election cycle opens June 4.
Dennis Hogan, left, announced his intention to run for Hillsborough County Attorney in the November election, while on the air at WSMN radio June 3.
Republican Dennis Hogan has announced his intention to run for Hillsborough County Attorney in the November election.
Hogan, of Nashua, served as county attorney from 2011-2012. He lost his bid for reelection in 2012 to Democrat Patricia LaFrance.
Hogan says while serving as county attorney he cut spending in the department by 8 percent.
Under LaFrance, Hogan says spending has increased by 2 percent, a point which LaFrance countered shortly after hearing about Hogan’s intention to run again.
Hogan has handled criminal defense, bankruptcy and personal injuries since beginning the private practice of law in 2002. Hogan established his own firm in 2005.
Hogan served as Ward 2 Delegate to NH’s 17th and last Constitutional Convention in 1984. He represented Ward 2 in the NH Legislature after the 1984 election. He served in 2005 on the Nashua Board of Education, and in 2006, Hogan prevented “Cop Killer Advocate” Tom Alciere from becoming the Republican nominee for State Senate District 13 by mounting a successful write-in campaign for which he received 89 percent of the vote.
No, it’s not the fragmented name of a situation comedy from the 1960s starring Jerry Van Dyke.
I’m referring to my own mother and her 1955 Chevy.
For years, the two were inseparable. Everyone who knew my mother knew her car – a classic green two-door Chevy with a white hardtop.
“Your mom still driving that green Chevy?” was always the No. 2 question people would ask me, right after the No. 1 question: “Is that your natural hair color?”
Sadly, the next time someone asks about that car, my answer – for the very first time since I was born a natural blonde – will be “no.”
The old green Chevy has been sold and is, as of last Thursday, parked someplace other than my parents’ Levittown driveway.
I’d heard Mom talk about selling the car before. Usually after someone expressed interest in buying it – which was often. In fact, my mother figured she’s had upwards of 50 – maybe closer to 75 – people leave notes, come up to her house or approach her in public with an offer for the old ’55.
So when I got the news last week that she’d sent Dad to the safe deposit box at the bank to dig out the title, something stirred in me. I actually had an emotional response to the big old green hunk of steel.
I spent most of the 1970s being embarrassed by that car. If I had to go someplace with my mom, I’d always keep an eye out for pedestrians who might recognize me. And if I spotted one, I’d practically kiss the floorboard in my rush to get my head below the passenger side window and out of plain view. My normal routine was to untie and then tie my shoes. Both of them.
My bonding years with that car occurred before I grew too cool to be seen in it.
For example, I was prone to earaches, so I spent a lot of time getting excused by the school nurse and picked up by Mom. She’d drive me to the doctor’s office and the pharmacy – and then to the Acme for Mister Salty pretzels and a Tastykake. I have a lot of horizontal memories of that expansive backseat, my sore ear pressed to the green-and-white vinyl.
I know no one needs to justify the sale of a classic old car. But it had become temperamental. Mom stopped driving it at least a year ago, after her daily trips to the supermarket were spoiled one too many times by a car that refused to take her home again. The car had aged beyond functionality. It had become just another old automobile – minus the mobile.
It was time.
But not before I took the opportunity last Wednesday to climb inside and pay my respects to the glorious green gal.
First thing I noticed was the exterior. She had lost her shine. I climbed in the backseat and started playing with the ashtray cover, just like always. It still sounded the same, lifting the shiny, spring-action metal edge of the cover and – flip – letting it snap down again. I cranked the window handle down and watched the familiar curve of window glass appear at the top.
Then I climbed up to the front seat.
I touched every single knob, turned the radio on and off a few times. When it worked, the radio always registered a faint hum first that grew louder until the static gave way to music.
I reached up and touched the ceiling. Soft yellow dust fell, leaving a hint of my fingertip on the faded fabric.
This particular model car had a small vent window in the front – an escape hatch for cigarette smoke, I guess – with a fascinating little locking mechanism that I had forgotten about, but spent many hours of my life fiddling with.
So I sat there for one more minute, and fiddled.
I pressed the gas pedal. I tried the clutch. And before I got out of the car, I reached over and grabbed onto the little strap that hung off to the side near the backseat window. My sister Jean and I never did figure out the reason for those straps. Primitive safety belts, maybe.
We just knew there was one for each of us. We could slip our hands inside and hang, just for fun.
