June 2002

Whitaker ballfield opens; Madison police chief fired; Conway man arrested in stabbing

The new ball field at Whitaker home site in North Conway officially opens with three women's softball games after a brief dedication ceremony. Bruce Blomquist, 45, of Conway, is charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing George and Joline Frechette in their bed. Blomquist is held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail. The Frechettes are in stable condition. Madison Police Chief James Basinas is fired by selectmen. His lawyer says he will appeal in Carroll County Superior Court for reinstatement. Another 325 acres are added to the White Mountain National Forest with the purchase of Lucy Brook property, located between Diana's Baths and Cathedral Ledge. A New York City Fire Department captain and lieutenant honor two Brewster Academy graduates who perished in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center during the schools traditional Ivy League Address. Michael Eaton is honored as Memorial Hospital's Employee of the Year at the hospital's annual awards' banquet. Eaton works in the environmental services department. Freedom Zoning Board of Adjustment denies an application to expand Ossipee Lake Marina. A tractor trailer tips over while dumping its load on the north south local road, crushing two cars parked at Cranmore Inn on Kearsarge Street, North Conway. Three local teen girls are rescued from Saco River after losing their rubber boats. All are safe but police say they will be fined for not wearing life preservers. The remains of six Native Americans taken for research in the 1930s are brought back home as members of the Abenaki tribe and other volunteers rebury them at a cemetery in South Effingham where they were first discovered. Bartlett hires Julia King as zoning enforcement officer and deputy town clerk. Gene Chandler files for state representative, seeking an 11th term in the N.H. House and with the intention of running for another term as speaker. Mark Graffam of Madison files a petition in superior court for his right to 28 sets of nonpublic meeting minutes. Town Administrator Robin Frost says the records may have been deleted from the laptop computer in which they were stored. The after-school program, Project Succeed, is extended by Conway School Board despite voter rejection of the article to fund it. Some 135 voters at Bartlett Jackson Cooperative School District's organizational meeting elect school board members Rob Clark, Jane Duggan, Dick Glines and Michelle Rober from Bartlett, and Karen Burton, Adam Hirshan and Candy Mays from Jackson and pass a $43,500 operating budget. The Kennett High softball team defeats previously undefeated Monadnock 8-0 to win its third state championship in the past four years. An Ossipee woman, Yvonne T. McKinnon, 54, is killed in a head-on collision on Ossipee Lake Road off Route 41. Two young male exchange students, passengers in her car, are stable. The driver of the other vehicle, registered in Massachusetts, is critically injured. A Massachusetts man apparently slips on some rocks and dies in a fall from Cathedral Ledge. Jeffrey J. Cole, 45, and Mary S. Cole, 44, of Dubuque, Iowa, are critically injured when their Harley Davidson collides with an Oldsmobile Cutlass in Intervale. Three AMC cabins in Crawford Notch are relocated and put to new use, one as a wildlife museum at Crawford Notch General Store and Campground and the other two as town offices for Hart's Location. One hundred and seventy Kennett High seniors graduate as rain forces the ceremony indoors. Peter White, a popular local; entertainer, dies suddenly following surgery to repair damage caused by an aneurysm. Known in recent years as the Karaoke Bloke, White was also an active community volunteer. A Massachusetts man, Stephen P. Calabro, 47, of Braintree, is killed in a two-car crash crash that closes the Kancamagus Highway for a couple of hours. A Lovell couple escapes injury in a home invasion. Two teens are later arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted armed robbery. Conway Planning Board approves plans for a 2,500-square-foot Woodlands Credit Union next to Dexter Shoe Outlet on Route 16. Bartlett eighth graders dig up a time capsule buried three years ago. Richard LaBell is sworn in as Wolfeboro police chief. Police urge local businesses to tighten overnight security following burglaries at Webster's Store on East Conway Road and Friendly's on the North Conway strip. Jessika Jess Eldridge, 27, of Effingham, is killed in a single-car crash on Town Hall Road. Conway police commissioners announce that Lt. Jeff Dicey will become Conway police chief on Feb. 17, 2003, when Bob Mullen retires. Fryeburg Academy alum Bion Cram pledges $500,000 to his alma mater as a challenge gift to help build a $2.5 million library. Arthur Fernald is hired as ninth-grade housemaster as Kennett High, responsible for improving supervision and developing positive programming to ease the transition to high school. Jim Yeager, former Conway police commissioner, is hired as the town's code enforcement officer. George Epstein, owner of Echo Computer in Conway, is chosen to serve on University System of New Hampshire board of trustees. A Fryeburg woman is charged with endangering the welfare of her infant daughter after she is involved in an auto accident while allegedly driving while intoxicated. Rob Clark of Bartlett is elected chair of Bartlett Jackson Cooperative School Board. School Superintendent Carl Nelson leads Bartlett Jackson Cooperative School Board in the Pledge of Allegiance hours after a federal appeals court finds the words "under God" unconstitutional. Inclusive Moose, a local gay and lesbian group, holds its first annual pride picnic at Echo Lake State Park. Paul Giblin leaves his post as marketing director for Cranmore to accept a position at Virginia International Raceway. Conway Police Department's traffic control officers make their summer debut. Bartlett selectmen meet with forest service officials at White Brook to address their concerns about the interpretative wildlife trail planned on Kancamagus Highway. Sen. Judd Gregg secures an additional $500,000 for protection of White Mountain National Forest trailheads. Madison Town Administrator Robin Frost resigns to work as administrative assistant to the newly-appointed SAU 13 superintendent.