Also on today’s menu:
‘Wooden Wind Towers Are The Future’
Flying Scotsman Marks Centennial
New Hampshire House Speaker Sherman Packard told selected reporters, “I’m convinced that we didn’t do anything wrong” by failing to investigate fraud allegations against fellow Republican Representative Troy Merner — but in addressing the controversy at an invitation-only event on December 27, Packard added another level of dishonesty to his resume.
Packard and Deputy Speaker Stephen Smith sent the invitation to certain reporters on December 26, but kept the 10:30 a.m. “press availability” secret from other media outlets, writing, “As a reminder this is embargoed until 12.27.23 at 10:30 a.m. EST. Do not forward or share this email communication. Instructions: I will meet you in the reception area (Room 312) with relative handouts before the press availability.”
The speaker’s office has faced criticism for not following up on questions about Merner’s residency after the Attorney-General’s Office notified Terry Pfaff, the New Hampshire Legislature’s chief operating officer, of Merner’s inconsistent statements about his residency. Merner had moved out of his home in Lancaster into a different legislative district but continued serving in the House until the Department of Justice filed criminal charges against him. As a result of the charges, Merner resigned from the House and from his position as a Lancaster selectman. Democrats have charged that Packard allowed Merner to continue serving to maintain the slim Republican majority in the House, and that some legislation would not have passed without his vote.
Packard said on Wednesday that, after receiving the email from prosecutors, Chief of Staff Aaron Goulette had confronted Merner, who said he still lived in a rental unit in Lancaster. “We took the man at his word,” Packard said. “We had no reason not to.”
Mark Hounsell of Conway, a former Republican state senator and former member of the Newfound Area School Board who now lists himself as an Independent, has joined Democrat Peter Burling of Cornish in calling out the breach of trust. “I hope the members of the Democratic caucus have the boldness, the resolve, the courage, and the wisdom to flush out the corrupt political ne’er-do-wells and their corrupt participation in Merner’s crime,” Hounsell said. “They are unfit to be referred to as being honorable and must be evicted from the House as soon as possible before the House session advances very far.”
Discussion: Merner allegedly moved from Lancaster to Twin Mountain in late 2022. He faces a class B felony count of wrongful voting and misdemeanor charges of theft by deception, unsworn falsification, and tampering with public records. He had been scheduled for arraignment today in Coos County Superior Court, but he waived the hearing. A dispositional conference is set to take place on March 14. Packard excused his lack of action by noting that the AG’s Office had an investigation underway, but if it rang hollow before Wednesday, it became harder to believe when the speaker held a secret meeting that included only hand-picked reporters. He said his office “tried to put this to bed, and every time we try and put it to bed, somebody puts a report out or something of that nature and blows the whole thing up again.” He can only blame himself.
‘Wooden Wind Towers Are The Future’
Otto Lundman, chief executive at the Swedish firm Modvion, maintains that using wood for wind power is the future for the industry. Modvion has built the world’s tallest wooden turbine tower, rising 492 feet to the tip of the highest blade. A two-megawatt generator is supplying electricity to about 400 homes on the Swedish power grid.
Most wind towers are built of steel, but getting the huge metal structures to turbine sites is difficult. The big selling point of wooden towers is that they can be built in smaller, more easily transported modules. “Wood and glue is the perfect combination; we’ve known that for hundreds of years,” said company co-founder David Olivegren, a former architect and boat-builder. Stacked on top of each other, the modules can become tall towers.
Like steel towers, wooden towers have a thick white coating to protect them from the elements, and the blades are made primarily from fiberglass, attached to a generator. There are 144 layers of laminated veneer lumber to give strength to the tower’s thick walls. By varying the grain of each of the 3 mm-thick layers of spruce, Modvion says it can control both the wall’s strength and flexibility.
Discussion: Wind power is an important part of the energy mix needed as the world moves away from fossil fuels, but transporting large steel towers along winding roads, across bridges, and through tunnels is a challenge. Towers built in sections are more easily transported to the remote locations where they can take advantage of wind currents. The remaining challenge is getting them past the “not in my backyard” crowd that craves the energy but disapproves of how they get it.
Flying Scotsman Marks Centennial
The Flying Scotsman, Britain’s most famous steam locomotive, turned 100 this year. Built by the London and North Eastern Railway and completed in February 1923 at a cost of almost £8,000, it was 70 feet long and weighed 97 tons. A Pacific type (class A1) express tender locomotive, it was the most powerful locomotive used by the railway.
Its chief engineer was Sir Nigel Gresley. The locomotive was built in Doncaster, northern England, but the company named it the Flying Scotsman, which was the unofficial name of its flagship service, the Special Scotch Express.
The Flying Scotsman was part of the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley in 1924. In 1928, it made its first non-stop run northbound, and in 1934 it set the world steam speed record of 100 mph. In 1989, it made Australia’s longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive (422 miles) and, on the way back to England by ship the next year, it became the first steam locomotive to circumnavigate the globe.
There have been 100th anniversary celebrations all year, including a visit by King Charles in June and a Christmas program of excursions at the National Rail Museum. There also was an illustrated children's book on the steam age by Michael Morpurgo; a tribute poem by Simon Armitage; and a new film featuring those whose lives have been touched by the Flying Dutchman.
Discussion: Train enthusiast Michael Palin said in a 1980 BBC documentary, “I suppose true railway buffs love all engines — short, fat, squat, long. Rumbling smelly diesels or swiftly silent electrics. But most of all, they love steam…. And the most famous steam engine of them all is the Flying Scotsman.” That is true here, as well, with the Flying Yankee — a locomotive that has been under restoration in fits and starts since 1993 and still has not been fully restored to its former glory.