4 - March 30, 2012 | Hudson - Litchfield News


The Word Around Town... Letters to our Editor


Council on Aging has Openings


Wanted! Te Hudson Senior Council on Aging has an opening for two new members on the Senior Council. If you would like to assist the seniors in their plans for building a home of their own, knowledge of fund raising, are a willing volunteer, and live in the Town of Hudson, we need you! Retired professionals welcome! Please call Lucille at 603-889-1803 for more information.


Pat Nichols, Secretary, Hudson Senior Council on Aging - Hudson


Litchfield Historical Society has Hosted Rabies Clinic for Over 30 Years


As a public service to our area residents and their pets, the Litchfield Historical Society has again organized its annual Rabies Clinic. It will be held at the Fur and Feather’s grooming, daycare and boarding establishment on Route 102 in Litchfield, behind and to the right of Te Little Lobster Boat restaurant on April 15 from 10 a.m. until noon. Dr. Sarah Garland and her veterinarian technician,


Melissa Sheldon are donating their time and expertise to vaccinate dogs and cats. Dr. Garland and her husband Dr. James Herrmann, own and operate the Countryside Animal Hospital at 327 Derry Road on Route 102. Terri Briand, the Litchfield Town Clerk and Tax Collector, will be available to register Litchfield dogs, insuring that their owners meet the April 30 deadline for dog registration. Residents from surrounding communities are most


welcome to take advantage of the Clinic and bring their pets to be vaccinated.


Tis is the one major fund-raiser the Litchfield


Historical Society holds each year. Te Society maintains a remarkable collection of local artifacts at its building at 259 Charles Bancroft Highway (next to the Fire Station) and is currently exhibiting a large Civil War display. We welcome any interested groups for tours, and as always, new members. Tank you for your support and for your interest in Litchfield’s rich history.


Gail Barringer, Vice President, Litchfield Historical Society - Litchfield


Exported Fuel Contributing To Gasoline Price Increases


Te increase in gasoline prices is not attributable to worldwide supply problems. Treats by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz are partly responsible for the increased prices, but another culprit is our oil industry. In 2011 U.S. refineries exported a record amount of


refined fuels to foreign markets. In December 2011 fuel exports averaged 2.89 million barrels a day compared to an average of 1.25 million barrels a day in 2007. Higher prices paid in foreign markets attracted U.S. exports. Fuels exported overseas means less fuel in this


country and higher gasoline prices. Our oil companies


have put profits ahead of our economic health. It is estimated the five largest U.S. oil companies had profits of $120 billion in 2011. U.S. refineries closed some facilities or reduced


production in 2011. We continue to be constrained by old refineries, which require major maintenance, and thereby increase the cost of refined fuels. Te last new refinery to come on line in the U.S. was in 1975. We need the Obama administration to pressure U.S.


oil companies to upgrade refineries and sell more refined fuels to U.S. markets to help lower our prices. When Obama became President gasoline was $1.84 per gallon.


Donald A. Moskowitz - Londonderry


Democratic Town Committee Update


Recently, fewer than two out of 10 registered voters


participated in municipal elections and less than one in a 100 attended deliberative sessions. Te newspapers are littered with attack letters and “thumbs down,” many with inaccurate information. Volunteer town committee positions go unfilled and elective positions on the ballot are blank. Are we convinced that our voices individually or


collectively will not be heard? Have we forgotten that we have “government of, by, and for the people?” Do we fear criticism we may face from our neighbors, some of whom may even hide behind their thumbs? It’s time for all of us to engage in meaningful dialogue that presents verifiable facts and a range of measurable solutions. With this in mind, Hudson Democrats are hosting retired Boston Globe Columnist John R. White for a forum about writing letters to the editor that present information and action plans, and, more importantly, get published. Tis is open to the public and will be held at the Rodgers Memorial Library on Tursday, April 5, at 7:30 in the evening following our annual business meeting. Te business meeting begins at 7 o’clock sharp and


all registered Democrats living in Hudson are invited to participate. Officers will be nominated and elected and at-large delegates to the state convention on Saturday, June 2, will be chosen.


