Board proposes $16.9M budget

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BRADFORD—Maybe a third time will be the charm.
The Oxbow Unified Union School District Board met last week to finalize a third proposal, trimming another $190,000 from the 2020-2021 budget, after voters rejected two previous versions.
The online audience continues to grow with every meeting held remotely, which is a plus, according to the board, which is searching for ways to reach constituents and share information. Last week’s meeting on Sept. 16 had 44 attendees who listened in, a number that has increased over time.
Board members have been grasping to find why voters have rejected the budgets.
Other than Bud Haas, a former school director at Bradford Elementary School, most feedback reported at the Sept. 9 meeting encouraged the current direction of the school system and its board of directors. This seemed to influence the thinking of the board as a whole and leave the essential outline of the budget intact.
Haas recommended holding a town meeting style vote rather than a ballot, a commitment by the board to have articles of agreement ready for the next annual meeting that would assure voters no schools would close, renaming the district immediately to clarify confusion on the “Oxbow” district, and admitting that moving the supervisory union offices to the Copeland building was a mistake. Haas also noted that one of the other forced merger districts in Vermont has been permitted to dissolve in a recent state board decision.

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Accused carjacker faces stiffer charges

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NORTH HAVERHILL—A Lebanon man is now facing charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide in connection with a November 2019 assault and carjacking of a 79-year-old North Haverhill man who later died of his injuries.
The Grafton County Superior Court Grand Jury handed up both indictments earlier this month charging Brenden P. Harriman, 22, with negligent homicide and reckless manslaughter stemming from the Nov. 4, 2019 incident.
Authorities said the elderly victim, David Dickey, had pulled up to a stop sign at the intersection of Route 10 and Horse Meadow Road in North Haverhill when Harriman approached his vehicle and asked if Dickey was going to Bradford.
Police said Harriman had just been released from the Grafton County House of Corrections on pretrial conditions after he had been arrested for an unrelated assault.
Dickey allegedly told Harriman he was heading toward Woodsville and offered him a ride, according to the affidavit of Haverhill Police Department Detective Derek Sullivan.
Sullivan said when the Jeep reached the Walmart parking lot along Route 10, Harriman allegedly threatened to stab Dickey with a knife, which he did not display.
Dickey pulled over but refused to exit his vehicle, at which point Harriman allegedly hit Dickey in the face forcing him to eventually exit the Jeep. Harriman then got into the driver’s seat and drove away on Route 10, Sullivan said.
Police found Dickey near the location of the assault. He had fresh blood on his face and clothes, but refused medical treatment at the scene.
Later in the afternoon, Lebanon police located the stolen Jeep in that town. Shortly afterward police observed Harriman leaving an apartment he was known to frequent and placed him under arrest.
Police said Dickey later sought treatment at Cottage Hospital in Woodsville, and was flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center with injuries that included a broken nose and facial fractures. He also had suffered from a possible “myocardial infarction” similar to a heart attack caused by emotional stress.

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