Windham News

Windham unbeatable in softball tournament

2008-07-24T00:26:00Z

The Windham Baseball Softball League girls seniors all-stars went undefeated to win the U14 division of the Barrington Youth Association’s annual Grip N Rip tournament, June 27 to 29, in Barrington.

The team began with a come-from-behind, 3-2 win against Concord on June 27. Entering the bottom of seventh and last inning, Windham trailed, 2-0, but the girls rallied, scoring the winning run with two out.

They went right back onto the field and built momentum with a 9-5 victory over Raymond.

In their only game on June 28, Windham drubbed Somersworth, 7-3.

Against tournament host Barrington on June 29, the locals fell behind by two runs, then answered with two in the third inning, two in the fourth and eight more in the fifth en route to a 12-7 victory.

Rain suspended a final weekend game against Barrington with the score tied, 5-5, in the top of the sixth inning.

The tournament committee awarded first place to the Windham girls, the lone unbeaten team.

Windham high school road to be on September ballot

2008-07-23T19:05:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

The layout of a proposed town road that would provide a second means of emergency access to the new Windham High School was unanimously passed by the Board of Selectmen after a site walk and public hearing.

Windham residents who spoke out at the Monday, July 21, public hearing were split in their opinions about the road’s purpose and layout, with some agreeing that it should be a paved throughway and others saying it should be a smaller gravel road with limited access.

The board voted unanimously to pass the plans for a 24-footwide paved road that would extend from the high school over London Bridge Road and connect to Castle Hill Road.

The project, estimated to cost just over $1 million, will go before voters as a special ballot item during the Sept. 9 primary elections.

A deliberative session on the town’s warrant article requesting to take out a $1.25 million bond for the road will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. at the town hall.

According to the state Department of Education, the school needs to have a second access before it can open. It is slated to open in September 2009, which leaves the town the Sept. 9 vote and the March 2009 vote to secure funding for the road.

A similar ballot question appeared on the school district’s ballot this past March, but failed to get the 60 percent majority vote it needed to pass. Selectman Bruce McMahon had petitioned the article with the argument the school district could get 30 percent reimbursement from the state with the project’s passage.

Several residents voiced their concerns at the public hearing that the proposed road was too costly and should not be a paved street. The town may have a hard time getting approval for funding for the proposed road, some said.

“We don’t want to stop the school. We do want to have a second emergency egress in there, but beyond meeting those goals, why do more, and why do it at the expense of taxpayers?” said Betty Dunn of Woodvue Road at the public hearing. “You haven’t convinced me yet.”

Dunn suggested the funding could fall under a betterment clause, which would mean the developer would pay for the road. Town attorney Bernard Campbell said the state of New Hampshire does not have a general betterment clause, so that was not an option.

Windham Fire Police Chief Thomas McPherson has said the school needs to have an emergency access before it can open.

The fire department would like to see the road be made into a paved, standard-sized road that would allow police and emergency vehicles seamless access to the school as well as a means to get to the other side of town quicker, said Assistant Deputy Fire Chief Robert Leuci. Leuci added that creating a town road instead of simply a limited access way will ensure that the road is maintained throughout the winter.

The fire department wants to see the road paved because a gravel road could be full of potholes and ruts after the snow and rain seasons.

Selectman Roger Hohenberger said a paved 24-foot road would only cost $150,000 more than a gravel road, adding the gravel would be much more expensive to maintain over the years due to erosion.

Chairman Dennis Senibaldi said making the road a paved, official public road will allow for easier snow removal and more efficient repairs.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about how we got here, it’s about how the chief’s going to get there,” said Senibaldi, referring to the fire department. “If you can get there and save a life, no one’s going to be talking about this road.”

In order to expand the road, the town is going to have to eat up some of the abutting properties. The town currently owns about one-third of London Bridge Road, which is paved right now. The other two-thirds of it are dirt and privately owned.

Two attorneys, John Ratigan, representing abutter James Logan, and Patricia Panciocco, representing Kerry McKenna, said their clients would be glad to give up land for the road as long as it was paved and maintained.

Peter Schmidt, of Heritage Hill Road, said he’s concerned about the amount of traffic that will be coming down his street once the new road opens.

“You’re going to jam that road like there’s no tomorrow,” said Schmidt.

Man with foot fetish faces assault charges in Windham

2008-07-23T18:20:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

After Windham police received an anonymous tip, a man suspected of assaulting female yoga and fitness instructors has been caught.

