Valley News from West Lebanon, New Hampshire • A2

LOCAL REGIONAL A2 Satur day, ly 2 9, 2023 www.vnews By AUDITI GUHA TDigger COLCHESTER, Vt. The Vermont Army National Guard on Wednesday cele- brated the first woman to be promoted to brigadier general. During a ceremony at Camp Johnson, Col. Tracey Poirier acknowledged the pro- motion gives her greater visibility, but said she is more interested in being available to and mentoring officers who want to reach the rank of general. you start to climb up the ranks, one of the things you learn is that generals are like everybody else and just trying to get the job Poirier, 49, said in an in- terview after the ceremony.

The Barre town resident was promoted at the state level last November, but the federal approval process, which goes through the Department of Defense, Congress and the president, takes longer, explained Mikel Ar- covitch, a Guard spokesperson. The first woman to become a general in either branch of the Vermont National Guard was Martha Rainville, who served in the Air Guard and became adjutant general in 1997. While the Vermont Army National Guard was the first in the nation to recruit women to combat roles in 2021, investigations in re- cent years have also documented sexual abuse and a culture within the Guard that al- lowed harassment, particularly of women. Poirier, who joined the Guard in 2006, said conditions for women have improved be- cause the Guard has created a safe space for women to report problems. as soon as you feel safe to report, you can start attack- ing the she said.

She has tried to make it safer by being a resource for women all of my she said. never going to stop all bad actors, but if we can make a space for victims to be able to come forward, then at least one step Poirier, who works full time as the direc- tor of the Joint Staff, overseeing all military branches, said she plans to continue those efforts and noted that she works directly with the new sexual assault prevention and response team created with federal funding. want to say what other women feel, but I hope they feel she said. Poirier enlisted in the U.S. Army Re- serves in 1991 and has two degrees in anthropology and human resource man- agement from Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar, in addition to a from Norwich University.

Her eight years of active duty with the Marine Corps sent her to Europe, Virginia and Hawaii. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Greg Knight, Ver- Adjutant General, who presided over Wednesday ceremony, said the leadership position does not come easily and requires a remarkable work ethic.

is truly a tremendous person and re- markably talented officer. Tracey has cer- tainly earned this he said. Her message to women who are consid- ering the Guard but are worried about mak- ing a long-term commitment is that there is a lot of flexibility and many paths to choose from. took a break in service to raise my chil- dren in between my active duty time and ended up back in the Guard, and that is per- fectly acceptable and I still came out as a general in the she said. are a lot of Barre native named as 1st female brigadier general Wo a re ce ive i to i ro i VERMONT NATIONAL GUARD Antrim recovering from downpour NEW HAMPSHIRE NH AG investigating alleged attack on gay couple SOMERSWORTH, N.H.

The New Hampshire Attorney office has joined an investigation into an alleged Monday assault of a gay couple who run a chocolate shop in a city along the eastern border. The couple, who both live and op- erate the Wm. Poole Confections shop out of the same building in Somersworth, reported they were in- jured in an attack by a group of juve- niles who shouted homophobic taunts. In a post on Facebook, William Poole said he was struck on the eye with a blunt instrument and suffered lacerations, bruises and stitches from the assault by young people trying to enter the second-floor resi- By DAVID BROOKS and GEOFF FORESTER Concord Monitor After the flooding comes the help, but before the help comes the damage assessment. the stage New Hamp- shire has reached as federal offi- cials began touring dozens of communities that suffered flood damage this month, including hard-hit Antrim, which saw del- uges on July 4, 10 and 16.

been one large incident for Antrim. For two weeks, the dark cloud just seem to go a a Marshall Gale, the fire chief and emergency man- agement coordinator, told Fed- eral Emergency Management Agency officials on Tuesday. when some of the neigh- boring towns get much rain, it seems like those torrential downpours would drop inches on us in less than an hour or Officials with the FEMA were scheduled to tour five towns Mon- day and nine more including Antrim on Tuesday, verifying damage and estimating replace- ment costs. Once the state hits a threshold of $2.4 million, which seems likely to happen, New Hampshire officials will likely ask for a formal disaster declaration that makes it eligible for more federal aid, said Vanessa Palange, spokesperson for the state Divi- sion of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Pre- liminary damage assessment may continue in New Hampshire through next week.

