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Fallen Fryeburg Officer Honored By Bridge Dedication

Fryeburg Police Officers and Chief Potvin stand by the sign memorializing Officer Nathan Desjardins. ~ Photo courtesy of Fryeburg Police Facebook page.

FRYEBURG, ME – A Fryeburg Officer killed in the line of duty was honored yesterday in a bridge dedication ceremony. At 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon in front of a crowd of around 50 people the Canal Bridge in Fryeburg was renamed the Nathan Desjardins Memorial Bridge.

Officer Desjardins was killed in 2017 when he was thrown from a boat while searching for a woman who went missing on the Saco River.

Officer Nathan Desjardins lost his life while searching for a woman who went missing on the Saco River in 2017 ~ Photo courtesy of Fryeburg Police.

Desjardins was only 20-year-old, making him the youngest person to ever join the Fryeburg Police force.

Desjardin’s mother threw a memorial wreath of off the bridge during the dedication ceremony. ~ Courtesy Photo.

During the ceremony Desjardins mother threw a wreath off of the bridge into the Saco to memorialize her son. In attendance was State Representative Nathan Wadsworth, Sen. James Hamper several town officials as well as the Fryeburg Police.

Fryeburg Police Chief Joshua Potvin speaks during the bridge dedication ceremony. ~ Photo courtesy of Fryeburg Police Facebook page.

The idea to rename the state-owned Canal Bridge on Route 5 in Fryeburg was spearheaded by Police Chief Joshua Potvin and state Rep. Wadsworth, who sponsored legislation with state Sen. James Hamper.

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Florida Hiker Rescued On Mt. Madison After Emergency Beacon Activation

Andrew Carlson had huddled under Madison Spring Hut to protect himself from the elements while he waited for rescuers. ~ Photo courtesy of Matt Bowman of AVSAR.

LOW & BURBANK’S GRANT , NH – A hiker was rescued near Mount Madison after activating his emergency beacon.

Fish and Game officials said that at 9am yesterday the International Emergency Response Coordination Center alerted them to an emergency beacon activation by the near the northern section of the Presidential Range. There was little to no information provided other than that it belonged to Andrew Carlson of Madeira Beach, Florida.

Carlson had reportedly departed from Pinkham Notch the previous morning in an attempt to hike south along the Appalachian Trail.  He was attempting to complete a large section of the presidential range before the weather got too bad.  Attempts to contact Carlson on his cell phone were unsuccessful, so a rescue effort was initiated.

Rescuers traversed waste deep snow in mid-winter conditions on the presidential range in order to rescued. ~ Photo courtesy of Matt Bowman of AVSAR.

Rescuers from the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue and members of the Fish and Game Advanced Search and Rescue Team responded facing brutal mid-winter conditions with a steady wind speeds of around 40mph and a wind chill of negative 1 degrees.

Rescuers trudged through up to 3 feet of snow on upper elevation trails for several hours finally locating Carlson at the Madison Spring Hut at 1:40 Wednesday afternoon. He was cold but alive and huddled underneath the building to protect himself from the elements.

Despite the challenging conditions Carlson was able to hike out under his own power  with rescuers arriving safely at the trailhead at 4:30 p.m.

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Saturday Is National Drug Take Back Day

CONWAY, NH – This Saturday is national prescription drug take back day. Police stations all across the U.S. will be collecting unused or outdated prescription and over the counter drugs, with no questions asked.

The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

The United States Drug Enforcement administration said “Too often, unused prescription drugs find their way into the wrong hands. That’s dangerous and often tragic. That’s why it was great to see thousands of folks from across the country clean out their medicine cabinets and turn in safely and anonymously – a record amount of prescription drugs.”

 

Those looking for a location near them to dispose of drugs can find one by clicking here.

Not sure what is being collected or how to properly dispose of unused or unwanted medications?

 

 

Click here to check out this handy guide from the DEA.

 

 

During the last Drug Take Back day in April 2018 New Hampshire had 120 law enforcement officials participated at 122 different locations and collected a whopping 14,895 lbs (7.4 Tons) of drugs in one day! Since the start of national Drug Take Back Day New Hampshire has collected a total of 113,508 lbs (56.75 Tons) of drugs since the fall of 2010.

Nationally 4,683 law enforcement officials participated at 5,842 different locations and together collected 949,046 lbs. (474.5 Tons) of drugs across the United States.

 

More information on Drug Take Back day and how you can help to keep prescription drugs out of the wrong hands go to takebackday.dea.gov

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Wildcat Mountain Opening The Earliest In Their 61-Year History

Photo of the chair lifts on Wildcat Mountain on Wednesday (10/24/18). Photo Courtesy of Wildcat Mountain

Pinkham Notch, NH – October 24, 2018 – Wildcat Mountain, recently named the home to the Best Scenery in the East by Ski Magazine, is pleased to announce that it will open for top-to-bottom skiing and riding at 9:00 a.m. this Saturday, October 27, 2018, marking the earliest opening in Wildcat’s 61-year history of lift-serviced operations.

