Latest news with #Nashua
Associated Press
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- Associated Press
Sig Sauer, faced with lawsuits over a popular pistol, gets protection in New Hampshire
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Faced with mounting lawsuits over a popular pistol, New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer asked for — and got — protection in the form of a new state law that makes it harder to take the gunmaker to court. Supporters in the Republican-led Legislature said the law was needed to help a major employer. The lawsuits say Sig Sauer's P320 pistol can go off without the trigger being pulled, an allegation the company denies. The law covers all gun manufacturers and federal firearm licensees in product liability claims regarding the 'absence or presence' of four specific safety features. One of those features is an external mechanical safety that people suing Sig Sauer say should be standard on the P320, based on its design. Claims can still be filed over manufacturing defects. Those who have sued Sig Sauer in New Hampshire and elsewhere include police, federal law enforcement officers, and other experienced gun users from multiple states who say they were wounded by the gun. The manufacturer has prevailed in some cases. It is appealing two recent multimillion-dollar verdicts against it, in Pennsylvania and Georgia. George Abrahams a U.S. Army veteran and painting contractor in Philadelphia who won his case, said he had holstered his P320, put it in the pocket of his athletic pants and zipped it up before going downstairs. 'All I did was come down the stairway and there was a loud explosion, and then the excruciating pain and bleeding,' he told The Associated Press in 2022. He said the bullet tore through his right thigh. The company, which employs over 2,000 people in a state with permissive gun laws, says the P320 has internal safety mechanisms and 'has undergone the most rigorous testing and evaluation of any firearm, by military and law enforcement agencies around the world.' It says the problem is user error or incompatible holsters, not the design. 'Do you want people to be able to sue car manufacturers because they sell cars that don't have air conditioning?' state Rep. Terry Roy, a Republican from Deerfield, told the House during debate in May. Opponents criticized the bill as a special exemption in liability law that has never been granted to any other New Hampshire company. 'I think there is a difference between helping out a large employer and creating an exemption that actually hurts people and doesn't give them their day in court,' state Rep. David Meuse, a Democrat from Portsmouth, said in an interview. His district covers Newington, where Sig Sauer is headquartered. A 2005 federal law gives the gun industry broad legal immunity. New Hampshire was already among 32 states that have adopted gun immunity laws in some form, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Some states also have repealed gun industry immunity statutes or weakened them. Sig Sauer seeks help A Sig Sauer executive asked New Hampshire lawmakers for help in April, two weeks after a Pennsylvania-based law firm filed its most recent lawsuit in federal court in Concord on March 26 over the design of the P320. The firm represents over 100 people who have filed such lawsuits, including more than 70 in New Hampshire. 'We're fighting all these court cases out of town and every single court case we have to fight takes away money from Granite State residents and workers that we can employ and technology,' testified Bobby Cox, vice president of governmental affairs for the company. The measure took effect once Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed it on May 23. Legislators said it doesn't apply to the current lawsuits. However, lawyers for Sig Sauer mentioned it as part of their argument to dismiss the March case or break up and transfer the claims of 22 plaintiffs to court districts where they live. A hearing on the matter is set for July 21. Ayotte's office did not respond to an AP request seeking comment, but it told The Keene Sentinel that she's 'proud to protect New Hampshire companies that create thousands of good-paying jobs from frivolous lawsuits.' 'Out-of-state trial lawyers looking to make money will not find a venue in New Hampshire,' Ayotte's office said in an emailed statement to the newspaper. Robert Zimmerman, the plaintiffs' lead attorney in Pennsylvania, said the goal of the lawsuits is to get the weapon's design changed so that it's safe for the people who use it. New Hampshire was the chosen location because federal rules allow lawsuits against a company in its home state, Zimmerman said. Those lawsuits have been assigned to one federal judge in Concord. 'Sig is trying to strategically decentralize this case and make every client go to 100 different courthouses and slow down the process for both sides to get a just outcome, which is a trial that is decided on the merits,' Zimmerman said in an interview. Sig Sauer gets protection The lawsuits accuse Sig Sauer of defective product design and marketing and negligence. During the House debate, Roy said he owns a P320 and it's one of his favorite guns, 'but you can buy them with or without safeties.' The plaintiffs say 'the vast majority' of P320 models sold don't come with the safety, 'even as an option.' Sig Sauer says some users prefer the faster draw time granted by the absence of an external safety; others want the feature for added security. Sig Sauer offered a 'voluntary upgrade' in 2017 to include an alternate design that reduces the weight of the trigger, among other features. The plaintiffs' lawyers say the upgrade did not stop unintentional discharges. States, industries and immunity 'It's not a great look' when a manufacturer can carve out a statutory exemption for itself, but it's also not unusual, said Daniel Pi, an assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill in 2023 following a deadly school shooting that gives gun and ammunition dealers, manufacturers and sellers additional protections against lawsuits. This year, Tennessee lawmakers passed another bill to further limit liability for gun companies. In a different industry — pesticides — governors in North Dakota and Georgia signed laws this year providing legal protections to Bayer, the maker of Roundup, a popular weed killer. Bayer has been hit with 181,000 claims alleging that the key ingredient in Roundup causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Bayer disputes those claims. The Louisiana Legislature passed a bill that would protect nursing homes from most lawsuits and cap damages. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry hasn't acted on it yet.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The $67,000,000 Chinese mystery in New Hampshire
