Valley News from West Lebanon, New Hampshire • 1

Few Problems at Tubestock 1 Vt All Stars vs NH All Stars D1 July 18 2004 $i75 Volume 53 Number 40 THE NEWSPAPER OF THE 1 UPPER VALLEY Offers Constant I Palestinian Premier Resigns 2 Officials By Mohammed Dahaoiimoi Mika Gallup halpa move concrete forms at tha rita of tha naw Draadan Middle School on Lyma Road in Hanovar last waafc Work on the building began in April and la expected to bo complete next June Valley News James Patterson By John Gregg 1 Valley News Staff Writer Norwich Devotees of classical music are fluffing the pillows on their favorite chairs this weekend in anticipation of the launch ofa new Vermont Public Radio staliofl in the Upper Valley WNCH 881 FM which 'will offer classical music around the clock is slated to air its first broadcast at 9 am: Tuesday' -v Mark Vogelzang president and general manager of VPR raid there is a strong demand for such programming in the Upper Valley-even though classical music stations around the country are becoming' harder and harder to find' think the Upper Valley is a perfect place to highlight and to launch a service like Vogelzang said in a recent interview a well-educated and committed group of people who live here a fledgling effort but we're going to try it out and I have every reason to believe going tbbe a success" The station's studio is off Route 5 in -Norwich hence the call and a directional antenna atop Mount Ascutney designed to protect the frequency of a commercial television station in Portland Maiiie! will send the broadcasts through much of the $180 160 i 1 1 i i i i i i The Price of Steel The new Dresden School District middle school --smong other -construction projects is oyer budget beesuse of huge increeses in the cost of building materials including the two forms of steel most common in large construction projects Associated Press Writer rf Ramallah West Bank The Palestinian prime minister resigned yesterday in a sweeping leadership shakeup that also saw two senior officials replaced in Yasser overhaul of his security forces -V a key U3-and Israeli demand for restarting the deadlocked peace process The changes followed a series of kidnappings in the Gaza Strip that signaled a breakdown of authority is a crisis There is a state of chaos in the security situation Ahmed Qureia said after announcing his resignation as premier during a Cabinet meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah Qiieria told Palestinian officials he had resighed of a series of internal and external issues developed in the recent according to a statement from his office He specifically cited the deteriorating security situation in Gaza Qureia sent his resignation letter to Arafat through an aide before the Cabinet meeting The 74-year-old Palestinian leader however refused to accept it and scrawled a giant over the paper with a pen a Palestinian official said Nevertheless Qureia said he would not withdrawthe resignation according to Minister of Local Government Jamal Shobaki The Cabinet planned to reconvene tomorrow to continue deliberations It was unclear what would happen if the stalemate continued Qureia who had held the job for 10 months was unable to cany out deep reforms and root out corruption with Arafat still holding the presidency and dominant power in the Palestinian territories! He also had been frustrated by lack of progress on restarting the peace process with Israel say officials close to him No Israeli-Palestinian summit was held during as prime minister Officials said the Cabinet meeting grew stormy at times The interior minister who is in charge of police and appar-ently was not consulted about the changes in the security infrastructure walked out midway Israel had no comment on the swiftly unfolding events in the Palestinian territories But Israel Army Radio quotr ed officials as saying the instability demonstrated again See A7 region Vogelz 100 building committee has ieduced the cost overruns by $825000 by substituting less expensive mate-' rials the project remains $11 million over budget Dresden is not the only insti- ration suffering from the high construction costs Around the Twin States and the nation con-' struct ion projects are founder-ing under the tide of higher prices for steel lumber drywall and concrete After a May 8 groundbreaking ceremony for its new MacLean Engineering Sciences Center Dartmouth College has delayed construction until it receives bids for the entire project Clark County' School District in Las Vegas just had bids for four new elemen-' taiy schools come in $10 million above their expected cost of $64 million' But some projects managed to miss the cost increases The Howe $45 million expansion project went out to bid in Jan- uary and locked in its prices before the worst of the price increases took effect we were very fortunate because we went to bid in said By Alex Hanson Valley News Staff Writer Hanover The road that die Dresden School District laid out to bring its construction plan to fruition was as smooth as freshly laid asphalt After winning voter approval for a new middle school and renovated high school the district planned to put the middle school out to bid in March or April and did just that district officials said What they have predicted was less a pothole than a detour sign into the wilderness: increases in steel prices that inflated bids for the $147 million project by an additional $19 bullion' was bid on schedule and no one anticipated the steel said Mark Walsh a vice presi- -S a a ft 1 dent at belt man construction of Heat ora NH who is involved in managing the