Stuart Schneiderman, Chairman, Hudson Democratic Town Committee - Hudson


School Board Member Ethics Violations


Tis past year has certainly been an interesting


one. While sitting on the School Board, we had heard from the same handful of residents with a constant mantra of why the Board was unwilling to address their perceptions of my unethical behavior. Tey found it egregious that had mentioned that the chair sometimes couldn’t or wouldn’t hear what was being told to him because it was difficult when he was focused only on the superintendent. Granted, my choice of words to describe his lack of air was a bit crude, but I felt quite accurate. Tere was a public penalty and I paid the price with my failure to be re-elected. I have now posed the question to the current School Board. How will it now enforce it’s own ethics policy


with regard to Dennis Miller? Te current sitting member has repeatedly violated the ethics policy that he not only signed last year, but re-signed this year in full knowledge of those violations. Last year, I rescinded my signature to the policy for this exact reason. It has no meaning what so ever. Board members agree to the ethics policy, then when violated by the majority position, it is ignored and there is a denial of any violation. Why would I purposefully agree to a corrupted ethics policy that was arbitrarily and subjectively applied? I have asked the chair, John York to address the violations publicly. While there is no stated penalty for any violations, I am simply asking that there be a public statement of acknowledgement that the violations occurred and by who and it be entered into the minutes to record those violations. To this point, he can not even accept that there were any violations by Dennis Miller. For those of you that have yet to hear or understand what those violations were, they are clearly spelled out at www.litchfieldeducationmatters. com. Dennis Millers violation of the ethics policy was shortsighted and extremely destructive to not only my family but to the students, faculty, parents and citizens of this town that he purports to represent. If he was willing to be so despicable to my family because we do not agree, then why would he not attempt the very same actions to yours. Another question. Is John York’s reluctance to


address the issue because he would then have to also admit culpability to being a party to Dennis Miller’s actions? Was John involved in the smear campaign against my wife and children? How can this entire horrific episode be truly put


to rest if we do not at a very minimum acknowledge it. Tere have been many mistakes made. Let us not be able to move forward because we are incapable of setting the record straight. Tis School Board must sanction the actions of the current member(s) so that there are consequences for the unacceptable behaviors that violated major sections of their own policy. If they cannot be trusted to police themselves for the obvious and public violations, how is the citizenry ever able to trust they are behaving appropriately when outside of public spotlight?


Jason Guerrette - Litchfield


Election Law Sleight of Hand I was very surprised to see the “thumbs up” in the


March 23 issue of the Patriot which lauded Bryan Donovan’s response to the piece by the League of Women Voters (which was itself a response to the Op- ed by New Hampshire’s Republican House leadership, arguing for required photo IDs for citizens to be able to vote). Te thumbs-up goes on to say, “Te Democrats’ view was very deceiving, lacking facts, distorting the facts, and blatantly dishonest.” I say it was surprising because Mr. Donovan didn’t


really address any of the factual rebuttal points that the League of Women Voters wrote about, which seems to indicate that the League’s information was accurate. Instead, he went for the tactic of belittling the writers, as though that would somehow diminish the truth of what they were saying. Te attack on Joan Flood Ashwell’s title of Election


Law Specialist was incredibly laughable. Within my own firm there are perhaps over 60 different types of “specialists.” It is a job title designation given by the firm to identify the employee’s function. If the League of Women Voters has chosen to bestow that title on an individual, what is wrong with that? It’s not as if Ms. Ashwell has no experience with voter issues. A Google and Bing search of her name provided much more information than Mr. Donovan’s search. Perhaps his certification by MCSE didn’t include basic researching skills. ZoomInfo cites that she has been affiliated with the Strafford County Democratic Committee, League of Women Voters of New Hampshire, and America Votes, and is also a board member of the League of Women Voters in New Hampshire. I saw a number of citations which lead me to conclude that she must know something about election laws. Mr. Donovan also took great pains to point out Ms.


