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Dunbarton police seek man who approached little girl

CM Moderator — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:43:02 +0000

The Dunbarton police are looking for a man who spoke with a young girl in her yard on Thursday night.

A Gorham Pond Road resident called the police shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday to report that her 5-year-old daughter was playing outside when a man approached her.

He asked her name, the name of her infant sister who was not outside, and where her parents were, according to a news release from the Dunbarton Police Department.

When she told him her parents were home, the man left and walked toward Goffstown. The child told her parents about the incident. They didn’t recognize her description of the man, and called the police.

Mustache cartoon fallout galore

Felice Belman — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:22:09 +0000

Well, that struck a nerve.

Mike Marland’s Wednesday cartoon depicting House Speaker Bill O’Brien with a Hitler mustache has drawn attention far beyond the Monitor. People have had plenty to say about this morning’s cartoon too: the one showing O’Brien with a Groucho Marx mustache.

Here’s a sampling of the coverage:

On the Concord Patch website, House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt gave an interview expressing disappointment. You can see it here.

The site also did a separate story all about the Groucho cartoon. (Preview: O'Brien wouldn't comment.)

Did the mustache cartoon go too far?

Felice Belman — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:22:20 +0000

The chairman of the state Republican Party this morning called on the Monitor to retract Mike Marland’s editorial cartoon depicting House Speaker Bill O’Brien as Hitler and to apologize to O’Brien.

“The Concord Monitor’s far-left editorial slant took a sharp turn into the gutter today with a cartoon that is insulting to the institution of the State House and which should offend all New Hampshire citizens. We strongly urge the Concord Monitor to retract this cartoon and apologize to Speaker O’Brien,” Chairman Wayne MacDonald said in a written statement.

You can read his full statement in tomorrow’s Monitor.

NH high court sides with Concord in church tax dispute

Ben_Leubsdorf — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:35:57 +0000

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has sided with the city of Concord in a decision upholding the city government's decision to levy property taxes on part of a Mountain Road church.

In the 4-0 decision issued this morning, the high court rejected arguments by Destiny Christian Church, until 2010 called Liberty Assembly of God, that the city's decision to begin taxing part of the Pentecostal congregation's sprawling building and property at 339 Mountain Road in 2008 violated state law and the Constitution.

Tea Party activist launches PAC to elect a Republican governor

Molly A.K. Connors — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:17:19 +0000

Tea Party activist Andrew Hemingway has launched a new venture: getting a Republican in the governor’s office.

Hemingway, who ran Newt Gingrich’s campaign in New Hampshire and has toyed in the past with running for congress, filed paperwork yesterday to form a political action committee called “4RG” -- For a Republican Governor.

Hemingway will be both chairman and treasurer of the PAC, and will use his social-media savvy to help efforts to retake the governor’s office.

He’ll be joined in the effort by Alex Talcott, who worked on the Gingrich campaign with Hemingway as a spokesman.

“Either of the two Republican candidates far exceeded any of the three Democrats,” Talcott said, and Hemingway decided his efforts would be best spent on the gubernatorial race.

Romney girls and a secret computer

Felice Belman — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:13:36 +0000

Didn’t you love the old photos of George Romney running for president in 1968, republished in this morning’s edition? If they left you wanting more about Mitt Romney’s father and that year’s campaign, you’re in luck.

I recently suggested that we report a story on the elder Romney’s presidential run in New Hampshire, only to be reminded that former Monitor reporter Lauren Dorgan did just that during Mitt Romney’s first presidential run.

Dorgan's story, from 2007, is a terrific read. The parallels and differences between father and son are fascinating – but so are the details of campaign life from 40 years ago.

Consider this:

George Romney in New Hampshire

Alexander Cohn — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:07:06 +0000

In 1968, while Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a missionary living in France, his father, George Romney, hit the campaign trail himself. The elder Romney visited New Hampshire several times while campaigning to win the first in the nation primary.

Last week, the AP made available several images from George Romney's 1968 run for the Presidency, including several of Romney campaigning in Concord, Franklin and other towns around the state. These are some of our favorites.

In 2007 Monitor reporter Lauren Dorgan wrote about dad's campaign.

The new bishop is straight

Felice Belman — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:16:08 +0000

I took a couple calls from readers this morning who were fairly exasperated by the opening sentence of Molly A.K. Connors’s report on the front page of the Sunday Monitor about the next Episcopal bishop for New Hampshire. It said: “New Hampshire’s Episcopalians yesterday elected a 50-year-old, straight, father of three to be the next bishop of the state diocese.” You can read the full story here.

Who cares if the new bishop is straight or gay, my callers wanted to know. Why is his sexual preference pertinent? One caller accused the Monitor of being obsessed with issues of sexuality. A commenter on the Monitor website wrote, “Of course that’s exactly how the media and many in the general public treat gays and lesbians, so maybe Ms. Connors was just trying to treat everybody the same.”

Chester College speaks -- not a minute too soon!

Felice Belman — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:14:32 +0000

Saying that the Monitor rarely pays attention to Chester College is an overstatement. It’s never been on our radar. It’s tiny. It’s relatively far away. It doesn’t make much news.

Well, all that was true until this week, anyway. Chester College – located north of Derry and south of Raymond -- appears to be on the verge of shutting down, forced into a difficult decision by serious money trouble. This is not a big story for the Monitor or most of its readers, but we did publish a short letter to the editor last week from a local man who asked pointed questions about the school’s management.

2012 Rock 'N Race gallery

Alexander Cohn — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:50:17 +0000

Click here for more photos from this year's Rock 'N Race. Or you can paste this link into your browser:

http://cmonitor.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1472176&CategoryID=15617