January

The Salem School Board decides to trim $300,000 out of its $46 million budget after the Budget Committee protests a proposed 8.5 percent increase over the previous year’s budget.

The Lather & Lace hair salon at 88 North Broadway,featuring females who give

haircuts while wearing costumes, opened on Jan. 6. While the project met no opposition from town officials, some controversy surrounded the planning stages of the business.

An ice storm on Jan. 15 causes major problems, with ice building up on trees, causing them to all onto roads and power lines. About 6,500 residents were left without power for several hours.

 Lester and Andrea Pearson of Salem disputed a water bill they received from the town that sought payment of $1,819 for water they used over the previous 11 years. A town-wide survey of the accuracy of water meters uncovered the discrepancy.Seletmen later asked for only $666.70, 35 percent of the original amount.

A petition warrant to change the Salem Zoning Board of Adjustment to an elected rather than appointed body left several members saying they would not run Lather &

Lace hair salon on North Broadway opened Jan. 6, despite some protest from residents.

The Budget Committee approved a request by members of the town managers union for a 3 percentraise, a $2 million petition warrant to purchase Duston Farm, a 237-year-old property and a $3.8 million bridge-repair bond article.

A four-alarm fire damaged a Salem office building at 53 Stiles Road on Jan. 25. The fire started in a second-floor wall behind a clothes dryer. Fire officials said a lint buildup likely

started the blaze.

Two Salem High School students were suspended for bringing .22 caliber bullets to school. The suspensions came after students and school officials found bullets in various locations around the building on Jan. 24 and Jan. 26. The names and ages of the two boys were not released.

February

Kevin Barbieri, 37, of 10 Centerville Drive, Salem, was killed Feb. 3 when his snowmobile hit rocks on Arlington Pond.

Town warrants go to March ballot unchanged after deliberative session. At the school deliberative session, $125,000 is restored to the district’s proposed operating budget to fund a new technology position and summer teacher training sessions.

Matthew Kelly, 17, a Salem High School senior, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute on Wednesday, Feb. 21, after school administrators received a tip that he was in possession of a large quantity of the drug.

March

A family of five was displaced after a fire caused heavy damage to their home at 13 Taylor St. and killed their pet cat. The March 5 fire was likelycaused by a candle which was either left burning or not properly extinguished.

Salem resident Craig Feetham, 39, was injured when his car exploded out- side his home. A leaky tank of acetylene fuel, commonly used as torch fuel, in Feetham’s trunk was ignited by a remote door opener. The blast injured him, destroyed the car and caused substantial damage to two mobile homes.

Pat Hargreaves narrowly defeated Ronald Belanger for a seat on the Board of Selectmen by a vote of 1,547 to 1,507.

In its first year as an elected body, Linda Harvey, James Keller, Eugene Bryant, Phyllis O’Grady, Robert Campbell and Thomas Campbell made up a completely new Planning Board.

Stephen Campbell and James Randazzo won seats on the Budget Committee.

A $3.8 million bond article to fix bridges in town, a $1.4 million article that would run town water to North Salem and a $2 million article to purchase Duston Farm were all voted down on the March 13 ballot.

$6 million in warrant articles were passed at the second deliberative session, including $2.2 million for road repairs and money to hire four new firefighters.

A handful of Salem residents gathered enough signatures to request a recount on the bridge repair warrant article, which was voted down by 23 votes on March 13.

A salary between $115,000 and $125,000 was set by selectmen for the new town manager being sought after Henry LaBranche announced he would be leaving the position. At the time, LaBranche was making $98,000 a year.

The state House of Representatives voted 226-132 to approve a definition of adequate education that includes a mandatory half-day kindergarten. Salem, Pelham and Windham, three of the 12 remaining towns in the country – all in New Hampshire – that don’t offer public kindergarten, are faced with the task of funding one by 2008.

April

Deputy Police Chief Robert Larsen, 51, announced he would retire on April 30 after 30 years of service.

Two local businessmen proposed a commercial biodiesel fuel production plant, making Salem the state’s first hub for manufacturing the fuel.

School officials went on high alert after teachers at Salem High School found a series of notes threatening that an act of violence would occur on April 20. The school remained open, but police presence was increased, students were not allowed to carry backpacks and only two entrances were open. The day passed without incident.

A plan to build a new bus terminal and park-and-ride lot located off Exit 2 on Interstate 93 was announced by the state Department of Transportation.

A fire deemed suspicious destroyed a local eatery, the Canobie Clam Box at 80 North Policy St.

May

Horizon Travel in Salem was indicted by the state in a lawsuit claiming the company bilked four couples out of thousands of dollars. The company was later fined $500,000.

Budget Committee member Stephen Campbell filed a formal complaint against the Board of Selectmen, as he believed they might be making decisions and having additional meetings in private. Deputy Attorney General Orville Fitch wrote a letter to the town saying they should brush up on the law to make sure they’re not breaking it.

