Also on today’s menu:
Dartmouth Alumnus Dies After Fall
Public Health Reason For Absentee Voting
Search At Mar-A-Lago
In the early nineteenth century, Richard Potter was famous for his one-man theatrical performances which involved magic, ventriloquism, and showmanship. He performed all over the country, but settled in a section of Andover, New Hampshire, that now bears his name: Potter Place. Few people today are aware of the man, and fewer still are aware that he was a black man performing at a time (1819 and 1823) when such freedom was rare.
A ceremony on August 7 aimed to bring his name back, with the dedication of a Black Heritage Trail plaque in honor of the town’s namesake. The dedication coincided with the Andover Historical Society’s 40th anniversary.
Born the son of an enslaved woman in Massachusetts, Potter was performing in circuses and learning the magic trade in England by his early teens. By 1811, he was back in the United States, performing throughout the country and into Canada. Among the stops was the Benjamin Thompson tavern in Andover, and he liked the area and the people so much that, in 1814, he purchased a 175-acre farm and built a home there. The historical society has preserved the site where Potter and his wife, Sally, are buried, which is near the old depot along the Northern Rail Trail that serves as the historical society’s headquarters and museum.
Don’t forget, slavery was legal at the time, even in New Hampshire. The inter-racial Noyes Academy, just up the road in Canaan, was destroyed by racists the same year that Potter died, 1835. Yet, although Potter must have experienced racism, his fame gave him special access to the world and he performed before audiences of all types.
Dartmouth Alumnus Dies After Fall
A 24-year-old Dartmouth alumnus who was in Hanover to attend the pandemic-postponed 2020 commencement ceremony died from injuries sustained in a fall on the rocky embankment beneath the Ledyard Bridge in the early-morning hours of August 7. The Hanover Fire Department was notified of the fall at 1:48 a.m. Sunday and responded, along with police and Dartmouth College safety and security personnel, using the Dartmouth pontoon boat to get the patient to an ambulance.
Although the man was immediately transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for treatment, he succumbed to his injuries.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the incident.
Public Health Reason For Absentee Voting
New Hampshire allows voters to cast an absentee ballot only if they meet certain criteria, but in a memo shared with city and town clerks, Secretary of State Dave Scanlan said voters also can request an absentee ballot as a health precaution.
The law states, “Any person who will be absent on the day of any state election from the city, town, or unincorporated place in which he or she is registered to vote or who cannot appear in public on any election day because of his or her observance of a religious commitment or who is unable to vote there in person by reason of physical disability may vote [by absentee ballot] at such elections…. A person who is unable to appear at any time during polling hours at his or her polling place because of an employment obligation shall be considered absent for purposes of this chapter. For the purposes of this section, the term ‘employment’ shall include the care of children and infirm adults, with or without compensation.”
However, in his memo, Scanlan said that public health concerns also qualify. “A person can register and vote by absentee if, based on their own health circumstances, medical authorities advise them to avoid going out in public. This applies to: 1) voters with symptoms of a communicable disease or illness; 2) voters who, due to their own health circumstances, limit public exposure in their day-to-day life as a preventative measure. These two types of voters can reasonably conclude that a ‘physical disability’ exists within the meaning of RSA 654:16 and 654:17, absentee registration and RSA 657:1, absentee voting.”
Search At Mar-A-Lago
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, former president Donald Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, presumably as part of the Justice Department investigation into White House records that Trump removed when he left office. The National Archives and Records Administration previously recovered 15 boxes of White House records and other items from Trump’s Florida club.
Although the FBI did not announce the search, Trump did so, saying, “These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before…. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate…. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe! What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.”
Legal analyst Asha Rangappa said, “[A] search warrant has to demonstrate probable cause that evidence of a crime will be found in the places and things searched.” Joyce White Vance agreed: “We don’t know yet what crimes the FBI had sufficient evidence of to convince a federal judge there was probable cause to search Trump’s residence, but the execution of a search warrant isn’t a raid. It’s a judicially overseen process.”
Political commentators noted that the law disqualifies from “holding any office under the United States” anyone who “willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies or destroys … any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk of officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States.”
Support Our Efforts
The News Café is a virtual meeting place where we discuss the news of the day: local, statewide, national, and international.
An offering by the Liberty Independent Media Project, the News Café does not rely on advertising, as most media outlets do, freeing us to provide an independent focus on events and cultural issues. The project instead relies on direct monetary support from donors and subscribers, as well as providing news to other media outlets.
If you like what we’re doing, and want to see more local news you will not find elsewhere, please give what you can.
Subscriptions to this newsletter are available for as little as $5 per month. Subscribers can share their knowledge, thoughts, and questions about any topic, and we may select some of those subjects for more in-depth analysis.
If you’re unable to pay but still want to receive all of the free public posts in your in-box, click the Subscribe button and select a free subscription.