Volume 117. No. 4© WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2011 50 cents Counterfeit money in circulation in Berlin By Matilda Brown sumed it was fake.” found one other counterfeit bill. The corporate office had no one under investigation, but he said ferent from regular ones), they [email protected] When Trask marked the bill, it A manager at the Circle K/Irv- available for comment. that the Berlin Police have been should contact the Berlin Police. BERLIN — Counterfeit twenty indeed turned out to be counter- ing Station on Glen Avenue con- Deputy Chief of Police, Brian in contact with federal authori- Valerino said that at the moment dollar bills are in circulation in feit. Trask called the police and firmed that a counterfeit bill had Valerino, said that he could not ties. For businesses, Valerino said there are only counterfeit twen- Berlin and several businesses handed the bill over to them. The been received, but referred all release much information at the that if they suspect they have a ties circulating and no other de- have intercepted them. The Big customer who gave him the bill questions to the corporate office. time because the matter is still counterfeit bill (the bills look dif- nominations. Apple had a counterfeit incident paid for his purchase with non- as did the Irving on Glen Avenue. counterfeit money and gave the Eric Trask, a newly hired clerk bill willingly to Trask. The cus- at the Big Apple, said that he had tomer would not wait for the po- identified one of the counterfeit lice to arrive and instead gave Students work with Trails bills when a customer had tried Trask his name and a phone num- to use it. “I’ve been trained on it in ber. the past [identifying counterfeit After that incident, Trask said Bureau to create new visitor center bills],” Trask said. “The bill was the management went through By Matilda Brown darker and feathered, so I as- some of the nightly drops and [email protected] BERLIN – Students in the Building Trades Program at Berlin High School have been Prison expansion building a new visitor center at Jericho Mountain State Park. Work started in Septem- and cost savings ber and according to Chris Gamache, Chief of the New Hampshire Trails Bureau, and explored should be finished by early June. By Matilda Brown carcerated has increased by less Gamache said that this is [email protected] than half, the spending on pris- the first time the Trails Bureau BERLIN – In a request for in- ons has doubled. has entered into a partnership formation report issued by the “Particularly in these chal- with high school students to New Hampshire Department of lenging economic times, it is im- do work. He said that the part- Corrections recently, the state portant for the Department of nership took off and is proving outlined cost-saving measures Corrections to take an in-depth to be unique and beneficial. that, if implemented, would ad- look at all the services we provide Gamache said that in the fu- dress the cost of corrections in to ensure we are delivering them ture the state may look into the state and improve upon the in the most effective and cost-ef- similar partnerships. Roland infrastructure. ficient manner possible,” said. Pinette said that the State may In July 2008, New Hampshire Corrections Commissioner have been interested in using completed a comprehensive mas- William Wrenn. the Berlin High School be- PHOTO BY MATILDA BROWN ter plan for the study of the De- Governor John Lynch cause it was a symbiotic rela- Students in the Building Trades Program at Berlin High School work busily building the new visitor center partment of Corrections’ existing weighed in as well. “I believe that tionship: the students were at Jericho Mountain State Park. The Center is set to be finished in early June. facilities. The purpose of the it's important that we gather in- looking for a project and the study was to evaluate the most formation on a range of correc- state had limited funding. cost effective means for provid- tions services so that we can In the past, the Building ing current and future housing make informed decisions that will Trades students have built needs for the following 10 to 20 be important to planning for the houses and other projects for years. One of the recommenda- future of New Hampshire correc- private developers in Berlin. tions from the study was the ad- tions system,” said Lynch. “We Pinette said the program so- dition of male housing units at the owe it to the taxpayers to exam- licits project proposals and Northern Correctional facility in ine all of our options to ensure we then selects the ones that pro- Berlin. can meet the long-term needs of vide the best education op- The number of people incar- the Department of Corrections as portunities for the students. cerated in state prison increased efficiently as possible.” The developer for the proj- from 2,233 in 1999 to 2,917 in The request for information ect provides all materials for 2009. State spending on correc- seeks information about services the project and the Building tions increased from $52 million (including programs to help re- in 1999 to $104 million in 2009. Trades program provides la- While the number of people in- see PRISON, page A11 bor and supervision. The stu- dents do construction work, but are not licensed to do elec- trical or plumbing, so that part is finished separately. Council addresses The Jericho Mountain State Park visitor center was chosen because of the overall varied agenda benefit it would have for the By Matilda Brown The Brookside Apartments area. It promotes the mission [email protected] were awarded a $500,000 Com- of outdoor recreation and will BERLIN — Veterans were in at- munity Development Block Grant hopefully make the park more PHOTO BY MATILDA BROWN tendance at the City Council from the City so the buildings - attractive to people using This artists rendition of what the new visitor center at Jericho Mountain State Park should look like when meeting on Monday to discuss which were all built in the early ATVs and snowmobiles. it is finished hangs at the work site. the renaming of the 12th Street 1970's - can be renovated. The Matt Lambert, the instruc- Bridge. The veterans were advo- apartments - which are all sec- tor for the Building Trades gives them valuable life skills. the morning and the first year classes. cating for renaming the bridge tion 8 housing - are not consid- program, said that even if stu- The students work in shifts, with students relieving them later in The visitor center overlooks the Veteran's Memorial Bridge. ered one of the problem areas in dents do not pursue a career the second year students going the day. During the other half of the lake and has a wrap around They asserted that "Veterans the City of Berlin, but do to their in carpentry, the program to the site at quarter to eight in the day, the students attend see CENTER, page A11 Memorial Bridge" is a more inclu- age, they need many repairs to sive name than the Richard De- the basic structure. mers Bridge or the Vietnam Vet- The total cost for the project erans Bridge. is expected to be $5.2 million and Skiers turn out at Milan Winter Festival One of the men in attendance $3.2 million of that will be fi- said that this ensures that sol- nanced through Low Income By Matilda Brown [email protected] diers who were in wars past and Housing Tax Credits and tax-ex- in possible wars in the future, al- empt bond financing. MILAN — The Nansen Ski though he hoped that there A drafted contract for the Club (named in honor of Fridtjof would not be. Waste Water Treatment Plant's Nansen, an explorer who Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier leachate to be sent to the Berlin crossed Greenland on skis in asked the Veterans to get a Treatment Center received ap- 1888) held a Winter Festival in plaque or design ready for the proval to be sent to the EPA, but Milan on Jan. 23, at Milan Hill bridge so that it could be dedi- was not approved in full as the State Park. The event took cated on Memorial Day. contract still needs to be worked skiers along trails designed by The Primex Health Insurance out. However, the WWTP had a Winter Olympic coach and ath- was renewed and the City will be deadline with the EPA for early lete, John Morton. getting a $25,000 Wellness Grant February to present their plans The Winter Festival had because they are renewing now for their leachate and that is why races for men, women, and chil- instead of later. There are also the Council voted to let the draft dren, an activity area for kids, other services that come with re- be sent in. and a dog sledding team on newing sooner rather than later. Max Makaitis of Tri County hand to offer tours of the area. CAP submitted a request for a let- The festival moved at noon to ter of support from the City of the Milan Village School where local artisans, food vendors, CALENDAR . .A7 Berlin in securing a USDA Rural and musicians were in atten- CLASSIFIED . .A13-15 Development Rural Business En- terprise Grant. The grant would dance to carry on the day. EDITORIAL . .A4 be for $38,500 and the money Phoebe Backler, the contact HAPPENINGS . .A7 person for the event, said that would be used to conduct a feasi- PHOTO BY MATILDA BROWN OBITUARIES & SERVICES .