A state law allowing municipal employees to purchase extra years of experience threw the town a curve when 17 employees decided to take advantage of it in 2007.

School officials unveil a plan to make $40 million in renovations to Salem High School. Included in the plan is a large athletic center, which officials cut in size later in the year.

A request made by Budget Committee members for missing receipts had the Salem School Board rethinking a policy about access to information and perhaps charging for time spent on searching for it.

Woodbury Middle School band teacher Pat Moeschen received two separate Teacher of the Year awards. He was named the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year after being nominated by student Donnie Dortuna and the Salem/Methuen Rotary Club’s Teacher of the Year, for which he was nominated by Superintendent Michael Delahanty.

June

Developers who initially planned on knocking down the Coca-Cola plant on Route 28 to make room for a retail plaza decided to change their plans to use most of the existing building.

Kimberly Danahy, 45, of 36 Woekel Circle, Pelham, faced more than a dozen drug charges. She was allegedly using equipment to manufacture powder cocaine into crack cocaine to use and sell.

Selectmen offered the town manager position to Jonathan Sistare after months of searching and interviewing. Sistare was serving in Iraq at the time of his hire. He formerly was the Jaffrey town manager.

Property owner Larry Jacobs asked the town to change the name of the street his apartments are located on, Meisner Circle. The complex had a bad reputation of drug deals and criminal activity, and Jacobs said it was hard to rent apartments when people found out where the complex was located.

July

Superintendent Michael Delahanty said he and Pelham-Windham Superintendent Elaine Cutler formalized a one-year tuition agreement to allow Windham students to stay at Salem High School after plans were pushed back for the Windham high school opening.

Raymond Burling, 43, was arrested after a standoff with police after he fired a gun in his home at 10 Juniper Road.

School officials began looking for ways to scale back on the $40 million renovation plan for Salem High School, hoping that decreasing the price tag would encourage voters to support the plan.

Money magazine ranked Salem among the top 100 communities in the nation with populations under 50,000. Named the 85th best place to live, Salem topped more than 2,800 communities from across the country.

August

Police arrested Jeremy Hurd, 36, of Utica, N.Y., who they said was responsible for printing more than $1,000 in counterfeit money. Some of the money was allegedly passed around Salem with more on the Seacoast and Merrimack Valley.

Salem police charged Mary-Anne Beaudoin, 27, of Haverhill, Mass., with child endangerment after her two young children were found alone in a parked car. She left her two children, ages 2 and 6, in the car with the windows up while she shopped at Wal-Mart on North Broadway, police officials said.

Kevin Woodbury, 19, of Salem was recovering after his car flipped five times on Route 38. His brother, Ryan, 21, coincidentally was driving in the other direction, saw the accident happen and was able to help rescue workers expedite efforts to get him Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

School officials trimed the size of a proposted athletic facility from 75,000 square feet to 64,000 square feet, shaving $1 million off the approximately $40 million cost of a planned renovation to the school.

Priscilla Champagne, 50, of 14 Hobbs Road, Pelham, and seven other people were arrested as a result of a two-month investigation into the sale, possession and manufacturing of cocaine and crack cocaine in town. When Kelly interviewed Maylone, she admitted that she , Longo, and Longo’s boyfriend loaded the furniture in his van and put a lounge chair in Maylone’s car between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. on July 13, according to the affidavit. Maylone told Kelly the women had been told that the furniture was going to be thrown away. In a separate interview, Longo also admitted that she and Maylone took the furniture but claimed another employee told them it was going to be discarded and that they could take it, according to Kelly’s affidavit. But that employee denied to police she told the women they could take the furniture. After receiving consent to search the women’s homes, Kelly and another officer seized a mattress, box spring, bed frame, head board, dresser, dresser mirror, lamp and pillow, valued at $4,200, from Longo’s Derry home and the lounge chair, valued at $1,500, from Maylone’s home. The women will be arraigned next month. Each charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $4,000 fine.

September

Twenty-four people were arrested during a sobriety checkpoint run by Salem police over the Labor Day holiday. About 470 vehicles were stopped at two locations.

Joseph Connolly, 34, of Andover, Mass., was arraigned in Derry District Court after being charged as an accomplice to shoplifting an exotic baby bird from a Salem pet store. Connolly was also involved in fatal crash the same day, in which John Sweren, 54, died from injuries after his motorcycle crashed into a car after he swerved to avoid Connolly’s vehicle, which crossed the center line.

Eight people, including six children, were left homeless after a fire ripped through their home at 75 S. Policy St. Firefighters found heavy flames when they got to the manufactured home, but brought the blaze under control within 13 minutes of their arrival. No one was in the house at the time of the fire. Fire officials said the blaze started in a toaster.

