The Laconia Daily Sun, February 2, 2011

Page 1

E E R F Wednesday, February 2, 2011

wednesday

Safety officials warily eyeing buildup on local roofs

7 more months?

Mubarak asks Egyptian people to let him finish his current term as president — P. 2

VOL. 11 nO. 174

LaCOnIa, n.H.

527-9299

Free

Ward Bird: ‘Before God & my family, I swear I did not commit this crime’

By adam drapchO THE LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — Those who lived through the New England winter of 2007/2008 might be feeling some déjà vu as they struggle to keep up with the snow accumulating in their driveways. In a statement echoed by Laconia’s fire chief, the state fire marshal urged residents to consider clearing their roofs as important a chore as shoveling walkways and parking areas. “With up to 20 inches of snow in the forecast combined with other recent snowstorms, there is a greater urgency to clear roofs of snow and ice that has accumulated in recent weeks,” Fire Marshal William Degnen said in a release yesterday. The statement said pitched as well as flat roofs are at risk and said the following symptoms can indicate a structure about to fail: sagging roofs or deformed structural components, cracked or split wood boards, sprinkler heads pushing out relative to ceiling, doors that pop open or will no longer see ROOFs page 9

Ward Bird listens as Governor John Lynch asks a question during Tuesday’s pardon hearing in the Exectutive Council Chambers at the Statehouse in Concord. To Bird’s left are his wife and daughter. Alan MacRae/for the Laconia Daily Sun)

Governor Lynch & Executive Council to vote today on pardon request By Gail OBer

THE LACONIA DAILY SUN

CONCORD — With his family and friends packing the Statehouse, Ward Bird made a personal appeal to Governor John Lynch and the Executive Council for his freedom yesterday afternoon. For two hours the six men grilled Bird; his lawyer Mark Sisti; Carroll County Attorney Tom Dewhurst and Carroll County Victims Advocate Melissa Smith. who appeared on behalf of victim Christine Harris.

Also testifying were Virgina Bird, Ward Bird’s wife, his pastor and another friend. So many people attended the hearing, an over-flow room with a live video feed was set up on a different floor. After his first trial ended in a mistrial, Bird was convicted of criminal threatening in 2008 for waving a gun at Harris who said she got lost in March of 2006 and accidentally ended up on Bird’s property while looking for a neighboring parcel of land that was for sale. Because he was convicted of a crime

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involving a gun Bird was sentenced to a mandatory three to six years in the New Hampshire State Prison. With the okay of the Department of Corrections Commissioner, he is serving his sentence in the Carroll County Jail in Ossipee, which is nearer his Moultonborough home. Speaking first and last, Bird, who never took the stand at his criminal trial, swore he was not guilty of waving or brandishing a gun at Harris in March of 2006, when she drove onto his property. see waRd BIRd page 8

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