Hello everyone,

I just wanted to touch base and let readers know I’ve been working on a few essays and commentary that I’ll begin publishing this week.

As many of you know, Bryan and Lori Davis were arraigned Friday, pleading not guilty to numerous counts stemming from public corruption charges revealed in an indictment last month. A small but very loud media circus has developed around this story, and to be frank it is not really my style to elbow through out-of-town journalists and activists. I’ll keep readers posted as the case works its way through the legal system. There are important discussions to be had about how and why this happened, should the allegations prove true.

Tonight, when Portsmouth City Council meets, the city manager’s conference agenda has a few interesting items. Of particular note is an item to explore compensating April Deacon, who was the unnamed artist in my previous story who drafted a mockup rendering after Trillium Project was approached to work on what eventually became a mural in the Fourth Ward. City administrators and 4th Ward Council Member Lyvette Mosley bypassed charter requirements to commission this project, but so far there hasn’t been much public discussion other than Mosley claiming she did nothing wrong. This discussion, should members of council and the city manager engage, could reveal much about how city officials make decisions.

Lastly, I’ll be working on an editorial about recovery housing and the deeply flawed Signal article recently published about Portsmouth’s recovery industry. One of the central claims in pushing for HB 58—legislation meant to regulate recovery housing by implementing a certificate of need—is that “treatment” housing drives up housing costs. The issue is that no real evidence has been provided, suggesting this is being driven more by antipathy towards the treatment industry rather than a genuine desire to work towards better housing solutions.

As always, thank you for reading and supporting independent journalism.

—Scott