Week of Dec. 1-7, 2007

Saturday, December 1 The dream will become a reality for Leanne Smith this coming week when the 20-year-old from North Conway steps into the starting gate for the Unites States in her first World Cup ski race. Racing legends Al and Bobby Unser make three stops in Mount Washington Valley to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Governor Bill Richardson, of New Mexico. A number of e-mails are circulating this holiday season asking people to send cards addressed to "a recovering service member" at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Despite the good intentions, there is just one problem: The United States Post Office will not deliver this type of letter. And if any parcel does somehow reach Walter Reed, hospital officials will just throw it away. Hunter and guide Lawrence Perry is shot and wounded while hunting in New York, and a week later is arrested in Maine on a warrant for unpaid fines. He says it's no coincidence that these incidents occurred just after he was featured in a front page story in The Conway Daily Sun, professing his innocence to a slew of hunting-related offenses and alleging that Maine enforcement personnel are corrupt.Monday, December 3 No illegal drugs were discovered Friday morning during a search of Kennett High School by five police K-9 dogs and local police and school officials. The dogs did discover two student vehicles containing suspected marijuana that were towed from the scene. In a case outlasting several police chiefs and bookending the career of the department's last prosecutor, Frank Carroll was convicted and sentenced in September to at least six months in jail various charges stemming from an auto accident 20 years ago. A state trooper who has investigated some of the Conway area's biggest crimes was facing a possible psychiatric evaluation Friday after a run of explosive behavior, including allegedly threatening to shoot police and spurring a manhunt for his estranged wife. The Christmas spirit has apparently gripped the crime world. The jail has hit its lowest inmate population mark of the year at 80. Sixty-seven were actually behind bars last week, with 13 others on monitored release, officials said Wednesday. A 72 percent recidivism rate at the Carroll County Jail is spurring the county commission to look closer at jail drug programs.Tuesday, December 4 State Rep. Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett) is urging local town officials, county legislators and other local leaders to present a unified front on backing a $131 million bond that would provide $65 million for the stalled and underfunded Route 16 bypass in the state's next 10-year highway plan. After a weekend of Christmas-themed events all over the valley, it's beginning to feel a little more like Christmas. After Monday's snowfall, it's also starting to look the part. Criminal charges against at least two students could follow in the wake of the first-ever coordinated drug sweep of the new Kennett High School, where a crime dog on Friday pointed handlers to drugs in three parked cars, police said. Town officials are hoping that beauty is in the eye of the beholder or the bidder at the Conway tax sale next week. Wednesday, December 5 The defense lawyer for the Kennett High student accused of writing a threatening message in a school bathroom says the girl was not formally suspended and belongs back in school. The Conway School Board voted unanimously to support the creation of a Kennett High indoor track team, which will start practice on Monday and has its first meet in two weeks. A makeshift plan put in place last summer when no viable candidates came forward seeking the guidance director's position at Kennett High seems to be working so well that principal Jack Loynd is recommending not hiring a director for 2008-09 school year. Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul, of Texas, will have to wait a little while longer for his first visit to Mount Washington Valley. Paul was slated to make a few appearances in the area on Wednesday, but due to scheduling conflicts has had to postpone his visit until the middle of this month. Anti-war activist Jon Hutchinson, 85, of Silver Lake, says his day protesting at the Nashua offices of U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) was thwarted and went essentially unnoticed by the state's media.Thursday, December 6 North Conway Water Precinct signs an agreement with Pittsfield Aqueduct Company to provide precinct water to Birch Hill. Most Brownfield residents should see a major improvement in cellular service in the coming months. The town's planning board unanimously approved an application by Chicago-based U.S. Cellular on Tuesday to construct a 150-foot cellular tower in East Brownfield. Approval came despite concerns from a group of residents living near the site on Pease Road. Conway's dump store will stay open, but will be staffed on summer weekends to prevent loiterers from harassing people dropped stuff off. The New Hampshire Department of Education Division of Adult Learning and Rehabilitation Bureau of Career Development came out with a glowing report earlier this month in its five-year annual review, praising all 10 programs at the Mount Washington Valley Career and Technical Center. Instead of building a new water tank, county commissioners are considering using water from polluted wells in Ossipee Village to fight fires.Friday, December 7 The town's water wars rise to a new level on Saturday. Howard Dearborn is offering to pay $10 to the first 50 people who come to his house at 1 p.m. and dump their Poland Spring bottled water into Lovewell Pond. With the memory of last year's last minute cuts of $400,000 demanded by the county delegation fresh in his mind, county commission chairman David Sorensen on Wednesday summoned ghosts of chilly budget seasons past, saying he hopes lawmakers this winter won't blindside him again with another last-minute mandate for huge cuts. A 9 cent drop in the town portion of the Bartlett tax bill does little to offset a big jump in the school spending, resulting in an increase of 59 cents in the overall tax rate.