News – Page 85

Questions from Pats camp

The Patriots are back at work getting ready for the 2022 opener. They do so with a host of big question marks brought on by (a) a disastrous final month of 2021, which included getting annihilated twice by Josh Allen and Buffalo, (b) a number of high-profile defensive departures, (c) losing offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, coupled with the curious “Bill being Bill” decision to not name a replacement, and (d) low expectations for not much more than a one done in the wildcard playoff round.

So with that as the backdrop, here’s what to keep an eye on this month.

Biggest Strength

Running Game: Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson give them thump on the inside and burst to run outside. That will help the play action passing and let them get it more often on third and short, which is the key to having long drives.

Biggest Questions

Who’s Calling The Plays: Since I was no fan of Matt Patricia during his overly cautions, strategy-deficient reign as defensive coordinator, and he was a disaster as HC in Detroit, it’s distressing to hear Matty P will be calling the plays on offense. Made worse by an apparent scrapping of a big part of the playbook to create unnecessary confusion for QB Mac Jones.

Enough at Wideout: With the damage Randy Moss caused 2007 opponents in mind, I wanted Coach B to use his top pick and whatever else was needed to trade for a speed burning No. 1 receiver (and pay him) the way Philly did with AJ Brown. Instead he used that pick on an OL most thought he could get in Round 3 and spent the No. 2 on outside burner Tyquan Thornton of Baylor. Like the sentiment, but given the drafting record at the position he’s already in prove it mode.

So what do they have? DeVante Parker is a nice addition, but he’s a No. 2 and has been injury-prone in a seven-year career with just one 1,000-receiving-yards season. After that are Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne. Both solid, but they’re third-line guys who would be much more dangerous if they had a true No. 1. Finally there’s the speed guy Nelson Agholor, who I’ll get to later. If Parker can stay healthy they’re better, but they’re in a division with Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs, so they should have traded for the burner.

The Secondary: They’ve gone from the best secondary in football two years ago to a giant question mark thanks to Coach B fiddling while Rome burned. Instead of trading Stephon Gilmore for value ahead of 2021 (rather than the bag of beans he got doing it at mid-season) and spending the money to give JC Jackson an early extension, he walked when it got too expensive for Bill. So now it’s mix and match with retreads and rookies at the corners. Not sure who it could be, but someone has to come through or Mac will need to score 40 a game to win.

The Young Linebackers: With Dont’a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins gone, opportunity abounds for all the linebackers they’ve drafted in the last three years. And the question is, can those guys do the job?

Big Years Needed

Matthew Judon: He had 12.5 sacks in his first 13 games. But he got Covid in Week 14 and was MIA after that as the D fell apart. They need a full season this year.

Mac Jones: The numbers show he was better in his rookie year than Tom Brady was in 2019. That was good enough for me. Now he needs to be more in command and take the next step up. Plus with Matty P calling the plays, I’m hoping for a lot more audibles.

Guys to Watch

Kyle Dugger: With Devin McCourty nearing the end, the defense needs the next leader. After a solid Year 2 he’s the guy the brass wants that to be that guy.

Josh Uche: We’ve been hearing about his pass rush potential for two years. So in the put-up-or-shut-up year it’s time to find out if he can be the second edge rusher they need

Rhamondre Stevenson: I thought by the end of the year he was even better than Harris, as his acceleration through the hole and elusiveness in the open made big gains more likely. Plus he can catch, so I’m expecting a jump up in production.

Cole Strange: He can’t be a whiff. Because their top draft pick is stepping into a big hole at left guard and with an offense built on a solid running game and led by a young QB who needs to be protected, he needs to be as good asLogan Mankins and Joe Thuney were from the jump.

Marcus Jones: Except for a four-game stretch in 2020 byGunner Olszewski, who seemed more interested in running to contact than away from it, the return game has been awful since Cordarrelle Patterson left town. We’ve been burned (Cyrus Jones) by expectations from big college stats. But the No. 3 pick had four return TD’s last year. So it will be very helpful if he can be as dangerous here.