Christine Harris of 75 S. Policy St. was arrested after approximately 40 dogs were removed from her home. She would not let the animal control officer enter her home, and also pushed a tow truck driver who was on her property.

Arthur Moyer, a postal carrier in Salem, was arrested for stealing money out of cards he was delivering.

A young boy helped a woman steal two donation canistersthat benefit the Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization at the New Hampshire State Liquor Store at 417 S. Broadway. Police said the woman quickly put one of the canisters into her large pocketbook at a cash register counter while the boy acted as a lookout. Van Ngoc Do, 39, of 25 Hale Spring Road, Plaistow, was later arrested on two charges of theft by unauthorized taking.

October

Water and sewer rates in Salem went up for the second time in four months. Selectmen approved raising the rate for water from $2.58 to $3 per 100 cubic feet, and the sewer rate from $2.60 to $3.35 per 100 cubic feet. The new rate for sewer took place Oct. 1, while the new price for water went into effect Oct. 24.

Henry LaBranche retired after serving as town manager for three years. He also served the town as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent of Salem schools from 1989 to 2004.

Jonathan Sistare began workas Salem town manager on Oct. 1.

The Blue Devils boys volleyball team and girls field hockey team both brought home state championships after they each completed an undefeated season. The boys won 74 straight matches en route to their fourth consecutive title. The girls won their third straight Class L title and fifth in six years.

Salem selectmen voted to withdraw $750,000 from the town’s unreserved fund balance to cut the municipal tax increase of the 2007 property tax rate from 6 percent to 3 percent.

Freda Smith was honored as the recipient of the JFK Merit Award by the Salem Democratic Town Committee in recognition of her work to improve the treatment of adults and children with physical and mental disabilities.

November

Eight days after their male counterparts won their state championship, the Salem girls volleyball team won their second consective title in straight sets against top-seed Spaulding at Pinkerton Academy in Derry on Saturday, Nov. 3.

John R. Macedonia, 48, of 34 Main Street, Apt. 2, North Andover, Mass., accused of robbing a Salem bank, was identified by his boss, who saw photographs of the crime broadcast during a TV newscast. Macedonia was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail when he was arraigned on Nov. 2.

On Nov. 13, James Golden, 40, of 29 Joseph St., Salem, barricaded himself in a Windham police station bathroom for more than an hour, but eventually surrendered to police and was charged with reckless conduct. He reportedly told a Windham police dispatcher over the phone that his life had been threatened by the mob and that he needed to speak with an officer.

Salem High School announced that the 2010 senior prom would take place at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. Organizers for the prom were looking for a venue that could accommodate a large number of students and their guests. The stadium can accommodate more than 1,400 people.

A baseball field at Michelle park in Salem was dedicated to Army Cpl. Nicholas Arvanitis and U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Robert Moscillo, both whom died in Iraq. Both had spent many hours in their youth playing baseball at the park.

Katie Beal, 17, was named the Salem Boys & Girls Club 2007 Youth of the Year in recognition of her excellence in character, leadership and outstanding service to the community and to the club.

On Nov. 16, Robert Saitow, 51, of Vassar Drive, Pelham, was killed when his 2005 Toyota Prius collided with another vehicle on Route 28 in Windham. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

A state legislative committee voted to recommend giving school districts a one-year extension to start a public kindergarten program in their communities. Salem, Pelham and Windham are among the last towns in the country that do not offer public kindergarten. The state set 2008 as the deadline for kindergarten to start, but towns may get to push that back to 2009.

December

Police seized more than 20,000 counterfeit items and arrested 32 vendors for dealing in counterfeit goods at the Salem Flea Market. The raid at 18 Hampshire Road, conducted Dec. 2, involved close to 25 Salem officers and seven detectives from Methuen, Mass.

Selectmen recommended a 9 percent increase in the town portion of the tax bill. The increase will go into effect if all warrant articles put forward by selectmen are approved in March.

State environmental officials have ordered Meadowcroft Development LLC to conduct a site investigation after levels of nitrate exceeding safe drinking water standards were found in several wells near the company’s blasting operation off Ledge Road in Windham.

Ruth Henning, 93, longtime organist at the First Congregational Church of Salem, was honored for her service on Sunday, Dec. 9, when a room at the church was named for her.

Jack Buzzell, 22, of Salem and Robert Mears, 26, of Haverhill, Mass., face charges after Buzzell allegedly pointed a handgun at a group of people outside a T-Bones Restaurant in Salem on Dec. 12. Buzzell was driving out of the parking lot too fast, said police, and the group yelled at him. Buzzell apparently took offense,backed up his truck, got out of his vehicle and pointed a gun at the group, according to Deputy Chief William Ganley.

• Kim Sanga of Salem and Kristin Despathy of Raymond seek cancer survivors for a book they are putting together called “Beyond the Scars,” about celebrating survival. Sanga suffered from skin cancer, and Despathy is a breast cancer survivor.