Or for dear life, in the middle of a hairpin turn whenever Dad was driving.
For some reason, I was surprised by how frayed and rotted the fabric of a 40-year-old car strap could be.
But I held onto it, lingering for another second or two. It felt like a secret handshake with a childhood friend who had grown too old too fast.
Through all of this, my youngest kids were waiting, asleep, in my car parked in my mom’s driveway. So I slammed the heavy green door in a hurry and made a run for it. I noticed the wind was kicking up at that same moment.
And I’m glad. Because otherwise my hair wouldn’t have flown across my face just as Mom leaned out the front door to wave goodbye, and she probably would have seen my unexpected tears, the ones that lasted the whole ride home.
It’s a rail thing, something you might not understand fully unless you’ve been following along with current Executive Councilor Deb Pignatelli, a strong proponent for bringing commuter rail to Nashua and beyond.
Diane Sheehan, a Democrat, will announce her candidacy for District 5 Executive Councilor.
Sheehan will throw her hat into the ring officially when the candidate filing period opens June 4.
Sheehan, who currently serves as an Alderman At Large for Nashua, says she is ready to represent District 5.
“I was very surprised with Deb’s announcement not to run, and was approached by people who were concerned with what would happen when the rail study is completed in the fall. In the interest of what happened the last time we had someone who was unresponsive in that seat, I feel it’s important that we have someone who understands the economic opportunity rail presents and is ready to act on it, should that be what the study supports,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan was referring to former Executive Councilor David Wheeler, who lost his seat to Pignatelli in 2012. Months before the election that year Wheeler faced down some pro-rail constituents during a public meeting in Nashua, where support for a commuter line is strong.
David Wheeler will seek to regain his Executive Council seat in District 5 in the November 2014 General Election.
Wheeler, a Republican from Milford, said over the weekend he has every intention of running again to regain his Executive Council seat, a decision he came to long before Pignatelli announced she would not seek reelection.
He also hasn’t changed his mind about the impracticality of bringing commuter rail to Nashua.
“It’s not that rail isn’t a good idea; the question is how do we pay for a project that will cost half a billion dollars, with interest?” said Wheeler.
“And then it’s going to have to be subsidized by New Hampshire taxpayers at about $10 million a year. Meanwhile, Nashua has the honor of having one of the only public transportation systems operating in the black, the Boston Express. If you pull people off the bus and put them on a train, not only will the bus be in the red, but the train will, too. It’s something we need to give careful consideration to,” Wheeler said.
Sheehan, who recently switched her party affiliation from undeclared to Democrat for this election, said she is primarily running to make sure voters have an alternative to Wheeler. She says winning the Executive Council seat would not limit her ability to serve Nashua in her role as alderman.
“I’m confident that a lot of what I’m doing on the Board of Aldermen, including work with the Nashua Regional Planning Commission, will result in some good sharing of information. Rail is a key issue for people living in Nashua. I don’t want to see it stall out again,” Sheehan said.
Wheeler said he is interested to learn the results of the rail study, but will find it difficult to get past the lack of dedicated funding to move the idea forward, should the study support that.
And besides that, he’d be surprised if the study supports bringing rail into Nashua.
“Highways are paid for by dedicated funds – the gas tax and vehicle registrations. The train has no dedicated source, other than the fare, which is predicted to be nowhere near enough. Maybe, if we see what the numbers look like to bring a train to the Pheasant Lane Mall area first, but I doubt if the train study is going to come back with any answers on how we afford to extend rail to Concord or even Manchester,” Wheeler said. “This is the fourth study, and all the answers are coming back the same.”
Sheehan says Wheeler’s resistance to the study, despite support from many constituents in Nashua – including Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, Chamber of Commerce President Christopher Williams and several sitting aldermen – simply underscores how out of touch he is with those he was elected to serve.
“[Wheeler] delayed rail for two years, and many were happy about that. But many, many, many more were not. He wasn’t even delaying rail, he was delaying having good information with which to make a good decision about rail,” Sheehan said.
Wheeler stands by his position.
“I’m in favor of baby steps. I just can’t see the whole run to Concord, which most people who are advocating this want the whole ball of wax. I just can’t see how New Hampshire an afford half a billion dollars for this. I’m sure [Sheehan] is pretty good at spending money we don’t have.”
