Recent Town Meetings

Town Departments

Board of Selectman
Meets every Wednesday night @ 7:00pm

Meeting Minutes

Budget Committee
budget committee agenda

Meeting Minutes

Conservation Committee

Meeting Minutes

Planning Board
Meets 1st & 3rd Monday/month @ 7:00pm

Meeting Minutes

Zoning Board
Meets 1st Thursday/ each month

Meeting Minutes

RED Committee

Meeting Minutes


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Property Tax Relief Program

To be eligible, a claimant is a
person who is:

Single with an adjusted gross
income equal to or less than
$20,000.00;
Married or head of  a N.H.
household with an adjusted
gross income equal to or less
than $40,000.00; who must also:
Own a homestead subject to the
State Education Property Tax
and have resided in that N. H.
homestead on April 1, 2007.
For assistance contact:
(603) 271-2191 

Property Tax Relief Form

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Property Tax Abatements
        Taxpayers RSA 76:17
If you believe an error has been made on your tax bill,  file this form with the town by March 1st. Date of  filing is the date this form ,is either hand delivered to the town,  postmarked by the Post Office or receipted by an overnight delivery service.  This application does not stay the collection of taxes; taxes should be paid as assessed. If an abatement is granted, a refund, with interest will be made.

Property Tax Abatement Form

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Other important links
Community Center
Town Website
State of NH
NH Statutes( RSAs)
School District
Registry of Deeds
General Court
DES Wetlands Bureau
NH Fish & Game Dept
Community Services
N.H. Local Gov't Center
Profile of Winchester
EPA NewEngland
EPA Complaint Form
DES Complaint Form

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    TODAY'S WEATHER 
        Winchester, NH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                               Welcome to the Winchester Informer!

Is there official town information that you would like to see on this website? Have an event planned and you'd like to get the word out?
 
                      Send it to us: WinchesterInformer@gmail.com
               
                  Winchester's property tax rate is currently $26.94

                                           It's your Information!                                           
                       Government must operate in the open and make most information available to the public.
                                                         Citizen's Right to Know Info
                                                               Download RTK Form
 
                                                  Site Navigation
Click on the links to the left and right to find public information such as meeting notices, minutes, policies, maps, regulations and forms. Please note: Although we attempt to include the most recent versions of documents, everything is subject to change without notice. Before relying on a specific form or policy, we strongly recommend you confirm with the town or outside source first.

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                                  WinchesterInformer.blogspot.com
                                 Post your comments and ask your questions regarding important town subjects.


                                  Come join our Discussion Forum:
                                OurTown.winchesterinformer.com
              Come join our discussion forums and talk about what's importantant to you in Winchester.

                                     News and Announcements!

                                        New Hours For Town Hall
The Town has adopted a four days/week policy to conserve energy.
All Town business will be conducted Monday - Thursday, from 7:00AM to 5:30PM, unless otherwise noted. The Offices are closed on Fridays. 

The Town Welfare Dept. has adopted new hours and will now be open;
Mondays and Wednesdays from .. 9:30AM - 12:00PM ...
Tuesdays and Thursdays from ..  2:30PM - 5:00PM ...
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                                              Announcements

                                                 Bridge Closed
The bridge over Wheelock Brook on Old Westport Road, near Oak Circle; aka "Kelly Bridge" has beeen closed by the Board of Selectmen until further notice.

                           Effective as of October 29th, 2008 
Target practice is prohibited on all town-owned land. Specifically the gravel pits on map 6, lots 15, 16, 17 and lot 20, and on Pump Road #2, map 6, lot 10-1

              ATTENTION RESIDENTS OF WINCHESTER
 Enforcement of the March 2007 zoning ordinance requiring all
dumpsters to be placed out of sight or screened from public view,
will begin immediately.  Please be aware if you have not complied with this ordinance, it is important to take the proper measures now.  
Failure to comply by May 4, 2009 will result in a warning and if
no action is taken, violators will be subject to a fine.  
                         By order of the Board of Selectmen 

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           Town Refuses To Post Meeting Minutes On Website

For more than a month, none of the meeting minutes for any of the boards or committees in the Town of Winchester has been provided to the citizens of Winchester. What is the town hiding and why isn't it complying to the law to make available to all of it's citizens the information from these public meetings ? Are there things going on that our town fathers and other departments heads don't want made public?  Why does this stuff always happen in our town?

