NEAR DOWNTOWN– Named in honor of the planning process that caused over a decade of regulatory delays to construct damn near exactly what the Builder had told them they were going to build in the first place, Whataboutism Village is the newest residential development to open in the Upper Valley.

What about the 16 units of new housing was seen as controversial is confusing to experts, given the well-publicized shortage of housing in the Upper Valley that has only gotten worse since the project was first proposed in 2014.

“Given the well known housing crisis in the region, we thought it was critical to get these 12 cottages approved and built in about a decade.”

“What about if there’s too much traffic?” asked one resident of the abutting neighborhood, who said he didn’t want more traffic on the public street through his area.

“What about if there’s not enough traffic?” asked a local shopkeeper, worried that without an increase in visitors to his storefront, he may have to close-up shop.

“What about having more local shops instead of housing?” asked a local citizen who didn’t want more housing in her neighborhood.

“What about if the residents decide to have a holiday party and invite all 10 Lords a Leaping– where are they all going to park?” asked one neighbor who may, or might be invited to the party, or not.

“What about making the rental rate cheaper,” asked one Planning Board member, Ignoring that the rental rate is a result of costs of construction, capital, and maintenance and not a discretionary value merely picked out of a hat Independent of Economics 101.

“What about making the units affordable enough for people we want to live here, but not affordable for the type of people we don’t want to live here?” asked a neighbor, saying the quiet part out loud.

“What about these new homes makes them more expensive than the ones I rent out?” asked one Board member.

“What about this is so hard to understand?” the developer remarked, “the only way anyone could build the units at that price is if you’d let me build them back in 2014 when the project was first proposed.”

WEST LEB— City officials announced Wednesday that the Route 12-A dry bridge next to the dildo shop will reopen by midday, following a month-long emergency closure and detour to allow the City to make significant repairs to the bridge in preparation for its imminent demolition and replacement in the coming year, or so.

RELATED NEWS:

The structural repairs made by the City, under the oversight of the State, were to insure the bridge remained structurally stable for vehicular traffic to continue using the red-listed bridge under the oft-delayed South Main Street (Route 12A) Dry Bridge Replacement Project can be completed. The Dry Bridge project was originally slated for 2025, has now been pushed back until 2026, or maybe 2027.

The replacement bridge project, which is now estimated to cost $21.1-million dollars, serves a State road over a spur rail line serving a single industrial customer into the State-owned Westboro Rail Yard. The spur-line terminates in West Lebanon, becoming the Mascoma River Greenway and Northern Rail Trail, a contiguous rail trail running from Lebanon to Concord, NH.

The railroad use is not expected to return, as sources note it is currently the 21st century.

The Lebanon taxpayers are responsible for $6.5-million of the project cost, including a recent additional allocation of $4-million due to cost escalations incurred over the most recent of the 27 years the bridge has been red-listed as structurally deficient.

In 2009, the entire Bridge project was estimated to cost $5.6-million in total, of which the City’s equivalent 30% proportionate share would have been around $1.7-million, a $4.8-million dollar increase to the Lebanon taxpayers over the past 15 years.

Experts note that that $4.8M could have been used to make long-desired improvements to Westboro Rail Yard, or literally anything else that would benefit citizens in West Lebanon.

The outgoing City Manager told the Valley News on March 10, 2025 that the bridge project was “a failure of government to provide critical services to its people.”

Under the City’s charter, the City Manager is the Chief Executive responsible for the municipal government.

Local sources note that the sex shop offers considerably cheaper ways to screw oneself.

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West Lebanon
Four Aces Diner
Shyrl’s Diner
Country Cobbler
VIP Auto
Stateline Sports
Undun

Lebanon
Lucky’s Coffee Garage **Newsstand**
The Littlest Store
Salt Hill Pub

Hanover
TBD **Newsstand**
Lou’s
The Works
Hanover Inn
Still North Books
Stinson’s
The Nest
The People’s Barbershop

White River Jct.
Standard Tattoo Company
Valley Flower Co.
Cappadocia Cafe
Center for Cartoon Studies
River Roost Brewery
White River Growpro
Big Fatty’s
Putnam’s Vineyard
The Tea House
Five Seasons Cannabis Co.

