WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012
VOL. 20 NO. 172
BERLIN, N.H.
752-5858
FREE
Fall on Mount Washington kills Massachusetts man BY ERIK EISELE THE CONWAY DAILY SUN
PINKHAM NOTCH — A Massachusetts man died after an 800 foot fall down Mount Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine late Monday. The accident happened around 7:45 p.m. Monday, according to U.S. Forest Service Snow Ranger Chris Joosen, when Patrick Scott Powers, 46, of
Mansfield, Mass., fell down snow and ice covered slopes into Tuckerman Ravine. Powers was alive when rescuers first reached him, but he succumbed to injuries sustained in the fall before he reached Pinkham Notch. The first indication there was problem came when the shelter caretaker at Hermit Lake saw what looked like a headlamp move down the
ravine headwall at a high rate of speed, according to Joosen. “That was the moment that started the whole thing.” Members of the U.S. Forest Service, along with AMC volunteers, members of Mountain Rescue Service, the Harvard Mountaineering Club, and wilderness first aid students with SOLO responded see FALL page 7
Androscoggin Valley gives GOP nod to Ron Paul
2012 Republican Presidential Primary results — Androscoggin Valley
375
Rick Perry 3
Rick Santorum
0
Ron Paul
143
Gary Johnson
114
THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
Mitt Romney
Berlin Dummer
John Huntsman
Candidate votes by town
Newt Gingrich
BY MELISSA GRIMA
250
108
37
BERLIN — Voters in the valley turned out on Tuesday to cast their ballots in the presidential primary and threw their support behind Ron Paul. Among the area towns Paul took the local contest by a roughly 100 vote margin. Shelburne and Dummer had not reported their tallies by press time late last night. Paul, who made two campaign stops in the Androscoggin Valley was the top vote getter in Berlin and Milan. Mitt Romney who also visited twice won Gorham and Randolph. With only the two front runners flopped, the area followed the rest of the state overall, with Jon Huntsman in third, followed by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Statewide, ABC News called the race early, just after 8 p.m.
Not reported
Gorham
54
39
100
3
131
Milan
30
28
60
4
35
27
Randolph
12
23
16
1
33
2
Shelburne Not reported
Total Votes
210 233
551 11
449 174
Charter amendment wins by big margin BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN – The charter amendment eliminating the city’s traditional four wards in favor of one ward passed overwhelmingly. The measure passed in all four wards with a total margin of 1,144 in favor and 464 against. The new single ward will be in effect for the September 2012 state primary. Mayor Paul Grenier, the city council, and City Clerk Debra Patrick all endorsed the charter amendment. The need to redistrict the city is a direct result of the impact on the state prison. At the time of the 2010 U.S. Census, the population at the state prison was 750. While most of the inmates cannot vote because they are serving time for felony
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convictions, the census still requires they be counted as residents. The presence of the state prison in Ward III, increased its population at a time when overall the city lost population. State and federal law require equal representation for residents, which forced the city to look at changing ward boundaries to make the population of the four wards approximately the same. But efforts to equalize the city’s population proved difficult because of requirements that the city use census blocks in developing new ward boundaries. The council rejected several options developed by City Planner Pamela Laflamme because neighborhoods were divided and the boundaries would be confusing to residents.
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Berlin ward referendum Yes, Amend the city charter and abolish the wards.
No, Do not amend the city charter and keep the wards.
Ward 1
259
Ward 2
306
88
Ward 3
362
173
95
Ward 4
217
108
Total
1144
464
see CHARTER page 10
BANKRUPTCY or CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Tuesday night, declaring Romney the presumptive winner of New Hampshire with 10 percent of the precincts reporting and 35 percent of the vote at that point. Former Texas Congressman Dr. Paul finished second and former Utah governor Huntsman was third. By the end of the evening, with 78 percent of precincts in, Romney held 38 percent over Paul’s 23 percent of the vote. Huntsman held steady at 17 percent. Gingrich and Santorum trailed in a statistical dead heat with 10 percent each, and Rick Perry gathered just one percent of the vote. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts also won the Iowa caucus last week, though by a much slimmer margin, with former Pennsylvania Congressman Santorum trailing him by just 8 votes. In the Democratic primary,
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