Breaking News & Press Releases

For those of you who know me I am a music fan. I am listening most all day every day to some form of music. Favorites include Bowie, Five Finger Death Punch, Joe Bonamassa, Rush, Zepplin but I'll also Love Dre, Snoop, Old school hip-hop, Montgomery Gentry, Blake Shelton, Pistol Annies as well as lots of other music genres. There are thousands of great songs out there BUT there are also some that should never had seen the light of day. Covers of classics that the covering artists should (in a public forum) apologize to not ony the fans but the artist whose song they massacred. Here is my list of the top 10 (again in my opinion are some of the worst.

​What To Do If You Live On A Private Road                                             John J. Goglia

           Logon to www.nhpvrta.com. The New Hampshire Private Road Taxpayers Alliance (NHPVRTA), a state-wide nonprofit organization is supporting two bills currently filed in the NH Senate for the 2022 legislative session. SB250 enables municipalities to adopt a tax credit for qualified private community property owners. This bill would give a tax benefit to many residents who currently live on a private road. State Senator Sharon Carson with support from State Senators David Watters and Regina Birdsell and State House Representatives David Lundgren, Doug Thomas, Al Baldasaro and Tom Dolan are sponsoring this legislation.
           The second bill, SB246 is relative to forward looking legislation and would benefit future residents who may decide to reside on a private road. Senator Regina Birdsell with support from State Senator Sharon Carson and State House Representative Wayne MacDonald are sponsoring this legislation. If enacted into law both bills would take effect on April 1, 2023.
           The NHPVRTA has been working diligently this past year to get the legislation to this point. The 400 plus NHPVRTA supporters representing approximately 70 cities and towns throughout New Hampshire who have signed onto the website at www.nhpvrta.com are probably not enough to get the attention of all the necessary legislators and ultimately the governor to pass this legislation. The NHPVRTA strongly urges affected residents to register now on the NHPVRTA website and take an active role in meeting, telephoning, emailing and/or writing to their respective State Senators, State House Representatives and the Governor’s Office, requesting their support of both of these bills. Information about the bills and contacting your Senators, Representatives and the Governor’s Office can be found by clicking on the yellow post-it note at www.nhpvrta.com.  Both bills have currently been assigned for hearings before the Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee (ELMA) on a yet to be announced date and time most likely in January, 2022. Concerned residents should immediately request the entire ELMA committee to support both bills via a single email located on the NHPVRTA website. Private road residents should also share all this information with like-minded individuals and encourage them to act now.
           SB-250 grants municipalities the authority to offer tax credits to qualified private community residents but does not include any types of rental units. This is not mandatory legislation but gives towns and cities the option of offering a tax credit based on what they reasonably estimate it would cost them to provide the same services received by public road residents. Individual private road residents would have to apply for the credit yearly.
           SB-246 would only pertain to new private road construction and it would be mandatory for developers to initiate a Capital Reserve Fund in the amount of 50% of what they determine to be the estimated costs to replace those roads and related infrastructure at the time of completion of the project. SB246 would provide some financial protection to private road homeowners at no cost to municipalities.

​Sitting here in my warm living room I am reluctant to venture outside as the temperature is 11 degrees with a windchill of -18. Couple that with the rising cases in flu, florona ect. and staying inside seems to be a smart hedge bet that many families are adhering to. The problem is WHAT TO DO????  I have read all my books, watched my DVD’s and really don’t want to pay anymore fees for streaming services. I love the library but with limited hours and not wanting to be out with people this is also problematic. But what if you could have your local library wherever you are or go – look no farther – by using Hoopla or Libby you can do just that.

​A controversial and almost unprecedented piece of New Hampshire legislation faces its first hearing on January 20. Lawmakers are considering CACR 32, a constitutional amendment which - if passed as written - would result in a Brexit-style referendum on independence. It would let voters decide whether we should continue to be ruled by the U.S.  

We're not sure, but we think this may be the first time independence legislation has made it to a committee hearing in any U.S. state since at least the 19th century. Demonstrations for and against are likely outside the state house...during the 90 minutes preceding this meeting of the state-Federal relations committee.  

Details:  
https://nhexit.us/2022/01/05/nh-independence-bill-public-hearing-is-jan-20th-at-330pm-mark-your-calendar-tell-your-friends/

​Happy New Year! We hope you had a safe, healthy, and joyful holiday season! December was another busy month at the NHSVC. We conducted 79 interments in December, which is the most ever for a December. It's the fifth time in the past seven months that we've set a new high for that particular calendar month. We completed 1,138 interments in calendar year 2021.

The winter months allow our staff time to focus on indoor projects, including high-level vehicle and equipment maintenance, painting, deep-cleaning, and digitally archiving records. The staff also works diligently to remove snow and ice to make the cemetery safe for visitors. Regardless of our efforts, there are still bound to be slippery spots. Please be extremely cautious when visiting the cemetery in the winter months.

The NH Veterans Cemetery Association (nhvca.org) is an all all volunteer, non-profit organization that provides tremendous support towards honoring our veterans and their families. In January, Major General (Retired) Gretchen Dunkelberger, who has served as the NHVCA President for the past four years, turned over the position to Colonel (Retired) Roger Turcotte. We are incredibly grateful for Gretchen's leadership, dedication, and commitment to veterans, their families, and the NHSVC. Fortunately, Gretchen is not leaving the NHVCA. She will stay on to lead the 25th Anniversary Committee which will host a ceremony commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the NHSVC on Saturday, September 24, 2022. We look forward to working with Roger and continuing the great work of the NHVCA.

May your 2022 be safe, healthy, and full of joy. As always, thank you for your amazing support of the NH State Veterans Cemetery.

Respectfully,

Shawn

​Buntin-Rumford-Webster Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, honor local High School Seniors as Good Citizens

The Buntin-Rumford-Webster Chapter of the DAR has announced the selection of six high school seniors from the Greater Concord area high schools who have been honored for good citizenship.  These six Good Citizens are Abbygail Allen, Merrimack Valley High School; Abigail Louise Smart, Pembroke Academy; Cassie Lynn Murphy, Bow High School; Rhett Austin Partington, Bishop Brady High School; Meghan Donahue, Franklin High School; and Dalton Alfred Swenson, Pittsfield High School.  These high school students are honored for their qualities of good character: dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism.  One Chapter winner will be selected for consideration in the State Good Citizenship scholarship selection.  On March 11, 2022, the State Organization, Daughters of the American Revolution, will honor all of the Chapter Good Citizens at an awards banquet to be held at the Concord Holiday Inn, Concord, NH.  At the luncheon, the State will present both a boy State Good Citizen scholarship winner and a girl State Good Citizen scholarship winner.

​Banning Surprise Medical Bills – And What to Do if You Get One
By Senator Maggie Hassan 

Far too many Granite Staters and Americans have gone to a hospital for a medical emergency, then returned home saddled with an unexpected medical bill – sometimes to the tune of thousands of dollars – because they were treated by an out-of-network doctor
​.Patients who thought they were following the rules and going to in-network hospitals instead found their family’s budget thrown into disarray – or found themselves deep in debt – because they were treated by an out-of-network doctor, often without their knowledge