The bride-to-be is a 2006 graduate of Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, attended Colby Sawyer College and graduated in 2010 with her Bachelors of Exercise Science, and went on to Franklin Pierce University, graduating with her Doctorates in Physical Therapy in 2013.  She is currently working for Coppola Physical Therapy in Candia, NH.

The groom-to-be is a 2006 graduate of Farmington High School, a double major in Health Science and Psychology at New England College, graduating in 2011, and a 2015 graduate from the National College of Technical Instruction as a certified paramedic. He is currently working for American Ambulance in Kittery, ME.

The couple got engaged on the top of Bretton Woods ski resort on March 8th and is planning a September 2016 wedding at the top of Pats Peak.

Letter To The Editor

In response to Ms. Dean-Bailey’s letter of 4/15/15: Now why didn’t I think of that?  Rockingham District 32 towns don’t need the State of New Hampshire!  We can set up on our own! Then we won’t have to worry about the dreaded downshifting of costs from the state.  

Actually, New Hampshire doesn’t have any sort of home rule, where towns and cities can set up their own ways of running things. [http://www.nh.gov/oep/resource-library/laws-rules-cases/documents/home-rule-nhma.pdf]

A lot of the laws in the New Hampshire RSAs deal with municipalities and their operations, as I learned when I was a selectwoman.  But I’m sure Ms. Dean-Bailey will be fixing that if she wins the election. We’d just have to change the NH Constitution and a bunch of laws. Or maybe we will happily secede from the dreadful state and set up a little federation here. The ultimate in local control. The Free State Project in a nutshell. 

I do suspect a good many citizens would be a bit wary of such a change.  There are advantages to being part of a larger governmental entity. Some of us actually believe that there are projects that are best funded and overseen by a larger entity than a town, if only for the economies of scale. State highways are handy for commuting. And when it comes to defending oneself, it’s a lot easier if you are bigger. By the way, the resource I linked to above, which everyone should read, notes that three times in the last 4 decades an amendment to the NH Constitution to expand home rule authority has been presented to the voters, and every time it failed to reach the 2/3 majority necessary for passage.

Lucy Edwards

Northwood

Letter To The Editor

Free to Choose

School choice is an issue in the May 19th election for state representative.

Wealthy and upper middle income families already have school choice. They can pay their property taxes to support public schools and then pay the thousands of dollars it takes to send their children to private schools.

But poor and lower middle income families haven’t been able to afford any educational options--until recently, that is. Now many of these families do have some educational choice, thanks to NH’s tax education scholarship program.

The Concord Monitor reports that through the Network for Educational Opportunity, which administers the program, many low and moderate income parents can send their children to “private schools or out-of-district public schools, or help defray the cost of home-schooling. The scholarships average $2,500 per student per year for tuition at private schools or public schools, or $625 for home-schoolers.” Not enough to pay for the child’s education, but perhaps enough to make it possible for the family.

The Network for Educational Opportunity’s stated goal is to “provide education information and scholarships for New Hampshire students who are struggling in their current school to allow them to attend a school that is a better fit for them and their learning needs.” The NEO can be reached at 888-325-1776 or [email protected].

The scholarship program survived a 2013 legislative repeal attempt when the NH Senate refused to go along with the NH House. It also weathered a constitutional legal challenge, when the NH Supreme Court voted unanimously in favor of the program.

Former representative Maureen Mann voted to end the scholarships. Yvonne Dean-Bailey supports this educational aid for needy kids and families.

Michael Faiella

Northwood

Letter To The Editor

Dear Editor,

At the April 3rd Northwood School Board meeting, I read a letter telling them what had been transpiring at the State House.

I want to commend the Northwood School Board Members for their willingness to do further research by looking at unbiased information regarding Common Core Standards and the Smarter Balanced Testing. 

In the meantime, SB101, the bill that states that School Districts are not required to implement Common Core Standards has passed both the State Senate and House.

Sincerely,

Marie L. Correa

Letter To The Editor

To the editor;

A few letters ago I talked about the success of the New Hampshire House Budget--and there are several successes: no new taxes or fees and a balance between increased spending and fiscal responsibility. 

However, there is one reduction I cannot endorse and that is the decreased support to our New Hampshire veterans. As a daughter and a granddaughter of veterans, I understand how vital it is that our veterans receive the care and support they need and deserve. 

Our veterans in New Hampshire must always be a priority. They have fought tirelessly for our state and our country and we must ensure their well being well past their time of service. 

We must do the same for our first responders as well. Our local police and firemen (our volunteer firemen) must have a voice in the State House to ensure they get the credit they deserve. 

Throughout the past year, the political left has isolated and insulted our police officers, painting them as criminals. This is clearly not the case.   

Our first responders lay their lives on the line every day for our communities and for our state. In return, we must ensure that our first responders, our veterans and our other everyday heroes are supported in our communities and up in Concord. 

I am running in the Special Election on May 19th. I would appreciate your support so I may have the opportunity to be a strong voice in the State House that will support our veterans, first responders and the Constitution they fight to protect everyday.

Yvonne Dean-Bailey

Northwood

Letter To The Editor

Reply to Lucy Edwards regarding campaign funding for District #32 election:

Once again biased information needs to be brought to light. True, most people want to get excessive monies out of politics, do you?  This should be a bipartisan goal, and will take, time. You also forgot to mention that Yvonne Dean-Bailey needs to run 2 campaigns during this special election. She also is a newcomer starting from ZERO who needs to generate name recognition. She and people who trust in her have worked hard to get to the final election on May 19th. Signs and flyers cost money and people have noticed her work and positions. 