“We always circle October 15th on the calendar as our official start date for snowmaking, but it’s up to Mother Nature to come through with the right temperatures. This year, she delivered and our team hit the mountain hard with snowmaking on Friday, October 19th, and just one week later, we are ready to ski Lynx.” said Brian Heon, general manager and vice president of Wildcat Mountain. “Not to mention the foot of fresh snow we received on Wednesday, that was really the icing on the cake!”

Photo of Wildcat Mountain on Wednesday (10/24/18). Photo Courtesy of Wildcat Mountain

On Saturday, October 27, Wildcat Mountain will open with the most vertical skiing and riding in The East, with 2100 feet of summit-to-base skiing off the Wildcat Express for advanced skiers on the Lynx network of trails. Please note that there will be no beginner terrain available.

“We are extremely excited to open two of New England’s legendary resorts so early,” stated Jesse Boyd, Senior VP of Operations for Peak Resorts. “Both Wildcat and Mount Snow have strong, dedicated snowmaking teams which make these early openings possible.”

Wildcat will begin operating weekends only, from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. with the Wildcat Express spinning, while inside, guests will find the cafeteria, retail shop, and the Wildcat Pub open for business. The mountain looks forward to welcoming guests seven days a week in the future at a date to be announced.

Wildcat guest services will be open 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. daily leading up to opening for passholders looking to pick up their passes early and avoid the rush on Saturday.

Lift tickets will be available at ticket window for $55 for all ages, starting 30 minutes before lifts spin. Guests are encouraged to purchase lift tickets in advance and always find the best deals by visiting store.skiwildcat.com.

More information at skiwildcat.com/snow-report.

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Alleged Pipe Bombs sent to Clinton, Obama, and CNN

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — New York City’s police commissioner says a package sent to CNN’s offices in New York contained what appeared to be a live explosive and an envelope containing white powder.

At a briefing near Manhattan’s Time Warner Center, Commissioner James O’Neill pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The police department’s top counterterrorism official, John Miller, said the substance was being tested to see if it is dangerous.

Two law enforcement officials, speaking to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the pipe bomb at CNN was crude but operational and was addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, who regularly appears as a television contributor and who has publicly clashed with Trump. They said it was similar to other explosives discovered in the past few days.

The official said one of the packages had the return address of Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz, an ironic reference to the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee who was accused by Clinton rivals of secretly helping the party’s eventual president nominee.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at the briefing that “we will not allow these terrorist thugs to change the way we live our lives.”

Investigators said the device appeared to be similar to explosives sent to former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and billionaire George Soros.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the package discovered at Soros’ home appeared to be a pipe bomb and was in a package placed in a mailbox outside the gates of the compound. A Soros employee opened it just inside the gates, not near Soros’ quarters, the official said.

Neither Clinton nor Obama received the packages, and neither was at risk of receiving them because of screening procedures, the Secret Service said in a statement.

Hillary Clinton says at a Florida fundraiser that “we are fine” and is thanking the U.S. Secret Service for intercepting an explosive device in a package “long before it made its way to our home.”

Clinton was speaking at a Coral Gables fundraiser for Democratic congressional candidate Donna Shalala, a former health and human services secretary.

The former secretary of state says her family is grateful for the Secret Service’s “service and commitment and obviously never more than today.”

The Secret Service says the package addressed to the Clinton’s suburban New York home was identified as a potential explosive device during routine mail screening procedures. The Clintons didn’t receive the package and were not at risk of receiving it.

The White House quickly condemned the attacks. Vice President Mike Pence said they “have no place in this country,” and President Donald Trump tweeted, “I agree wholeheartedly.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement, “These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Overhead TV shots showed a truck carrying that device, which law enforcement officials said was linked to other explosives this week, being driven away.

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Associated Press writers Ken Thomas and Colleen Long contributed to this report.

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Suspicious Death In Wolfeboro Ruled A Homicide

 

WOLFEBORO, NH – Monday night the Attorney General’s Office in conjunction with State and Wolfeboro Police announced additional information concerning an incident that occurred at 10 Lakeview Drive.

Authorities said that shortly before 9:00 p.m. Sunday, police officers responded to a 911 call from the single-family home.  Upon arrival, officers discovered 36-year-old Kris Dube and his girlfriend 36-year-old Kathleen Moran who were suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.

Mr. Dube was pronounced dead at the scene.  Ms. Moran was taken to a hospital where she remains in critical condition.

There were other residents of the home present during the incident, none of whom were physically harmed.

Dr. Christine James of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Mr. Dube yesterday and determined that his cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death is homicide.

No other details have been released, including whether or not authorities have a suspect.

The incident is being actively investigated.  Anyone with information about the incident or Kris Dube and Kathleen Moran’s activities this past weekend is asked to call the NH State Police Major Crime Unit at 223-4381.