Ashwell’s Democratic Party ties and donations. And what does this prove – or even have to do at all with the discussion? New Hampshire is still a state that is heavily registered Independent, and perhaps a Republication Committee Chairman should keep this in mind. Not everybody is happy with the direction our state has taken in the last year and a half. Finally, as to the issue of voter fraud, I can suggest one possible practical solution. Perhaps the Legislature could encourage the cities and towns to clean up their own due diligence of voting rolls, if that is a problem. A simple obituary check and deletion from the active registry would not be such a massive undertaking, and cost far less money and manpower than the creation and implementation of an ID and provisional ballot process from scratch. Why does the solution have to fall squarely on the shoulders of the poor and elderly who don’t have proper IDs? It is not a crime to be poor, and it is not a crime to be elderly. After all, we do have laws that address the issue of


voter fraud already. Mr. Donovan’s key piece of voter fraud evidence is the case of Geoff Wetrosky back in 2005. My question is, if there was a solid case there, why wasn’t it prosecuted? Wouldn’t it be the duty of the State Attorney General to pursue it? Tat would have sent a strong message of deterrence. Perhaps Mr. Donovan could ask his fellow Republican, Kelly Ayotte, that question the next time he sees her. As I recall, she was the Attorney General at that time.


Russ Brown - Salem


Brucker Tanks Supporters I would like to thank the voters of Hudson for


supporting my candidacy in this past election. I intend to serve the people of Hudson in the Office


of Selectman by thoughtfully considering all matters that come before the Board. I believe that the various perspectives of Board members will produce positive results representative of the community. I look forward to having conversations with members of civic groups and town departments to hear your views and ideas for your members and the residents of Hudson. I also want to recognize and thank Shawn Jasper for his many years of dedicated service to the town and his continued work as State Representative.


Nancy Brucker - Hudson


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by Amy Landry For most people, being sick is not a desirable experience. When you are sick, your life is interrupted; you may miss out on work, school, activities, and other events. It is only natural that your first instinct is to find a way to get better in the shortest amount of time, so you make an appointment to meet with your doctor and request to be treated with antibiotics or, if your child is sick, you request that he or she is treated with antibiotics. After all, you have learned that antibiotics can treat almost any illness on the planet, so why not use them to treat your illness? And, even if the antibiotics do not work, what is the harm in trying them out anyway? The truth is, although antibiotics are extremely useful in fighting a broad range of infections, they do have limitations and restrictions. For instance, antibiotics are effective against many different kinds of bacterial infections, such as strep throat and bronchitis, but they are completely ineffective in treating viral infections, such as the common cold or influenza. Out of the 48 million people who become sick every year , there will be close to one billion cases of the common cold and about 5 percent to 20 percent of the population will come


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by Amy Landry My name is Amy Landry. I am a Salem High School graduate from the class of 2009, and I am currently a junior


undergraduate student at the University of New Hampshire-Durham, majoring in medical microbiology. My studies include pathogenic microbiology, immunology, biostatistics, genetics, infectious disease and health, and many other biomedical-based courses. I am also involved in extracurricular activities, such as the University Honors Program, the UNH Pre-Dental Society, and the Wildcat Marching Band. Upon graduation from UNH next year, I plan to attend dental school to pursue a career as a dentist.


Why You Should Think Twice About Antibiotics


down with the flu. Unfortunately, for these people, there is no treatment available except simple symptom relief, such as taking over-the-counter medicines, increasing fluid intake, getting plenty of rest, and/or using a vaporizer or saline spray. Although it might be frustrating to be told that there is no treatment for whatever ‘bug’ you are sick with, it is important that you understand the dangers of the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. When antibiotics are not used properly, they become increasingly ineffective over time due to the existence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. What this means is that an antibiotic may no longer be able to cure a particular infection anymore and may even reach the point where the disease is untreatable. When more and more hard-to-treat illnesses are spread from person to person, there is a major health concern that these antibiotic-resistant infections will more likely lead to serious disability or even death. In order to slow down the progression of antibiotic resistant bacteria, we must all do our part by making smart decisions and taking individual responsibility when it comes to the use of antibiotics. While it may be tempting to go straight away to the doctor’s office to get a prescription the moment you start feeling sick, before running off to the pharmacy with your ‘golden ticket’ in hand, please make sure you have taken all possible treatment options under careful consideration. You should never ignore your symptoms or the fact that you are sick. However, do not falsely presume that the doctor will be able to give you a prescription for any and every ailment that comes your way. The next time you have a runny nose, think twice about relying on antibiotics for treatment because your decision will not only impact your own individual health, but it will ultimately affect the health of the entire community, as well.


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