On March 10, 2015, approximately 1100 Keene voters turned out to elect 3 School Board members and vote on a budget and 12 other Warrant Articles.
Of the 4 articles placed on the ballot by petition and amended at the Deliberative Session, only Article 13 was approved by voters. This was the article originally intended to prevent electioneering by the School Board, but ratified to authorize the School Board to electioneer within accordance to State Law.
Christine L. Parshall, George J. Downing & Susan Hay were elected to the School Board, and the larger budget was adopted by voters. This year, for the first time in many years, voters could have actually decreased the budget, but rejected that option by a vote of 805-282.
The Free State Project‘s yearly convention, the NH Liberty Forum, has begun! Now in its eighth year, the Liberty Forum attracts hundreds of liberty-loving people from around the world to network, see great speakers, and socialize. The event features dozens of speakers both from New Hampshire and elsewhere, banquet dinners, and parties both in and out of the hotel. The fun started today with a tour of the state house in Concord and tomorrow the convention events begin in earnest at Manchester’s Radisson hotel, continuing through Sunday morning. You can see the schedule and get further details here on the NH Liberty Forum website.
The largest newspaper in NH is the Union Leader. The editorial page editor, Drew Cline, promoted the event today in a glowing article that affirmed that the Free State Project will help make New Hampshire even more awesome. Check it out:
Last year, the Free State Project’s Liberty Forum, held at the Crowne Plaza in Nashua, felt a little crowded. About 350 people attended, according to organizers. Today, the event kicks off in a bigger venue, the Radisson in downtown Manchester. Organizers expect about 500 attendees. Roughly half of them will be “liberty lovers” who do not live in New Hampshire. Yet.
Some of the out-of-staters showed up last weekend to participate in Tour New Hampshire, a series of self-guided tours throughout the week offered by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, a separate organization not part of the Free State Project. That there is a tour of New Hampshire organized by locals to cater to Free Staters is an indication of the group’s increasing clout. (more…)
James is out, but has to deal with retrieving his box truck that was stolen by the police gang. Then, once he can escape Virginia, he’ll ultimately have to come back for what will likely be all manner of unnecessary court dates, costing him thousands in travel fees alone. Of course, “the state” people have no case, but they’ll draw it out as long as they can, likely. We’ll keep you informed here at Free Keene. Stay tuned for more on James’ situation.
UPDATE @ 8:30pm: James has been arrested for Klonopin allegedly found in the truck. According to an officer Lee at the Dinwiddie sheriff’s department, this is a class 1 misdemeanor. James is facing a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail if the state can prove he “knowingly” possessed the drugs. He has a $1,000 bond and will likely be transported to the Meherrin regional jail.
Original post from this afternoon:
Free Keene blogger and owner of 101 Deals Thrift Store, James Cleaveland, is currently stranded in Dinwiddie, VA after armed men calling themselves “sheriffs” stole his yellow box truck. Initially the armed men asked James to search, which he refused. They then informed him they will be getting a warrant to search, because of terrorism, human trafficking, and serial killers. He is currently at the Dinwiddie county sheriff’s office and is currently streaming live video on Bambuser:
James says the Dinwiddie gang brought out a dog which they claim alerted on the vehicle and further claims that the tag is expired, so they towed it to the sheriff’s department. That’s where he is right now, awaiting the search of the truck. He has not been arrested or charged. James has said on his livestream that the “bad cop” Sgt. David Williams prevented him from retrieving his wallet from the cab of the truck. Later however “good cop”, name unknown at this point, did retrieve his wallet for him. Early on in this situation, I called the sheriff’s department to inquire on the whereabouts of the truck. The lady who answered the phone told me that the truck was indeed there and that Williams had been involved in the stealing. I asked to speak to Williams and at that point recorded the call. He acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about: (more…)
Mention government corruption, wasteful spending, crony politics and most minds will undoubtedly go straight to the sleaze pit we know as Washington D.C. Try to convince your neighbor that that same ooze may lie closer to home at the municipal level and you’ll likely run into some opposition. After all, we’re talking about our neighbors. Our co-workers. These are local heroes who take time out of their busy lives to make ours better.
They are also human. Just as corruptible and just as likely to misuse public funds as the parasites in DC. Let me explain.
Last year the Keene School District unabashedly spent $24,000 of our money to advertise its very controversial Article 1 that dealt with the acquiring of a $13 million bond for school renovations and the subsequent closing of Jonathan Daniels Elementary. They placed pro-article 1 ads in the Sentinel, the Shopper, on WKBK radio, and blanketed the city in campaign signs. For those unaware, the act of using government property to influence the results of a vote is known as electioneering and is illegal in the state of NH (RSA 659:44-a). The school board justified this act by claiming a need to “educate” the folks on current affairs. This is nothing new, really. Governmental departments across the country are guilty of using public funds to perpetuate their own agenda. The problem is no one is calling them out on it.
When asked what he thought of this misuse of taxpayer money, KSD attorney, John Wrigley, had this to say: “I think the school board has an obligation to inform and to educate… In 30 years I’ve been doing this I’ve seen the board over-extend itself more than once. I sit there and I look at something and I say, “Whoa I hope no one asks me about that.” But those are specific details that sometimes I trip across. I think on the whole, the board does it right, it has public hearings to inform and to educate. …but, I think sometimes they over-extend themselves. But I think it’s all in good faith…we’re not talking about Richard Daley in Chicago and that sort of thing.”
So in other words, it’s ok to break the law as long as it’s for the kids and as long as it’s not Richard Daley level. Had you or I attempted this same stunt, we would be looking at fines and or imprisonment. It’s true. Badges and titles do grant special privileges to some.
Need another example of how KSD spends your money? (more…)
For years, Free Keene has provided the community service of a Keene police scanner feed, which was highly-listened during the Pumpkin Fest riots, with over 300 simultaneous streams being served that night.
Flaming Freedom 3.0 • Waging war against the Keene School District plurality • Derrick’s message to his sisters: “Rise up & Drop out of government school” • Silly activists protest city snow plows – Who believes this sh*t? Turns out quite a few • MTV quality ISIS videos – Who believes this sh…never mind • What type of activism should I try when I get to Keene? None. Get a job • Jimmy from AZ calls in • Erotic toliets • Darryl, Shaunna, and Derrick J join • Show notes at: BlackSheepRising.org
