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Looking back at the week in news

By Staff | Jan 9, 2016

Member’s remarks shouldn’t be stain on entire state

We’ve used this quote before, but some members of the New Hampshire General Court – the formal name for the legislature – just keep proving it out.

"Any fool can serve in the New Hampshire General Court," former U.S. senator and New Hampshire House Speaker Norris Cotton is said to have observed, "and most of them do."

The most recent fool to bear that out is Rep. Josh Moore, R-Merrimack, who made regrettable comments about a woman’s right to breastfeed her baby in public.

"If it’s a woman’s natural inclination to pull her nipple out in public and you support that, than you should have no problem with a mans inclantion to stare at it and grab it. After all … It’s all relative and natural, right?"

Moore’s remarks not only show him to be a fool, but they were picked up nationally and were an embarrassment to the state and the people of Merrimack who elected him.

House Speaker Shawn Jasper, to his credit, opened this year’s legislative session by urging members to aspire to be deserving of the title "Honorable" that is frequently put in front of their names.

For most members, that won’t be a problem. For others, it’s a reach. And some will probably never get there.

Comparing dispensary
to abortion is ignorant

One of the things that makes this country great is that the Constitution guarantees people the right to assemble with others of like mind and voice their opinions in public.

People have used those rights over the years to demonstrate in favor and against pretty much everything, from liquor and war to greed and oppression.

Marijuana may be next on the list, according to a letter from Thomas More College President William Fahey that was read into the record at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Merrimack Planning Board.

"Thomas More College will publicly oppose the creation of the cannabis distribution center, legal action will be considered as well as regular peaceful protests, similar to those which our students undertake regularly against abortion clinics," the letter said, in part.

Fahey was objecting to the proposal to establish a medical marijuana dispensary in Merrimack – a facility established as the result of a law duly passed by the New Hampshire General Court and signed by the governor.

To their credit, planning board members approved the dispensary, which will allow people suffering from debilitating diseases to obtain marijuana to get some relief.

As for Thomas More students, it is, of course, their prerogative to demonstrate if they object to the dispensary. But comparing the facility to an abortion clinic strikes us as ignorant on a level that is the very antithesis of the mission of "higher" education.

Nashua failed the sidewalk test after year-end storm

There’s something wrong with people walking in the street right next to a perfectly good sidewalk, yet that’s the predicament many Nashua residents found themselves in following the storm that dropped a mixture of snow and sleet on the region on Dec. 29.

More than a week after the storm, some sidewalks still weren’t fit for pedestrian use.

The city has a responsibility to make sure its sidewalks and roads are passable, and it failed the sidewalk test at the end of the year. We hope that isn’t going to become the norm each time the city gets hits by a storm.

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