GILFORD — Police have charged a Gilmanton man with stealing fire wood from a former business partner.
Police said the victims reported the theft on January 28 telling them that Nicolas Fleming, 43, of 22 Drake Ave. in Gilmanton had come to a job site on Sawmill Road in Gilford and had taken 1 1/2 cords of wood valued at about $400.
The victim said he and Fleming once worked together but had a falling out in December. He said Fleming had no reason to take the wood.
Police went to the site and noticed that there were tire marks and foot steps that went back and forth from where the victim said his wood had been stacked.
The next day, the victim told police there was a witness to the theft and police interviewed that witness via telephone two days later. The witness said he saw a blue pickup being driven by a man he used to see at the job site. He said he was driving a Ford Ranger with a trailer with the N.H. registration of FLEMDOG.
Police next interviewed the property owner who told them he had not given Fleming permission to be on his property. The property owner said his contract for firewood was with the victim.
The land owner also said Fleming had told him he would do the job for less money but the land owner said he would keep his business with the victim unless he didn't want to do the job any longer.
Fleming was arrested by Gilford Police and charged with one count of theft by unauthorized taking. He appeared on February 7 in the 4th Circuit Court, Laconia Division and Judge Jim Carroll ordered him released on $1,000 personal recognizance bail and to stay away from the victim.
In a twist to the story, Gilmanton Police Chief Joe Collins confirmed yesterday that his department is investigating a complaint made by Fleming against the victim.
Collins said the victim came to Fleming's home and allegedly assaulted him and the Gilmanton Police were called during the altercation.

LACONIA — On the recommendation of City Manager Scott Myers, the City Council last night rejected the report of a fact finder appointed to resolve the impasse between the city and Professional Firefighters, Local 1153, in negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. The last contract expired in June, 2010.
Myers said that both parties agreed to the appointment of a neutral fact finder, whose recommendations remain confidential until ratified by both the city and the union, when they would provide the basis of a collective bargaining agreement.
Myers recommended that the council reject the report based on the "cost items" within it. He said that that since the fact finder issued his report the Laconia Professional Firefighters have met, but he was not aware that the union members have acted on the report.

LACONIA — Bill Binnie of Binnie Media, who has reached agreement with the city to acquire the abandoned police station on Church Street, spoke before the City Council last night about the role the building would play in the television and radio network he's assembling.
Binnie said that the city has agreed to sell the building for $1 on the understanding that he will invest between $300,000 and $400,000 in its renovation together with another $500,000 to $750,000 in equipping it as a television and radio studio. Ultimately he expects a payroll of 25 full-time and part-time employees based in Laconia.
Last year, Binnie purchased 17 stations formerly owned and operated by the bankrupt Nassau Broadcasting of Princeton New Jersey, including WLNH, WEMJ and WJJY with studios in Gilford. He said that "we realized we were going to blow up Gilford, not literally," explaining that WJJY was a Concord station and would be returned to the capital city, where he recently bought the surplus Walker Street School. WLNH, which he called one of the country's most venerable stations, belonged in Laconia, where it originated, along with WEMJ. Both will operate from Church Street.
WBIN-TV, the flagship of Binnie's company, will ultimately operate a news bureau from Laconia. "This will be a major media center in downtown Laconia," Binnie said. "By 2015 we'll be interviewing presidential candidates. It is only appropriate that it happens here."
Binnie stressed that his company would maintain strong connections to the local community, referring specifically the WLNH's relationship with the annual Children's Auction. Nurturing local relationships, reinvesting in the communities and providing good jobs, he said is "really what we're about."
City manager Scott Myers said the city has reached agreement with Binnie on the terms and conditions for transferring the property and anticipates the transaction will close in the near future.