Also on today’s menu:
Belmont Man Charged After Resisting Arrest
Zhukovskyy’s License Request Gets Hearing Date
It was a spectacular solar eclipse, which we were fortunate to be able to view from our back deck. Not so for many in the crowd of pilgrims that migrated north for the totality. The parking lot at the adjacent Lake Umbagog Wildlife Center was overflowing with cars whose passengers set up chairs or walked down the road for a better view of a sun being swallowed up by the hungry moon.
Our original observations of the number of people coming to Errol and Wentworth’s Location proved to be way off. We had expected the crowds to arrive at the beginning of the weekend, but traffic was light on Friday and not much heavier on Saturday. It was not until Sunday morning that we saw our first heavy traffic — 18 cars in a row, which is unheard of along that section of Route 16. Our neighbor (whose daughter lives in Alexandria) told us that some people were renting their cabins for $2,000 to people willing to spend that kind of money for the opportunity to view the eclipse.
As the morning wore on, the passage of cars and trucks become more steady, and people started picking out spots in the parking lot before 10 a.m. — for an eclipse that would not begin until 2:30 p.m. and would not reach totality until 3:30. Soon people were having to turn around because there was no space left, and they had to seek other places to park. There was a steady stream of walkers going past our cottage as they headed for observation points along the Magalloway River or along the unplowed ATV roads.
Throughout the afternoon, we could hear the conversations drifting our way, but as the big moment arrived, and a false dusk overtook the scene on the ground, there was a hush, with only the honking of geese breaking the silence.
A cheer arose when the sun disappeared, leaving only its corona, as the moon centered over our fiery star. The sky was dark enough for us to see Venus and a few of the nighttime stars. Totality had arrived.
When it was all over, and we had cleaned and secured the cottage, we began the drive home, and that was when we learned just what a big deal this solar eclipse was. It took an hour to drive the five miles from our cottage to downtown Errol, and after a few miles at almost normal speeds, traffic slowed again in a backup that stretched all the way to Berlin. A truck route around the city was no help; from the time we crossed into Berlin until we reached the city’s boundary with Gorham, another 45 minutes had passed. There was another brief period of normal traffic between Gorham and Jefferson, then it was back to 5 mph or less, all the way through Franconia Notch. In all, what normally is a two-and-a-half hour trip from the cottage to our home in Bristol took nine hours.
Belmont Man Charged After Resisting Arrest
The Belknap County Special Operations Group assisted local police in apprehending Justin A. Spirko, 38, of Linda Drive in Belmont, on April 7, after he allegedly threatened police officers who were attempting to serve arrest warrants.
Captain Stephen Akerstrom told the Laconia Daily Sun that officers called for backup after hearing what sounded like explosions from Spirko’s home. The Belmont Police Department asked nearby residents to remain inside their homes just before 9 a.m., and Belknap County brought in a Lenco BearCat, an armored vehicle designed for military use. Authorities arrested Spirko shortly afterwards.
Spirko faces charges of criminal threatening, resisting arrest or detention, reckless conduct, and criminal mischief.
Discussion: Police are continuing to look into the suspected explosions that led police to deem it necessary to mount such a robust response.
Zhukovskyy’s License Request Gets Hearing Date
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 27, the truck driver involved in the 2019 crash that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club on Route 2 in Randolph, has secured a May 8 date for a hearing on his request to get his New Hampshire driving privileges restored.
A jury acquitted Zhukovskyy of criminal charges in August 2022, and he filed a request with the New Hampshire Department of Safety last September to lift the suspension of his driving license. The original hearing before the Bureau of Hearings was scheduled for October 2023, but the state pushed the date back several times. Finally, after a pretrial conference on February 27, Chief Hearing Officer Ryan McFarland ruled that the hearing will get underway on May 8. Due to the complexity of the case, McFarland allocated three days for the parties to present evidence.
While the jury trial in Coös County Superior Court found Zhukovskyy not guilty in the Randolph crash, he still faces an earlier charge in Connecticut of driving under the influence of liquor or drugs. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into custody after his New Hampshire acquittal, citing a criminal history that included three prior drug convictions, driving after suspension, furnishing false information to a law enforcement officer, and larceny. An immigration judge denied his request for asylum and ordered him deported to Ukraine, but because of the armed conflict with Russia, deportations are suspended.
Discussion: The state falsified evidence to convict Zhukovskyy, but at trial, the jury learned that it was the Jarheads who were intoxicated at the time of the crash. The governor and attorney-general decried the jury decision, and the government has kept Zhukovskyy in custody for more than four years. His criminal record shows that he is no saint, but he is not receiving the justice that everyone deserves in this country.