Middle school plans
After years of planning, Auburn and Candia school boards are ready to put the funding of a joint middle school in voters’ hands.

In March, Candia voters will weigh in on a tuition agreement with Auburn to fund the new school, a $25 million project.

Auburn will vote on whether to secure a $29 million bond for the total project cost plus interest. Forty percent of that would likely be funded through state aid available to the district, bringing the total project cost for the two towns to $14.8 million.

According to the tuition agreement, Candia would fund 38 percent of the project costs and Auburn 62 percent, based on enrollment figures which could change by the school’s proposed opening in 2010.

The 58 acres of land for the school site off of Old Hooksett Road was purchased by the Auburn School District for a relatively reasonable price in 2006.

Voters in both towns passed warrant articles at the 2007 election to pay for design and planning costs based on the 38-62 enrollment percentage.

The first visual plans were unveiled at a public information session in August. The layout of the 102,000-square-foot building features a high school-sized gym, cafeteria/auditorium, community space, and an expanded library and media center.

The tuition agreement, which stipulates that Candia teachers will have “first consideration” in the hiring process for the new school but makes no employment guarantees, is a point of contention with Candia voters and teachers.

Fire
A fire at 8 Priscilla Lane in Auburn caused about $2 million in damage on June 9, which Fire Department Lt. Linda Wilking called the largest financial loss the town had yet seen from a fire.

Power Up Equipment saw the brunt of the damage. The cause of the fire, which began burning at around 1:45 a.m. and was reported to the fire department about 45 minutes later, is unknown.

Family of eight flooded out The Mother’s Day flood of 2006 and the 2007 flooding wreaked havoc in homes all over the state, but one family in Auburn was really put out in the cold.

Tia and Sean Tobin, who live at 66 Meadow Lane, lived in one room with their six children for weeks, trying to cleanup the water and sludge left in their home.

The mold that grew rapidly after the waters receded made the Tobin family ill, particularly their five-month old twins. One of the twins, Noah, was in the hospital several times.

As they did with many other families plagued by the physical, emotional, and financial strains the rushing waters brought in, There’s No Place Like Home came to the Tobins’ aid.

Paula Young, the ministry’s pastor, organized a group of workers to clean up and restore the home.

All of the Tobins’ clothing, photos and appliances in the house were removed due to the mold. Young even helped the family get into a hotel while crews worked on their home.

Sex sting
An Auburn man was arrested July 19 after he solicited sex from an undercover Kingston police officer during a sting operation.

Steven Lafave, 44, was drawn to a “brothel” the police set up at a home in Kingston with an ad on craigslist.org.

Police had cover for a while and got responses via the site, but posts started showing up exposing the sting, and six men actually went to the house.

Police charged Lafave, along with the other five arrested, with solicitation of prostitution, a misdemeanor carrying a $1,000 fine.

Of the other five, one was a Boys Club executive director from Haverhill, Mass., and another the husband of state Rep. Jessie Osbourne, D-Merrimack, Richard Osbourne.