               What is really going on in Winchester ?

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        New Town Property Assessments Unfair and Too Varied    

Lots of questions in regards to Avitar Associates new assessments of town properties  and why certain folks seemed to have gotten breaks and others have gotten the shaft. Many in town are angered and will be filing in Tax Court over these unjust evaluations.              

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                                Probe Left In Tasered Victim

A Winchester Police Officer, failed to follow proper procedure and filed what looks to be a false report in an incident last month that resulted in a taser probe having to be surgically removed from the victims sternum and resulting in the victim about to file a lawsuit against the town for damages and suffering. Why hasn't the Police Chief or the BOS suspended this officer?

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            AG's Office Investigates Numerous Election Issues

Acting on a complaint filed by and on behalf of town voters, the AG's office assigned investigator Rick Velenti to conduct an investigation into numerous voting irregularities and violations of state law. Is it any wonder why the same people keep getting elected year after year despite a no confidence vote by the town's registered voters? 

More information to be forthcoming:


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                      Executive Secretary Ellen Cole Resigns

Last month, Ellen Cole, resigned her position of Executive Secretary to the Town of Winchester citing, " there are too many evil people involved in town politics for me to continue". What caused Ellen to give up such a well paying, lucrative position with great benefits and prestige?

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           Removing Political Signs is Childish and Against The Law

This is a message to the childish person(s) going around town tearing down the signs of the candidates running for town elections.  It would seem that some of the incumbents and/or their supporters are worried about their positions and that they may come out on the short end come March 9th. We have received reports of several of the new people running for office have had their signs removed from where they placed them.

                                 Grow Up, Stop Being So Childish

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           A Town In Deep Trouble .. But The Spending Goes On

                MINUTES of the BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING
                                             WORK SESSION
                                    Wednesday February 10, 2010

Board Members Present: Gustave Ruth, Chairman; Sherman Tedford; Roberta Fraser; Kenneth Berthiaume; and Kenneth Gardner. Also present Robert Gray, Town Administrator and Ellen Cole, Executive Assistant. Also present is Sharon Haley, Finance Supervisor; Peg Tatro, Treasurer; and Karey Miner, Deputy Tax Collector. The meeting convenes at 10:00AM.
1st Order of Business: Cash Flow/Budget Review
The Board scheduled a work session today to discuss revenues, cash flow and accounts payable to date, and to receive input from the Sharon, Peg, and Karey, who work with these figures on a daily basis. Sharon has prepared a forecast of payroll, school, & contractual obligations, including benefits through June 30, 2010; Peg has prepared the general fund checkbook balance; and Karey has prepared collections as of February 9, 2010, showing what is delinquent for taxes and what she anticipates as a timeframe for revenues to come in through end of June 2010. The Board reviews various paperwork, and believes as of today’s date the Town is short $500,000.00.

read the full story and readers comments on our blog ..

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           AG's OFFICE RESPONDS TO COMPLAINT LETTER

                                PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO VOTE

We received a letter from Mr. Brian Moser in response to a letter, written by Bonnie Leveille, that appeared last week in the Keene Sentinel. Bonnie had taken grave offense to a warrant petition that had circulated and garnered 46 signatures, that asked voters if they wanted to do away with our current Conservation Committee. Information had come to light that the commission just wasn't doing what it was intended to do and was just another paper commission with with no authority to enforce or enact any regulations.

Read the rest of Ms. Leveille's comments and what our readers had to say on our blog

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DEMOCRACY IS DEAD IN WINCHESTER; UNLESS YOU STAND UP NOW

You be the judge as to what really took place, was this a legal, by the book Deliberative Session of the School warrants under the SB2 rule; or something else entirely. Please take special  notice of attorney Matt Uptown's comments to Tom O'Connor that everything will be straightened out in the minutes.

