Oct. 6, 2003: In the first action of its kind by any state, New Hampshire is suing 22 oil companies for using a gasoline additive that the attorney general says has polluted much of the state’s water supply. The additive, MTBE, has caused “an unprecedented and significant groundwater contamination problem,” Attorney General Peter Heed says at a press conference.
Oct. 6, 2001: Concord High School senior Matt Delois wins the Class L individual golf championship, beating out sophomore teammate Mike Beeson for the title.
Oct. 6, 1976: Publishers announce the publication of a new pocket-sized book about Gov. Mel. Thomson called Quotations of Chairman Mel, a spoof on a book of quotes of Mao Tse-Tung. Among them, a comment to the Panamanians: “Go. Pick your bananas. We’ll run the canal.”
Oct. 7, 2002: Though higher-ups in national women’s organizations and pro-choice groups are making frequent pit stops in New Hampshire this election season, they’re not dropping in to tout Katrina Swett, the female Democrat running in the Second District, the Monitor reports. In fact, despite strong financial backing and a national name, Swett has failed to get endorsements from the National Organization for Women, Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood or the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.
Oct. 7, 2001: Concord native Tom Mailhot begins the Ward Evans Atlantic Challenge, a 2,900-nautical-mile rowing race from the Canary Islands off Africa to Barbados in the Caribbean. Mailhot is a member of the only American team in the race.
Oct. 7, 2000: Concord High quarterback Matt Skoby sets the school record for touchdown passes thrown in a game with five during a 38-10 win over Manchester Central.
Oct. 7, 1989: The Los Angeles Times reports that conservatives are enjoying newfound access to the Bush White House – and credits Chief of Staff John Sununu, the former New Hampshire governor. Sununu has consulted with conservatives on presidential appointments and legislation and has arranged several meetings between Bush and the American Conservative Union. “Sununu has been terrific,” conservative activist Paul Weyrich tells the paper. “He has handled himself better than any chief of staff I’ve seen in the 23 years I’ve been in the White House, and I’ve known them all.”
Oct. 8, 2001: Concord area cancer patients and their families win a prolonged and sometimes agonizing battle, when a state board approves Concord Hospital’s plan to bring radiation treatments closer to home. The decision clears the way for the hospital to install a $7.8 million radiation device in its new cancer treatment center.
Oct. 8, 1856: A show called Price’s Ethiopian Minstrels opens at Concord’s Phenix Hall. The show, according to an ad in Concord’s Patriot, is “affectionately portraying the lights & shadows of a darky’s life.”
Oct. 8, 1869: Franklin Pierce, 14th president of the United States, dies in Concord.
Oct. 9, 2002: Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who led the allied NATO forces in the Kosovo conflict, visits the state with a series of stops, including one to endorse Democrat Katrina Swett in the Second District race. Clark says he supports a congressional resolution that would give President Bush authority to use military force against Iraq, although he has reservations about the country’s move toward war.
Oct. 9, 2001: Red River Theatres, a nonprofit organization set on bringing movies back to Concord’s downtown, receives $15,000 from the city council to conduct a feasibility study on whether a downtown movie theater would succeed. The group plans to buy the former Concord Theater building on South Main Street and restore it.
Oct. 9, 2000: Central New Hampshire residents tell the Monitor they are less than preoccupied with the impeachment trial of state Supreme Court Chief Justice David Brock. On the eve of deliberations in the case, people interviewed in downtown Concord suggest the state Senate should slap Brock on the wrist and then send him back to work.
Oct. 9, 1992: In the first Gile concert of the season, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra play to a full house at the Concord City Auditorium.
Oct. 10, 2000: By votes of 18-4, 17-5, 18-4 and 14-8, the state Senate acquits Supreme Court Chief Justice David Brock of the four impeachment charges against him. In remarks before the votes, most of the senators say that they found Brock’s conduct troubling but not serious enough to remove him from office.
Oct. 10, 1973: Speaking at a dinner meeting of the new Hampshire Petroleum council, Gov. Mel Thomson expresses his desire to bring more oil to the state, saying that we must “drill in the mountains and drill in the valleys.”
Oct. 10, 1774: Reacting to the Intolerable Acts and Britain’s closing of Boston Harbor, a special town meeting in Portsmouth votes to send 200 pounds to Boston for poor relief. The amount is four times Portsmouth’s annual province tax. Other New Hampshire towns, including Concord, will soon follow Portsmouth’s example and send money to Boston.
Oct. 11, 2000: Arizona Sen. John McCain records radio commercials endorsing several Republican state Senate candidates who are hoping to capitalize on his popularity. The support is welcome because McCain handily won the state’s presidential primary six months ago.
Oct. 11, 1894: James M. Langley is born in Hyde Park, Mass. He will be the editor and publisher of the Concord Monitor for four decades, beginning in 1923. He will be instrumental in the campaign to elect Dwight D. Eisenhower president in 1952 and will later serve as Eisenhower’s ambassador to Pakistan.
Oct. 11, 1983: The Concord Library’s collection of 500 stuffed birds and mammals is loaded into a U-Haul and trucked to the new Science Center of New Hampshire in Holderness for display. Just as well. The library used to lend the animals to Concord residents, whose household pets chewed their wings and took swipes at their feathers. Estimated cost to restore them: $5,000-$10,000.
Oct. 11, 1854: In a closed-door meeting at Concord’s Eagle Hotel, former New Hampshire congressman Edmund Burke leads a group of disenchanted Democrats who vote to repudiate President Franklin Pierce.
Oct. 12, 2002: It used to be that Concord had an affordable housing shortage, the Monitor reports. Today, it simply has a housing shortage – one that’s hitting every income sector, from minimum-wage workers to wealthy executives.
Oct. 12, 2001: With an anthrax scare sweeping the country, state officials release an anthrax fact sheet and guidelines for handling suspicious packages. “Mail room staff and persons opening letters should be alert to unusual letters and packages,” said Dr. Jesse Greenblatt, the state epidemiologist.
Oct. 12, 1990: New Hampshire Reps. Bob Smith and Chuck Douglas are among the minority voting to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts. The vote is 64-361.