Norwich
Dan + Whit’s **Newsstand**
Half Step Beer & Wine

Fairlee
Sunnyside Coffee Co.
Chapman’s General Store

Woodstock
Worthy Kitchen
Sunday Drive

South Royalton
First Branch Coffee
Carlita’s Cantina

Special Thanks:
Valley News for printing, Fast Lane Graphix in Enfield for last-minute vinyl wrap.

CITY HALL— Having recently re-discovered their copy of Common Sense, the City has convened a series of Common Sense discussions to determine whether to use Common Sense, or continue under the current model of not using Common Sense in the course of day-to-day municipal governance.

The copy of Thomas Paine’s seminal 1776 treatise on independence from government overreach and undue obstruction in the dealings of its citizens was recently discovered in a box that had been moved from the old library into the new library.

Some fear that not using Common Sense would result in the City forgetting the Common Sense lesson that the role of government is to support the citizens who are taxed to fund it.

Others wonder if the simplest explanation is that the City simply forgot to use Common Sense, mistakenly believing it to be no longer relevant in modern municipal government.

Questions have arisen as to whether it would be appropriate for the City to employ Common Sense in the everyday dealings of the municipal government, with some believing there’s little room for Common Sense in local government these days.

“We’ve managed to make a lot of important decisions without using Common Sense, and I just don’t see any reason to start using Common Sense now,” said one City official.

In an effort to bridge the gap, the Council voted 7-2 to form a “Task Force on the Appropriate Use of Common Sense,” which will report back in 18-24 months with an assessment of whether Common Sense should be used.

The City Council, for their part, affirmed that they “fully support the idea of using Common Sense,” but clarified they have no actual control over whether the City Manager and his Administration use it.

One Common Sense solution proposed by the City’s archivist was to “display it under glass to make sure no one attempts to use Common Sense on a daily basis, which could result in more questions than answers.”

It’s not clear if the same Common Sense goals and ideals of government hold true today, almost 250 years after Paine’s argument against a government that only pretends to offer reasonable checks and balances against governmental overreach.

Constitutional scholars have gently reminded the Council that a government that works against its citizens is the exact thing Paine was warning about. “Governments that lose sight of Common Sense tend to start mistaking authority for purpose,” one expert noted. “And before you know it, people are being fined for re-paving a parking lot without permission.”

Whereas defenders of municipal authority may believe their purpose is to impart the strictest possible interpretation of status quo-maintaining laws upon the taxpaying citizenry, Common Sense suggests that the government is but a necessary evil whose foremost role is to serve the greater good of its populace, not to become an intolerable burden upon its own citizens.

Common Sense would suggest that a man who proactively sought and received his neighbors’ input & support, pays his taxes, and abides by the rules, should be allowed to build what he’s experienced and capable of doing upon his own property without having to face repetitive and oft-refuted government obstruction.

Some even suggest that Common Sense calls for the government to assist in achieving the greater good that its citizens have voted in support of, not work against it.

Common Sense states that government inflicting any unnecessary burden upon its citizenry is a great irony, as “when we...are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”

WHITE RIVER JCT— A new Drivers’ Education program is embracing the Montessori philosophy of allowing child-led learning, believing that students should explore the road of life at their own pace, with freedom and self-direction.

The Montessori Drivers’ Ed School hopes to inspire a new generation of free-spirited, open-minded drivers that won’t be restricted by society’s ideas of successful driving.

Eager to embark on a journey of self-discovery behind the wheel, many local students upon turning 16 years of age have opted out of traditional drivers educational programs due to the rigorously restrictive approach to learning the rules of the road.

The students, once accustomed to self-directed learning, began debating the necessity of stop signs and speed limits. Some argued for a more “organic” approach to traffic flow, while others advocated for a partial or complete abandonment of the conventional rules.

Driving Traditionalists are worried about the chaos that might ensue if a generation of young drivers hit the roads without a common understanding of core traffic laws and a standardized exam.

