TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2012
VOL. 20 NO. 171
Gorham Main Street chase ends in crash BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
GORHAM — A vehicle reported missing from Berlin on Friday had been involved in a chase in Gorham that ended in a crash in Shelburne earlier in the afternoon. Theresa Levesque, 36, of Berlin, was driving the vehicle, owned by Wayne Bell, that led no less than four police cruisers on a chase up and down Gorham’s Main Street before crashing in the woods of Shelburne. She was transported to Androscoggin Valley Hospital by ambulance to be treated for undisclosed injuries. She was not wearing a seatbelt. According to Gorham Police, Levesque had been traveling north
on Route 16 near the fire station, in a purple 1999 Saturn, when she passed a fully marked Coos County Sheriff’s Deputy’s cruiser on the double yellow line. The Sheriff’s unit, which was manned by Deputy Tobey Reichert and Sgt. Keith Roberge, attempted to stop the vehicle, Gorham Corporal Brad Willey said, and Levesque allegedly took off at a high rate of speed driving through a red light at the junction of Routes 2 and 16 and continuing north toward Berlin. Berlin Police were notified and set up to intercept at the town line, however, according to reports, Levesque made a u-turn just before see CHASE page 15
BERLIN, N.H.
City Planner Pam Laflamme named to state Influencer Index City Planner Pamela Laflamme
BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
Craig and Crystal Martin being interviewed by CBS Correspondent Nancy Cordes at Tea Birds Cafe early Friday evening for a segment that is scheduled to run on the CBS Evening News tonight. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO).
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BERLIN – Berlin City Planner Pamela Laflamme has been named one of the state’s most influential people by Business NH Magazine. For its January 2012 edition, the magazine surveyed leaders around the state to create an ‘Influencer Index’ of 65 people, families, and organizations that it said “make it happen” in New Hampshire. The magazine said Laflamme may not be a household name throughout the state “but when it comes to getting things done in the North Country, she is among the people other leaders call”. The article notes Laflamme has worked with city, state, and federal officials on a variety of projects including the federal prison and two housing developments. She also sits on the advisory committee
for the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the N.H. Charitable Foundation, is on the board of directors for the Androscoggin Valley Foundation, and is a board member for the Family Resource Center. In making the list, Laflamme joins some of the state’s most illustrious and prominent individuals including Gov. John Lynch, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte, Executive Councilor Raymond Burton, Public Service of NH President Gary Long, Stonyfield founder Gary Hirshberg, and Steve Norton of the N.H. Center for Public Policy Studies. She is one of three from Coos County on the list – the others are DRED North Country resource specialist Beno Lamontagne and retired First Colebrook Bank CEO Jim Tibbetts. This is not the first time Laflamme see LAFLAMME page 15
CBS films segment in city Jonathan Oliver back in legal trouble for tonight’s broadcast BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN – A crew from CBS news was in the city Thursday and Friday taping a segment scheduled to air on the CBS Evening News tonight. The show will be broadcasting out of Manchester as the network waits on results from the state’s
first-in-the-nation primary. CBS Correspondent Nancy Cordes said the segment will look at how the economic hardships here influence what residents are looking for in the primary. She said she was interested in what residents wanted to hear from candidates and if they were satissee CBS page 7
COOS COUNTY – Jonathan Oliver, the former Berlin oil dealer who defrauded over 1,300 customers in a prepaid heating oil scan 12 years ago, has continued to get in trouble with the law. He is still wanted in Carroll County where he was indicted in 2008 on a charge of bail jumping. Now the 39-year old former Moultonborough resident is in trouble in North Dakota. Two weeks ago, the North Dakota Attorney General’s office issued a cease
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and desist order against Oliver, doing business as Western Steel Structures, Inc. The order alleges Oliver violated North Dakota’s consumer fraud law by accepting over $1.5 million in consumer deposits and advanced payments for erecting steel buildings and failed to complete the projects or deliver the materials. Oliver’s troubles with the law began in 1999 when he sold hundreds of prepaid oil contracts from his Berlin dealership. When winter hit, Oliver was unable to deliver to all his customers. Many people see OLIVER page 8
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