Nashua (N.H.) Telegraph Daily News

The New England Patriots released running back Eric Kettani from their practice squad Friday after he was ordered back to duty with the Navy. Kettani said in a tweet Friday he had arrived at the USS Klakring, a frigate which is in Jacksonville, Fla. “Just reported on the USS Klakring and thank you everyone for your encouraging thoughts and support,” the tweet said. The Patriots had signed Kettani, who played fullback at Navy, on May 4, 2009, and placed him on the reserve/military list July 23, 2009. He was activated from that list July 28, released after training camp and signed to the practice squad. Kettani is appealing the decision by the Navy. By releasing him rather than putting him back on the reserve list “we have the option to bring him back if other things get worked out,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Friday. “Once he’s on reserve, then he’s out for the year.” The Patriots filled the practice squad vacancy with defensive back Josh Victorian, who had been released Wednesday. Kettani made the practice squad for the Patriots and had applied to the United States Navy for the program that allows service personnel with special skills to replace the remaining three years of their military commitment with five years in the reserves. Former athletes from Air Force and Army are allowed to pursue this program, but for unspecified reasons those from Navy are not. Kettani, who had been in Foxborough practicing with the Patriots since the start of training camp, flew out Friday morning to resume serving aboard the USS Klakring.

BOYS SOCCER Souhegan 1, Oyster River 0 (OT) Lucas Aveling scored the games only goal as the Sabers improved to 7-5. James Sheldon assisted on the Aveling goal. Bendan Dix was stellar in net saving 11 shots including two breakaways. Sam Leedy played well on defense and Ryan Peterson had a solid game offensively in the win. Dover 1, Merrimack 0 The Tomahawks fell to 7-4 after a tough loss to Dover.

HUDSON – It was all about survival on Friday night for the Alvirne High School football team, and the Winnacunnet Warriors were more than happy to oblige. The Broncos took advantage of seven Warrior turnovers – including six fumbles – to pull out a clutch 14-7 comeback win, with Brandon Rule’s 28-yard yard run with 5:26 to play being the difference. “We knew we had to have this win if we wanted to stay alive in Division II,” said Broncos coach Bob Nimblett, as his team moved to 2-3 in the division while the Warriors dropped to 2-2. “And we feel on any given night, any Division II team can win a football game.” Warriors coach Ron Auffant knows why his team didn’t. “One word – turnovers,” he said. “It was a disgrace. I’m embarrassed our fans had to come and watch this.” Why was Auffant so upset? Because his team, which rushed for 200 yards (led by Drew Rocco’s 112 yards on 14 carries) had a 7-0 lead, but then gave up the ball and the lead.

The fight against the NCAA on behalf of former athletes just got a lot more interesting. Bloomberg is reporting that Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell is suing the NCAA for denying student-athletes (current and former) from receiving compensation for the commercial use of their likeness and image. Electronic Arts Inc., the second-largest U.S. video game maker, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Russell, who led the University of San Francisco to two championships in 1955 and 1956, accuses it of using his image in a “Tournament of Legends” feature on an NCAA basketball video game, the report says. The New York Times first reported that former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon filed a class action lawsuit against the NCAA for antitrust violations last March. Russell’s involvement offers a huge support to O’Bannon and organizations like the National College Players Association, who have been fighting and positioning the NCAA for financial compensation to college athletes. Outside of his basketball accomplishments, the 77-year-old Russell has been long respected as an activist and voice for social change. He was awarded with the 2011 Presidential Medal of Honor.

BEDFORD – Mistakes happen, but it’s not often a high school football team pays for every single one it makes. Friday night, it happened to Milford. The Spartans turned the ball over twice, leading to two touchdowns, gave up a punt return for a score, missed a tackle that led to another touchdown, failed to field a kickoff and badly lost the field possession battle against Bedford. And that was just the first half of a 49-6 thumping. “It was big plays,” Milford coach Keith Jones said. “We don’t field a kick return. The field position. The pick-six.

