A funny thing happened on the way to the junkyard story in New Boston \u2013 the story disappeared from WMUR.<\/p>\n
Set the \u201cWay-Back Machine\u201d for the second week in January when CNHT started helping John and Mona Winslow, owners of Duke\u2019s Garage in that town.<\/p>\n
I went to meet them and was sitting in the kitchen going through court records the lawyer who abandoned them left behind when I was informed WMUR had just showed up with a camera man.<\/p>\n
If you know me and CNHT you know we stay away from the established media because\u2026because they never help. Well that might be harsh. We did have one good news account of when CNHT helped catch Rosie McNamara, the Ashland Town Clerk who misappropriated over $2 million dollars, but that was a local news outlet.<\/p>\n
You never heard of the largest, organized, municipal theft in NH? I rest my case.
\nBack to New Boston.<\/p>\n
An ace reporter from WMUR came into the Winslow home along with a cameraman. John was interviewed, Rep. Keith Ammon was interviewed, I was interviewed. The station did a 90 second spot about the junkyard controversy. I was led to believe the \u201crest of the story\u201d intrigued the professional news outlet, like documents they saw that showed vested property rights and personal property were being abused by a court and contractor bent on shutting down Duke\u2019s garage by any means.<\/p>\n
But what happened?<\/p>\n
The law firm representing New Boston called WMUR and asked them to take down the story. When I called WMUR to offer an update on the New Boston issue I talked to one of WMUR\u2019s employees who says she was aware of that but could not comment further. <\/p>\n
I emailed more info about the New Boston court case – with specifics \u2013 no answer, no reply, no new stories.<\/p>\n
So now you know how the media works in NH \u2013 and has since 1988 when I first got involved with this rigged game. It is one single standard that never lets me down.<\/p>\n
If the general public knew how much abuse of taxpayers goes on in NH some might actually be shocked.
\nIn 2009 CNHT became involved in Atkinson, NH, when asked to help get rid of an abusive part time police chief. He is no longer swaggering around town with a badge and it wasn\u2019t easy. In the process of putting pressure on that municipal cancer we bumped heads with the Atkinson\u2019s notorious banty rooster moderator. He stopped our CNHT photographer, Garyn Brownfield, from taking photos of the deliberative session. That action sent us to court several times and Atkinson tried to countersue our activist. The result was a Mexican standoff. But the banty rooster has not been a moderator or attended any Atkinson Town Meetings since. <\/p>\n
When WMUR showed up at Winslow\u2019s \u2013 before they were apparently chased off by a single phone call from a Manchester law firm, I thought things might have changed. Public pressure can be a handy weapon for a couple in their 70\u2019 set upon by the town they live in – if they can get the facts to the public.
\nThis makes me wonder why, just before the most important hearing in the Duke\u2019s Garage case, their lawyer filed a Motion to Withdraw citing \u201clack of communication.\u201d What we need in this case is more communication \u2013 with the general public. Thanks to many new sources of information in the new news media, such as the blogs many of us write for, New Boston, WMUR and the lawyer who bailed on Duke\u2019s Garage can run, but they can\u2019t hide.<\/p>\n