TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012
VOL. 20 NO. 175
BERLIN, N.H.
752-5858
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Kestrel picks Wisconsin over Berlin Gorham Budget BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN – Kestrel Aircraft has spurred efforts to attract its manufacturing plant to Berlin and yesterday Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced the company will establish its manufacturing plant and headquarters in that state. The project would have meant about 150 to 300 jobs in Berlin with Kestrel expected to employ up to 600 people overall. Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier called the news disappointing but said he remains confident Cate Street Capital will ultimately be successful in attracting a company to co-locate on the former paper mill site. “It’s a minor setback,” he said. “We’re just going to roll up our sleeves and keep digging.” Grenier said Kestrel’s decision did not come as a surprise since recent news reports have described efforts by Wisconsin officials to persuade Kestrel to locate the
facility in Superior, Wisconsin. Grenier noted the site is 50 miles from Kestrel’s engineering and design offices in Duluth, Michigan. Cate Street Capital spokesman Scott Tranchemontagne said his company worked on a proposal that would have the composite parts manufactured in Berlin and the turboprop plane assembled in Brunswick, Maine, where Kestrel currently has its headquarters. Kestrel had abandoned plans to build the entire plane in Brunswick because the company said it could not get the financing it needed there. By locating its manufacturing plant on the site of the Burgess BioPower biomass plant project, Kestrel would be able to take advantage of lower cost power and excess heat. The plant would also be eligible for federal New Markets Tax Credits. Tranchemontagne said Cate Street Capital thought it had come up with an attractive proposal for Kestrel. see KESTREL page 9
Committee addresses rumor of $800,000 cut BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
GORHAM — The Gorham Budget Committee addressed rumors of a looming cut at a recent budget work session. The Committee continued its work recently reviewing the budgets of the town’s highway department, and finance department at meetings on Jan. 5, and 9. Much of the meetings were taken up with the department heads going over their budget proposals, with questions from the committee interspersed. There was no shortage of input from those in the audience as well, with public comment closing out each session. One of the most notable conversations was held at the close of the Jan. 5 meeting when the group was asked directly about rumors that they were planning to cut an estimated $800,000 from the budget prior to it going before the voters at town meeting. Selectman David Graham confronted the subject during the open comment period, asking that if the board is considering such a cut they do it with an thought as to where that money might come from. He told the committee that services like snow removal, recreation, and trash collection could certainly become seriously affected by such a severe cut. see RUMOR page 9
Three plead guilty to prison drug charges BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
Berlin firefighters check out a pick-up truck that struck a utility pole and came to rest against the front of the Androscoggin Valley Home Health Services building on upper Main Street in Berlin late Thursday afternoon. The driver was charged with driving while intoxicated. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO)
Driver arrested after snowy crash BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN — The driver of a pickup truck that crashed on Main Street Thursday was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. Police arrested Carl Fitzmorris, 34, formerly of Andover, Maine, who now resides on Seventh Street in Berlin, and charged him with driving while intoxicated after he crashed his truck at 4:55 p.m. Fitzmorris had
been traveling south on Main Street when he abruptly turned right, according to police, striking a utility pole in front of Androscoggin Valley Home Health Services. The truck came to rest against the Home Health building, but police said the pole took the brunt of the damage. Fitzmorris was released on $500 personal recognizance bail and is scheduled to appear in court on March 13.
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LANCASTER — Three defendants pleaded guilty to charges they smuggled drugs into the state prison in Berlin. The pleas were made in Coos County Superior Court on Jan. 3 in front of Judge Peter Bornstein. A woman who snuck heroin in to the prison for an inmate will serve no immediate jail time for her crimes. Debra Lavoie, 48, formerly of Manchester and now of Waterford Drive, in Weymouth, Mass., pleaded guilty to delivery of articles to prisoners and acts prohibited. She delivered heroin to Jamie Eugene Lavoie at the prison in Berlin between Oct. 1 and 11, 2010. Lavoie was sentenced to one-and-a-half to three years for delivering the drugs. That sentence was suspended for five years and is concurrent to a six month jail sentence for the possession charge. The lesser jail term was deferred for one year, and suspended for two
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