Eric Henson, 31, of 116 Barretts Hill Road, Hudson, was arraigned on three charges of simple assault in Salem District Court on Tuesday, July 22.

Henson admitted to placing the feet of his female victims against his groin while they demonstrated a stretching movement. He told them he was a karate instructor looking to open a business in town, police said.

All three Windham assaults took place in the neighboring Commons and Village Green plazas on Route 111.

Windham police Sgt. Michael Caron said Henson admitted to the alleged Windham acts during questioning, adding Henson is suspected of similar crimes on about a dozen other occasions in other New Hampshire towns as well as in his former town of Wakefield, Mass.

“I think this individual certainly has a problem that needs to be addressed,” Caron said after Henson’s arraignment.

Caron said Henson moved to town on or around Friday, June 27. The first assault was Tuesday, July 1, at the Windham Pilates and Wellness Center at Village Green.

In that incident, the pilates instructor was showing Henson some moves after he entered the studio and said he wanted to learn some exercises to speed up his recovery from an injury. She pulled away and confronted Henson verbally, and he left.

The next two assaults were on Thursday, July 17, at The Commons Plaza at approximately 5:30 p.m. Police responded to a call from a woman in the parking lot who said a man had approached her and said he was a karate teacher and wanted to show her a move. According to a police affidavit, Henson also told her she had nice legs and feet.

Henson allegedly said he had to grab her leg and foot to do it. He then placed her foot against his crotch, according to police.

While police were dealing with that call, another woman who works at Yoga Sanctuary in the same plaza told officers that a man with a similar description had entered the studio and asked for massage advice. Flynn demonstrated the massage, and Henson allegedly took her foot and put it against his crotch.

Caron said an anonymous caller told police the culprit was Henson. Investigators were able to reach Henson through his work cell phone around noon on Monday, July 21, and asked him to come to the station for an interview.

Henson came to the station about an hour and a half later, and admitted to committing the Windham assaults in addition to nine to 15 others in other New Hampshire and Massachusetts towns.

“(Henson) claimed he would use the same ‘stretching’ routine to get women close to him. He stated that he has a foot fetish and that it has become a problem.

He admitted that this all started about two to three years ago, but it has been an issue for about year,” the affidavit said.

Caron said Henson admitted to having a problem, and seemed remorseful towards the end of the interview.

Although Henson is suspected of many more similar crimes, most of the victims did not inform their local law enforcement agencies, Caron said.

Windham police do know of one similar incident that took place in a public park in Wakefield, Mass.

Salem District Court Judge John Korbey set Henson’s bail at $25,000 cash or surety. Prosecutors at the arraignment argued Henson had close ties to Massachusetts and was a flight risk.

Windham may put pipline in during I-93 work

2008-07-16T19:18:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Windham Board of Selectmen has about a week left to decide whether a utilities conduit should be installed under Interstate 93 by the weigh station.

The state plans to start the Windham portion of the largescale I-93 widening this summer, and needs to know whether the conduit will go in before getting too deeply into the improvements.

The conduit would include phone, cable and electricity lines, and a water pipe as well as fiber optics line for future developments, said highway agent Jack McCartney at the board’s last meeting on Monday, July 14. It would serve the Wall Street area by Route 111, providing the potential for future development of that area.

“In the infant states of doing the work on the (Route) 111 bypass, this item was brought up and fell on deaf ears,” said Vice Chairman Bruce Breton. “The question is, do we need this for the viability of Windham in the future, and the answer is yes.”

Chairman Dennis Senibaldi said the state has agreed to pick up the cost of installing the conduit as part of their improvements and would add the conduit work into plans before going out to bid on the Windham portion of the project. The town would pay for the cost of the piping and other materials, he said.

“Just to say whether we want it or not gives them the opportunity to put it in their bid package,” Senibaldi said.

McCartney said the I-93 construction provides an ideal opportunity to install the utilities and attract developers to the Wall Street area.

If the town waits any longer, it will be much more difficult and costly to dig up the highway and install the conduit later, he said. The cost of materials will likely go up as time goes by, he said.

“A lot of the trench work is going to be done in current construction. For the conduit, you just take some glue and put the pieces together,” McCartney said. “I don’t see it being ridiculous numbers.”

A sewer line that would serve the Wall Street area is also on the table, but can be worked around the widening project and wouldn’t need to be installed until much further down the road. McCartney reiterated that the utilities are not a need at this point, but would simply be installed for the future viability of development in Windham.