The field for Pignatelli’s seat is getting crowded, as Republicans Steve Stepanek, of Amherst and Steve Hattmer of Hollis have both announced their intentions to run, as well as Democrat Jennifer Daler of Temple.
Like this one, a recap of a recent day trip I took from New Hampshire to New York City and back. I’m simply reposting the short chain of events directly from my Facebook page.
Although it may read at first like any other self-involved series of Facebook posts, I urge you to read through to where the magic of Facebook takes over, at about 11 p.m.
For me, it’s a powerful lesson on the intrinsic value of “following” the adventures of others online – even people we’ve never actually met. The connectivity we have at our finger tips, and the happy endings that connectivity sometimes leads to, is what this techno-life is all about.
And special thanks, again, to Michael Reed, for being there.
April 30, 2014 8:30 a.m. (posted shortly after boarding an Amtrak train in Boston)
Impromptu trip to NYC to deliver James Neil’s big suitcase … so he can move back to the U.S. with most of his stuff. Travel time: 14 hours round trip via bus and train. Son time: 5.2 hours. Long day but fun adventure.
[Quick Video]
April 30, 2014 8:45 a.m. (Posted shortly after the conductor made me smile)
Today I celebrate #Amtrak and this guy, the wry conductor pretending to hate his job, but really making me feel great about this ride when he rallies with a “So far, so good,” after my “Good morning,” volley. He efficiently scanned my eTicket with a gadget 10 minutes after departure. I didn’t have to stand in line, or take off my shoes. There is enough leg room for a team of horses. I have an electrical outlet next to my seat, and wifi. I carried my coffee and breakfast sandwich on and am lingering over it as we roll past woods full of resurrecting trees and meadows, a puddled ball field and bridge graffiti. I have time to think and breath and fill out my NH Employment weekly claim form. I have time to consider that life is always about the journey, staying connected, having enough gas to go the extra mile, and above all, squeezing as much goodness out of every day, no excuses.
April 30, 2014 7 p.m. (Posted shortly after boarding the Amtrak at Penn Station in NYC, one hour later than scheduled, bound for Boston).
Whirlwind NYC adventure over. James Neil looked so young and handsome and was a good navigator. My umbrella didn’t make it a block out of Penn Station, but thanks to Lauren Goglick for the spare. Train home is one hour behind schedule but I should make the last bus home. — with James Neil.
April 30, 2014 10:45 p.m. [Posted after asking the conductor what time we were going to be in Boston, and realizing I would miss the last train to NH, due to the one-hour departure delay.]
Do I know anyone who is in Boston right now heading for NH? I am about to miss the last bus out of South Station.
Michael ReedCarol, I am landing in Logan in about an hour. Inbox me if you still need a ride.
May 1, 2014 10 a.m. [Posted after realizing my followers were waiting to find out how my virtual SOS played out. It’s where the story goes from “eh” to EPIC, in my humble opinion.]
Carol RobidouxAnd the hero of our story is Michael Reed, who swooped in from Philadelphia, via Atlanta, and found me like a forgotten bag on the carousel of hopelessness in Terminal B at Logan Airport, where I managed to arrive after crying over spilt milk and other unidentifiable remnants of the day at a table of homeless guys hunkered down in the South Station concourse. I learned that although I missed the last bus to NH, there was still one more bus, the Silver Line, to Logan. I hopped it like a lovestruck bunny and got off at the first stop. Not knowing the details of Michael’s flight, I wandered the terminal on foot, looking for one comprehensive “arrivals” sign board to find any arriving flights from Philly. After about 30 minutes of terminal purgatory, Michael texted to say he was heading to US Air baggage claim. I hoofed it from Terminal C to Terminal B, and flagged down a young man with a name badge to point me in the right direction. He pushed me out the sliding doors and said, “Try the arrival terminal.” Minutes later, Michael was there and graciously offered to drive me all the way to Londonderry to get my car, even though he only had to go to Nashua. He said it was his anniversary, and if his wife were in a similar predicament, he’d hope that someone would show her the same kindness. My day ended on that feel-good note, 21 hours later, and in all, I’d say it was a fine ending to a great adventure.
Carol RobidouxOH, and the BIG PS is that Michael and I have never met in person, that I can recall. But we met through my job at Nashua Patch. Michael, a frequent flyer for his work, contributed some blogs on his experience at various airports, with tips and advice. We became FB friends sometime after that, and if not for my virtual SOS I’d have spent the night searching the terminal trashcans for a midnight snack with my homeless guy compadres.