Read about what happened at the meeting and what our reader have said in response; visit our blog,

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                                   ANOTHER FINE MESS WE'RE IN 
  
 Board of Selectmen Emergency Town Meeting December 23rd, 2009

Chairman Ruth called an emergency meeting to discuss the likelihood of holding a special town meeting by January 8, 2010 to get an additional $500,000.00-$600,000.00 appropriation for the upgrade to the wastewater treatment facility. Selectman Tedford and the Board members work the numbers and determine a shortfall of $367,000.00 in order to accept Weston & Sampson’s bid, including contingency money set aside and postponing the I&I work.

So much for this project being shovel ready .. Read the full story and reader comments on our blog

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  THE PROPERTY TAX, NEW HAMPSHIRE'S MOST HATED TAX

There are income taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, estates taxes, Social Security tax, capital gains taxes, business taxes and meal taxes, to name a few. A regular cornucopia of contributions for the common good, or so we are told.
But yet, it's the property tax in New Hampshire that the public chooses to hate the most.

Read the full article on our blog and readers comments. Tell us what you think.

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               TOWN MEETING SATURDAY JANUARY 30th, 2010

There can be a lot of confusion over how town government really works in NH. Every state is different, but you don’t have to be an “outsider” to wonder how a town meeting actually runs and why town residents, new and old, should learn all they can about how it works and why it’s so important for every eligible resident to attend both their annual town meeting and school district meeting.
The residents are the legislative body (that’s you – the registered voter!) that determines very important things like how much the operating budget for the next fiscal year is going to be; if the bond for a new school is going to pass; if your town is going to change any one of a myriad of zoning regulations, tax exemptions, or town policies. All these things have the power to impact your tax rate and your rights (or lack thereof).

read the rest of this article on our blog, be informed and be sure you attend ....

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                WARRANT ARTICLE SUBMITTED BY PETITION

      TOWN OF WINCHESTER CONFLICT OF INTEREST ORDINANCE

It has been said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That's why it can be dangerous to mix employment with elected office or to allow a single person to hold too many influential offices.

The following warrant article was submitted by petition to the town clerk last week.  Read it over and share your thoughts with us!

This same article was petitioned in 2006 and at deliberative was changed to read: "Shall the town direct its future employees and officials, both elected and appointed, to avoid all published conflicts of interest as outlined in Town Polices?" At the time, the only such policies related to full-time police officers (and possibly others) having "moon-lighting" jobs that would interfere with their work. If you support this article, be sure to show up at deliberative and cast your vote against any efforts to "gut" it.

Shall the Town adopt, in accordance with RSA 31:39-a, a Town of Winchester Conflict of Interest Ordinance as follows?

Read the submitted petition and reader's comments on our blog..

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                        NEW BUDGET INFORMATION AVAILABLE

We have posted the Department Budget's for fiscal year 2010 - 2011 under the Budget link provided above. For those interested in seeing where some of your tax dollars are being spent, click on the link. We welcome your comments and questions on our blog ..

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      PLANNING BOARD NIXES SHARRA'S TABLE OF USAGE    CHANGES

We've received word from a very reliable source, that at the December 21st Planning Board meeting, a number of proposed changes to the Zoning Ordinances were discussed by the members and that there was much disagreement when Sharra presented her "new and revised" proposed Table Of Permitted Uses to the board. Sharra was attempting to condense 5 pages of permitted usage, most written up by an attorney; hired by the town many years ago and that has been in effect since January 14, 1971 and the rest voted in by the people for the people, down to a 1 page confusing and cockamamie listing in which she removed more than two dozen permitted uses, changed and renamed many uses and attempted to eliminate several of the District designations, like FLP and W ( floodplain and wetlands ).

Sharra's proposed "new" Table of Usages eliminates over two dozen already permitted uses and several protected and designated districts and combines others under one category which will definitely lead to confusion and more possible lawsuits to sort it all out.  Read the full story on our blog ..