Dresden project Indeed Dresden officials hustled to get bids for steel and concrete Out earlier than planned to respond to rapidly increasing materials prices said Jonathan Brush the director of buildings and Jan 2003 July Oct Jan April 2003 2003 2004 2004 International Ltd grounds The price increases were quicker To make matters worse the district carried a leaner contingency fund in the project cost into a bond vote last year The huge cost increases particularly for steel from January to April took a toll on the middle school project Although the lzang himself the host of Sun-day Bach said the signal should reach as far north as Fairlee toward the eastern edge of Sullivan County south to Bellows Falls V( and west post Ludlow Vt mart cases if you get 895 (another VPR FM station) you should be able to get lie raid though might get it or you might not" in New London Weekday programming will include Classical Musk ith Walter Parker at 9 am National Public Radio's Performance Today at 10 am and The Six O'clock Symphony at 6 pm a time when other VPR sta- tions will still be airing NPR's All Things Considered News programming will not be offered on the new station but Vogelzang said WNCH will be an important venue for letting listeners know about concerts and other per- formances in the Upper Valley He also is talking with the Fairbanks Museum Planetarium in St Johnsbury which produces the Eye on die Sky forecasts to sole if they can offer a for the Connecticut River Valley an WNCH Several Upper Valley residents raid they are enthusiastic about the new station Margaret Lawrence the director of programming for the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College said she has met with Vogelzang and SeeVPR-47 By Meu Heckman Hampshire is using its homeland security money unwisely He spend any more until sure the emergency response system is as efficient as possible! decision sparked a political debate that is far from unique: Everyone from selectmen to congressmen is mulling how best to use the billions appropriated by die federal government each year in the name of homeland security While politicians debate their options local police departments fire companies and rescue squads say they're spending their money oh equipment that's good for large-scale catastrophes as well as everyday emergencies Dunbarton Police Chief Jeff Nelson spent $3000 last year on a dozen bio-hazard suits for his department The suits are supposed to pro- tect police and firefighteis during a biological attack but Nelson says his department will probably use them for more run-of-the-mill occurrences such as chemical fires or truck have a wider he said not going to pursue equipment that has no practical application for New Hampshire has long received money to help police officers firefighters and other fust responders prepare for major disasters In 1999 for example the state received about $480000 to buy emergency-response equipment But after Sept 11 2001 federal lawmakers began sending home millions more This year New Hampshire will get more than $22 million in the name of homeland security It took lawmakers in Wuhington almost a Concord Monitor Concord More than $46 million in federal homeland security money has poured into New Hampshire since Sept 11 2001 garnering the state new police and fire radios computerized dispatch centers antiterrorism workshops defibrillators and even cadaver bags But Republican Gov Craig Benson put a stop to all that last week when he delayed approving a batch of public health grants sayiqg New 7BHBB" Bv Marqahet Wem Portrait Of an Addict Chad Gallo 23 a heroin addict from Newport rests in his bed at Sullivan County House of Corrections in April today die SundayValley News begins a three-part series looking at one young man's struggle to get clean Page Cl Valley News Tom Retto Wendy Licbmann founder of consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail Five of the retailers in the top lO are low-priced big-box chains Ten years ago only two such formats were in the top 10: WU-Man (now Noi l) and Kmart (now off the top 10 at Na 14) Shoppera have been voting with their feet and spending more of their money at chains that stretch a dollar as far as possible On the flip side the casualties of the top 10 from a decade ago include more traditional retaikra such as JC Penney and May Department Stores which were raqked sixth and ninth respectively in 1994 but have slipped 10 15th and 21st now- i Wd-Mart and its influences generate a lot of negative publicity and the chaiif does have real flaws both as a retailer and a corporation But sopie industry observeis say its positive impact on American dnppers be The Washington Post The top 10 retailers on Stores annual list of the nation's 100 biggest retailed says much not only us about as shoppers but about the state of retailing in America v-We are a hation of shoppers that is both empowered and stuck stuck with chains that aren't that great bra that are so ubiquitous we have no choice but to shop there On the one hand gttting low prices and lots of selection from the biggest array of discounters offering the most products at the lowest prices On the other hand when it comes to the most basic retail food the supermarket chains bn the list leave much to be desired that has become the mantra of shopper regardless of income or said INDEX GuBaMiC4 LocaiARegiqnalB1 QASwnmjLF1 OariuAMBB4 CoMWiaBE2 Real EsiATtF12 EonoaiAi A8 Swan jD1 Weather-B8 a Partly sunny chance of thunderstorms Expanding the Mandrel Market LeCount Inc of White River Junction gamers exporting award Pag El Foriim A9 i a 'i.