Michael ReedThank you for the sweet story. It was great to finally meet you. Long appreciated and respected your work on patch. Sorry for talking your ear off
Linda MastenSo happy that you made it home safely! I also am smiling while reading your story. Your fantastic way of writing keeps us all enchanted. Your next title in life should be author!
Just having a little fun at the expense of twin antiquarians Leigh and Leslie Keno, who I interviewed once for a story about a local auction in NH.
*New Hampshire legislators killed a bill that would have allowed Keno in local establishments that serve alcohol. This has nothing at all to do with the Keno twins, Leigh and Leslie – known for their high-end auction item expertise – or whether they will be allowed to drink in New Hampshire.
It is about the game of Keno, a lottery style casino game, and the push for a bill to bring it to NH, co-sponsored by Keith and Kelleigh Murphy, co-owners of Murphy’s Taproom here in Manchester – where alcohol is definitely served, and Liberty lovers have been known to raise a glass to such crowd pleasers as Ron Paul and Open Carry nights.
No word as to whether the Keno twins have actually ever tried to get served at local bars when in New Hampshire on the hunt for Granite State related “Buried Treasure.”
Anyway, every now and again I get such a strong visual from word play that I can’t resist, so I created the above meme, just for fun. Oh, and you can read the text of NH HB 485 here.
*Subtext: OMG – NH Senate Killed Keno! (for the South Park Fans)
Nashua, NH – Here’s a safe bet for those looking for increase their family’s fun factor.
Rain or shine, on May 3 you are invited to Family Fun Day at Nashua High School South, 36 Riverside St., Nashua, NH from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is hosted by Lil’ Iguana’s Children’s Safety Foundation, a Nashua-based nonprofit focused on keeping children safe.
Family Fun Day is always a huge draw, because it includes a variety of fun-focused activities that emphasize health, fitness, safety and literacy for the whole family. Activities scheduled include bounce houses by Jump Around NH; Fisher Cat baseball pitching station; face painting; balloon art; kids activities/crafts; Party Palace princess characters; Rainbow the Macaw; a coloring contest, and much more.
There will also be healthy food and beverage samples, and plenty of indoor activities.
Kids can enter the Lil’ Iguana Coloring Contest where two winners will receive a grand prize of a new bike and helmet donated by Target. All participants in the contest will receive a book as their prize when they return their artwork to Family FunDay. The official entry form can be found here: www.liliguanausa.org/ffd-may
All-day live entertainment will include: YMCA Dance InMotion; Extreme Coupon Professors; Mad Science; Tokyo Joe’s Studio of Self Defense; Rhythmic Revolution Baton Twirling; Music for kids with Sharon Novak,; Jazzercise for kids with Terry; the Whirlygigs & Mr. Whirly; Showcase Performing Arts; Big Joe the Storyteller.
Costume characters and team mascots will be participating in a Mascot Parade at 12 p.m. and will be available for Meet and Greets from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Look out for Lil’ Iguana, Yoshi, Moo Moo, Fungo, Oakie, Orson, Sir Sterling and a favorite mascot from Canobie Lake Park.
Sponsors of Family Fun Day include: Well Sense Health Plan of NH; Fidelity Investments/UNIQUE College Investing Plan; SafetySnapp; Jump Around NH; Collins Dentistry for Children; Allen Mello Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram; Coffee News; Zevia; Oakhurst; Main Street Chiropractic; Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse; Boogie Wipes; Party Palace; Longhorn Steakhouse; and Target.
BONUS: Click here to find out how to win a free family 4-Pack Lunch at the event, via Lil’ Iguana’s Facebook page.
Four dozen of New Hampshire’s top law officers, health officials and addiction experts came together to share their first-hand frustrations and observations about the fallout from the current drug epidemic responsible for unprecedented accidental deaths, spiking crime rates and a revolving door of addiction here, and across the country.
U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, organized the two-hour listening session on April 23, a group which included: NH Attorney General Joseph Foster; police chiefs from more than a dozen cities and towns, including Manchester Chief David Mara and Nashua Chief John Seusing; Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Andrew; Dr. Cheryl Wilkie, of Easter Seals/Farnum Center; and others.