Selectman Roger Hohenberger said he wanted more information regarding the town’s financial liability for the conduit before making a decision.

“If it’s only an X amount of dollars and now’s the right time to do it, that might prompt a different decision,” said Hohenberger, adding the conduit discussion goes back 30 years and the town has not had a pressing need for the added utilities yet.

The board requested that Mc- Cartney put some cost estimates together and meet with them again on Monday, July 21.

“In my opinion, if the services are available ... we could attract development in the Wall Street area,” McCartney told the board.

Selectman Charles McMahon said the conduit discussion has been ongoing for decades, and it’s time for the town to follow through.

“There’s the potential now to at least do something for Windham’s future,” he said. “We really ought to make this happen. So many things have changed in now in our town. The future folks said wouldn’t happen has happened.”

Windham Little League team bounced from District-1 tourney by slick-fielding Suncook

2008-07-09T18:50:00Z

BY JERRY LIPTAK

A well-played defensive game, especially at the Little League level, is a dazzling sight on the baseball diamond. But try telling that to Windham’s manager, Ron Carbonneau.

The mentor of the 11- and 12-year-old all-stars watched the hosts from Suncook catch every ball hit their way, denying sure base hits and turning aside every challenge in a 7-1 Windham loss on Saturday, July 5. The defeat knocked the locals from the District-1 Little League tournament.

“They were always one hit away from getting back in (the game),” said the good-natured Carbonneau, who praised Suncook for its flawless defense.

Hooksett starting pitcher Gus Connolly fanned the last two Windham batters of the game, but prior to that he was the beneficiary of some fine play behind him.

In the second inning, for example, Zack Hennessey’s fly ball was tracked down in left-center field, then Kyle Carbonneau’s smash toward center field was deflected by the pitcher and picked up by Hooksett’s shortstop, who stepped on second and threw to first to complete an inning-ending double play.

After dominating Concord National on June 30 in a 9-0 win, Windham starting pitcher Adam Dolan allowed a pair of two-run home runs to Hooksett. He also scored the team’s only run in the bottom of the first when he was hit by a pitch and moved around the base paths on three wild pitches, quickly cutting the deficit in half.

“They never give up. It sort of carried over from the Salem American game,” said Carbonneau, who added his group trailed its border rival by eight runs, 11-3, before closing to 11- 9 in the fifth inning of an eventual 12-9 loss on Friday, July 4.

In that contest, cleanup hitter Mike Goglia and the younger Carbonneau each delivered two base hits.

Dan Moynihan, the team’s No. 3 hitter, slugged a home run against Concord National, then Zack Breton came off the bench and poked another shot over the wall.

Starting first baseman Tim Hillman, leadoff hitter Kellin Bail, Kurtis Jolicoeur and Goglia, who pitched well in relief against Hooksett, are the team’s 11-year-olds, while Moynihan and Dolan returned to the all-star squad for a second straight year.

They’ll join left fielder Jeff Peterson, catcher Connor Whittemore, Andrew Lowman and Andrew LeClair at the Fraser Tournament, which welcomes teams eliminated from the District-1 tourney.

“They get along so well, and these kids love playing together,” said Carbonneau. “We put it to a vote, and it was unanimous to keep playing.”

Windham's Castle Hill Bridge to be restored

2008-07-09T18:45:00Z

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Town officials have gained public support to replace a closed, structurally deficient bridge recognized by the state as a historical landmark by next year.

Selectmen fulfilled a request by the New Hampshire Division of Cultural Resources to publicly present plans to replace the Castle Hill Road bridge and to preserve eight beams of wood – six of which date back to the original construction of the bridge – during last week’s board meeting. The move gave the town the go-ahead to begin the replacement of the bridge.

Micheal Croteau of SEA Consultants – the firm handling the project for both towns – told the board during his presentation that plans to reconstruct the bridge are about 90 percent completed. Once the remaining permits are granted, the town can go to bid, he said.

Town Manager David Sullivan estimates construction of a new 41-foot two-lane bridge is at least a year off.

“We wanted to get it done this year, but because of this process there’s no way we’re going to get it done,” he said. “The completion will not take place until next year at this point.”

While the single lane bridge spanning the Beaver Brook from Windham into Pelham is eligible for both the New Hampshire and national registers of historic places, the historical societies of both municipalities sent letters in supporting the move to replace the structure.

“While it is always difficult to accept the loss of an historic resource, the (Windham Historic District and Heritage Commission) recognizes that, at times, greater consideration must be given to practicality and economics,” wrote Carol Pynn, chairman of the commission.