The worst damage from flood- ing caused by downpours oc- curred in its southwestern cor- ner, although communities throughout the Connecticut River valley were affected and some flooding occurred in Merrimack County. Vermont as a whole was hit much harder than New Hamp- shire. Heavy downpours that over- whelm systems are becoming a problem in much of the world, fu- eled by the warming climate. Warmer air can hold more mois- ture, increasing the chance of tor- rential rains or other storms. In Antrim the biggest problem, although far from its only one, in- volves Liberty Farm Road bridge over North Branch River.

It was closed after July 4 due to struc- tural damage caused by flooding and must be repaired or replaced. This has stranded 20 homes on the road, cutting off their only exit. The Antrim road department has upgraded a Class VI road on Stacy Hill to be usable by emer- gency vehicles and homeowners Class VI roads are not main- tained and can be impassable by cars but road agent Jim Plourde warned that the steep- ness of Stacy Hill means it will be difficult to keep the road open in i r. in defensive mode, still trying to catch up and get things Plourde told a roomful of FEMA representatives Tuesday in a meeting before the group headed out to tour some of the damage. biggest concern is that if this bridge stays out of ser- vice throughout the winter, going to be able to maintain the (Stacy Hill) As explained by officials Tues- day, FEMA categorizes damage as it determines levels of restitu- tion.

Category for example, covers the cost of removing de- bris left behind by floods that must be removed one issue that a big problem in Antrim. rains took care of most of the said Gale, although a number of catch basins still must be cleaned of silt, sand and rocks. Category covers the cost of protective measures, such as opening an operations center as Antrim did or paying overtime. Volunteer time can also be reim- bursed if it is well documented, officials said. The big expenses come under category which covers damage to roads, bridges, culverts and similar structures.

dence. fear for my life and that of my partner, and I fear that our home and business (will) be further antago- nized or he wrote. will not reenter our home and busi- ness without police In an earlier post, Poole wrote that on July 16, two individuals out of a small group of young people made it onto a ledge of the building and at- tempted to break into their resi- dence. When confronted on the sidewalk, the group shouted homophobic slurs at them, Poole wrote. Michael Garrity, spokesperson for the New Hampshire Attorney Gen- office, said Thursday they have joined the investigation into the inci- dent.

Garrity said anyone with informa- tion should contact the Somersworth Police Department or the attorney office. NH to hold update hearing on new forensic hospital The state will hold another public briefing on the construction of a new forensic hospital. The online information session, where audience members will be able to submit questions and com- ments, is scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m. The 24-bed secure hospital will treat patients who committed a crime but cannot stand trial because of their mental illness; people found not guilty at trial because of their illness; and people who have not broken the law but are too dangerous to be treated in a conventional setting like the state hospital. These individuals are currently housed at the state prison.

The De- partment of Health and Human Ser- vices has said the new setting will provide patients with skilled psychi- atric treatment in a safe, secure, and therapeutic environment. The state has received two bids, from PC Construction in Vermont for $41.9 million and Engelberth Con- struction in Concord for $44.2 million. The hospital is expected to open in June 2024. CEO: Maine hydropower corridor will resume construction LEWISTON, Maine Constr uc- tion in Maine will resume next week on an electricity transmission project bringing Canadian hydropower to the New England power grid despite a half-billion dollar cost increase, the head of Avangrid said Thursday. CEO Pedro Azagra Blazquez said on an earnings call that the cost of the project, originally esti- mated at around $1 billion, has grown to $1.5 billion as litigation de- layed construction and inflation cause prices to creep upward.

Avangrid, the corporate parent of Central Maine Power, partnered with Hydro-Quebec on the power line project dubbed the New Eng- land Clean Energy Connect to bring 1,200 megawatts of hy- dropower to meet green energy goals in Massachusetts. That repre- sents enough electricity for about 1 million homes. Wire reports LOCAL REGIONAL BRIEFS CONCORD MONITOR PHOTOGRAPHS GEOFF FORESTER Road crews repair a culvert on Buttercup Lane in Antrim, N.H., that washed out during recent heavy rains. Federal officials tour towns across region to assess damage, costs of repair FEMA and state officials, along with local media, look over the damage to the Liberty Farm Road bridge in Antrim on Tuesday. Storms on July 4 and July 16 caused water to come over the bridge, which has since been closed to vehicular traffic..