Driver’s Exam proctors riding in the car have decried the decision as “holy shit, please slow down, you can’t just drive in any goddamn lane you want, we have rules for a reason.”

“Please don’t do this,” said the United States Department of Education and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Meanwhile, supporters say it is fostering independent thinking and creativity behind the wheel.

As of press time, there had been 37 collisions, countless near-misses, and at least two students electing to drive west into the setting sun in search of something that they can’t possibly hope to learn in the pages of a Driver’s Manual.

In 2017 the State adopted Constitutional Carry, allowing anyone– with no age restriction whatsoever– to openly carry a loaded rifle or handgun in public. This did not require any government inspection, registration, licensing, fee, or permitting requirements, all of which are required in order to own and operate a motor vehicle in the State– a vehicle that you can still freely drive without a seatbelt in NH, the State that has yet to determine the rules for the sale of up to four ounces of marijuana for personal use.

The Live Free or Die State, which allows motorcyclists to ride without helmets once they cross the state line, and markets itself as a top destination for snowmobile and ATV rental businesses– where one can drive in excess of 40mph with little more than a YouTube instructional video and a signed release form– retains the strictest rules and regulations regarding the sale and use of pot in the Northeast United States.

The business-friendly state has proposed a series of State-run dispensaries similar to the 67 state-run Liquor stores, which would limit private dispensaries from participating in the projected $100 million market.

Experts note that an average of 661 annual deaths in N.H. are attributable to alcohol use.

What about the 16 units of new housing was seen as controversial is confusing to experts, given the well-publicized shortage of housing in the Upper Valley that has only gotten worse since the project was first proposed in 2014.

“What about if there’s too much traffic? asked one resident of the abutting neighborhood, who said he didn’t want more traffic on the public street through his area.

“What about if there’s not enough traffic?” asked a local shopkeeper, worried that without an increase in visitors to his storefront, he may have to close-up shop.

“What about having more local shops instead of housing,” asked a local citizen who didn’t want more housing in her neighborhood.

“What about if the residents decide to have a holiday party and invite all 10 Lords a Leaping– where is everyone going to park?” asked neighbors who might be invited to the party, or not.

“What about making the rental rate cheaper,” asked one Planning Board member, ignoring that the rental rate is a result of costs of construction, capital and maintenance and not a discretionary value merely picked out of a hat independent of Economics 101.

“What about making the units affordable enough for people we want to live here, but not affordable for the type of people we don’t want to live here?” asked a neighbor, saying the quiet part out loud.

“What about these new homes makes them more expensive than the ones I rent out?” asked one Board member.

“What about this is so hard to understand?” the developer remarked, “the only way anyone could build the units at that price is if you’d let me build them back in 2014 when the project was first proposed.”

Among the accounts in the ship’s logbook of hardship and camaraderie aboard the three-masted, square-rigged sailing ship, there are numerous references to the Langmores being the most contentious and troublesome among the 3 crew and 102 Pilgrims aboard.

Tucker, the present day Day Trader and self-proclaimed “thought leader” among the anti-immigrant community on social media, lives in the basement of his family estate– on the same plot of land overlooking the Massachusetts coastline that his 15th great grandfather stole from the Wampanoag Tribe after crossing the border without any documentation.

Langmore recently posted that he wished immigrants entering the U.S. would “go back where they came from,” a sentiment that has been shared by the Langmore family’s neighbors for over 400 years.

This is the newspaper I write for, correct? It’s hard to tell, I’m not really supposed to look at screens until my left retina re-attaches.

The competent Doctors at the well-run Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital say I have a Grade III Concussion with a depressed skull fracture– ouchie!

But I’m not going to let that stop me from writing about goings-on in the Upper Valley that I cannot attend while on bed-rest. Feeling grateful!

As my wife drove me home on smooth, well-maintained roads with very little traffic to speak of, I was struck by what a great job our municipal services have been doing.

Once the vertigo subsides and I can walk without losing my balance I’m going to march right downtown to demand that they be acknowledged for their commitment to civil service.

