"I came late on purpose. I thought they'd be serving lunch by now."
Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua, who arrived at the Hispanic Week VIP Luncheon at Chester's on Friday just as City Council president Frank Moran was going to make a proclamation for the mayor.
Neighborly competition
Methuen Mayor Stephen Zanni recently told city councilors they should be proud of the services the city provides under a tight budget, but he took a shot at two neighboring cities in the process.
"Some people say, 'We don't want to compare ourselves,'" said Zanni. "Well, I am. Methuen is a great place to live. I'm comparing us to the Andovers and North Andovers, not to the Lawrences and not to the Haverhills."
Big Mac Attack
Methuen City Councilor Joyce Campagnone's announcement that the Pleasant Valley Street McDonald's will celebrate a grand-reopening June 26 caught the attention of Councilor Tom Ciulla.
"Free Big Macs," joked Ciulla. "I'm there, definitely."
Moose on the loose
Some "wildlife" recently took up residence in New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's Washington office.
Courtesy of White Mountains Attractions, the oversized stuffed animals included a seven-foot moose named "Max" and a bear called "Kodak."
The critters were intended to help the senator with the annual "Experience New Hampshire" reception last week. The event highlights Granite State products and attractions like Londonderry's Moonlight Meadery.
Efforts to goad aide Faryl Ury into revealing that the stuffed animals were from some exotic port beyond the Granite State were singularly unsuccessful, but she played along in her own good-humored way.
The Eagle-Tribune to Ury: "Where did Max the moose come from?"
Ury: "Max came from New Hampshire in his Maxmobile."
Max seemed more kid friendly to us than the real moose some hunter bagged that was for years on display at former New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg's Capitol office.
Ury acknowledged as much. "We had some kids this morning visit Max and they liked him," she said. Popular profession
Upon being asked about how many applications that Hill View Montessori School in Haverhill have received for their 10 vacancies on their staff, executive director RuthAnn Goguen took a reporter into her office and literally showed the stacks and stacks of applications that she had on the floor of her office.
It must be a pretty tough job market out there for teachers.
