The prevailing sentiment this past week among those living in our area seems to be one of amazement at the power of Mother Nature. How is it possible for so much rain to fall in such a short time, and for all that water to rise to such incredibly high levels? It’s all the more amazing considering the dry spell we had just before the deluge. Even people living on hills were not necessarily spared flooded basements, as the ground simply could not absorb the water fast enough.

For many of us, the floods are, at best, a spectacular show, worthy of a photography safari, and at worst an inconvenience as we found new ways to get from home to work and back. For a few, homes and possessions have been lost. And for many businesses, this Mother’s Day weekend was a lost opportunity. Cleanup now begins, so we thank all those police officers, firefighters, emergency workers, National Guardsmen and anyone else who helped keep us safe and dry. Perhaps a dinner out at someplace local that had to shut down during the floods is in order to celebrate our health and safety and give local businesses a chance to recover too.

– Editorials published by Neighborhood News Inc. are written by an editorial board.

To the Editor:
I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Goffstown police, fire and all public officials who worked so well in dealing with this recent catastrophic storm. The police department was attentive to duty and did a wonderful job of maintaining order under very difficult circumstances. I was in contact with the police department conveying to them a message from the governor that whatever needed, the state was ready to respond. National Guard troops were sent and worked with the police to carry out their assigned duties.

In addition, I visited the shelter at the Bartlett School and found the Red Cross well prepared to handle those who were in crisis.

As your representative, I was proud of what I saw in terms of a community working together to give one another aid and comfort during this most difficult period. A big thank you to everyone involved.

State Senator Lou D’Allesandro District 20 Manchester

To the Editor:
While I welcomed your report and editorial regarding town meeting DVDs and the special meeting between the town board, Goffstown TV and library officials, I’m still scratching my head over the same pair off questions I posed in a previous letter which remain unanswered (unless I missed them in a previous edition of the News, in which case I withdraw the questions):

Why in the first place did Goffstown pass a ruling that DVDs need to be destroyed after 30 days, and why can’t the library, which circulates DVDs for the first 30 days, continue to be a repository for them?

Has the library -- a natural place as any to host and circulate documents and media of interest to town residents -- ever expressed a desire not to host them?

And while your reporter characterizes GTV’s Dick Gagnon as being opposed to the public’s easy access (based on Gagnon’s draft plan to charge a copying fee high enough to discourage casual requests), a less mean-spirited reading may be the real cost to GTV’s barebones staff availability and its appropriate role in this situation, which I believe it already fulfills adequately and in the spirit of the public’s right to know.

To be sure, anyone with an up-to-date computer and a DVD burner knows the real price to copy a DVD is about 15 minutes and a 15 cent blank DVD; and in fact, unless copying town DVDs violates a copyright or local statute, I would simply make copies myself and maintain a “People’s Library,” but only if it really came down to it.

And if the library were willing to host these DVDs, I would personally raise money in town square to buy those binders that can hold several hundred DVDs at a time.

I would appreciate a further report from Goffstown News elucidating the history of the town board’s motivations to destroy these discs, and why the library -- which I add is a municipal treasure and plays a vital and exemplary role in the public life of Goffstown -- is unable to keep these discs in regular holdings.

Richard Brenin
Goffstown

To the Editor:
I thought I would write a letter to the editor in reference to New Boston’s new police Chief Chris Krajenka. Chief Krajenka was a police officer here in Goffstown where I now live for many years before going to New Boston recently and I know Chief Krajenka very well. It’s Goffstown’s loss, however New Boston’s gain, for sure.

I grew up in New Boston and it is still my hometown and always will be. I have many friends still in town, which I visit often. New Boston, as with all towns, has grown immensely since I grew up there; however,it’s still a wonderful small town to raise children in.

During some of my visits to New Boston, I’ve heard rumors about the new police chief. Some like him, others don’t. It appears to me that those who may not like the new chief are those who really haven’t gotten to know him, along with maybe, just maybe some of these children who have had experiences with Chief Krajenka during the time he served as DARE officer in the school system.

Let me assure you all that Chief Krajenka will in no way be looking at any of those he may have had dealings with. Some might have been bad at times, but I’m sure most were positive.

He is there to serve and protect the people of New Boston with his expertise, along with experience of being a police officer for many years.

I ask all of you, especially those I know very well in New Boston, to please just give Chief Krajenka a chance and you will very pleased that you have chosen him to be your new police chief. Again it’s Goffstown’s loss, but New Boston’s gain.

I wish Chief Chris Krajenka all the best in serving the people of New Boston, it’s a wonderful small town, and one I’m proud to call my hometown.

Andrea H. Card
Goffstown

To the Editor:
I am absolutely incensed by the lack of respect shown to the employees of the Hillsborough County Nursing Home by area state representatives.

The responsibility for no contract for the past two-plus years lies solely with the state representatives of all the Hillsborough County towns, the tale allegedly being implied by the county commissioners. Hearsay, maybe. Believable, absolutely! Many citizens that I have spoken with were outraged at the administrator for the breakdown in negotiations. The administrator should not be wrongfully (or at least solely) blamed for the picketing at the nursing home, being but a pawn served up in the political chess game played by the county delegation and commissioner troika.

So the public should not unfairly judge the administrator for the informational picket (it is not a strike). The residents of Hillsborough County Nursing Home will absolutely continue to receive excellent care because of the dedicated and devoted staff. As one of the picket signs state: Quality Care, Quality Staff.

I read a public posting of the county nursing home that misrepresents events and money offers of the contractual dispute. What hogwash! How can a commissioner walk out of the last negotiation session and indicate in a public posting they are still willing to talk? Bizarre behavior from a person willing to talk!

As a former employee, I understand the frustrations of the workers, and know they would not walk away from any negotiations for a fair contract.

The Hillsborough County employees are decent, hard working family members that have been tread upon for many years by local and county politicians.

The disgusting fact is that many of those shameful politicians will run for state representative and county commissioners again. Well, I know a few politicians from the whole of Hillsborough County (especially Goffstown, Weare, Amherst and Manchester) that should not be re-elected; shown the same disrespect that they have shown the protesters.

It is unfortunate the public is being misinformed and local state representatives don’t give a damn about the working families of the “Hill.”

Call your state reps and tell them if they choose to play games with the lives of these workers, they should update their resumes because they don’t deserve to go back to Concord next term and it is Live Fee or Die, Not Work for Less and Starve!

Rich Burke
New Boston

To the Editor:
I would like to publicly thank the Goffstown firemen for their hard work and diligence in the flooding crisis this past weekend.

News reports reflected Goffstown as one of the hardest hit areas. The video clips on television demonstrated our fire department’s dedication to their jobs and to the safety of Goffstown and its residents. Did you notice as the firemen evacuated the residents of Goffstown from the flooding areas, the residents were in the rafts while the firemen walked in deep water, pulling and guiding that raft while carrying the family pets? And that was only one part of what they did. I’m sure the hours they put in were long and painstaking.

I’ll bet many of them were worried about their own family and their own homes, yet they were out helping us. The flooding began on a weekend – the days “off” for the full-time staff. Yet 90 percent of them came to help the residents of Goffstown.

So, to the Goffstown Fire Department, I say a heartfelt “Thank you.”

Gail Labrecque
Goffstown