News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Julie Smith 
I had the most unusual routine office visit at the dentist yesterday, but the story really begins a long time ago in a city far away. Actually, it was about 5 years ago in Nashua, and it personalizes the words “COVID theater” because my former dentist, Dr Pipilas, is big into theater. In my almost … Read more
First, a hat tip to Grokster Beth Scaer, an ardent Rosenwald watchdog, because she called attention to SB 406, a $20M “appropriation” to Nashua for the purchase of the Daniel Webster College(DWC) property. Hey, what person of sound mind would NOT want DWC removed from CCP ownership? I’m sure Rosenwald, the sponsor, and all those … Read more
Let’s first narrow the details of the title question “are your elected officials naughty or nice?” I will narrow the field to members of legislative bodies that are state and local. That would include 400 reps, of which most communities have 3, and 24 senators, of which everyone has just one. If you’re in a … Read more
In this gift-giving season, you might ask what’s special about New Boston. Pay attention if you or someone you know votes there because their rep (one of them) is Keith Ammon and Denise is their Senator. December 16 is their mutual birthday. What do you give them? Keith Ammon has an excellent record, which includes … Read more
It has recently come to the attention of many members of our legislature that a big national war chest has been made available to the enemy camp in Concord. Many members have already taken to social media with requests for donations to (committees to elect) Team Red in both chambers and campaign coffers of their … Read more
This is not a Louisa May Alcott book, but a call to action. You don’t need to vote in District 2 to answer the call because the action item is to RECRUIT someone in District 2 to primary Senate Ways & Means chair Tim Lang, the namesake of the 2022 Gunstock Lang Gang. You might … Read more
Remember that Janet Jackson song What Have You Done For Me Lately? It’s a tune from my teenage years that comes to mind when I think of our Senate Judiciary committee, the body that rubber-stamped HB1002 last year during Queen Sharon’s (committee) leadership and also got that judge-retirement-age question on the ballot. Yeah, we’ve had … Read more
Dr Frank has often told his audiences “politicians don’t start parades, they join parades.” The Londonderry Old Home Day parade is said to be the biggest parade in NH, but one could easily argue that the Salem Christmas parade can give it a run for its money. Having been a spectator in 2023, I knew … Read more
One of my favorite Simpsons sound bytes is when Principal Skinner is on stage for a ceremonious event and says “thank you and I will now take pre approved questions from honor roll students.” What enamors me is that it predates the institution of memes and social media by decades and it speaks truth about … Read more
If you’re one to not believe in coincidences and want corruption removed from that 3rd branch of government, this article is for you. The coincidence, as an uninterested person would see it, is that Laurie Ortolano has court tomorrow and tomorrow happens to be Daryl Abbas’s birthday. I will get to the corruption removal part … Read more
Action item alert! So begins a “Part Deux” of the Nashua Ruling Class v. Paula Johnson, which I will give readers a quick refresher on in hopes of recruiting some volunteer posse members for Paula. Ward 5 Alderman-elect Paula Johnson was in a 4-way race for an open seat, beating the next highest scoring candidate … Read more
Shortly before Nashua’s most recent routine city-wide train wreck, I took some heat for making some inappropriate comments about the surprise death of Ms Gloria Timmons. To “polite society,” I say that any adjective, including INAPPROPRIATE, is in the eyes of the beholder, but there’s something about Ms Gloria that Ward 2 can learn from, … Read more
While Jay Ruais and the uniparty establishment elite are still reveling in his recent reelection, I’m here to rain on his parade because he’s clearly a captain who’s not a team player. He sabotaged “Team Red” in Manchester, and that cost his city their best alderman and their Ward 1 seat. There’s plenty of “Picklegate” … Read more
I’m sure it’s common knowledge that the reason for smaller grocery stores(Sully’s, IGA, Harvester, Jeannotte’s, etc.) being more expensive than their big box competition is that they are not going to sell 100 of (insert everyday item here) each day to make that discount price sustainable. Living in the exurbs, my early memories include my … Read more
Think of the Dos Equis guy because I don’t always agree with Osborne, but when I do, it’s because he said something good. In a recent tweet, he said, “Anyone else wonder why all the attention on the SNAP corporate welfare program and not the federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay?” I’ve … Read more
Before anyone tells me how unimportant my input is or reminds me of my previous article supporting Dan Innis, there are some things to consider. Let’s start by remembering that a federal senatorial race is a statewide election. Unlike a presidential election, only NH voters get to vote (lawfully and in theory), which makes it … Read more
Many readers might already be thinking, “But I don’t vote in Ward 2 or even live in Nashua,” a predictable thought. Many “low information voters” cast their ballots in a mental and/or political trance; some might have ties to you, the reader. Six degrees of separation is something many of us have heard before. I’m … Read more
I had a hankering for some Red Arrow poutine and went to their Concord location with plans to satisfy it. The plan was to “go economy,” meaning get just the poutine with no upgrades and order nothing else. As you might predict, I spent more than planned and didn’t get the poutine, but I wound … Read more
Most readers are already familiar with WMUR’s reputation and many editorials have been and can be written about it, but with city elections less than three weeks from now, I’m here to fill in some gaping holes in this WMUR story about free flowers and put Fortin Gage on notice. Fortin Gage, according to a … Read more
In case you haven’t heard, Senate Education was supposed to have an executive session and vote on the Ruth Ward amendment with the whole Senate voting on October 23. Interestingly, when the committee returned from a short recess following Tuesday’s hearing, Ruth announced that the executive session would be rescheduled to “sometime before January.” A … Read more