Over the constant ringing in my ears I heard that the new Town Administrator was running things at Town Hall exactly the way I would have hoped he would. No notes!

While resting-up at home I’ve been very encouraged by what I’ve been able to read in the news in quick, three-minute increments between headaches.

From what I can see through this double-vision, everyone out there seems to be doing the best they can in navigating the inherent challenges of daily life.

The world appears very equitable, and I was so pleased to hear through my good ear that more new people are moving to town. Just met a couple from New York City, neat!

I wouldn’t change a thing.

Seated peacefully cross-legged in a serene, outdoor location removed from the distractions and frenetic pace of every day life, and having found his center by closing his eyes, adjusting his posture into alignment with the earth, grounding himself in the physical and metaphysical present, and using long, smooth breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth to fill and release from the center of his being, the man could swear he felt a tick crawling on him.

Approaching the brink of achieving a state of alert, focused relaxation by deliberately paying attention to thoughts and sensations without judgment, and listening to a pre-recorded guided meditation “Ask yourself: what is important in my life today?” by a guide named “CHAKRA,” his iPhone quietly alerted him that he was late.

Upon re-entering a state of conscious awareness and acknowledging that every day is a new day and represents an opportunity to move beyond whatever had occurred in the past, let everything that is...just be... and determine how to pursue this one true day that was his to do with what he may, he received notification that his 8:30 Zoom was starting without him.

“We have a way of doing things, and citizens pointing out that our way is demonstrably not working isn’t helping anything,” explained officials.

Legal scholars and constitutional experts were quick to point out that this decision not only deviates from over 260 years of democratic tradition but also blatantly disregards the basic rights of the citizenry.

Under the newly adopted subsection 6.6 (C) 1.b, citizens who dare to raise concerns about bureaucratic incompetence, ineffective policies, or the city’s apparent disdain for taxpayer interests may now “have their property rights taken away or be executed by firing squad.”

City representatives assured the public that the language is “intentionally vague to allow us to enforce it how we see fit.”

Concerned residents have questioned whether this violates the city’s own Welcoming City Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination based on “political opinion or activity.”

The Council voted 9-0 to clarify that the ordinance applies only to opinions they agree with.

The Council closed the meeting by approving an initiative to promote civic engagement and encourage residents to be “active participants in their local government.”

Known regionally for having cumbersome regulations for new development, the City continues to take a perverse pride in appearing to work against its own economic self-interests.

Recently, proposed economic development projects that appear to adhere to the City’s numerous taxpayer-funded studies are subjected to recurrent bureaucratic processes that discourage investment, costing the developer and City money.

Exasperated experts note that those improvements would in turn yield additional tax revenue, to help offset the City’s debt and spending.

Developers rarely opt to build a second project in town, and many property owners accept that doing nothing is the logical alternative when faced with a City unwilling to work toward its own economic best interest.

In what the City Manager is calling a “near miss,” a taxpayer had suggested doing things differently than the way the City does things, resulting in the City taking emergency inaction.

The proposal called for a mixture of housing, jobs, public trails, regional transit, and open space that– if built– would have made significant tax contributions that could help pay for other proposed City improvements.

The multiple Attorneys hired by the City to defend against private investment in the improvement attended the meeting, at a combined cost of $700/hour, which will be paid for by the taxpayers who had voted overwhelmingly in favor of the improvement.

Citizens note that the City’s way “hasn’t improved anything noticeably for 30 years,” and “god forbid they get out of the way of attempted progress.”

CITY HALL– City officials stood in front of the City Hall building that was recently renovated for the second time in seven years to announce that they were going to stubbornly persist in doing things the way they’ve always done things, despite decades of evidence suggesting that they shouldn’t.

The City faces sky-rocketing taxes due to 30 years of anti-growth policies that choked out net-positive smart growth to expand the tax base, annual increases in water and sewer fees and debt service to offset the $70+ million in municipal debt the City incurred after rejecting Federal Funding to pay for 50% of the cost of storm-water separation in a short-sighted effort to block new development.

