A man tallies the votes from the five ballots cast just after midnight, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Dixville Notch, N.H. Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden received all five votes. (AP Photo/Scott Eisen)

DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. (AP) — Two tiny New Hampshire communities that vote for president just after the stroke of midnight on Election Day have cast their ballots, with one of them marking 60 years since the tradition began. The results in Dixville Notch, near the Canadian border, were a sweep for former Vice President Joe Biden who won the town’s five votes. In Millsfield, 12 miles to the south, President Donald Trump won 16 votes to Biden’s five. Normally, in Dixville, town moderator Tom Tillotson says there would be a big food spread and media crammed into a small space to watch the voting. But that’s not possible because of the coronavirus pandemic. A third town, Hart’s Location, suspended midnight voting this time because of coronavirus concerns.

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Over the last several months, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement, in general, has seen an increase in telephone and computer scams. Although there are several scams such as the IRS scam, Jamaican lottery scam, and others, the scam that seems to be becoming more and more prevalent is the “grandparent scam”.

This particular scam is an attempt to take advantage of the fact that a grandparent will do virtually anything to help their grandchild.

The scam is perpetrated by a telephone call from the “alleged” grandchild. In many cases, the voice on the telephone closely resembles the voice of the grandchild and the individual (scammer) provides a story that they are in trouble and need money, immediately. The trouble could range from the grandchild claiming that they are in jail and need bail money to they need to hire an attorney. In some cases, another individual (scammer) gets into the conversation claiming that he/she is an attorney for the grandchild. Once again, an attempt to make the call appear to be real and further heightening the immediacy. In other cases, the caller (scammer portraying a grandchild) claims that they are traveling and have lost their wallet and/or travel documents. The caller (scammer) ALWAYS portrays a sense of urgency. Lastly, the caller (scammer) asks the grandparent for money. It should be noted the caller (scammer) somehow has gathered enough information about the family, where the family lives and other information not readily available, but because the scammer has done some research it adds another dimension of realism to the request.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office urges anyone who receives a call from their “grandchild”, especially calls requesting money and expressing a sense of urgency to listen, ask the individual (scammer) for a call back number and verify the validity of the call before sending money, providing a credit card number or sending gift cards. A simple call directly to the grandchild if possible or to the grandchild’s parents can often determine whether the call is legitimate or not.

Grandparents have lost thousands of dollars because they have done what every grandparent would do and that is to respond immediately and send money to a scammer thinking that they were actually helping their grandchild out of trouble.

Further inquiries can be address to;

Sheriff Kevin J. Joyce

Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office

(207) 774- 1444 ext. 2115

Families were sent a letter this morning from SAU9 Superintendent of Schools, Kevin Richard confirming a positive case of COVID-19 at John Fuller Elementary School. Please read below.

Dear SAU 9 Families,

We were informed today of a confirmed case of COVID-19 at John Fuller Elementary School.We are actively working with and following guidelines from the New Hampshire Department ofHealth and Human Services (DHHS).

NH DHHS has requested we provide contact information for anyone who has been identified as having had close contact (within 6 feet for longer than 10 minutes) with the infected person.Those individuals or their parents/guardians will be instructed to self-quarantine. They will be directed to get tested and keep themselves or their children quarantined until 14 days following their last possible exposure.

If you or your child are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, such as a fever, chills, respiratory illness, aches or change in taste and smell, please stay home and away from others and get a COVID-19 PCR test. You may choose to seek out testing from your healthcare provider or atone of the​ testing sites​ located throughout the state. ​If you choose either of these options, you should bring this letter with you to the testing site.

Please note that if you or your child are currently quarantined, you must complete quarantine,even if your test is negative. This is because the maximum amount of time from being exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 and testing positive is 14 days. Therefore, even if your child tests negative today, they would need to quarantine until they reach the 14th day following exposure.In the event that your child has to quarantine, they will be able to access their education remotely.

The safety of our children and employees is our top priority. We will continue to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines​ for physical distancing, mask wearing, cleaning and disinfecting our high-traffic areas and frequently touched surfaces as outlined in the ​SAU #9 Re-Entry Plan​.

If you have any questions, please call the SAU9 office at (603) 447-8368.

Sincerely,

Kevin Richard, Superintendent of Schools

SAU9

To see the full letter and have access to resource links click here.