A hophornbeam by another name burns as hot

Thank you for publishing Susan Shea’s excellent article on hophornbeam (“Hophornbeam: A tough little tree”; Oct. 14). Readers in Windsor County, where I grew up, may know the tree as “remon.” We used the wood in the sugarhouse when we wanted some long-burning heat, and my father used remon to fashion runners for the gathering tank dray. Both my brother David and forester Gordon Richardson told me that they only learned the “correct” name, hophornbeam, in college. Curious about the name, I made an informal survey among farmers and loggers I know and contacted all 14 Vermont county foresters, in addition to writing a letter to the editor of Northern Woodlands. The term seems to be restricted to Windsor County, and I would welcome any ideas as to its origin, which clearly goes back several generations. I can be reached at pjt368@hotmail.com.

Peter Thompson

Post Mills

Vote for fair education funding in NH

Over 30 years ago, the Claremont I, Claremont II, and Londonderry Supreme Court rulings affirmed that New Hampshire citizens have a constitutional right to a fairly funded state education. These rulings declared it unconstitutional for the state to shift that responsibility onto local towns, leaving taxpayers to shoulder an unfair property tax burden.

For over three decades, the Legislature has ignored this constitutional mandate, paralyzed by political gridlock. This negligence has come at a steep cost to both taxpayers and students in communities like Newport, Claremont and Charlestown. Our towns have faced economic stagnation while we’ve struggled to fund our children’s education, even though over 50% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunch and a significant percentage have special education needs.

This funding gap has crippled our schools and burdened us with some of the highest property taxes in the state. Now, with two new lawsuits — ConVal and Rand — taking the state back to court to demand our constitutional rights, the state is wasting over $1 million fighting these cases instead of fixing the problem. As stated in one Supreme Court ruling, “(no) branch of State government can lawfully perform any act which violates the State Constitution,” and “(any) legislative act violating the constitution or infringing on its provisions must be void because the legislature, when it steps beyond its bounds, acts without authority.”

We need elected officials who will move beyond political stalemates, who honor their oath of office in Concord and finally uphold our right to a fair and adequate state-funded education. Thirty years of inaction has bankrupted us and hurt two generations of children. It’s time for change. That’s why I’m voting for Dave Trumble for Senate District 8 and for Jenny Ramsey and Nikki Murphy to represent us in the House.

Kathy Hubert

Newport

Democrats raise our taxes

Democrat State Representatives tout “affordability” like New Hampshire hasn’t been watching them these last two years. They directly voted to raise your electric bill five times by over $500 million. While Republicans fully phased out the interest and dividends income tax, Democrats sponsored a steep tax hike of over $133 million to bring it back. But, this was just the start. When that tax hike proposal failed, they decided that taxing you an extra $133 million was not enough and raised it to a staggering $451 million. Their attempts to make life less affordable didn’t end there. They also aimed to tax churches, increase tobacco taxes and then tried another time to tax your retirement savings and bank account interest.

It is absurd and insulting that Democrats can even have the nerve to try to gaslight you like this. In fact, Democrats are so delusional that they went on to say that, “Granite Staters want to pay an interest and dividends tax.” I don’t know what planet they’re on, but I have yet to meet a single person who enjoys paying taxes, especially in this economy.

Granite Staters deserve better. As Democrats plan what taxes to increase, Republicans are planning what taxes to cut to make life more affordable. From cutting the meals and rooms tax, to decreasing the SWEPT tax by $100 million and cutting taxes on Meals on Wheels participants, it’s clear, Republicans have plans to make life more affordable, Democrats have plans to take more of your money.

Wayne Hemingway

Claremont

The writer is a Republican candidate for the New Hampshire House from Sullivan District 6.