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                                FROM THE DESK OF JOHN KEENAN

We received a request to post Mr. Keenan's open letter to the Board of Selectman and to the citizens of Winchester in it's entirety and without edits. Mr. Keenan is a citizen of Winchester, a retired lawyer and is concerned with a number of issues going on in town, especially the lawsuit against Margaret Sharra and the Planning Board ...

From the Desk of John Keenan :

re: Malfeasance, incompetence of Margaret Sharra, chairperson of the Planning Board. Sharra causes town $20,000 in legal fees and asks for a raise??

The following is uncontroverted fact;

1> Through Margaret's extreme rudeness and lack of fair play, (allowing people to be heard in a calm and professional manner) the Van Dyke legal bills ( billed and paid through October 26th, 2009) are: Van Dyke $2,480.00 and Towne/Homan $17,219.00. This alone totals $19, 699.00 so far. This type of unnecessary spending increases Winchester property taxes. Margaret is almost totally at fault for this extreme malfeasance.

2> Recently, a judge ordered Margaret to recuse herself from any hearing re:Towne ... Her previous separate inquiry to DES disqualified her from participating in the boards discussion of Towne's motion for Reconsideration. Her improper involvement invalidated the board's previous decision ( see Judge Tucker's ruling August 28th, 2009 ).
She often improperly seeks to advocate for a developer like in this case, or, when after a Planning Board meeting is over, the public, including abutters and their attorney, are told to leave and yet the developer, his engineers and attorney stay on chatting with the board after nearly every meeting. This is absurd and wrong and yet has happened time and time again.

... read the entire contents of John's letter and reader comments on our blog ...

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                       State Supreme Court Accepts Abutter's Case

We received word from the two neighbors still involved in fighting the Planning Board and the way the matter has been handled over the proposed condominium development on Franklin Mountain, that the State Supreme Court has accepted their case before them. They were notified by mail in a letter today, from the Clerk of Court, that case No. 2009-0713 has been accepted. We'll post further information as it becomes available from them.
Looks like the town will be spending a lot more of our tax dollars in the near future. Read the full story and comments on our blog

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                  Board of Selectmen Petitioned To Remove Sharra

At tonight's Board of Selectman's meeting, Mr. Towne approached the board during the public session and requested that under RSA 673:13, Section II the board exercise it's authority and remove Margaret Sharra as chairperson and member of the Planning Board. Citing her animosity, malice and outright rudeness to him at both the June 15th and August 3rd meetings, where she acted in bad faith, rudely interrupting and yelling at him as he attempted to speak to the board and for allowing her personal feelings of dislike for him to cloud her judgment and move her to act in a very detrimental way involving not only the other members of the board; but resulting in the town being involved in a very expensive lawsuit as a result of her conduct. He stated her treatment of him and others was very wrong and that her actions demanded this situation be dealt with immediately if the Selectmen and the Planning Board were to have any credibility.

Read the full story and comments on our blog ..
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                           What's Really Going On At Our Police Dept.? 

Thanks to people in the know who have decided to come forward and provide information on a number of serious improprieties committed by our Chief of Police and two other officers the Office of the  State Attorney General is opening an investigation into these allegations as more and more evidence of wrong doing is discovered ..

read the full story and view the attached documents on our blog ...

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                       Planning Board In Violation Of Judge's Order

Monday night, October 5th, the board met at 6:00pm in the Town Hall to hold a special meeting ordered by Superior Court Judge Tucker.  Though disqualified, Margaret Sharra, not only showed up; she took her usual seat and called the meeting to order. She then took the role call and then immediately took the board into a private meeting behind closed doors. Forty minutes later the board and Ms. Sharra appeared and the public was informed that their little meeting minutes were sealed and not available to the public .. The board then continued with the hearing, despite Mr. Towne's request for a continuance, based on medical reasons that he had informed Ms. Sharra of earlier in the day and the board by written letter before their meeting. In a total display of indifference and unethical behavior, they once again voted no and did not afford him an opportunity to take part in the hearing ..  

read the full story and reader comments on our blog.
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                          Superior Court Judge Rules Against Sharra