Improvement Needed

Jonnu Smith: Let’s just say he was an expensive bust a year ago. Thus while Hunter Henry was fine, the two tight end games never materialized. That needs to change and he needs to be much better.

Nelson Agholor: After a disappointing 37-catch three-TD season he needs to do a lot more to justify the expense. And that would have a bigger impact downhill, because if his speed can be a regular factor, it helps everyone else be better.

The X-Factor: The health of the re-shuffled offensive line where flip-flopped tackles Trent Williams and Isaiah Wynn both have injury histories. With not much depth they need them to stay healthy.

We’ll check back in a month for the answers.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Serve’s the purpose

General counsel returns from public leadership program

Mary Ann Dempsey, general counsel for New Hampshire’s Judicial Branch, was named the 2022 recipient of the Caroline and Martin Gross Fellowship, awarded by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Dempsey talked about the experience in which she spent three weeks in July participating in the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

What is your background and current role in public service?

After law school, I started my legal career as a law clerk with the New Hampshire Judicial Branch, which is where I am now. I did a two-year clerkship. I went into private practice for 12 years. Then, Attorney General Mike Delaney, in 2011, asked if I’d join the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office to head the civil bureau. That was my return to the public sector and working in state government. The civil bureau team would represent all of the state government, including the state agency, in litigation, helping them with client counseling and things of that nature. I was at the AG’s office for approximately three and a half years when Gov. Hassan asked if I’d serve as her legal counsel for the second term of her gubernatorial administration, so I moved over to the governor’s office for two years. … When Gov. Hassan was elected a U.S. senator, that’s when I came back to the judicial branch, in 2016, to be in the role I’m in now, which is as the general counsel.

What is the history of the fellowship?

It’s a three-week intensive program for state and local government leaders throughout the country. … The group consists of elected officials, law enforcement, city and county folks and then some state people who work in state governments, such as myself. … Martin Gross and Caroline Gross were both very active in public service in New Hampshire, so they created this fellowship to provide the funding for one person from state or local government in New Hampshire to attend the Harvard Kennedy School executive education program.

What led you to apply for it?

Judge Tina Nadeau, who is the Chief Justice of the Superior Court, was selected by the Charitable Foundation approximately 10 years ago to participate in the Harvard Kennedy program. I work closely with her, and she has been such a proponent of the program and the skills that it helps to develop, so she had encouraged me for a few years to apply. It wasn’t until this year that it was a good year for me to do so, and I was lucky enough to be selected.

What exactly did you do during those three weeks?

The program [runs] Monday through Friday, all day, with lectures from Harvard Kennedy professors in specialized areas. Then, you work in groups, and you work on projects. The whole goal is to teach individuals new skills and how to address policies, how to move programs forward and how to engage in dialogue with folks who may have a different view of a policy or a program from you. It’s an executive leadership program that’s designed to help individuals engage in tough discussions to either have a more comprehensive program or to be able to have opposing viewpoints in a respectful and professional way.

What were some educational highlights from the program?

One of the classes that was really impactful for me was a crisis management program which teaches skills to mitigate against a crisis, whatever that crisis might be — any unexpected issue that disrupts the flow of business — and how to essentially be prepared for the unknown. It’s a difficult concept for most of us to think about, but after Covid, every single business, public and private, has had to live through a situation like that, so it’s so relevant in terms of how to make sure your organization is able to continue operations, projects and necessary work. That was incredibly interesting to me. There was another class on how to engage in informed communication, both with constituents and with members of your team. … One program was about power dynamics in the sense of understanding the different groups that you may work with in your role in government and how to interact with each [in order to] make a successful team engaging in that type of work.

How are you planning to apply these new skills to your work in New Hampshire?

One example I can give is [that] the judicial branch is working on the centralization of our mental health docket, specifically our involuntary emergency admissions. It requires interaction with other members of the state government, with hospitals and with advocacy groups. That’s a perfect project to use these skills to help make sure that we’re all talking the same language, that we have common goals and that we can make productive steps throughout a complex process to bring it across the finish line.