U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, listens to discussion by top NH officials on heroin/oxy addiction.
The only thing missing from the gathering was the kind of politicized posturing one might expect from a meeting of the minds involving state officials and federal officials.
Instead, the panelists spoke with a genuine sense of urgency about the alarming prevalence of heroin and opiate use, which has rapidly become an epic public health problem here.
NH top law and health officials talk about the current drug crisis in New Hampshire.
Jails are jammed, with no in-house rehabilitation; state-funded beds at treatment centers have wait lists at least two months out. Crime victims have no assurance that their communities are safe from drug-driven criminals. Families are desperate for answers.
The result is a revolving door of addicts who can’t get the treatment they need to recover, which leads to relapse and recidivism. Unintended consequences include over-burdened police drug units and a staggering spike in death rates, 96 percent of them deemed “accidental.”
From left, NH Attorney General Joseph Foster, Dover Police Chief Anthony Colarusso Jr., Michael Forti of NH Drug Task Force and Jay Fallon of New England High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
The following is a recap of the highlights from each of the seven resulting video clips, filmed at Manchester NH Police headquarters:
You can watch all seven parts of the Heroin/Opioid Roundtable below. Just click play.
Part 1
Manchester Police Chief David Mara talks about the progression of heroin addiction for the typical user – often escalating from oxycodone use. But with a street cost of $30 for a 30 milligram pill, multiplied by a several pill-a-day habit, addicts turn to crime to support their addiction.
Mara said over the past four years, Manchester’s drug unit has confiscated an increasing amount of heroin:
2010 – 45.25 grams
2011 – 186.8 grams
2012 – 406.2 grams
2013 – 664.6 grams
In the first quarter of 2014: 600 grams of heroin were confiscated so far, on track to quadruple what was confiscated in 2013.
Part 2
New Hampshire Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Andrew said annual drug deaths have increased from about 50 to nearly 200 in the past decade.
Of the 193 drug-related deaths in 2013, all but two were ruled accidental, pointing out an unintended consequence of drug addiction.
“If we saw a 400 percent increase in asthma or traffic deaths or homicides, that would get a lot of attention,” Andrew said. But we’ve seen a 400 percent increase in drug deaths, and the deaths are just the tip of the iceberg.”
Purity and price are the driving factors pushing heroin to the top of the chart of most-deadly drug.
Part 3
NH Attorney General Joseph Foster said heroin and prescription drugs are a problem in every jurisdiction across the state.
“It has no boundaries. When I meet with Attorneys General from around the country, I hear the same thing,” Foster said.
He relayed getting a prescription for 30 pain killers after minor knee surgery.
“I probably only needed six or seven of them, but it led me to think about what would have happened if I were prone to addiction?” Foster said. “I don’t believe we can arrest or prosecute our way out of this.”
He has asked the NH legislature to add another drug prosecutor to his team, and will press for more treatment options.
He said he’s also working to put more Narcan, an opiate blocker, into the hands of police and medical personnel.
Dr. Cheryl Wilkie, Senior Vice President of Substance Abuse Services for the Farnum Center in Manchester, said New Hampshire is heading “in the right direction.” Wilkie would like to see jails and prisons include treatment for addicts, once incarcerated.
“They are a captive audience, and we’re already paying $30,000 for them to be there,” Wilkie said.
Part 4
Kensington Police Chief Michael Sielicki said police see no short- or long-term solution.
“There’s nothing we can do but arrest them and hope they sober up and stop breaking into houses,” Sielicki said.
He is calling for a top-down approach to solving this problem.
“There has to be a more comprehensive approach. There has to be leadership from the top to focus all our efforts in fighting this,” Sielicki said.
Enfield NH Police Chief Richard Crate said it’s time to call on the medical community to stop over-prescribing oxy medications.
“Even officers in our ranks have been affected by this, and we’re going to see more of it – and these numbers are going to continue to increase. When you talk about 20 year olds fighting heroin addiction, they will be fighting it for the rest of their lives, and will probably be in treatment centers for the rest of their lives. This doesn’t go away.”
Medical Examiner, Dr. Thomas Andrew, said for every death from drugs in New Hampshire there are 26 people seeking treatment; over 100 habitual users; and 675 who are at some point in the pipeline to addiction.
“The death piece is the tip of the iceberg. The bang for the buck is in treatment, not on my side,” Andrew said.