Meanwhile, you forgot to mention funding sources available to Ms Mann, such as ACTBlue($5911.00 on Rockingham County Democratic FaceBook page as of 4/16/2015).  It has a regional office run out of Somerville, MA., and is a National Democratic fund raising machine, $721,895,510.00 having been raised since 2004. It has ties to a liberal, Ben Barnes out of Austin TX. Also Granite PAC has been a past resource, and Ms Mann currently has more money going into the May 19th election than Yvonne.

Oh, by the way, Yvonne Dean-Bailey is going to UNH this fall!

Does Hillary Clinton really need to spend $2,500,000,000.00 ($2.5 Billion) on her 2016 campaign? Does she need to spend more than President Obama and Mitt Romney combined: $2,100,000,000.00?  Is THIS your idea of Democrat finance reform?

Alec R. Correa

Northwood

Letter To The Editor

Matter of Life and Death 

Let’s talk about prostate cancer.  While this disease afflicts one in three men, like miscarriages, you don’t hear much about it until you get it.  And when you do – as I did – you hear from your brothers. 

Mine showed up six years ago as an elevated PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) reading, and I was into the first phase – watching and waiting – to see if it went down.  It didn’t, and the next step was biopsies, which showed a few abnormal cells.  But when there was an uptick in the number, it was time to decide on a treatment strategy: surgery, radiation or some combination. 

Let me stop here and ask you to imagine that this process had started when I had just become insured for the first time under the Affordable Care Act, and that the PSA test was done as part of my first heath screening in a long time.  Now, three years in, I’m about to lose that insurance because in NH, the Medicaid Expansion will expire unless the legislature renews it. 

My friend, Brendan Reddy, watched-and-waited too long and his cancer spread out of the prostate and ate him alive.  That would be my fate without treatment.  And without insurance, I can’t pay for it.  What am I to do? 

Ask Republican Rep. Dan McGuire, an advocate of “personal responsibility” and an end to Medicaid Expansion, and he is reported to have said that we should  “get better jobs that offer health benefits.”  Which sounds like a death sentence to me. 

So going into this election, think about NOT sending another vote to join Rep. McGuire.  And ask our wanna-be Yvonne whose paying for her health care.  Under the ACA, she can stay on her parent’s plan till 26.  Unless the Republicans repeal that, too. 

Tom Chase 

Northwood

Letter To The Editor

I think it is quite commendable for a young person to be willing to serve her community as a representative in the New Hampshire House. But I find it difficult to understand how she would do that effectively while attending college classes in Holyoke, Mass. This raises another interesting question. If she is so concerned about our state why is she going to an Ivy sister school outside of New Hampshire?

Her outside interests raise another, perhaps more serious question, about her loyalty to her constituents. How is it that most of her campaign funding comes from an out of state PAC that supports Tea Party candidates nation-wide? As you can see, I am a little confused. I know she has some local support. I’ve seen the letters, but I’m not sure why some would back such an inexperienced candidate when her opponent, Maureen Mann, has served effectively in the House previously?

Maureen served her constituents well, crossing the aisle to get her bills passed. She consistently worked to improve numerous aspects of the district’s deficiencies including the traffic light at the intersection of routes 107 and 4, that made the daily bus trip to Concord safer for those students from Deerfield who attended school there. A simplistic solution for an obvious need. Maureen was able to get through the legislative maze. Unfortunately, it would take Yvonne time to learn the ropes to get similar bills passed. For me, experience is important, and that is why I am voting for Maureen.

Karl T. Bergeron

Northwood

CBNA Juniors Accepted Into St. Paul’s Advanced Studies Program

Coe-Brown Northwood Academy is pleased to announce that juniors Tyler Holman of Barrington, Billie Pingree of Northwood, and Jake Scarponi of Barrington have been accepted into the Advanced Studies Program (ASP) at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH for the summer of 2015. These students will spend five and a half weeks immersed in a college level curriculum and challenged to discover new ways of learning. The Advanced Studies program was established in 1957 to provide academically talented New Hampshire public and parochial high school students with challenging educational opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Since its inception, more than 11,000 students have participated in the program. According to the Advanced Studies Program website, the program is committed to educating the whole person and preparing students to make contributions to a changing and challenging world. ASP defines education as all of the structured experiences in which students participate: coursework, athletics, extracurricular activities and residential life.

Letter To The Editor

To the Editor,

I had a letter all prepared to run just before elections in March that started out, “Every time I enter Northwood School I hear math (a male) shrieking in horror in the basement as he is being horribly abused.” It went on to explain how we had spent half a million dollars on math for naught. Math was really at it last night, I feel his pain.

At issue is what to do with math. We have a cobbled together mess at present. A trip to schooldigger.com will show you that our school is rated 154th of 234 schools in NH. Almost in the bottom third. Very sad. We supply a lot of kids to McDonalds who can’t do change.

After a six month study, the Administration has decided that they would like to purchase Go Math for just the 7th and 8th grade. They want to stay with the enVision for K-6 grades. A one minute look at schooldigger.com will show you that we are failing miserably in math until the 7th and 8th grades when we start improving a little.  For whatever reason enVision has failed us. We need a seamless K-8 math program now to turn this around. We need to provide the staff with the professional development tools to teach math and expect results. We have the money for this curriculum now. Every parent and grandparent of a Northwood student should show up at the School Board meeting on May 7th and demand action. I am tired of the lame excuses and being so near the bottom of the academic food chain. Year 15/16 budget ($12,014,987) divided by students (662) = $18,149 per student. Isn’t that enough to provide a decent education? Come on!

Tim Jandebeur

Northwood