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Executive Order on Veteran Suicide

Yesterday President Trump signed an Executive Order called the ‘National Initiative to Empower Veterans and End Veteran Suicide.’ It creates a task force to identify ways the government can help cut down on the number of veterans committing suicide every day. The transition from being in the service to being a civilian can be a daunting one. Veterans often go into the military at a critical time for job training, spend years acquiring skills that are hard to translate to civilian life, and sometimes even experience traumatic events that will stay will them for the rest of their lives. A veteran commits suicide once every 65 minutes. That’s an average of 22 veterans a day and it’s a statistic a lot of people want to put a stop to. Valley resident and former Army Captain Ray Gilmore recently spoke on his personal experience. Gilmore says his best friend and roommate committed suicide in 2013. “You know, sapper qualified ranger, qualified combat advisor just like me. Did his stuff, five kids- six kids. Six kids, he was an overachiever. It was just, it was a shock. When 22 soldiers a day are committing suicide, there’s no such thing as ‘not that guy,’ that guy is everywhere.” If you’re a veteran contemplating suicide, you are not alone. You can find help by calling 800-273-8255 ext. 1, or by going to mentalhealth.va.gov

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Prevent Government Shutdowns Act

US Senator from New Hampshire Maggie Hassan has sponsored a bill to end government shutdowns. Hassan, and Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma, have introduced a bill called the, “Prevent Government Shutdowns Act,” which does one thing: requires all appropriations bills to be completed by both the House and the Senate and signed by the President by October 1st. After that date, the bill cuts off all travel allowances and reimbursements for all legislators, their staff, the President, and his cabinet, except for one trip- which has to be to Washington DC. The bill would also prohibit any recess of the Legislature for more than 23 hours and would prohibit votes on any bills not pertaining to appropriations unless a two-thirds majority is found to vote on another item during that punishment. Commenting on the bill in a press release Senator Hassan said, “It is the height of irresponsibility that government shutdowns are becoming a frequent occurrence, and we need to come together across party lines to end this madness.”

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How to Pay for Family Medical Leave?

As the State of New Hampshire considers passing reforms for Family Medical Leave, two overall plans have emerged between Governor Chris Sununu and the State Legislature and the primary point of contention is funding. Governor Chris Sununu has teamed up with Vermont Governor Phil Scott to propose a voluntary paid Family Medical Leave plan, utilizing contributors from both New Hampshire and Vermont to grow the pool of insurance revenue to reduce the cost of insurance. New Hampshire’s Legislature is lining up behind a different proposal that may prove more controversial for the Live Free or Die state. In debates before House Bill 712 was passed in that chamber, Representative Jack Flanagan of Brookline said, “The funding mechanism is an income tax. I mean, some people will like to say it’s a payroll deduction, but it is truly an income tax and currently it’s at one-half of a one percent. Paid by the employee unless the employer is willing to pay on their behalf.” North Conway Representative Harrison Kanzler rose in defense of the bill before the house and said he disagrees. Representative Kanzler explained that an income tax bill would apply to the total income of an individual, whereas this bill would only institute a ‘premium,’ against an individual’s wages and not the total income. The bill passed the house yesterday but with just under 200 votes for the measure, it falls well below the three-fourths it will need to override the Governor’s likely veto.

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MWO Experiences Highest Winds for the Month of February

 

Heavy winds batter New England and Mt. Washington may be bearing the brunt of it. Tom Padham, Weather Observer and Meteorologist at the Mt. Washington Observatory says they had a gust of wind as fast as 171 mph, which is a record for the month of February. Powerful winds are striking elsewhere throughout New England as well with average gusts around 53-55 mph in New Hampshire and Maine. Central Maine Power reported that 6,000 customers were in the dark. In New Hampshire, Eversource had about 7,600 customers without power, and WCYY in Maine reports a communications tower was broken in half atop Sugarloaf Mountain.

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Bartlett Police Fire Back (at article)

Bartlett has been accused of being the most boring town in the State of New Hampshire and the Bartlett Police Department takes umbrage with the allegations. It all started when MSN.com showcased a report on the, ‘most boring town,’ in every State. The report was based off US Census data measuring the age of the population, density of population, and the number of things officially listed to do in a town. Bartlett came out on top, or bottom, for the State of New Hampshire depending on how you rank it. That’s when the Bartlett Police Department raised their objections. The official Facebook page of the Bartlett Police Department accused the article of being, ‘fake news,’ saying that they would tag every business and attraction in the town but that they couldn’t because Facebook has a 50 tag limit. The comments below the post listed suggested alternatives for most boring town. The ‘most-boring town’ listed for Maine was Dover-Foxcroft.’

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Winter Windstorms Across New England

 

Winds are picking up across New England and outages are being reported, primarily in the southern parts of New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. Power company Eversource is advising people to be prepared for inclement weather by building a standard emergency storm kit. They recommend water, non-perishable food, first aid supplies, any necessary prescriptions, flashlights, batteries and a battery powered radio as a basic standard kit. Charging up your wireless devices ensures you’ll have them for as long as possible if the power goes out. It’s also important to stay alert during a storm situation. Whether you’re on the road or inside your house, falling branches can be a danger.

 

 

Sitting on the summit of Mt. Washington, the Observatory is exposed to the region-wide wind currents. Since 2:00 today (2/25/19) they have reported average winds of over 100 mph. Weather Observer and Meteorologist Tom Padham says winds like this come along every five years or so. Padham also says that those stationed at the Observatory currently are taking extra precautions. Observers are trying not to stray too far from the building when they go outside and, when observers go to the top of the tower, they wear helmets with the knowledge that chunks of ice could come at them with those 100+ mph winds.