Local and regional news

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Hiking Fatality in the White Mountains

On Saturday, September 26th shortly before 7:00 PM New Hampshire Fish and Game was notified that a hiker had fallen from Arethusa Falls and sustained life ending injuries.  The hiker was with two friends.  He went ahead of them on the trail to the top of the falls.  When they arrived at the falls they found the body of their friend.  There is no cell phone service in the area.  They ran out and placed a call to 911 from a home near the trailhead.  Along with Conservation Officers members of Bartlett Jackson Ambulance and Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue responded. 

The trail to the falls is nearly two miles and the average height of the falls is 70 feet.  Rescuers carried the man out in a litter and arrived at the trailhead shortly before 11:00 PM.  No further information about the victim or those involved is available at this time and is pending until family members can be notified.

Source: NH Fish and Game Press Release

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Arrests Made in Connection with Murder in Coos County

Concord, NH – New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Nathan A. Noyes announce that arrests were made on Thursday, September 24 and Friday, September 25, 2020, in connection with the murder of Jonathan Amerault, age 25, whose body was discovered in Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant in Coos County, New Hampshire on Tuesday, September 22, 2020.

On September 24, 2020, an autopsy was conducted by New Hampshire Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jennie V. Duval.  Dr. Duval determined that the cause of Jonathan Amerault’s death as, gunshot wound to the head, and that the manner of death is homicide. 

Armando Barron, age 30, of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, was arrested on Friday, September 25, 2020, and charged with capital murder for knowingly causing the death of Jonathan Amerault by shooting him while engaged in the commission of a kidnapping.  Investigators have determined that Armando Barron lured Jonathan Amerault to Annette Wayside Park in Rindge, New Hampshire in the overnight hours between Saturday, September 19, 2020, and Sunday, September 20, 2020.  Pursuant to RSA 630:1, I(b) a person is guilty of capital murder if he knowingly causes the death of another before, after, while engaged in the commission of, or while attempting to commit kidnapping as that offense is defined in RSA 633:1.

In addition, Britany Barron, age 31, of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, was arrested on Thursday, September 24, 2020, and charged, with three counts of falsifying physical evidence in conjunction with Jonathan Amerault’s murder for altering, destroying, concealing, or removing items of physical evidence when she believed an investigation was pending or about to be instituted with a purpose to impair their verity or availability.  Britany Barron is Armando Barron’s spouse.

The charges and allegations set forth in the complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Source: NH State Police Press Release

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Suspicious Death Investigation in Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant in Coos County

Concord, NH — New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Nathan A. Noyes announce that officials are investigating a suspicious death. The deceased was discovered late yesterday afternoon in the unincorporated area of Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant in Coos County, New Hampshire. 

At this time, it is believed that the deceased is Jonathan Amerault (age 25) of Keene, New Hampshire.  Mr. Amerault was reported missing on September 21, 2020.

An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow, September 24, 2020. 

Based on the information currently known to investigators, there does not appear to be any danger to the public at this time.

The investigation is ongoing and additional information will be released as it becomes available, while protecting the integrity of the investigation. 

Anyone with any information regarding the whereabouts of Mr. Amerault since Saturday, September 19, 2020, is encouraged to contact New Hampshire State Police at 603-MCU-TIPS (603-628-8477).

Source: NH Attorney General Press Release

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1 Officer Indicted in Breonna Taylor case; Not for her Death

People gather in Jefferson Square awaiting word on charges against police officers, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Louisville, Ky.  (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a fired Kentucky police officer on criminal charges in the Breonna Taylor case — but not for her death. Brett Hankison was charged Wednesday with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into the apartments of Taylor’s neighbors. Taylor was shot multiple times by officers who burst into her home on March 13 during a narcotics investigation.

Click here for the full report.

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Court, COVID, Race are topics for first Trump-Biden Debate on September 29th

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will face off on the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic and race and violence in the nation’s cities next week when they meet for their first presidential debate.

The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates on Tuesday announced the six topics for the first face-to-face event scheduled for Sept. 29 in Cleveland. The topics were selected by the debate’s moderator, Fox News’ Chris Wallace, and will each be the subject of 15-minute “blocks” in the debate.

The topics are: “The Trump and Biden Records,” “The Supreme Court,” ”Covid-19,” “The Economy,” “Race and Violence in our Cities,” and “The Integrity of the Election.”

For the full article click here.

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Adult Operator Seriously Injured in ATV Rollover in Jericho Mountain State Park

Berlin – On Thursday afternoon at approximately 3:45 p.m., law enforcement personnel from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and the Berlin Police Department responded to a report of two separate All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) rollover crashes on Jericho Lake Road in Jericho Mountain State Park. Upon notification of the incident, members of the Berlin Fire Department as well as EMS personnel from Berlin Ambulance responded to the scene.

Once on scene, law enforcement personnel confirmed that two riders, each operating a separate ATV, were involved in rollover crashes in the same area within seconds of one another.  The adult operator was identified as Francisco Giron, a 30 year-old male, from Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  The second operator was a 14 year-old female youth operator.  Based on information gathered at the scene, it appears that both operators lost control of their ATV’s while traveling east and heading downhill on a paved portion of roadway. Upon losing control, both operators applied breaks, over corrected and subsequently rolled over.  The roadway was dry, clear of debris and had recently been paved. Weather conditions were clear. As a result, Giron sustained serious life threatening injuries.  The youth operator only sustained minor injuries.  Both operators were a part of the same group and were riding with other members of their family, who were operating separate OHRV’s when the incident occurred.

Both operators were treated on-scene for their injuries and were transported by Berlin Ambulance to Androscoggin Valley Hospital (AVH) for further evaluation and treatment.  Operator inexperience combined with unreasonable speed are considered to be the primary contributing factors.  Alcohol and drugs do not appear to be factors in the collision.

No further information available at this time.

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Curbside Service Again at the North Conway Library

NORTH CONWAY — As construction is making great progress at the North Conway Library, the library is now once again offering curbside service.

“The staff can finally enter our main reading room again and has regained access to most of our fiction collection,” said Library Director Andrea Masters. “Some areas are still inaccessible, like most of our mystery room, and our DVD and books on CD collections are still boxed up. We can reach only about half of those collections for a few more weeks but we decided to offer curbside service again since our patrons were really looking forward to checking out at least some books and DVDs.”

Library materials reserved online will be available for pickup on Tuesdays from 10 a.m.-noon, Wednesdays from 1-3 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m.-noon at the library’s Main Street entrance.

“We currently don’t have an active phone line at the library and our voicemail doesn’t always pick up. Therefore we ask our patrons to reserve online at ncpl.biblionix.com. If that’s not possible, you can email me at andrea@northconwaylibrary.com for your reserves,” said Masters. 

“We are terribly sorry about the limited access, both to our phone and to our library materials, but we thought it would be better to have a limited opening for our patrons than none at all,” she said.

Patrons are asked to use curbside pickup only if they are feeling well, and to wear a face mask during the pickup and keep 6 feet away from others at all times.

For more information about curbside service and how to reserve library materials online, go to northconwaylibrary.com/about-us/Library-Closed-Construction.

Construction of the library addition and renovation of the old building have been ongoing throughout the COVID-19 crisis but some suppliers and furniture companies had production delays during the pandemic which has slowed down the final phase of the renovation.

“We hope to have a soft opening during the first week of October even though we will not have any shelving by then,” Masters said. “Here, again, we think it will be better to have limited access to our collection than none at all. We are missing our patrons and want to go back to serving them in person. That’s what we love to do the most. Making the lives of our patrons and the whole community better; that’s what we are here for.”