Is there anything else you took away from this experience?

It was, without a doubt, the most diverse group of individuals that I’ve probably been in a classroom setting with since college. The conversations were so enlightening and enriched by having folks with different experiences, different backgrounds, diversity in jobs, diversity in race, diversity in geography.

Featured photo: Mary Ann Dempsey. Photo by Cheryl Senter.

News & Notes 22/08/11

High energy

New Hampshire Eversource customers saw an “unprecedented increase” in the supply portion of their bill on Aug. 1, according to an Eversource newsletter. The energy supply price, also known as the energy service rate, changes twice a year, on Feb. 1 and Aug. 1; most years, customers see a decrease in the Aug. 1 rate, but this year the rate has increased from 10.669 cents per kilowatt hour to 22.566 cents per kilowatt hour. For a residential customer who uses 600 kilowatt hours of power in a month, the total monthly bill will increase by approximately $67.63, which is approximately 50 percent. The cause of the increase, the newsletter said, is the record-high natural gas prices and energy supply pressures from the global economy. Eversource is working with the state to explore how it can provide financial assistance to New Hampshire customers this fall and winter, such as a credit on their electric bills.

Return to the Board

The Nashua Board of Education announced the nomination and selection of a new member. Dorothy Oden recently filled the seat that had been vacant since Sandra Ziehm resigned on June 30 and will fulfill the remainder of her term, which continues through December 2023. Oden was selected from a group of 17 Nashua residents who had submitted a letter of intent and presented their credentials to take the seat. She previously served on the Board from January 1992 to November 1995, and from January 2014 to December 2021. She was a longtime staff member at Amherst Street Elementary School in Nashua, hired as a paraeducator before working as a classroom teacher from August 1999 until her retirement in June 2013. “Having worked in the district as a para, a teacher and as a recent board member, I feel I am an ideal candidate and could quickly be a contributing member of the board with my recent and past experiences in the district,” Oden wrote in her letter of intent.

Free senior photos

The Boys & Girls Club of Manchester is offering free photo sessions for incoming high school seniors in the greater Manchester area on Wednesday, Aug. 17, from 2 to 5 p.m., at Stark Park in Manchester. According to a press release, local photographer Danielle Sheerin will be assisting the BGCM students, providing them with photography experience. The 15-minute shoots will give families professional-quality photos for their seniors to use throughout their last year of high school. They should register in advance at forms.gle/PB1oyN3m38ecyaui9. Seniors will also receive a complimentary membership to the BGCM’s teen program for the 2022-2023 school year, which offers a variety of activities, experiences, clubs and personal development programs, as well as opportunities to apply for post-secondary education scholarships.

Big money

The Mega Millions Jackpot ended on Friday, July 29, having generated more than $6.6 million in sales in its final week, with the New Hampshire Lottery selling the second-most Mega Million tickets per capita of the 47 lottery jurisdictions in the U.S. that sell the tickets. According to a press release from New Hampshire Lottery, New Hampshire players purchased $5.6 million in tickets at New Hampshire retailers and an additional $1 million through New Hampshire Lottery online sales, with more than 10,000 new players in the last month. Though the $1.337 billion winning ticket was purchased in Illinois, there were three winners in New Hampshire, including a $1 million winning ticket purchased at the Market Basket on South Broadway in Salem; a $20,000 winning ticket purchased at Circle K in Tilton; and a $10,000 winning ticket purchased at Shaw’s in Hampton. The jackpot set a record as the third largest U.S. Lottery jackpot of all time.