In his ruling of the lawsuit filed by abutters to the Van Dyke condo project, judge Tucker ruled that Margaret Sharra did have ex-parte' communications with DES and that because of this unlawful conduct she disqualified herself from her participation and ruling on an abutters request for a reconsideration on the Planning Board's decision to over turn their denial of Van Dyke's application  and that the board's decision  be vacated and Sharra to be recused from the new hearing coming before the board this Monday night, Oct 5th at 6:00pm in the Town Hall auditorium. Word has it that Sharra is still meddling with the board and has appointed Dean Beaman to sit in as chair in her absence even though board member Larry Hill is the vice-chair and that she has appointed Ellen Cole to record the minutes instead of Princess Blodget, the board's secretary. She is also attempting to close the public hearing. How is attempting to stack the deck being fair to the public and how can these abutters hope to get a fair hearing based on evidence and facts?

This question has been raised on our blog, your comments are welcome.

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       Has Our BOS Committed a Crime Against The Community?

Last year we voted down a Warrant Article asking if we should approve $10,000.00 for a new police cruiser. The Warrant Article was defeated by ballot. By going behind the backs of the citizens of Winchester and giving the thumbs up to the Police Chief to purchase a new cruiser; despite a NO vote on the warrant article the chief submitted, has the board, under RSA 32:10, I(e), committed a crime and should they be immediately dismissed ?

When the citizen's vote no on a Warrant Article, the law says; "NO means NO" ... read the full article on our blog and decide for yourself.

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                            Winchester's Highway Supt. Very Upset

During the August 26th BOS workshop meeting, Dale Gray asked that their record reflect the following;

That the Town of Winchester Highway Dept. did not work on or near the van Dyke property on Route 10 last week. The LeClair property, next to Van Dyke, may have had silt washing that caused the runoff, not the Van Dyke property. Dale states he would never do any work on the Van Dyke or State property without prior BOS approval. Dale is concerned that budget time is coming up and some citizens are making damaging and untrue remarks about Town employees, around town and on the Winchester Informer. Bob Gray, responds the employees of Winchester need to do their jobs with integrity and fulfill our fiduciary responsibilities to the people of this town .. This in response to an article posted  on our blog.

Read the full article and comments on our blog.

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                         Despite Citizen's Vote Triple T Going Ahead

Since withdrawing their thinly guised “Commercial / Industrial Park” from the Planning Board docket in June, they have gone about procuring the state permits for the work. As of this writing, they have obtained an Alteration of Terrain permit (applied for December 22, 2008 and granted on June 10, valid for two years); and a Shoreland Protection permit (applied for May 22 as a “Materials Recovery Facility” and granted last week): and they are currently working on a Dredge & Fill Permit for a “Materials Recovery Park”.

Quoting from their Dredge & Fill application to DES:

“This site was chosen for use as a solid waste transfer station and a composting facility to serve towns within an approximate 50-mile radius. The proposed operation will fulfill a critical regional need to divert compostable materials from the waste stream and to facilitate nutrient and mineral natural cycling"

The above referenced critical regional need is a direct result of the restrictive regulatory climate in our neighboring states. Changing our protective zoning ordinances to allow any waste hauling or processing business will result in a flood of trash business in Winchester.
Imagine a regional landfill in town! Not a far fetched idea given that it is all but impossible to permit a new landfill site in either Massachusetts or Vermont. The solid waste industry in both of those states has been reduced to “piggybacking” expansions onto existing landfills or hauling trash elsewhere as existing landfill space runs out. By way of comparing regulatory climates, Mr. Mallory & Mr. Gaskill’s Dredge & Fill permit application to the Wetland Bureau of the New Hampshire DES states that they propose disturbing 26,571 square feet of wetlands (a little over ½ acre). Their proposed mitigation for this is $5,314. In Massachusetts they would be required to replicate (or create) and maintain an equal amount of new wetland on site. This would cost much more both in real dollars and in loss of usable land. One might observe that we are selling our natural resources on the cheap, but that is another issue. Since we are afforded little protection from the state, we must rely on our own local ordinances to protect us.
We urge you when you are asked (and you will be) to once again vote NO! to any article that proposes changing our protective zoning ordinances and allowing waste hauling and processing business in our town.