Each town will receive four of the eight timbers. In Windham, the wood will be used to reconstruct the boardwalk at the historic depot building to its original appearance as well as for the construction of access stairs into the Stickney Cellar foundation, also located in the historic Depot district. Pynn told board members at the public hearing that the origins of the timber would be clearly marked in some form of a plaque.

“I am very pleased to hear that the Castle Hill Road Bridge is finally going to get replaced,” wrote Bill Scanzani, president of the Pelham Historic Society. “I am even more pleased to know that the wooden beams of this historic bridge will not go to waste and can be reused by our trails committee for the purpose of maintaining our many miles of wonderful trails here in Pelham.”

The Pelham Snowmobile club has requested the use of the salvaged timber for existing snowmobile or bike trails within the town.

Originally constructed between 1905 and 1914, the bridge was upgraded in 1971 and then again in 1990 when the structure was re-decked with pressure-treated wood. The bridge was closed in 2006 after flooding damaged the structure.

The state inventory describes the bridge as “an increasingly rare example of a timber stringer bridge with a timber deck.”

Assault reported at Windham yoga center

2008-07-09T18:33:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

Windham Police are still looking for a man who reportedly assaulted a yoga instructor after she showed him some yoga moves.

The woman, an employee of Windham Pilates and Wellness Center, reported the alleged assault to police shortly after the incident occurred at around 7 p.m. on Monday, July 1, said Windham Police Chief Gerald Lewis.

She described the suspect as about 5 feet, 10 inches tall with blond hair, possibly in his early 30s. He was wearing a white T-shirt, a gold chain and either jeans or khaki pants at the time of the incident.

Contrary to news reports already published about the incident, Lewis said, the woman was not a victim of a sexual assault in the accepted sense of the term.

“There was an assault that took place that was sexual in nature. There was no rape that took place, and no attempted rape,” said Lewis, adding the assault was of very short duration.

According to the woman’s account, the man entered the studio and asked the woman about some physical therapy exercises he could do for an injury he had sustained.

The assault took place as the yoga instructor demonstrated some exercises. The perpetrator fled upon being confronted verbally with his inappropriate behavior, Lewis said.

The pilates studio was open at the time of the incident, as were several other businesses in the Village Green plaza on Route 111, where the studio is located.

Nobody who was working in any of those businesses saw the suspect, Lewis said, nor was anyone able to provide police with the description of a vehicle in which he may have fled.

Upon taking the report, the Windham Police contacted the police departments in surrounding towns as well as the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Department with a description of the suspect. No leads have been generated thus far, Lewis said, and no similar incidents had occurred in other towns.

Lewis said they are still hoping to identify the man. Anyone with any information regarding the incident should call the Windham Police Department at 434-5577.

Two Windham men nabbed again

2008-07-09T18:27:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

Two Windham men who were already facing charges for an attempted robbery in June were arrested again for assaulting a Salem man the night before they were to appear in court on their previous charges.

Salem police arrested Thomas Winward, 17, and Shawn Mahoney, 18, both of Windham, and charged both with simple assault and drug possession on the evening of Monday, July 7, after they allegedly entered the Salem apartment of Nick Pettiford and attacked him.

According to Salem police Capt. Shawn Patten, Pettiford’s girlfriend was at the apartment when Mahoney and Winward showed up at the apartment to confront Pettiford about some guns and a video game they believed Pettiford stole from Winward’s home.

Winward and Mahoney allegedly attacked Pettiford while inside the apartment, at which point Pettiford’s girlfriend reported the incident to police.

“When the girlfriend called police, the two suspects fled. (Pettiford) went after them and got a bat from his car,” Patten said.

When police arrived, Patten said, Pettiford was swinging a bat at Winward and Mahoney but did not land any blows. Pettiford suffered minor injuries to his face and head area in the attack. Neither Mahoney nor Winward was injured.

Both Winward and Mahoney were carrying about an ounce of marijuana each, Patten said, and were also charged with possession.

No charges are being filed against Pettiford at this point, said Patten, adding an investigation into the claims that Pettiford had stolen guns and a video game from Winward has turned up nothing.

Winward and Mahoney were two parts of a trio of midnight prowlers who were arrested when they tried to break into a Pelham Road home on Sunday, June 1. Daniel Smith, 19, of Salem rounded out the band of would-be bandits.

