NRC: We’ll do better

Jessica Arriens
Sentinel Staff

New Hampshire lawmakers will now be informed on all things Vermont Yankee, according to a letter from Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials sent to U.S. Rep. Paul W. Hodes, D-N.H., and state Sen. Molly M. Kelly, D-Keene.

The July 30 letter was sent in response to one written by Hodes, after he and Kelly met with NRC officials in Washington to discuss a July 11 cooling leak at the Vernon, Vt., plant.

“While this response does not give us all of the answers, it is a good start and I will continue to work to give my constituents the answers they deserve,” Kelly said in a statement.

In the letter, which is signed by Executive Director of Operations R.W. Borchardt, the NRC apologizes for not including Hodes and Kelly on a contact list for Vermont Yankee news.

Shaheen to speak tonight at convention

David P. Greisman
Sentinel Staff

As hordes of delegates and thousands of media mass in Denver for the Democratic National Convention, one New Hampshire politician will step onstage tonight to speak.

It won’t be the first time Jeanne Shaheen has appeared at conventions held to officially name the party’s presidential nominee.

Shaheen stepped before the microphone in 1996, when she was running for governor in New Hampshire; in 2000, when she was governor of the Granite State; and in 2004, when she was chairman of John Kerry’s presidential campaign.

She has been to every Democratic National Convention since 1976 except one.

This time, Shaheen, who served as governor from 1997 to 2003, is challenging Republican John E. Sununu in November for Sununu’s seat in the U.S. Senate. Sununu won the seat in 2002, defeating Shaheen with 51 percent of the votes to her 46 percent.

Coffers similar to start

Kelly, Eaton show like war chests in local Senate race

David P. Greisman
Sentinel Staff

With 10 weeks to go until New Hampshire’s general election, Molly M. Kelly and Thomas R. Eaton are neck-and-neck — in fundraising.

Kelly, of Keene, is the Democratic incumbent for state Senate District 10, which covers Chesterfield, Dublin, Fitzwilliam, Hinsdale, Keene, Marlborough, Richmond, Surry, Swanzey, Troy and Winchester.

Eaton, a Republican from Keene, is the man Kelly unseated two years ago. A former funeral home director who now works in corporate relations for developer TF Moran Inc., Eaton represented District 10 in the state Senate for seven years. He also served as Senate president from 2002 to 2005 before being ousted from the seat by Senate colleagues.

Kelly defeated Eaton in 2006 with 63 percent of the vote to Eaton’s 37 percent, beating him in every community on the way to a 10,660 to 6,184 victory.

Now, with Eaton seeking to regain his spot in Concord and Kelly looking to retain it, they have begun to fill their coffers so as to help ensure victory in November.

Shaheen highlights Stoddard Dems’ meeting

David P. Greisman
Sentinel Staff

STODDARD — They are a former governor, a current state representative, a sitting state senator, all three running for office, trying to rally their party to their cause.

Before them sat 80 prospective voters, residents of the Monadnock Region, local politicians representing their respective delegations, all of whom had assembled Saturday afternoon at Stoddard’s Lake Fall Lodge to hear what the trio of Democratic speakers had to say.

Jeanne Shaheen, who served as New Hampshire’s governor from 1997 to 2003, is challenging Republican John E. Sununu this November for Sununu’s seat in the U.S. Senate.

Molly M. Kelly, a state senator from Keene, is seeking a second term in office. Her opponent is Thomas R. Eaton, a Republican from Keene, the man she unseated two years ago.

James G. Phinizy, a state representative from Acworth, is challenging Republican incumbent state Sen. Robert Odell of Lempster.

Each laid out their key concerns, attempting to show to those who might go to the polls in November just what they would be getting with their votes.

Students aiming for conventional wisdom

Sarah Palermo
Sentinel Staff

RINDGE — Most major news outlets will cover the coming Democratic and Republican party nominating conventions.

But for a look at how the events run from the ground up, Americans and even people following the election from overseas can turn to a local source — Franklin Pierce University.

Two groups of students from the Rindge university will be recording their experience in videos, radio clips and blogs online from the Democratic Party’s convention in Denver next week and the Republican Convention in St. Paul starting Sept. 1.

Though their trip starts in early morning hours Sunday, the journey began as all presidential journeys do: with the Granite State’s first-in-the-nation primary.