Suicide prevention for students

Gov. Chris Sununu signed SB 234 into law on Aug. 3, a bill that requires student identification cards to include the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. “Every student and family should have equal opportunity to access lifesaving services, and this bill moves us forward,” Sununu said in a statement. “New Hampshire is tackling our mental health challenges, and we are adding more and more investments every day.” New Hampshire recently implemented a new three-digit dialing, texting and chat code, 988, which connects callers experiencing suicidal, mental health or substance misuse crises to a national network of more than 200 call centers via the established National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, in partnership with the Andover Historical Society, has added a new historic marker for Potter Place in Andover, commemorating the life and work of Richard Potter. According to a press release, Potter was America’s first Black magician and ventriloquist and made his home in Andover in the early 1800s. The Andover Historical Society owns and maintains the historic grounds and family graveyard of Potter and his wife, Sally, as well as the Potter Place train station, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An event celebrating Potter’s influence on American theater will be held at Proctor Academy in Andover on Friday, Sept. 30, and will feature a performance by ventriloquist Dan Ritchard and a presentation by John Hodgson, author of Richard Potter: America’s First Black Celebrity. Visit blackheritagetrailnh.org and andoverhistory.org.

Dartmouth Health’s Heart & Vascular Center hosts its fifth annual Love Your Heart Night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester (1 Line Drive) during the New Hampshire Fisher Cats game against the Erie SeaWolves on Saturday, Aug. 13. The event, centered around heart health awareness and reducing the risk of heart disease, will feature free heart-health screenings, CPR demonstrations, fun and educational activities and a video message from Kelly George, an Enfield resident who received a life-saving heart transplant. Attendees are encouraged to wear red. Gates open at 6 p.m., and there will be fireworks following the game. Visit nhfishercats.com.

Gov. Chris Sununu has named the new Ash Road Bridge over Interstate 93, just north of Exit 4 on I-93 in Londonderry, in honor of its designer, Robert J. Prowse. According to the Union Leader, Prowse is a longtime New Hampshire Department of Transportation designer and has designed 400 bridges over six decades.

This Week 22/08/04

Big Events August 4, 2022 and beyond

Thursday, Aug. 4

Catch the final home games of the regular season for the Nashua Silver Knights at Holman Stadium (67 Amherst St., Nashua) today at 6 p.m. against the Pittsfield Suns and Sunday, Aug. 7, at 3 p.m. against the Worcester Bravehearts. Tickets cost $10 each and can be purchased at nashuasilverknights.com.

Thursday, Aug. 4

Author Laurie Stone is speaking at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St. in Concord) about her book Streaming Now: Postcards From the Thing That is Happening. Stone’s book is a collection of feminist narratives and essays that discuss the paradoxes of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the rise of using podcasts to combat loneliness. The discussion will begin at 6:30 p.m. The event is free to attend. See gibsonsbookstore.com

Friday, Aug. 5

Up, up and away for the 40th annual Suncook Valley Rotary Club Hot Air Balloon Rally beginning today at 3 p.m. at Drake Field, 17 Fayette St., Pittsfield. It will continue on Saturday, Aug. 6, and Sunday, Aug. 7, starting at 5:30 a.m. both days. The Rally will have carnival rides, helicopter rides, a regatta and live entertainment, and each night will end with a balloon lift off at 5:30 p.m., with a night glow at dusk to follow. The event is free and more information can be found at suncookvalleyrotary.org/sitepage/hot-air-balloon-rally/welcome.

Saturday, Aug. 6

The Belknap County Fair is returning today and will continue Sunday, Aug. 7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, at 174 Mile Hill Road in Belmont. The fair features animal shows, demonstrations, live entertainment, exhibits and food. Admission at the gate is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors over 65 and for police, fire and EMS personnel, and free for kids under 10 and for military service members. Visit bcfairnh.org for more information.

Saturday, Aug. 6

The Hampshire Dome (34 Emerson Road, Milford) is hosting WrestleQueerdom, the first ever wrestling event with all transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming wrestlers in North America. The main match is going to be VENY vs. Edith Surreal, what the venue is calling a dream match. There will be other wrestlers from across the country and world competing against each other. The doors for general admission open at 7 p.m. and general addition tickets cost $20. For more information, visit the organization’s Twitter page at twitter.com/w_queerdom.