Despite the July 7 arrest, both Mahoney and Winward appeared in Salem District Court July 8 for probable cause hearings for the attempted robbery and to be arraigned on the new charges. Smith waived his probable cause hearing.

The Pelham Road incident resulted in charges of criminal trespassing, criminal mischief, prowling, resisting arrest and unlawful possession of alcohol.

During that arrest, all three suspects were extremely uncooperative and combative with arresting officers, Patten said. One officer was actually injured in the process of trying to subdue the three men, sustaining a knee injury that sent him to Parkland Medical Center for treatment. Officers had to Taser Mahoney at the time because of his out-of-control resistance, Patten said.

By the end of their day in court, probable cause was found to prosecute both Winward and Mahoney for their alleged roles in the attempted burglary. Bail was set for the new charges at $10,000 cash or surety for both Winward and Mahoney. They will appear next in court on Wednesday, Aug. 20, for their trial on the new charges.

Budget cuts slow I-93 widening project in Windham

2008-07-02T19:22:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

Engineers from the state Department of Transportation met with the Board of Selectmen to update them on the progress of the I-93 and Route 111 improvements, a project that is chugging rather than gliding forward at this point, due to deep gouges in the state’s budget.

The Windham section of the project, which includes adding lanes to I-93, shifting Route 111A to the north and reshaping the interchange of Route 111 and I-93 by Exit 3 and exchanging the loop ramps for a diamond-shaped design, is projected to be completed by 2015, said project manager Peter Stamnas. The entire I-93 project is supposed to be complete by 2017.

The Board of Selectmen pondered issues of limited access to Route 111, landscaping and future surplus land that could eventually be sold to bring commercial development to Windham.

When Route 111A is moved north, motorists will only be able to make a right hand turn onto it from I-93, said Stamnas. The remaining part of it would become a town-owned road.

“One of our biggest issues in this town is economic development. By making that limited access, that kind of bars us from doing stuff in the future,” said Selectmen Chairman Dennis Senibaldi.

Selectman Roger Hohenberger voiced concern over the transition from four lanes down to two on I-93, which will also take place by Exit 3.

“Now we’re going to be the bottleneck where Salem used to be the bottleneck. It didn’t work in Salem, what you guys did, so I was just wondering how you’re going to make it work in Windham,” Hohenberger asked Stamnas.

Stamnas said the location of the bottleneck allows ample time for people to merge and that it is the least complex way of doing it. “We looked at three or four different versions and we came up with one that we feel is best suited not only for traffic volume but also for finance,” Stamnas said.

Hohenberger said the change is going to cause commuters coming up I-93 to detour onto back roads through Windham.

The state is also still trying to figure out where to install one or more conduits for sewer and electricity through I-93, a piece of the project that has become tricky with the grading associated with the added lanes.

Stamnas said the state has some ideas for the installation, but said the DOT and Selectmen need to meet “immediately” to discuss where, when and how to install that conduit.

“I don’t have any information for size. There really isn’t a great spot,” Stamnas said. “It’s not going to be an inexpensive piece of work. The town would have to pay for the installation,” he said.

Hohenberger said the state promised to pay for the installation several years ago, and Selectman Charles McMahon said if something has changed since that promise, Stamnas should look into it and inform the town right away.

Stamnas was also trying to get the board’s feelings on a $225,000 landscaping layout that would surround the interchange by exit 3. The plan includes hundreds of trees which Stamnas described as low-maintenance.

The state would install all the greenery for that plan, but after a year the town would take on ownership and responsibility for maintaining them.

Both McMahon and Hohenberger thought the money the town would have to spend to maintain the landscape each year would be too much. Final maintenance costs have not been calculated yet.

Senibaldi said the board needs to sit down with a professional to go through the plans and get the best estimate for how much the maintenance wold cost the town each year.

“We’re making a decision for the future taxpayers of Windham, and we need to be sensitive to that,” Senibaldi said.

Breton said the board should go with the landscaping plan, as previous boards had approved it and the location is the gateway to the Windham community.

“We spend money on other projects that don’t have the magnitude of what this project is,” said Breton.

After transfer, Windham man reaches Olympic trials

2008-06-25T20:00:00Z

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Two years ago, Steve Miller didn’t have a team to swim for. Now, with a strong performance in Omaha, Neb., the Windham resident could find himself with a spot on the most elite team there is.

Miller takes part in the Olympic trials for the United States swim team June 29 through July 6, with an outside chance at finding a spot on the team in the 50-meter and 100- meter freestyle events.

