Dec. 6, 1963: Dr. Thomas Ritzman, a Concord obstetrician and a backer of Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, tries to undo the damage he did the day before with a statement to an Associated Press reporter.
Ritzman told the reporter that President Lyndon Johnson had a heart attack on the day of the Kennedy assassination. He based the claim on a photograph of LBJ gripping his left arm at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. Now Ritzman tells a Monitor reporter he was misquoted.
“I have no idea if President Johnson was suffering an attack of angina,” he says. “I certainly hope he was not.” The AP stands by its story.
Dec. 6, 1999: The Concord School Board agrees to increase the salaries of permanent substitute teachers and hire two more for the middle school and high school to share. School officials say that because of the strong economy they've had to scramble on occasion to find coverage.
Dec. 6, 2001: The New Hampshire Technical Institute has been accredited as a two-year community college by the New England Association of Schools and College's Commission on Institutions of Higher Learning, the same group that assesses the University of New Hampshire and the state colleges in Keene and Plymouth, the Monitor reports.
“This is one of the most significant moments in the history of NHTI,” said President Bill Simonton. “It will probably set the stage for the next 40 years of college.”
Dec. 7, 1965: Concord's new Douglas N. Everett Ice Arena on Loudon Road is dedicated. The opening event: a hockey game between Dartmouth and UNH.
Dec. 7, 1999: On the anniversary of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, presidential candidate John McCain warns a Concord audience that the U.S. military is not sufficiently prepared. “The fault lies not with those who serve, nor with their uniformed leadership,” McCain says. “It rests with political leaders on both sides of the aisle.”
Dec. 8, 1979: Concord City Manager Jim Smith rescinds the fire department's ban on live Christmas trees in public buildings.
Dec. 8, 1998: The federal government holds a hearing in Concord to discuss removing the peregrine falcon from the nation's endangered species list. The raptor has made a remarkable comeback in New Hampshire, which boasts 12 nesting pairs.
Dec. 9, 1979: Concord School Superintendent Calvin Cleveland says a group of Gideons will not be allowed to distribute Bibles in the schools, saying it would open the “floodgate” to all religions.
Dec. 10, 1991: In Concord, Pat Buchanan announces that he will challenge President Bush in the New Hampshire Republican primary. America's Judeo-Christian heritage must be passed on to a new generation, Buchanan says, not “dumped on some landfill called multiculturalism.”
Dec. 10, 2001: For the first time in the state's history, a group of Concord-area agencies is trying to cooperate on transportation, the Monitor reports. After nearly two years of talks, CAT and some members of the Community Providers Network of Central New Hampshire, a group of 23 human service agencies, are on the brink of pooling their assets.
Dec. 11, 2000: An early-morning fire at the Royal Garden Apartments in Concord leaves 37 people homeless. The community will respond with offers of clothing, shelter, even Christmas gifts for the kids.
Dec. 11, 2003: The Army National Guard's Hillsboro-based 744th Transportation Company holds a deployment ceremony at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord. The 140 members of the Guard unit will be gone for more than a year.
Dec. 12, 1996: Free agent pitcher Bob Tewksbury of Concord signs with the Minnesota Twins, his sixth major league team. The others: the Yankees, Cubs, Cardinals, Rangers and Padres.
Dec. 12, 2000: About 100 Concord residents voice concerns about a retail development proposed for the city's South End.
For two hours, the crowd fires off questions about traffic, the demolition of old buildings and the impact on the neighborhood's quality of life. In coming months, the proposal will be revised and then rejected by the city planning board.
Dec. 12, 2002: Concord city officials announce that they're entering into exclusive, six-month negotiations with a Portsmouth developer, Michael Simchik of One Hundred Market Group Ltd., to draw up plans for the Sears block site. A Concord builder – Tom Avallone's Cobb Hill Construction – will partner with Simchik for those conversations.