Please support a TRASH FREE WINCHESTER.
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                Read the full articles and readers comments on our blog ..

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                           What's Going On With Our Police Department?

We have citizen's writing letters to the State Attorney General's Office
asking for an investigation. We have citizen's from another town filing
complaints against an off duty officer who followed her home in his own
vehicle and harassed her in her driveway. We have a citizen of Winchester
being harassed by an officer while standing in line at a store. There's a
report an officer took a bicycle from the town impound lot for his own child..
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                           Planning Board Chairperson Out of Control

At this past Monday night's Planning Board meeting; a continuation of
Robert van Dyke's compliance hearing, Margaret Sharra once again
demonstrated that she is not fit to remain seated on the Planning Board
and needs to be removed immediately for her grievous conduct towards
a citizen of Winchester who was attempting to give testimony at the
hearing.
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                  Triple T Trucking Thumbs Nose At Winchester's Voters 
 
Knowing full well that articles #35 and #40 were defeated on this year's
ballot, sending a resounding, loud and clear message that the citizens do
not want, nor will they allow by special exception facilities designed to
process, recycle, treat and transport solid waste, refuse and putrescible
materials as defined by RSA’s  in Winchester, Triple T Trucking has hired
Steven's Engineering from Brattleboro and is proceeding to push ahead.
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                                 Winchester Students far Behind

Who's responsible for the test results of Juniors at Keene High School, the principal and his staff or the staff of the five schools who send students to Keene High? Keene officials agree more work has to be done at the High School; But Tuesday night, they saw graph after graph, showing 11th graders from other towns vastly outperforming their peers from Winchester. Of the 50 Winchester students who took the New England Common Assessment Program ( NECAP ) test at Keene High this fall, 60 percent failed the test ...

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                                         Other Topics on Our Blog

Important Dates and Timeline To 2010 Meeting

The Real Reason Our Property Tax Dropped

Selectman's proposed Warrant Articles

Did Chief Gary Phillips and Officer Dave Roberts Abuse Their Powers?

More Sobering Information About The Winchester Police Dept.

Arthur Charland's Letter To The Keene Sentinel

As The Late Paul Harvey Would Have Said " Now For The Rest of The Story"

New Hampshire's Right-To-Know Law, RSA Chapter 91-A

Disturbing Public Information

Keene Sentinel Article Off The Mark 

Winchester's Highway Supt. Very Upset

Planning Board Chair Violates Citizen's Rights Again

Who Authorized This Work?

Planning Board Lawsuit In The Hands of The Judge

An Open Letter To Triple T/N&M Properties

An Open Letter To The BOS and ZBA

Letter To The Editor Of The Brattleboro Reformer

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                                           News About Town

                                             Winchester
                                          Explain The Ballot,
                                        Monday, March 1st-7 PM.
                                         VFW  WINCHESTER
                                                     upstairs
If you cant make it contact Brian Moser at 239 8952 or Otis50@myfairpoint.net 
he will mail you a sample.


                                                   Winchester
                                   Meet The Candidates
                                 Sunday, March 7, 2010
                                              1pm
                                         Town Hall
Candidates running opposed will speak. Unopposed candidates will be introduced. Questions will be taken from the audience.
                                        Refreshments
                                    ~All are Welcome~

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NH 10 Bridge Replacement over the Ashuelot River, Project No. 12906
For information click on this link; -->    bridge replacement

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                                         Girl Scout Cookies 

Jade Jordan is selling Girl Scout Cookies. If you would like to buy any please reply to this message. The money will be collected when we deliver the cookies some time around March ,if earlier I will contact everyone that has ordered.
 
They are $3.50 per box, here is the list of cookies:
 
        Lemon Chalet Cremes          Thin Mints          Tagalongs 

        Trefoils           Thank U Berry Much          Do-Si-Dos        

        Samoas           Dulce De Leche