Monday, Aug. 8

Local author and journalist Kathleen Bailey is debuting her new book New Hampshire War Monuments: The Stories Behind the Stones, at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord) at 6:30 p.m. Bailey and her daughter Sheila Bailey, the photographer for the book, will discuss the history behind war monuments across the Granite State, and why it’s important to understand what these monuments mean. The event is free to attend. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com for more information.

Save the Date! Saturday, Sept. 17
Inconceivable! The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes will grant the wishes of The Princess Bride-loving Granite Staters for a behind-the-scenes look at the classic film on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. The event, which will be at the Chubb Theatre (44 S Main St, Concord), will feature a screening of the film, followed by a Q&A session with the actor. Tickets cost $36 to $46, and VIP tickets are $150. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and tickets can be bought at ccanh.com.

Featured photo. The Silver Knights. Courtesy photo.

Quality of Life 22/08/04

A kid helping kids

Local Boy Scout John Larochelle partnered with the Hillsborough County chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit organization that builds bunk beds for children in New Hampshire who do not have a bed, to build five bunk beds as part of his Eagle Project. Larochelle, who is a Scout with Troop 118 in Manchester, organized a bed-building event with volunteer builders at Camp Carpenter in Manchester last weekend. He said in a press release that he also hopes his project will “potentially foster future cooperation between Sleep in Heavenly Peace and Scouting.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: There are around 2,000 kids in Hillsborough County who are currently sleeping on the floor, according to the release.

Prohibited by humans, unwelcomed by dogs

Illegal use of fireworks has been on the rise in the Manchester area over the past few weeks, the Manchester Fire Department reported in a press release. The sale, possession and use of fireworks in Manchester are strictly prohibited by City Ordinance. The Manchester Police and Fire Departments have been receiving “numerous complaints and calls for service from citizens” in regard to fireworks, the release said, which has led the departments to begin conducting enforcement efforts on various weekend nights throughout the rest of the summer.

QOL score: -1

Comment: The Manchester Fire Department wants to educate and remind the public that illegal fireworks (which, in QOL’s experience and on the milder end of effects, can awaken and startle babies and dogs) cause many injuries and deaths and are the cause of many fires and property damages every year, the release said.

West Nile in 2022

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed the state’s first batch of mosquitoes to test positive for West Nile Virus in 2022. According to a press release, the mosquitoes were collected by Manchester Health Department on July 20 as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to monitor the risk level of mosquito-borne illnesses and advise risk mitigation steps to protect the public’s health. West Nile Virus is one of three arboviruses transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes identified in the state.

QOL score: -2

Comment: Most people infected with West Nile Virus do not develop symptoms or develop mild symptoms, according to the release, though a small percentage of people infected experience severe symptoms which can lead to central nervous system diseases, such as meningitis or encephalitis.

Charging it

A recent WalletHub study ranked New Hampshire at No. 8 out of the 50 U.S. states and District of Columbia for States with the Highest Credit Card Debts. The study looked at the median credit card balance and monthly credit card payment amount for residents in each state to determine the time it would take to pay off the balance with an average interest rate of 16.17 percent and the interest costs that would accrue during that pay-off period. Residents of New Hampshire were determined to have a median credit card balance of $2,372, with an expected payoff period of 14 months and three days and $231 in interest accrued.

QOL Score: -1

Comment: According to the study, Americans made record-setting payoffs on their credit card debt in 2020 thanks to the stimulus checks, but racked up large amounts of debt in 2021.

QOL score: 86

Net change: -3

QOL this week: 83

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

The week that was

News Item: PGA-LIV Battle Heats Up

The controversial start-up LIV world golf tour currently giving the PGA tour indigestion had its first U.S. event this week when it stopped where else but at Donald Trump’s New Jersey golf course, which naturally started off with a headline-making bout with the PGA by telling players to take the huge money being offered by the Saudi Arabia-financed LIV tour. He’s not the only one saying that, but given the track record it likely has more to do with revenge against the Tour for yanking the PGA Championship from his course after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Politics aside, the question I have about the LIV is this: Is golf about watching top players play, or about them fitting into the annual march of PGA-affiliated major championship? In other words, do you watch golf in the second week of April every year to see the players or how they do competing at Augusta National in the Masters?

