Also on today’s menu:
Ballots Found In Laconia Voting Machines
A Lucky Dog’s Memorial Service
As President Joe Biden announced plans to help hospitals in New Hampshire and other states that have been reaching or exceeding capacity with the pressures of COVID-19, and making at-home tests more available, Governor Chris Sununu tweeted, “New Hampshire was the first state in the country to offer at-home tests delivered for free statewide and today’s announcement by the White House to scale up this successful at-home testing effort to the other 49 states is critical to managing this pandemic.”
He added, “While the White House and FEMA have yet to confirm any new personnel will be deployed to New Hampshire beyond those teams already on the ground, we have requested a team dedicated to administering monoclonal antibodies and the state will continue to work with our federal partners to push for as many resources as needed to battle this pandemic.”
Biden noted that both he and former President Donald Trump have received booster shots, which he said is “maybe one of the few things we agree on.” Biden continues to support the requirement that employers of 100 or more employees see that they are vaccinated or tested weekly.
Ballots Found In Laconia Voting Machines
Former Laconia Daily Sun reporter Rick Green, now writing for the Keene Sentinel, reports that Laconia officials found ballots from the previous year’s general election inside a collection box connected to an AccuVote ballot-counting device as they prepared for the September 14 municipal primary.
Myles Matteson, deputy general counsel for the attorney general, said his office has opened an investigation into why the ballots were still there 10 months after the election. He did not say who notified his office, nearly three months after the ballots were discovered, and he said the number of ballots involved was “unknown,” but he also said there weren’t enough to change the election results.
Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill for the upcoming legislative session that would outlaw ballot-counting devices and require that all ballots be counted by hand. Backers say it would improve the accuracy of the count, but others question whether counting every ballot by hand would be practical, especially in populous areas.
A Lucky Dog’s Memorial Service
Not every dog is lucky enough to have a memorial service to celebrate his life — much less one with friends, neighbors, fellow canines, and community admirers — writes Roberta Baker. For Lucky Jr. Sanborn, it is part of his story.
The “affable mascot for Sanborn’s Auto Repair” on Union Avenue, Laconia, attracted about “100 people and a handful of pets, including two of Lucky’s puppies” to Funspot on December 18 to pay their respects and remember Lucky Jr. and his impact on their lives.
Lucky died from an autoimmune disease on Nov. 30, after the family had spent nearly $10,000 on treatments. The dog had been featured on calendars and advertisements in the Laconia Daily Sun, and traveled to nursing homes and other places where he brought joy to the people he met. Ginny Sanborn, Lucky Jr.’s owner, said she received roughly 3,000 condolences by email and posts on social media, including from strangers in other states who followed and collected Sanborn’s Auto Repair ads which featured the dog in various real-life or contrived situations, “with wit, wisdom, or good-natured wisecracks.”
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