My Turn
After 15 months of living in Anchorage, Alaska, I have returned home to beautiful North Wilmot. While I am delighted to be home, I have to say that Alaska still has allure, almost gravitational pull. There is a reason so many people harbor Alaska fantasies. Alaska is a surprising and paradoxical place, like New Hampshire except on a much larger scale. While I did not know much about…
October 30, 2011
Letter from Alaska
After living in New Hampshire for 28 years, I moved to Anchorage, Alaska, last May. I had one question that I wanted answered: Does Alaska have snow days? Based on my own informal poll, the consensus answer is "no." Snow is business as usual. As we head toward winter, it is the light, or lack of light, that is the big adjustment. It has been dark until almost 10 a.m., and every…
November 14, 2010
My Turn
From afar, I have followed with interest the debate over New Hampshire's new unemployment law about gross misconduct. Without any basis, opponents have claimed that workers who steal from employers will be able to collect benefits. Under the new law, just as under the prior law, workers who steal from employers in an amount less than $500 will be denied benefits on the ground of…
August 29, 2010
Board of Contributors
Life can take some utterly surprising twists and turns. I have lived in New Hampshire for 28 years, and I fully expected to live in my beloved Wilmot a lot longer. But because of a job opportunity, I am packing up and heading west. I will be relocating to Anchorage, Alaska. I never expected to live in Alaska. In leaving, I want to reflect a little on New Hampshire. Growing up in…
May 23, 2010
Board of Contributors
By JONATHAN P. BAIRD When I think about domestic violence, the image that comes to mind is a physical assault like a slap or a punch. It could be Rihanna getting beaten by her ex-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown. Or it could be something more horrific like the domestic violence-related murders of Phyllis Marchand, Suzanne…
April 4, 2010
Board of Contributors
Several weeks ago, I attended a hearing in the Legislature on a bill that proposed random drug testing for all applicants and recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food stamps and other public assistance. Under that legislation, positive drug tests would result in termination of benefits. There was…
February 21, 2010
Board of Contributors
On Jan. 27, the New Hampshire Legislature will have an opportunity to support consumer protection and to oppose predatory lending. The House will vote on Senate Bill 193, which imposes a 36 percent interest rate cap on all small loans under $10,000. SB 193 has already passed the Senate. The bill is a follow-up to the legislation passed in 2008 when the state, in very timely fashion,…
January 19, 2010
Board of Contributors
While it is not surprising that Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try the 9/11 suspects in the federal court in New York was heavily criticized, it was the right call. We try people in America. We do not create star chambers. Nor do we, generally speaking, disappear defendants into a gulag. One of the worst aspects of the George W. Bush presidency was the indefinite detention…
December 27, 2009
Board of Contributors
On Oct. 21, my beautiful sister Lisa died from breast cancer. She was 56. Lisa originally received the diagnosis of breast cancer in 1992. She underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. She remained in remission for more than 15 years. Then, in late 2007, Lisa developed a persistent cough. After…
November 22, 2009
Board of Contributors
I was glad to see Rep. Carla Skinder's recent piece on access to dental care ("Toothaches don't belong in the ER," Monitor Forum, Oct. 13). While much of the health care debate has centered on the inclusion of a public option, there has been less attention paid to whether dental care will be part of the reform. I think the separation and exclusion of dental care from broader health…
October 24, 2009
Board of contributors
On television, radio and the internet and in the newspapers, you hear that there are promising signs of economic recovery. As a legal aid lawyer representing low-income people, I wish I could say I have seen those signs. I have not. What I have seen are many unemployed workers struggling for economic survival. Despite their best efforts, these workers are staying unemployed for…
September 23, 2009
Board of Contributors
As a law student back in the mid-1980s, I worked on a class-action case on behalf of female state prisoners in New Hampshire. The case had an unusual purpose. It aimed to force the state to create a women's prison inside New Hampshire. There was not one.
At that time, the state exiled female inmates and shipped them off to out-of-state correctional facilities. The small number of…
August 16, 2009
To end our national paralysis about health care reform, the voices of the people must be heard. There is a reservoir of private anguish which could sway lawmakers if they bothered to listen to the untold number of horror stories which are accessible but ignored.
July 18, 2009
Board of Contributors
There has been insufficient public outrage over the assassination of Dr. George Tiller.
Early this month an anti-abortion fanatic was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Tiller, who was killed as he and his wife attended Sunday church services in Wichita, Kan. The murder was an unprovoked attack.
June 28, 2009