The stagnant downtown resulting from a misguided decision to re-route traffic away from the historic center was followed by a series of planning efforts over the course of decades that cost over $500,000 in analysis alone but never seemed to amount to anything.

Despite sufficient evidence to establish that what they have done in the past hasn’t worked, the City appears content to keep doin’ as it’s doing.”

The City vows to continue ignoring the advice of land use experts that the City and State government have themselves contracted (at taxpayer expense), to study: the economic impact and tax revenue implications of smart growth, the City’s sufficient infrastructure capacity for additional growth while maintaining more open space and conservation land than any comparable municipality in the State; and the procedural barriers to housing creation resultant from existing land-use policies, all which illustrate the often unintentional but nonetheless adverse outcomes of past policy decisions.

“We are tired of taking on the region‘s growth,” said the city of approximately 15,000 that benefits from municipal water and sewerage that can support the residential and commercial growth necessary to meet the needs of a growing City at the crossroads of two major interstates, and which serves as the regional center of industry, commerce, and retail.

“It’s time for housing to go elsewhere,” said City leadership, which regional planners note would mean the municipality wouldn’t gain property tax value from the thousands of people who currently commute to the City for work each day, utilize city services, and then drive home without paying taxes to the City.

“We have enough traffic already” said the planning department that had developed, defended, and over-zealously enforced exclusionary zoning policies that intentionally separated residential and commercial uses, all but requiring citizens to drive to every errand of their day.

“This city can’t take any more growth” said members of the Planning Board and Conservation Commission, which had recently commissioned studies seeking to limit further development to retain the rural character of the 15,000 person municipality.

However, the results of those independent analyses empirically demonstrated that the City has sufficient land, water, and sewer capacity to support considerably more growth while still balancing the inherent impacts on the natural environment.

“We don’t want more density,” said a Board Member, seeming to willfully ignore the decades of studies, nationwide best practices, and examples from throughout the world that dense development downtown is a better solution than the alternative result of sprawling single family homes and subdivisions, that which could not be supported with municipal services without contributing to more to the municipal maintenance deficit.

“Our children don’t have enough recreation spaces and outdoor opportunities” said chair of the Conservation Commission, which voted against the expansion of trails and playing fields on public land behind a strip-mall.

“We need to maintain a natural buffer between the river and the box stores,” said the Chair, in reference to the corridor of tertiary growth, invasive species, and trash atop the man-made riverbank full of sewer and natural gas infrastructure, where a contiguous trail network along the river was required of property owners but the City has failed to enforce and denied requests to re-establish as an accessible river front trail.

“Developers have failed to build sufficient housing to meet the demands of the region,” said the Planning Director responsible for limiting housing development through outdated zoning, burdensome conditions, and egotistical enforcement.

In response to the housing crisis­– and instead of addressing the policies that continue to lead to adverse results­– the City plans to build affordable housing itself, but has yet to determine how much it would cost to construct the housing units, how much they would sell for, or why it is so difficult to navigate the approval process.

WEST LEB— The 12-A bridge by the bong store that was red-listed in the early 2000s by the NH DOT was closed suddenly on Wednesday due to safety concerns which had knowingly sprung up over the past decades.

The bridge serving a state highway over a state-owned rail spur serving only one company, is being replaced by the City of Lebanon.

The estimated project cost of $21.1M is a significant increase from the $16M budgeted in April 2023, with an additional $4 million being allocated in the 2025 budget. The State is responsible for $14M, leaving Lebanon taxpayers responsible for $6.5M.

The size of the bridge could have been reduced by reducing the two rail lines to one a mere 150 yards into the rail yard, but was instead designed and engineered for two full size, double-height rail lines to pass under the bridge simultaneously.

The rail spur in question runs from a single concrete factory to Westboro Yard, and only single trains of usually fewer than 12 cars.

Motorists are advised to seek alternate routes, as the bridge will be closed for construction which is gonna take a while.

The City could not be reached for comment as they were busy trying to prosecute private property owners for deadlines the City itself doesn’t adhere to.