Sept. 20, 1973: Attorney General Warren Rudman decides against pressing prosecution of anyone connected with Gov. Mel Thomson's Jan. 23 search of business profits tax records. But he declares the search was “illegal” and vows to prosecute if the tax search is repeated at any time while he is attorney general. The search had exploded into a controversy after Thomson directed his chief aide to peruse files belonging to allies of former governor Walter Peterson.
Sept. 20, 1992: The first Sunday Monitor is published.
Sept. 21, 1846: Lt. Joseph H. Potter of Concord, a West Point classmate of Ulysses S. Grant, is wounded while storming a battery with his regiment at the battle of Monterey. He writes: “I was shot through the leg about two inches below the knee – the ball passing between the two bones of the leg and out the opposite side.”
Sept. 21, 1938: A giant hurricane roars through Concord. One thousand electric poles are downed and Concord Electric's Sewalls Falls station is flooded. No power can be generated. Eighty percent of the trees in parks, cemeteries and streets are destroyed in what one account describes as “six shrieking hours of wind.”
Sept. 21, 1983: Officials announce that Rumford Press will close at the end of the year, putting 400 Concord employees out of work. “It's a phenomenal shock to them,” says Charlie Stott of the AFL-CIO. Mayor David Coeyman describes the impact on the city: “In a community interested in revitalization, this is not necessarily the kind of opponent we seek. Concord has not, since the railroad left Concord, had to deal with a major employer closing its doors.”
Sept. 22, 1849: Asked to change Concord from a town to a city, local voters say no, by a vote of 637 against and 183 in favor. Four years later, they'll change their minds.
Sept. 22, 1991: Refurbished and restored through a community effort, the City Auditorium reopens with a gala variety show.
Sept. 23, 1972: Attorney General Warren Rudman testifies in favor of tougher laws for convicted felons including, in several specific categories of murder, the death penalty. Usually, he says, a life sentence means parole in 12½ years. “That's appalling,” he says. “That's just not right.”
Sept. 23, 2000: James Skinner, a state prison inmate who was acquitted of a murder charge stemming from a brawl with another inmate, has asked a judge to eliminate the arrest from his record, the Monitor reports. Under state law, anyone whose arrest results in a not-guilty verdict may ask a judge to expunge the arrest from his record. Even if his request is granted, Skinner will remain in prison for a Massachusetts murder he was convicted of committing.
Sept. 24, 1957: In a referendum, Concord voters decide to abandon manager-council government for a strong elected mayor. The margin is so thin – nine votes – that opponents demand a recount. The margin will shrink to five votes – 2,979 to 2,974 – but the result stands.
To a call for further investigation of the vote, Mayor Herbert Rainie responds: “The people of Concord have spoken and we must accept their decision.”
Almost exactly 10 years later, the city will impeach the mayor and revert to manager-council government.
Sept. 24, 2002: After months of nonpublic meetings on the matter, Concord officials say that the city will make an offer this week on the Allied Leather Tannery in Penacook, the Monitor reports.
Sept. 25, 2003: In Concord, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announces that New Hampshire will build a new emergency management center, thanks to a $9.1 million grant.
Sept. 26, 1845: The New Hampshire Courier of Concord tells readers it's willing to take payment in forms other than cash: “Those of our subscribers who are in arrears to us for the Courier and wish to pay in wood are reminded that cold weather is at hand and a few cords would be very acceptable about this time.”
Sept. 26, 1906: Whitney Barrett, a police officer, chases down 30-year-old Julia Chadwick and, despite her pleas for help, manages to shoot and kill her in a trolley in Penacook. He then turns the gun on himself. Though married with two children, Barrett had been infatuated with Chadwick.