Two years ago, however, the outlook wasn’t as good for Miller, a scholarship student at Rutgers. The school announced it was cutting the men’s swim team, and Miller had to decide whether he should finish his education there – without the water work.

Instead, he transferred to the University of Minnesota, where he quickly became a contributor.

“It would be so hard to walk away from something I put so much time into,” said Miller, who turns 21 June 30. “I think going through an experience like that makes you stronger. That can translate to work in the pool.”

That work in the pool translated to times of 23.34 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle and 51.29 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle, making him eligible to try out for the United States team.

According to Dennis Dale, Minnesota’s head swimming coach, those times indicated Miller’s marked progress.

“He has improved so much over the last year. It’s very impressive,” said Dale of the 2005 New Hampshire state swimmer of the year. “He’s gone from a swimmer who didn’t have times that would score at the Big Ten Championships, and now he’s at the Olympic trials. He has a great work ethic, and obviously talent to go with it.”

Dale said landing Miller from Rutgers was key for his team.

“We were happy when he made the decision to transfer, and even happier when we got to know him better,” said Dale. “He seems to have found a home in Minnesota, and it was a big boost for our program. It was a good pick up for us.”

Recently, Miller and other competitors were in Omaha for a test run of the pool, set up in an arena that holds 12,000 people.

“In other sports at the top end, it’s a little more common to have larger crowds. You’re in the spotlight a little more,” Miller said. “Once every four years we get our time. I’ve obviously never been to a meet of this caliber, so it’ll be amazing and special to be a part of.”

In most qualifying events, the top two finishers earn a spot on the Olympic team, but in the 100 free, the top six earn a roster spot.

Miller knows he faces a difficult challenge, and is trying to remain realistic.

“I’d say my chances are kind of low, but I am really excited to go and do my personal best. I’ve been having a great summer of training and competing,” he said. “I have some time and placement goals I’d like to reach, not really thinking about making the Olympic team per se, just doing my best and getting caught up in that atmosphere.”

Dale has 21 members of his team traveling to Omaha, and he wants to see Golden Gopher swimmers reach the event finals.

“For any of them, it would be a jump to make (the Olympic team), but we have kids who should make the finals,” said the coach. “There’s always people who do things no one ever expected them to do.”

One of Miller’s goals is to simply be able to recall the trials.

“I hope I remember it. Sometimes in such an amazing experience like that, it happens so quickly you don’t have a chance to take it all in,” said Miller, who’ll soon be a senior. “It’s going to be pretty amazing. I can’t imagine – when NBC is there and the house is packed – what it’ll be like.”

Even if he doesn’t have a chance to earn a gold medal with the United States swim team this summer, he knows he still has a team to swim with next year.

“It’s amazing,” said Miller, a Salem High alumnus. “I think when I was back at Rutgers, if you told me I’d be at this level, being there and competing, it’s pretty much just a dream come true to be able to be out there with the big boys.”

Windham's Golden Brook principal retires

2008-06-25T19:45:00Z

BY DARRELL HALEN

The summers she spent as a playground supervisor in Methuen, Mass., taught Beth McGuire that she loved working with kids.

She would spend three decades working as an educator to children, including 18 years in Windham.

On June 30, McGuire will retire from her position as principal of Golden Brook School.

“I love seeing the kids (here),” said McGuire, who held the job for eight years. “I’ll miss them for sure.”

McGuire’s husband, Jim, a former middle school principal in Tewksbury, Mass., retired two years ago. The couple wants to travel, including visits to see their son, Jared, who lives in California, and to do volunteer work for the elderly and in schools. They are also caring for elderly parents.

“I’m very excited about retirement because I have some specific things I want to do,” Mc- Guire said.

McGuire became principal after serving two years as associate principal of Hollis Primary School.

Before that, she had spent a decade teaching at Golden Brook, spending six years with second-graders and four years with third-grade students.

Two accomplishments she is most proud of during her work as principal have been developing a school-wide approach to promoting positive behavior and developing the school’s own approach to teaching reading and writing. Both efforts have paid off well, she said.

“Literacy was big with her, making sure all the students performed as best they could,” said School Board member Barbara Coish. “She just really cared about the children’s success educationally.”

In 2005, the New Hampshire Excellence in Education Awards program named Golden Brook the state’s top elementary school.

Ironically, the school had applied for the award, not with the intention of winning, but rather to learn from the program’s selection committee how it could improve.

“My goal is to analyze what you’re doing and get better at it,” McGuire said.

