Judge robes scales of justice AI - gen

ORTOLANO: The 13-to-1 Problem: How NH Superior Court’s ‘Assigned Docketing’ Utterly Destroys Rights to an Impartial Judge

Laurie Ortolano

My six-year fight for government transparency, recognized by the Nackey S. Loeb and New England First Amendment Awards, exposed a cynical failure in the New Hampshire judicial system. My Right-to-Know (RTK) lawsuits sought critical records, from assessing records to an alleged fraudulent federal funding scheme for the Nashua Performing Arts Center, a matter serious enough that the federal government is … Read more

SMITH: Nashua Recounts Saturday 11/15

Julie Smith

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

Election results on a note pad

SMITH: NH Urban Elections Post-Mortem

Julie Smith

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

chain link in front of the sun

DYER: These Cost Shocks Are Pushing Nashua to The Breaking Point

Allison Dyer

After receiving the full ESSER I, II, and III expenditure files, I’ve completed a detailed and source-cited analysis of Nashua’s COVID-era funding, current fiscal management, and the broader demographic trends that have been repeatedly ignored. What emerges is a pattern of short-term financial decisions, politicized narratives, and resistance to data-driven planning that has left taxpayers … Read more

Debt

COLQUHOUN: Nashua’s Debt Reality: What Alderman Thibeault Gets Wrong

Laura Colquhoun

It was disappointing to read Alderman Derek Thibeault’s recent Union Leader op-ed claiming that “some candidates are distorting the truth” about Nashua’s debt. In fact, it is Alderman Thibeault who has misled the public about the city’s financial position. Alderman Thibeault stated that “claims of Nashua having $500 million in debt are flat-out false” and … Read more

Nashua Map Ward 2

SMITH: Recruiting Good Ward 2 Voters, How YOU Can Help

Julie Smith

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

Gavel law books courts

OROTOLANO: How the Nashua Courthouse Broke My Faith in Justice

Laurie Ortolano

Judges are supposed to be fair and impartial. In New Hampshire, they should embody independence, not inheritance. My experience in Hillsborough County South has shown otherwise. The lines between mentorship and favoritism have blurred so deeply that I have lost confidence in the system. When Judge Smith took the bench in Nashua in 2024, she … Read more

Tyler Gouveia

SMITH: Do Better, WMUR, and Support Tyler Gouveia

Julie Smith

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

Judge robes scales of justice AI - gen

Justice by Exhaustion – How Nashua’s Courts Protect Power and Punish Dissent (Part IV)

Laurie Ortolano

The Pocket Judiciary In Nashua, justice doesn’t feel random. I was told that Superior Court cases are assigned through a “round-robin” system to keep things fair. Yet fifteen of my cases went to the same judge. This was simply not statistically possible, and patterns have meaning. That judge, Charles Temple, became the City’s go-to authority … Read more

alderman Moran

SMITH: Will Alderman Moron Endorse Paige Beauchemin?

Julie Smith

Ward 4 Rep Paige Beauchemin, whose reputation already precedes her, recently appeared in the WMUR studio with Adam Sexton and said, “I think the millionaires are well represented already,” and a bunch of other far-left rhetoric in the very short video that was released last night. Ward 4 includes some of the trashiest parts of Nashua and … Read more

ORTOLANO: Justice by Exhaustion: How Nashua’s Courts Protect Power and Punish Dissent (Part III)

Laurie Ortolano

When Justice Has a Price Tag When the City of Nashua spent nearly a million dollars fighting a voluminous 2022 Right-to-Know case, it wasn’t protecting taxpayers and records; it was protecting itself. The case involved the downtown road barriers, a project sold for “downtown vibrancy” but executed with little transparency. I asked for public meeting … Read more

SMITH: Nashua Recounts and Their Narrow Window of Opportunity

Julie Smith

With city elections just a month away, it’s a good idea for candidates to be familiar with their city’s “operations manual” regarding recounts, regardless of the city, but especially in Nashua.  As Alderman Dowd’s previous opponent, I was refused a recount.  Before any readers call me a sore loser or (insert preferred insult here), some … Read more

Derek Thibeault

ORTOLANO: Alderman Thibeault – Transparency Is Not Petty

Laurie Ortolano

Derek Thibeault used his weekly newsletter to call a request for the August 7, 2025, non-public Nashua Board of Aldermen minutes “petty.” Transparency is never petty; it is the people’s right, and the Board broke the law. The Board entered that closed session without reading the statutory language required by RSA 91-A. That isn’t a … Read more

Scales of justice gavel law court

ORTOLANO: When Emotion Replaces Judgment, Taxpayers Pay

Laurie Ortolano

On July 31, 2025, the Superior Court held a hearing on my motion to disqualify Corporation Counsel Steven Bolton and Deputy Corporation Counsel Celia Leonard from my cases. The issue wasn’t about winning a motion; it was whether two city lawyers, locked in years of conflict with a citizen critic, could still do the job “with … Read more

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