Vote in the primary election on September 9
Reporting from Rye State Park: The historical John Smith (in the person of Paul Strand) made an appearance on August 14 to inaugurate his new monument in Rye State Park to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his expedition and landing at the Isles of Shoal. The expedition marks the first time that the expression “New England” […]
A chance to choose the fall election candidates
We take political parties for granted most of the time. It is only when someone asks why two parties dominate political life in our country, or when the ballot clerk at a primary election asks us which ballot we want, that we even think about our relationship with a political party. There is nothing particularly […]
What has he or she done or said to earn your vote?
When you make up your mind who you’re voting for in the November county or state elections, please send a few sentences about what you like most about the candidate you’ve picked. We’d like to run those short bits in the Beacon so we can all see what’s persuading our friends and neighbors one way […]
Familiar issues will be back in 2015
Many bills that didn’t pass in the 2014 session of the New Hampshire Legislature will reappear as new legislation in the session starting in January 2015. I’ve reviewed some of these bills below, and I need to hear the thoughts of my constituents about these and other important issues. If you choose me to represent […]
NH House finished work on June 4
The New Hampshire House finished its work for the current biennium on June 4. The Legislature can be proud of what it accomplished, including a bipartisan budget restoring many of the draconian cuts to education and social services, making healthcare insurance possible for many working families, providing funding to fix roads and bridges, protecting women, […]
Bipartisan compromise leads to meaningful legislation
When I ran for the New Hampshire Senate, I wanted to bring common-sense business principles to Concord. To me, that means working with both parties to solve problems; being careful with taxpayers’ money; and focusing on things people really care about, such as economic growth and job creation, instead of getting caught in tired partisan […]
$25 million in surplus so far this year
Few battles were fought in Concord last month, as the legislature is on vacation, but at home I have been waging war against a foreign invader, the dreaded Japanese beetle. A few good things happened in our state , however. One, a modest surplus of almost $6 million, was achieved in the month of June, […]
New Horizons gave me back my confidence
It is pretty much always a good thing to feel beautiful and healthy-looking on both the inside and the outside. Sometimes, depending on what is going on in our busy lives, it just isn’t easy or natural to feeling anything other than tired, worn out, and not so beautiful. I think we forget to take care […]
2014 showed what it's like without our celebration
There was a TV commercial in the 1970s that said, “You can’t fool Mother Nature.” She fooled us on the Fourth of July 2014. Due to the rains associated with Hurricane Arthur, this year’s parade and outdoor events on the Village Green had to be canceled. Andover is very fortunate to have a rich history […]
Hospitals settle; state on track for balanced budget
While June 4 was the last session scheduled for the year in the legislature, we will have to go back at least once to vote on the governor’s vetoes. Governor Hassan has already vetoed HB 1244, which would have prohibited the disclosure of lottery winners names. I thought not releasing lottery winners names was incredibly […]