As a principal, McGuire had the difficult task of setting direction for the staff to move in, and to build consensus for the move.

“I thought it would be more powerful for a group to come in and show us where we need to improve. But when they came in and analyzed everything we were doing, we ended up getting the award that year,” McGuire recalled with a laugh.

McGuire has two bachelor’s degrees – one in education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the other in computer science from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.

She earned the second degree on Saturdays when she took a break from teaching to be at home with her son. Jared, now 26, works for Google’s legal department.

McGuire also earned a master’s degree in education from Notre Dame College, and obtained a certificate in advanced graduate study at Rivier College in Nashua.

She will be succeeded at Golden Brook by Deb Armfield, the assistant principal at Center School.

As an undergraduate student, McGuire switched majors several times before deciding to major in education during her junior year.

UMass couldn’t place all its education majors in student teaching assignments around Amherst, however, so McGuire did her student teaching in California.

When she began her professional career at North Salem School, teaching was hard. The teaching structure was different from the open concept system she experienced in California, and Mc- Guire experienced a bit of culture shock. She signed up for a computer course, not knowing if her teaching career would work out.

But by the end of the year, the situation was looking better. Her students were learning a lot, and McGuire was confident she could keep going.

One of her first students was John E. Sununu, who is now a U.S. senator representing New Hampshire. Six years ago, when Sununu won election to the Senate, McGuire, a Democrat, cast a vote for him.

“The only time I ever voted Republican was when he was running, because he was a former student and I wanted to vote for him,” McGuire said. “Plus, I knew he was really smart, and I knew he'd do a really good job."

Windham marine hurt in crash five days after return from Iraq

2008-06-18T20:13:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELLWindham

Windham police are still searching for the driver of a large red SUV who rearended a 22- year-old Windham Marine who just returned from two years of active duty in Iraq. He’d just returned home for good five days prior to the accident, having sustained no injuries while there.

Mike Tierney, of 4 Blueberry Road, was driving to a friend’s house at around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, when someone hit him from behind as he waited to take a left onto Marblehead Road from Route 111A.

“I heard brakes lock up behind me,” said Tierney, adding he had no time to react to the sound. “It just happened so fast.”

Tierney said he was wearing a helmet at the time. He doesn’t remember whether he was thrown from his Honda CRV street bike or not.

Tierney suffered a broken leg and will be in a splint for a couple of months.

Tierney and a witness described the vehicle as a red or maroon SUV, about as large as a Ford Bronco, but no leads have developed.

The witness who saw the accident attempted to chase the hit-and-run driver, said Windham Police Chief Gerald Lewis, but it was traveling too fast to tail.

“At this point, it’s just speculation. We know that he hit him and fled,” said Lewis.

Neither Tierney nor the witness who chased the fleeing SUV saw the driver clearly enough to describe him or her, and neither was able to get a license plate number, Lewis said.

Dennis Tierney, Mike’s father, said police showed his son a photo depicting the type of vehicle they thought might have been used by the driver, which Mike Tierney identified. However, the witness who chased the car said the one in the photo was not the car he saw hit Tierney and subsequently chased.

“I’d say the witness had a better view,” said Tierney.

Tierney said he was stationed in the cities of Fallujah and Balad in Iraq, serving in the infantry unit for 22 months before returning home earlier this month.

Tierney said he’d ask the person who hit him why he would take his freedom away after Tierney had fought for the country’s freedom.

“What I want to say I can’t say on television or in the paper,” Tierney said.

Anyone with information on the accident is asked to call the Windham Police Department at 434-5577.

Special Windham election for high school road bond

2008-06-11T21:49:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

Windham’s Board of Selectmen is planning a special election in September to obtain funding for a secondary access road for the new high school currently under construction.

The new road would overlap the current London Bridge Road, connecting the entrance to the high school on Route 111 to Castle Hill Road behind the high school, said Town Administrator David Sullivan.

The proposed warrant for the special election asks for voters to authorize taking out a $1.25 million bond and to accept any forthcoming grants toward the project costs. The Board of Selectmen approved the warrant at their meeting on Monday, June 9.

Sullivan said the town had planned on putting the project on its budget, but Selectman Charles McMahon submitted a petitioned warrant article for the townwide vote last March to put it on the school district budget, which would allow the project to qualify for 30 percent state reimbursement.

That warrant article failed with voters. The project does not qualify for state reimbursement, Sullivan said, because it will not be a part of the school district’s budget.

“The way we’re moving forward, it’s going to be part of the town’s budget,” Sullivan said.

