Do you need a laugh or two? How about two hours of fun and wonder? Spamalot is now a musical, which takes it up another notch. Even if you know nothing about Monty Python, you’ll have one of the most fun times ever. The costumes! The dancing! The songs! The props! The acting, of course. If this is the only theater production you’ll see this year (and I hope it won’t be), be sure not to miss this one. Give Northern Stage a call. The production continues through May 15.
Sherry Belisle
Woodstock
Recently proposed state legislation, New Hampshire House Bill 1476, will put harmless Black people in jail. While growing up Black in St. Louis, Missouri, it was not uncommon for me to hear stories of other Black people who were wrongfully imprisoned. A primary reason why I chose to come to college in New Hampshire was because of its “safe haven” environment. However, after reading HB 1476 it seems as if this “safe haven” will turn unsafe for Black people.
HB 1476 states that “a person who commits an offense while on bail shall be detained without bail while waiting for a hearing before a judge.” But then judges can’t determine whether those defendants are dangerous to communities when setting bail, which will increase the chances of innocent or harmless people sitting behind bars while they wait for trial.
This is concerning because data on New Hampshire arrests suggests that Black people are arrested at disproportionately high rates. In 2020, Black people were three times more likely to be arrested compared with white people, according to the New Hampshire Bulletin. According to vera.org, they were seven times more likely to be incarcerated.
There is clear racial disparity within New Hampshire jails. For example in 2020, 50% of marijuana possession arrests in Manchester were of Black people, despite making up only 6% of the whole city (indepthnh.org). Also, Black people constitute only 1% of state residents, but 8% of people in jail and 5% of people in prison (vera.org).
The bill has recently passed the House and was introduced to the state Senate. It was sent to the Judiciary Committee, and the first hearing on the bill was on March 29, 2022. If HB 1476 is passed, New Hampshire will follow the national stigma of the overrepresentation of Black people in criminal justice systems. I encourage those who are reading this to have an impact and contact Sen. Suzanne Prentiss to oppose the passage of this bill.
Dale Chesson
Hanover
As a practicing economist, I wish to note a logical error in the otherwise funny Shoe comic of Saturday, April 22.
In the strip, Uncle Cosmo bemoans Skyler’s failing grade on his test. Skyler responds not to worry. His inflation adjusted grade would be an 82.
This is backward. Think about your fourth grade teacher telling the parents at assembly that the whole class got a 95 on their exam and gold stars. A curmudgeon mutters “Bah! That’s grade inflation. Back in the day they would all have gotten a 70. And not even a smiley face.” Thus, the grade Skyler would have gotten if it were adjusted for the effects of inflation would have been considerably lower.
So a better response from Skyler would be “Well at least there’s one good thing about inflation. Otherwise I would have gotten a 38.”
Now that’s funny.
Michael Holdowsky
Grantham
Cutting the Croydon school budget to $800,000 means families would pay $8,000-$9,000 per student for “public” school. The people who cut the budget say it isn’t fair to ask townspeople to pay an extra $100-$200 per year to pay for the original budget. I say it is unfair to expect parents to come up with $9,000 per child for basic public education! I cannot afford $27,000 a year for my three children to attend public schools.
The people of Croydon are being pushed because a vocal, small minority wants to see the public school system change. They are shifting the financial responsibility to families raising children or offering them a sub-par alternative. Most of us have benefited from public education. Our children deserve this basic right. They should not be used as weapons in a political experiment. It is our civic duty to share the cost of children’s education. The political motives behind this decision are sending the town of Croydon on a downward trajectory.
The board cannot even guarantee the legality of the micro-school proposal. It will be the death of our community if this reckless decision stands. The budget cut was made under the guise of saving the townspeople money. The current school board fully admits that they will have to run a deficit to implement the “online learning pod” model. Next year the deficit spending will be added to the tax rate, making it higher than anybody in town wants.
When people consider moving to a new town, the quality of the local school system is paramount. Families have been moving to our town, and property values were increasing because we had an attractive school choice program and a successful little school. Now, this budget puts enormous financial strain on the families of Croydon. All of the residents in town will be hurt when this short-sightedness and lack of planning comes to fruition. Without an adequate school, property values will decrease more than any money that we were hoping to save through lower taxes. Our town, and most importantly, our kids, will suffer from this decision.
Please join us to reverse this awful decision at 9 a.m. on May 7 at Camp Coniston.
Thomas Moore
Croydon
The writer is a former member of the Croydon School Board.