Time will tell of course. Though it did not get off to a rousing start, as while the weekend crowds were larger, the Wall Street Journal described attendance as “sparse.”

News Item: Should C’s Trade For Durant?

The big on-court basketball story was the Celtics allegedly offering Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant. With Durant likely in the top three players in the league, the pluses for him are obvious. Not the least of which was Brooklyn being 29-6 before he got hurt last year when they promptly disintegrated. Which is appealing to a team that’s won one stinking title in 36 years.

But here are three things to consider: (1) He’s become a very vocal whiner. What will that do to team chemistry? (2) First he wanted out in Oak City. That’s understandable because he had to live in Oklahoma to play there and coexist with the ball hog Russell Westbrook. But it was the same with epitome of team play Golden State and now Brooklyn. So you have to wonder if he’ll ever be happy. Especially as he gets to the grumpy old man phase of his career. (3) Megalomaniac Brooklyn GM Sean Marks wants Brown, Marcus Smart, another rotation player and three first-round picks for Durant. So are you ready to gut a young team that just added two solid bench players after coming up two games short of winning the NBA title, for a 34-year-old star coming off two seasons marred by major injuries in the last three years?

News Item: Pats Open Camp

Three things stood out above the rest as pre-season camp opened for the Patriots last week.(1) With Mac Jones firmly established at QB, for the first time in two years Tom Brady’s long shadow no longer hovers over the team. (2) After a horrid showing in the final month and several major departures, the defense is filled with question marks, especially at linebacker and in the secondary. (3) As the transition from the vestiges of the last three Super Bowl-winning teams fade and the newcomers from last year’s free agent haul have a year in the saddle, the search is on for new faces to emerge as leaders and high-end performers to keep the rebuild moving forward.

News Item: Ortiz Goes to Cooperstown

Congrats to David Ortiz for his well-earned first ballot entry into Baseball’s Hall of Fame two Sundays ago. But seeing that it took former Minnesota Twins teammates Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva until they were in their 80s and Boys of Summer Brooklyn great Gil Hodges over five decades since he died of a heart attack we have to ask, what took them so long?

The latter three were voted in by a committee of former players who got it right long after baseball writers kept missing. So congrats to three who should have been in years ago.

News Item: Benefit Found for Yellow Uniforms

Well, we finally discovered a good use for the RED Sox’ offensive yellow uniforms, which they wore all through the carnage of last week. It is that it let them play in disguise as they stunk up the joint so no one knew it was them as they fell into last place.

News Item: The Greatest Ever Passes On

After the passing of legendary Celtic Bill Russell at 88 on Sunday tributes to his greatness have been written all week. So instead I’ll just tell you about the one conversation I had with the great man.

It happened during a pre-season practice, Oct. 12, 1999. Not even sure how it started, but it went for about 45 minutes after he blurted out how impressed he was with young Shaquille O’Neal. Not the player, but the kid. “He must have good parents, because he’s a nice young man.”

Given Shaq’s immense size, I asked how he compared to his rival Wilt Chamberlain. A knowing smile came over his face as he said, “It’s hard to describe how good he was,” and he went on about him for quite a while. After hearing about the friction between the two, that made me feel good as his affection was obvious.

The conversation got so comfortable I even punked him, by saying to something he said about high school, “That’s not what [HS teammate and baseball Hall of Famer] Frank Robinson told me.” And he shot back, “Whuuut did he say?” I said I didn’t know Frank and was just kidding. That brought out the famous cackle, which was the high point of the chat.

I remember the exact day, because a short while later I heard on my car radio Wilt had just been found dead in his L.A. home. A surreal moment that’s always made our conversation bittersweet. But I will say it was the most normal one I ever had with a famous person and I’ve met a lot of them.

RIP, big fella, and thanks for the memories

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Category: News