A hearing on the conditional layout of the road, which would include construction parameters, width and a Board of Selectmen decision on whether the road is necessary will take place Monday, July 21, Sullivan said.

Prior to taking public input, the board will attend a site walk of the future road starting at 6 p.m. Sullivan said a deliberative session for the warrant will take place the week of Aug. 6, with the hope of including the warrant on the primary ballot for Tuesday, Sept. 9.

Windham man gets 15 to 30 years for abusing infant son

2008-06-11T21:45:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

A Windham man convicted of breaking six ribs and the tailbone of his infant son has been sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.

“There are no winners in a case like this. It’s just a matter of attempting to provide justice for a 6-month-old child,” said County Attorney James Reams after the sentencing, calling the case one of the most tragic cases he’s ever prosecuted.

In November 2007, Gurrie Fandozzi, 42, was convicted on first-degree assault charges stemming from an August 2006 incident. Emergency responders arrived at Fandozzi’s Windham home at 20 Squire Armour Road to find the Fandozzis’ infant son unconscious and not breathing.

After a medical examination, 26 bones in the baby’s body were found to either be broken or healing from prior breaks, county prosecutors argued in Rockingham Superior Court.

About two weeks after the Aug. 2 incident, Windham Police Chief Gerald Lewis declared that doctors performing the examination determined the broken bones were a result of repeated abuse.

The jury found Fandozzi, a former Connecticut lawyer, guilty of breaking seven out of the 26 bones.

“I guess I understand the jury’s sense of why they convicted him for the specific bones that they did,” Reams said. “It had to do with the doctor’s testimony about how the ribs were squeezed. It was pretty compelling testimony.”

Doctors said the injuries Fandozzi was convicted of inflicting resulted from squeezing the child too hard and thumping him down on his bottom.

During the trial, Dr. Alice Newton of Children’s Hospital told the court the injuries indicated the baby had been abused at least twice.

Reams said there was “some ambiguity” remaining about the cause of the 19 other broken bones, providing reasonable doubt.

Fandozzi’s lawyer, Salem attorney Salem Shadallah, argued at the sentencing hearing on Thursday, June 5, that Judge Tina Nadeau should take into account that the jury did not convict Fandozzi of breaking all 26 bones.

Shadallah could not be reached for comment by press time.

Reams said Shadallah informed him that an appeal would likely be filed. Before that can happen, Shadallah must ask for a new trial. The whole process could take about 45 days, Reams said.

Prosecutors had asked for 20 to 40 years in the sentencing hearing, but Reams said the 15- to 30-year sentence is still significant, given the charges and the fact that this is the first case of its kind in a long time to go to trial.

“That would send a message to him and to anyone else that was thinking of harming their child,” Reams said.

Fandozzi’s 4-year-old child was examined during the course of the investigation, and no evidence of abuse was found.

Fandozzi’s wife, Tammy Fandozzi, was never considered a suspect in the case, Reams said. The two children are in their mother’s custody, and Nadeau issued a protective order preventing Fandozzi from having unsupervised visit with his children while he’s serving his time pending a mental evaluation.

Windham's school and town may join to buy defibrillators

2008-06-04T23:30:00Z

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Windham School Board and the Fire Department are looking to pool their resources to purchase 11 new automated external defibrillators for town buildings and the new Windham High School.

The Windham Board of Selectmen gave their conditional approval to the Fire Department to waive the bid process pending some further price shopping after Assistant Fire Chief Robert Leuci explained at a meeting on Monday, June 2, that he believed the model being sought was the best value.

Six of the defibrillators will go into the high school and the town’s five will go into the library, town hall, senior center, transfer station and Griffin Park, said Leuci.

Only two town buildings, the administrative building and the cable station, will not have defibrillators, but both have easy access to them at the town hall and senior center, respectively. In purchasing the machines together, the distributor being considered is offering a 20 percent discount, Leuci said, for the defibrillators and the required cabinets required for them.

The model being sought, a Phillips FRx 2, is a newer model that will result in cost savings long term, said Leuci.

“With the on-site machines, we have to replace the pads every two years. This saves us about $1,500 each year on purchasing and replacing child pads,” Leuci said.

The child pads emit a different charge than the adult pads. The model has a key to automatically switch the defibrillators to the child pad setting.

There is $8,500 budgeted for the town’s five defibrillators. To buy five of the FRx 2 machines, the department will run about $1,300 over budget, said Town Administrator David Sullivan.