Andrew also talked about the call to boycott Zohydro, a controversial new time-release opiate that has recently received FDA approval, and which some experts say will only increase the problem of opiate addiction.
Part 5
Nashua NH Police Chief John Seusing said “the majority of crimes investigated” by police across New Hampshire are either directly or indirectly related to this drug.
Over the past four years the number of heroin-related arrests in Nashua have increased six fold, and the number of overdoses are on track to triple this year over 2013 overdose statistics.
Seusing said his primary focus is to get drug dealers off the street. But it’s equally important to focus on treatment, otherwise addicts and dealers end up right back on the street.
Based on the need in Nashua, Seusing is preparing to request an increase in funding from the Board of Aldermen to hire more police officers.
“My drug unit has told me there is too much work on the street for them to handle,” Seusing said.
Part 6
Portsmouth NH Police Chief Stephen Dubois said based on what he’s heard from his peers, things worked better when there were more federal funding sources available to fight the crack problem of the 1980s and early 1990s.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, said there are things that can be done from a federal level to help state and local law enforcement.
“I know there are always challenging budget times – but I think this is a priority for people. What I’m hearing from my colleagues, is that this isn’t a Republican or Democrat issue; this is just basic for everyone, in terms of public safety and quality of life,” Ayotte said.
Hampton NH Police Chief Jamie Sullivan said he’d like to hear more about holding drug companies accountable.
“What can we do to address the extreme profit motive these pharmaceuticals have to put these pills out there?” Sullivan asked. He said he’d like to engage drug companies in providing more education and treatment.
Enfield NH Police Chief Richard Crate said federal programs like Operation Streetsweeper may have been effective for the crack epidemic, but in small towns, treatment options are what’s needed most.
“I have housewives and moms burglarizing other homes for pills … I don’t need more officers, I need more help with treatment centers available to rural communities, so when we arrest them we have a place to send them so it stops,” Crate said.
Dr. Cheryl Wilkie said the heroin epidemic is different from other drug problems.
“I don’t think we’re going to see this changing back to cocaine or any other drug. The way heroin hits the system, the addiction is so powerful, and coming off of it is so different from coming off cocaine. With heroin, you are so sick you will do whatever it takes to get the drug, which is why we’re seeing housewives, and all the different people , who will do anything. It’s the only thing that stops them from being sick. That addiction doesn’t just disappear. This is going to be the drug of choice, and once they try this they will not spend another dime on alcohol or cocaine or anything else,” Wilkie said.
Part 7
Derry NH Police Chief Ed Garone said he was frustrated, and sensed frustration of others in the room.
“Law enforcement has to do something about the symbiotic relationship between supply and demand, and law enforcement has the ability to affect one side of it – and that’s the supply side, and we do that by arresting,” Garone said.
“Once arrested, they have to be incarcerated and when they are incarcerated they need treatment. It’s the perfect opportunity to provide treatment. I’ve been told you can spend however long in prison as an addict, and when you come out, you’re still an addict and that is a problem,” he said.
Garone also said there are too many victims.
“This is an ugly octopus, this goes way out into the community,” and fighting it is a “three-pronged stool – education, treatment and enforcement.”
“We can’t arrest our way out of it, but we have to stop saying it costs too much to incarcerate. We can’t wait to educate 7th or 8th graders so by time they’re 17 or 18 or 19 they are not breaking into homes; we have to do something now,” Garone said.
Manchester Public Health Director Tim Soucy said he was heartened to hear so many law enforcement officials talk about treatment.
Getting to kids earlier will help. But for now, quality of life issues persist.
“Not a day goes by where my office doesn’t get called to go pick up used needles in the city. We’re finding them everywhere – street corners, people’s driveways, alleys, woods – and I’m concerned with the long-range implication of this continued needle use that we’ll see more Hep C and HIV,” Soucy said.
These drugs are coming primarily from South America and Afghanistan. Dr. Thomas Andrew made the point that someone needs to cultivate better collaboration across state borders to stop the drugs from coming in.
“The corridors from which these [drugs] are distributed are 91 and 95. If we look at a Zip Code analysis, there’s a wide swath between Keene and the Seacoast; the Lakes Region and North Country; and the border and south. Is it a federal responsibility to enhance interdiction efforts and distribution? We’re not even hassling the end users, at the distribution level, and I think this is federal responsibility,” Andrew said.
