catching up on local news

• After three decades on the force, Portsmouth Police Chief Michael Magnant has notified the city’s Police Commission that he intends to retire. The announcement came during the same week that Magnant commemorated 30 years as a Portsmouth officer. During his seven years as chief, Magnant has garnered praise from law enforcement agencies across the state, particularly for the department’s efforts to crack down on drunk driving. It was not always easy, however, as the Patrolman’s Union gave Magnant a vote of no confidence last fall. Magnant will leave the force next month to become town administrator in Rye. Deputy Police Chief Len DiSesa is also retiring this summer and will reportedly be replaced by Capt. David “Lou” Fernald. Commission chairman Jerry Howe called Magnant’s retirement a “bittersweet announcement,” but agreed with the chief’s sentiment that the Portsmouth Police Department remains “the best damn police department in the land.”

• Those intrepid enough to venture into the rain for folk icon Tom Rush’s concert at Prescott Park on July 1 were rewarded with an intimate performance beneath a new backstage tent. Rush was scheduled to play an outdoor show to kick off the 35th annual Prescott Park Arts Festival’s River House Concert Series. Persistent rain muddled those plans, but instead of canceling the show, festival organizers shifted it to the tent. According to festival director Ben Anderson, more than 350 people filed in for the 90-minute performance. “The energy was incredible. Tom simply couldn’t stop playing,” Anderson said in a press release. “It really was one of those once-in-a-lifetime performances.” Organizers are considering scheduling a second Tom Rush show for later in the summer. Other future acts in the Wednesday night series include Richie Havens, Jonathan Edwards, David Francey, The Waybacks and The Pine Leaf Boys. For more info, visit www.prescottpark.org.

• New Hampshire will soon receive more than $8 million in federal funding for affordable rental housing projects. Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter announced that the funds had been secured on July 2. A grant totaling $8,269,787 will be provided through the Tax Credit Assistance Program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, made possible by stimulus monies. Affordable rental housing is sorely needed on the Seacoast. Portsmouth’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Housing has identified affordable housing for middleclass workers as a top priority. The City Council shot down a proposal to build a 60-unit workforce housing complex off Islington Street earlier this year. Shea-Porter hopes the grant will help future projects push through. “This grant will allow people to keep a stable roof over their heads and it creates construction jobs,” she said in a press release. “It further illustrates the progress of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”

• There’s a brand new road in Portsmouth, connecting the Route 1 Bypass to Market Street at Albacore Park. Aptly named Connector Road, it officially opened on July 2, offering large northbound trucks access to Market Street and Interstate 95. The N.H. Department of Transportation established the road after imposing a 20-ton weight limit on trucks traveling across the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, which carries the Route 1 Bypass over the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth to Kittery, Maine. The DOT is reviewing a physical inspection of the bridge to determine the cost and extent of repairs it requires. Like the Memorial Bridge, which carries Route 1 across the river, the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge is in dire need of repairs, but officials have not figured out just how and when they’re going to deal with these expensive problems. The 20-ton weight limit will remain in effect indefinitely.