(NewsNation) — When a billionaire Chinese businessman and his company quietly purchased a commercial building in Nashua, New Hampshire, to ostensibly set up a water plant, the deal went largely unnoticed. That changed when the purchase price was publicly revealed. The company, Nongfu Spring, is China's largest beverage company. The site is next to the Pennichuck water system and allows the company to use local water for a beverage plant. What's raising eyebrows is the mystery of why the company paid $67 million in cash for a property valued at $15 million. 'Being tied into our Pennichuck water system and taking millions of gallons a day of drinking water from the citizens of Nashua is very concerning,' local resident Bob Lozeau told NewsNation. He says most folks in Nashua didn't know about the sale before it happened. State Senator Kevin Avard, a Republican whose district includes part of Nashua, shared his concerns. 'You have the airport here. You have our water supply they are looking to capture,' he told NewsNation. Chinese-owned farmland in the US raises worries of drone attacks at military bases The building spans 337,000 square feet and is situated on 23 acres. It's close to the Nashua Airport, several defense centers and a Federal Aviation Administration control center. Lily Tang Williams fled communism in China and is now running for Congress in New Hampshire as a Republican. 'I did research in English and Mandarin, which is my first language, and I was just shocked,' Williams told NewsNation's Brian Entin. 'I have been trying to warn people,' she says. 'Xi Jinping has a China dream, and his China dream is to use a soft power invasion. Business. Education. Apps like TikTok and WeChat. Media. Entertainment. Everything they can, without firing one shot, to expand into western countries like the United States.' She says China doesn't want her to discuss what she calls the 'soft power invasion' and the national security concerns associated with projects like the Nongfu Spring plant. We asked her what would happen if she spoke out about it in China. 'I would disappear. I'm afraid if I go back, and I go in, they won't let me go out. I would disappear. They want me to shut up,' she told us. The Nongfu Spring expansion in Nashua isn't the only Chinese investment. A few miles away, a Chinese investor purchased the former campus of what was Daniel Webster College. The 50-acre site was sold for $14 million about seven years ago, but it is mostly abandoned today. The mayor of Nashua, Jim Donchess, says the investor paid double what the property was worth. Behind California's underground baby industry bringing Chinese women to the US We asked him why Nongfu Spring would pay more than four times the assessed value for the property by the water plant. 'It's very weird. Why they would do that, I have no idea,' he said. The mayor says he's not against the project, and he doesn't believe there are any national security concerns. The city owns the Pennichuck Corporation water system itself, and the mayor says the city would never consider selling the water company. But he, like everyone else in Nashua, is still wondering why Nongfu Spring paid so much for the property. 'It's very puzzling as to why that would happen,' he said. Nongfu Spring has not yet responded to NewsNation requests for comment. We will update this story if they do. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
30-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Concerns about transparency swirl around Nashua performing arts center
Thursday's decision arises from one of more than a dozen lawsuits resident Laurie A. Ortolano has filed against Nashua in the past five years under the RTK law. It clarifies that a 2008 change to the law didn't narrow the scope of entities bound by it. Legislators added language specifying that government-owned nonprofit corporations are public bodies subject to the RTK law, but that doesn't mean all for-profit corporations are exempt, the court ruled. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up To determine whether an entity constitutes a public body under the RTK law, judges still must conduct a 'government function' test, just as they were required to do before the 2008 change to the law. The lower court failed to do that in this case. Advertisement In response to Thursday's decision, Ortolano said it seems fairly clear that NPAC Corp. is using public money to perform a government function, especially considering how involved city officials have been in the entity's financing and administration. Advertisement Ortolano said officials had long reassured the public that the performing arts center would be operated transparently, but then they established the for-profit entity. 'All of the records went dark, and you could not really track accountability of the money any longer,' she said. Ortolano's lawsuit alleges the city owns a nonprofit entity that owns the for-profit corporation, but city attorney Steven A. Bolton disputed that. Nashua doesn't own any of the entities in question, he said. (That said, the city's Board of Alderman approves mayoral appointees to lead the nonprofits.) Bolton said he was pleased that the Supreme Court agreed with the trial court's decision to dismiss the city as a defendant in this case, and he expressed confidence that the money raised for this project was spent appropriately on construction, furnishings, and perhaps initial operating costs. Attorneys for the remaining defendant, NPAC Corp., didn't respond Thursday to requests for comment. The corporation maintains it is a private entity exempt from the RTK law, even though its members are listed on Gregory V. Sullivan, an attorney who practices in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and who serves as president of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said he suspects the superior court will conclude that NPAC Corp. is subject to the RTK law. He commended Ortolano as 'a right-to-know warrior' and criticized leaders who resist transparency. 'The city of Nashua has historically, in my opinion, not been cooperative with requests to disclose the public's records as opposed to other cities and towns in New Hampshire,' he said. 'We the people are the government, own the government, and they're our records.' Advertisement This article first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you'd like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, Steven Porter can be reached at
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
Police: Driver arrested after deadly pedestrian crash in Nashua, NH
A driver is in custody in connection with a deadly pedestrian crash in Nashua. According to police, officers were called to an accident on Kinsley Street on Sunday morning. The operator, 52-year-old Jason Fitzgerald, was arrested. The victim was identified as 58-year-old Kurt Boutin. Detectives and accident reconstruction are investigating, police said. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
Nashua man arrested, facing multiple child sexual abuse charges following investigation
Hudson police announced that a Nashua man has been arrested following a child abuse investigation. Stephen Schreiber, 32, of Nashua, was taken into custody on Saturday and is facing the following charges: Manufacturing of Child Abuse Images Multiple counts of Possession of Child Abuse Images Criminal Trespass Hudson police were tipped by a local business, which believed that one of their employees was using their photography equipment to print out child abuse images. Investigators were able to obtain one of the devices, which contained the suspected child sexual abuse images. An investigation remains ongoing, and investigators are conducting a thorough forensic exam to determine if any of the victims in the images can be identified. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
