FAIRLEE—A raise in pay for town employees in Fairlee was the major topic of discussion during a budget hearing on Jan. 11. Fairlee Selectboard member Cathy McGrath told the two dozen or so people who had checked into the Zoom meeting that the board had decided not to bestow cost-of-living raises in 2021. Most of […]
ORFORD—Citing a potential “unconscionable” spending increase, Rivendell Interstate School District board members last week asked administrators to prepare a draft 2022 budget that would eliminate as many as five full-time equivalent staff positions. After approximately two hours of discussion during a regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 5, board members deferred finalizing a figure to put […]
NEWBURY—Even six months after a terrible car crash, there are still plenty of signs and posters proclaiming “Sierra Strong” across the landscape. As well as an encouragement to Sierra Longmoore and her family, they are a reminder of the determination and will to live and the combined prayers of those who support her. Everyone wants […]
NEWBURY—Newbury residents will remain part of Oxbow Unified Union School District, the school district formed with Bradford in 2019. A special town meeting, with polling held on Dec. 29, concluded with a total of 310 votes cast, according to Newbury Town Clerk Nikki Tomlinson. Residents voted 140-169 on the question “Shall the Newbury School District […]
NORTH HAVERHILL—“The vaccine is the thing that will end this,” Grafton County Nursing Home Administrator Craig Labore said in a recent interview with the Journal Opinion. The first COVID-19 vaccination clinic for GCNH staff and residents came earlier than expected, bookended by positive COVID-19 test results in nearly a dozen staff members. On Dec. 14, […]
NORTH HAVERHILL—A local wood pellet company is mulling a possible manufacturing plant in the town-owned industrial park next to Dean Memorial Airport. Morton Bailey of Lyme Green Heat told selectboard members on Jan. 4 that his company is still drawing up engineering plans, but that the business has identified the North Haverhill site for a […]
BRADFORD—School officials held an informational meeting on Monday night ahead of the fourth vote on an Oxbow Unified Union School District 2020-2021 budget next week. Monday night’s meeting—held via Zoom—was sparsely attended. The budget of $16,780,183 is identical to the one defeated by 15 votes on Nov. 24. Board members unanimously opted to resubmit the […]
NEWBURY—Newbury residents have until Dec. 29 to vote on whether they want the town to withdraw from the Oxbow Unified Union School District. On Dec. 21, nearly 75 people listened to an informational meeting held via Zoom to hear different perspectives on the single question on the ballot. Hosted by the Newbury Selectboard and facilitated […]
TOPSHAM—The committee tasked with the new town garage site evaluation has been dissolved after the selectboard did not support the group’s request to hire professional help. Selectboard chair Larry Hart has assumed the responsibility and is continuing the committee’s efforts to bring options to the town for a vote. “We needed people with more expertise […]
“Whether great or small, a post office was the visible form of the Federal Government in every community and to every citizen. Its hand is the only one that touches the local life, the social interests, and business concerns of every neighborhood.”—John Wanamaker, Postmaster General, 1889-1893. In 2019, the U.S. Postal Service delivered 143 billion […]