Author: WNTK News

The River Trail in Hanover, New Hampshire will be closed for over a month for updates.

The trail, which is 1.1 miles long and runs from the electric substation on South Main Street to the corner of Maple Street and Downing Road, will have 3700 feet of it closed from September 3 through October 11.

The closure is to update the trail’s parking lot and the trail itself to be up to ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) Code. This means making the trail more accessible to the handicapped public.

Citizens with further questions about the project can contact Robert Houseman, the Director of Planning and Zoning Codes, at 603-640-3212. 

A fire in Charlestown, New Hampshire Wednesday night was caused by a lightning strike, reports the Eagle Times.

The basement fire on Wheeler Road was responded to by the Charlestown and Springfield, Vermont Fire Departments. According to the residents of the home, lightning came through the living room sometime around 6 PM. After going outside to check damage, residents could smell smoke and realized that a fire had started in their basement.

The two fires teams had the blaze contained by 7 PM. The Charlestown Ambulance unit was also on scene.

Both residents of the home were uninjured, though they will most likely be displaced for at least a couple of nights. 

Late Tuesday afternoon, troopers from the Westminster State Police Barracks were alerted to a simple assault that had occurred earlier in the day, they report via release.

The assault occurred around noon on August 20th, at a residence in the town of Westminster. An investigation found that Wayne W. Smith, age 50, had assaulted a male resident.

Smith was issued a citation and released. He is due in Vermont Superior Court, Windham Criminal Division on September 24, 2019 at 8 AM to face his charges. 

The Claremont, NH Police Department’s crazy week continued as they were dispatched to try and stop a citizen from jumping off what is locally known as the High Bridge, reports HereCast.

Police were received a report at approximately 7:48 AM that a man was threatening to jump off the bridge, which is comprised of the railroad tracks that cross over Lower Main Street. Main Street was closed to the public at this time.

Claremont PD and Fire Department units arrived at the scene, and began negotiating with the man. Working with a member from the NH State Police Crisis Negotiating Unit, Claremont PD were able to convince the man off the ledge and back to safety, where he was then taken to seek treatment at a local medical facility.

Due to the nature of the situation, no further information as to the man’s identity will be provided 

Michael E Burns, the man who was at the center of a seven-hour standoff in Claremont,NH last week has plead not guilty, according to the Eagle Times.

Burns is being charged with four counts of Reckless Conduct With a Deadly Weapon. Burns is currently being held without bail due to “clear and convincing evidence” that releasing him would “endanger the safety of the defendant or the public” stated the judge of the case.

On Thursday, August 15, Burns fired off over 100 rounds of ammo throughout a long stand off with police from his apartment on 54 Hanover Street in Claremont. Burns was taken into custody peacefully around 2 PM.

No injuries were sustained to him, police, or the public during the shooting. 

The Hanover, NH Police Department has released a statement warning residents about possible fraudulent phone calls.

The department has been receiving reports of residents getting phone calls from a source claiming to be the Social Security Administration or members of the Hanover PD. During these phone calls, residents have been threatened with arrests for federal crimes, and information has been demanded. These calls are from “spoofs” of legitimate phone numbers.

If called by one of these fake callers, hang up, and call the Hanover Police Department to verify that you were speaking with an actual officer at 603-643-2222.

As a reminder, real officers of the Hanover PD will always introduce themselves by name and explain their reasoning for contacting you. 

The Springfield, Vermont Police Department got a new Chief of Police this past weekend, reports the Eagle Times.

Lt. Mark Fountain was named as the new Chief of Police by Town Manager Tom Yennerell, after serving as the interim Chief since February. Fountain stepped in when former chief Douglas Johnston was fired from the job in February.

The new chief has been a member of the department since 1990, and a lieutenant since 2002.

He will be sworn in at a ceremony at the Sprinfield Town Hall on Wednesday, August 21, at 6 PM. 

A Hartford, Vermont man has been arrested following a car accident, states a press release.

On Thursday, August 15, 2019, Officers from the Royalton Vermont State Police Barracks responded to a report of a single car crash at approximately 11 AM. The vehicles operator, Duane Williams of Hartford, had crashed his vehicle into a set of guardrails along Vermont Route 14.

Following contact with Williams, he was placed under arrest for suspicion of Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and was taken to the Royalton Barracks for processing. Following this, he was taken to Gifford Medical Center in Randolph for a blood sample. 

A suspect has been taken into custody following an eight hour long standoff in Claremont Thursday, reports WMUR and HereCast.

A shelter in place was ordered in the neighborhood that included Centennial, Hanover, and North Streets in Claremont at 5:20 AM. Shots were fired throughout the morning, but the scene became mostly quiet between 11:30 AM and noon.

Police state that the man at the center of the shootout was 55-year-old Michael Burns. Burns was wanted on two counts of simple assault and one count of criminal threatening prior to the day’s stand-off, and an investigation into this scenario is ongoing and additional charges are expected.

Burns fired “hundreds of rounds” throughout the day, from guns identified by a bystander to sound like “AR” and handgun shots. Remarkably, not a single shot was fired by police throughout the stand-off and there were no injuries sustained, even to Burns. At 2:15 PM, Burns was finally taken into custody by the SWAT team on site.

The Claremont Police Department were accompanied by neighboring stations, the New Hampshire State Police, the state’s SWAT team, and units “as far as Massachusetts.”

A Quechee, Vermont man has been arrested for Attempted Sexual Assault by the Lebanon, New Hampshire Police Department, they announced via a press release.

Lebanon Officers had been engaging in a conversation with Noah Rosenzweig, 23, on social media. Their investigation lead to arresting Rosenzweig at a location where he thought he would be meeting a juvenile for sexual acts on August 12, 2019.

He has been charged with Certain Uses of Computer Services Prohibited, Attempted Felonious Sexual Assault, Attempted Endangering Welfare of a Child, which are all Class B Felonies, and Attempted Sexual Assault, a Class A Misdemeanor. The suspect was held in preventative detention.

The Lebanon Police Department is an affiliate of the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce (ICAC) whose mission is to, “helps state and local law enforcement agencies develop an effective response to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children. This support encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, prevention and community education” (www.icactaskforce.org).