Two cars were involved in an accident in the Hanover, NH area Tuesday afternoon, reports the Hanover Police Department.
At approximately 4 PM on October 8, 2019, the Hanover Police and Fire Departments received reports of a multi-car accident near Lebanon Street. Upon investigation, it was found that 33-year-old Lindsay Kittle of Lebanon, NH and Edgar Parrado, 53, of Etna were the two drivers involved. Both were treated at Dartmouth Hitchcock for non-life threatening injuries.
At this time, the cause of the crash is unknown. The accident led to the closing of the road for two and a half hours.
Reports of sexual assault at Dartmouth College are on the rise, reports the school.
The Ivy League school, located in Hanover, NH, reports that in 2018, 34 sexual assaults were reported. This number is nine more than reported in 2017. However, school officials downplay this stat. According to WMUR, “Officials don’t believe an increase in incidents is to blame for increased reports. Officials said more people are coming forward to report incidents because they trust the system.”
Dartmouth settled a $14 million lawsuit earlier this year, after three professors were accused of sexual misconduct and harassment.
A head-on collision in Randolph, NH has led to the death of a Massachusetts man, reports the NH State Police.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, October 5, 2019, 23-year-old Anthony Ortega of Framingham, MA collided head on with tractor-trailer truck heading westbound on Route 2. The tractor-trailer commandeered by Mark Mellish, 50, of Bellows Falls, VT hit Ortega, who was traveling eastbound. Ortega was pronounced dead at the scene.
Any citizen with information pertaining to the crash is encouraged to call Trooper Alex Peplinski at 603-271-1170.
The Southern Vermont Drug Task Force has arrested a Bellows Falls, VT woman for the sale of heroin, they report via release.
The arrest of 24-year-old Bethany Bennett, on October 1, 2019, came after an investigation into heroin/fentanyl sale throughout the Bellows Falls area. The Springfield, VT Police Department assisted the SEVDTF in the arrest.
Bennett is scheduled to appear in Windham Superior Court Criminal Division on November 26 to answer to this charge.
An elderly woman has plead guilty to a felony count of obstruction of justice, which she did to protect her grandson, reports HereCast.
Lise Soucy, 66, of Chester, VT admitted to trying to influence a witness in a criminal case against her grandson. Soucy had no previous criminal record. While her grandson, Ryan Stocker, was on trail for sexually assaulting two, at the time, teenage classmates, Soucy attempted to act as a mediator between her grandson, a close friend, and at least one of the teenage girls to she would drop the charges. Her defense attorney stated Wednesday that his client had been under “stress and pressure that made her do something that she now knows is wrong.”
Soucy submitted this plea Wednesday in court in exchange for a one-year probationary sentence, where if she stays out of criminal trouble, her conviction will be thrown out and no sentence will be handed down.
New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald has reversed his ruling in regards to the shooting of Claremont, NH’s Cody LaFont back in 2016, reports the AG Office via release.
The incident in which Officer Ian Kibbe arrived at the home of LaFont, and after allegedly feeling threatened, shot and ultimately killed LaFont was originally deemed “legally justified”.
In March 2018, the AG’s Office was notified of a potential unrelated crime involving Kibbe while he was a police officer, and while investigating that crime, reopened the investigation into the September 2016 shooting. A number of factors, including Kibbe’s involvement in separate criminal activity, caused the office to amend their ruling as follows;
“Accordingly, based on a review of the case and considering all the evidence, including Mr. Kibbe’s subsequent criminal conduct and the questions it raised about his credibility as a police officer, the Attorney General’s Office can no longer conclude that Mr. Kibbe’s actions were legally justified. Instead, the Office has concluded that it could not disprove Mr. Kibbe’s self-defense claim, beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore no criminal charges will be filed against Mr. Kibbe as a result of Mr. Lafont’s death.”
The Lebanon, NH Police Department have received a body armor donation for their K9 Blesk, they report via release.
The company that donated the bulletproof and stab proof jacket is called Vested Interest in K9’s, Inc.. They are a charity located in East Taunton, MA and whose purpose is to provide K9’s throughout the country with vests like the one given to Blesk. This current program is open to K9’s throughout the United States who are 20 months or older, that work with law enforcement agencies.
To this date, Vested Interest in K9’s have donated over 3500 NIJ certified vests throughout the country.
According to “e-ticker news of Claremont”, thirteen local citizens have made themselves eligible to be elected to Claremont, NH’s City Council.
The election takes place on November 5, 2019. Currently, only one person has filed with the intention of running for Mayor; Charlene Lovett. The only race currently with two candidates is for the Ward II position, as James Contois and David Pacetti are running for that position.
The largest group is the “at-large” candidates. This set includes; Christopher Fazio, Bill Kennedy, Abigail Kier, Nicholas Koloski, Patrick Lozito, Debora Matteau and Erica Sweetser.
Six of the thirteen current candidates are incumbents.
The State of New Hampshire’s minimum age for buying tobacco products is on the rise, reports nhpr.org.
The compromise budget that governor Chris Sununu signed this past week will raise the minimum age one year, to 19. Many were hopeful that NH would hike the number to 21 years old, as some local communities have already done. Currently, more than a dozen states, including Vermont and Maine, have a minimum age of 21 years old.
According to the Associated Press, the budget that this law falls under is a “nearly $13 billion, two-year state budget.”
New Hampshire joins only two states, Alabama and Alaska, as the only states to have 19 as the minimum age to purchase tobacco products.
Ruggles Mine in Grafton, NH will soon be under new ownership, reports nhpr.org.
The worldwide tourist attraction located in the upper valley has been closed and for sale since 2016. The new owners are a production company out of New York City, who bought the mine for approximately $500,000. The group plans to re-open the mines as a tourist attraction.
Also, according to the real estate agent who secured the deal, the group has been in contact with colleges throughout the region for the sake of geological studies.
WNTK Local News 