Derry woman breaks her leg skydiving in Maine
DERRY — A local woman, whose name was not immediately released, fractured her leg in a skydiving accident in Lebanon last Sunday.
The 29-year-old Derry woman was injured after an awkward landing at Skydive New England. She was taken to Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester following the incident.
Skydive New England owner Mike Carpenter said the woman, whose name was not released, was an "intermediate" diver that had jumped more than a hundred times.
Her parachute opened normally, Carpenter said, and everything was normal until the landing.
The woman apparently misjudged her landing and fell on top of her leg
Emery indicted for negligent homicide
DERRY — A Derry man has been indicted on felony charges of negligent homicide and is accused of killing one of his passengers in a drunken driving crash earlier this year.
Letser Emery, 20, of Bypass 28, was charged by a Rockingham County grand jury of three counts of negligent homicide along with two felony counts of reckless conduct and aggravated driving while intoxicated.
Each charge carries anywhere between 31รขÑ2 to 15 years in state prison.
This comes following an accident back on January 17 where Emery and friends James G. Kalabakas, 44, of Derry, and Joseph O'Hara, 20, also of Derry, were injured in the crash.
It is alleged Emery, the driver of the 1993 Pontiac Bonneville, was drunk, speeding, and then fell asleep at the wheel.
All three men were transported to area hospitals, and Kalabakas later died of his injuries.
Rogue rodent knocks out power to 1,800 homes
DERRY — A rogue rodent met his end while scurrying along a dangerous high tension wire on Bypass 28 Monday morning, but not before knocking out power to that area, including nearby Pinkerton Academy.
A squirrel was to blame, power crews reported, for a power outage along the bypass, and at businesses and locations near the corner of Bypass 28 and Tsienneto Road, including the Irving station, Betley Chevrolet, and Pinkerton.
Derry Police were on the scene to handle traffic flow at the busy intersection since there were no traffic lights working.
Pinkerton spokesman Robin Perrin said the school's power went off at approximately 9:30 a.m. and after speaking to power crews, the school remained in session while waiting for power to be restored.
Perrin said the lights came on for about 10 seconds, then went off again.
The decision was then made to call busses to pick up students for early dismissal.
The school's power came on at approximately 1:40 p.m. according to Perrin.
"We do have a plan we put into place," Perrin said, stressing Headmaster Mary Anderson keeps the safety of the student body and staff at the forefront.
After students left, teachers and administrators met to discuss Pinkerton's plan of action, what worked, and what didn't work, Perrin added.
Public Service of New Hampshire confirmed that the culprit was indeed a squirrel, causing two lightning arrest- ers (protective equipment) to fail.
The outage cut power to one circuit at Scobie Pond substation, impacting 1,800 customers, all from Derry, including Pinkerton Academy and Ernest P. Barka Elementary School