AMHERST – They may be down, but if Friday night was any indication, they are not out. The Souhegan High School football team, losers of four straight going into last night’s home game with Pembroke Academy, finally got in the Division III win column with a 46-13 decision over the winless Spartans. At 1-3 in division play, there is no margin of error for the three-time defending champions, who travel to Milford on Friday night. “We pretty much need to run the table for this point on,’’ Souhegan coach Mike Beliveau said. “The kid know that.’’ The Sabers are trying to avoid missing the post-season for the first time in 15 years. Souhegan put this one away quickly, with senior quarterback Robby McCormick throwing three of his five touchdown passes on the first quarter. He found Chris Chininis from 37 yards away to open the scoring, then tossed a 15-yard TD pass to Tyler Ford and a 10-yarder to Tim Beliveau to complete a productive first quarter. “We wanted to start fast tonight,’’ McCormick said. “We have a lot of talent, just not returning starters, and I think we’re starting to come together.’’ Chininis would make a spectacular diving catch on a fourth and three scoring toss that covered four yards late in the second quarter, making it 27-0 at halftime. Pembroke turned the ball over three times in the first half, with Beliveau recovering a pair of Spartan fumbles. Teammate James Ewing picked off a pass early in the second quarter. McCormick hit Ford with a 40-yard touchdown pass in the quarter to put the Sabers up 33-0 and pretty much end the night for the Sabers starters.

NASHUA – A Portland, Maine-based pizza chain plans to open a restaurant in the former downtown railroad station that was condemned by the city in 2009. Portland Pie Co. is listed on city documents as the new occupant of the building. The east and west sides of the building will be demolished, said Mike Findlay, manager of building safety. Those sections of the structure formerly housed the Cattleman’s Sandwich Shop and Saloon and the Speed Queen Laundromat, respectively. Portland Pie has four restaurants, including one in Manchester. The chain specializes in gourmet pizzas made with flavored dough, according to its Web site. The site of the new restaurant was condemned three years ago after a van ran into Cattleman’s, prompting a temporary wall patch and an inspection. Although the crash didn’t cause the damage that led to the condemnation, the accident did lead the city to conduct a more thorough probe of the building, which revealed serious structural problems that could cause the building to collapse under a heavy snow or high winds, Findlay said. Since last year, the Stabile Co.

Newly launched WBIN-TV hopes to take a bite out of WMUR’s market. Though barely a few months old, New Hampshire’s newest television station is making some big moves to carve itself a spot in the state’s media landscape. WBIN, a station recently launched by – and named for – former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bill Binnie, has recruited executives from local stations, launched its own nightly news program and will cosponsor the Oct. 11 Republican presidential debate at Dartmouth College. Along with his Carlisle One Media, Binnie has purchased several low-power stations around New Hampshire, ensuring a greater coverage area, and is considering a move into radio. Binnie is trying to build a media empire – and he just might succeed. “Binnie is an extraordinarily capable and smart business guy,” said Gary O’Neil, principal at 02 Creative Energy in Manchester and a longtime New Hampshire advertising executive. “Anybody who underestimates him is doing it at a great risk.” What remains to be seen is what this media power play will mean for WMUR, the ABC affiliate that has long been the major television station in New Hampshire. WMUR has just rolled out its own subchannel, dubbed MeTV New Hampshire, which – along with its primary channel – will likely vie for some of the same viewers and advertising dollars as WBIN. Binnie says it’s extraordinary that a market the size of New Hampshire has only one full-power station. “We see a real opportunity for another important media voice in New Hampshire,” Binnie said.

This has been a banner year for the state’s long-standing effort to return salmon to the Merrimack River, and local fishermen will soon reap the benefits. Up to 500 adult Atlantic salmon, some as large as 16 pounds, will be released in to the Merrimack River over the coming weeks, according to state Fish and Game officers. That number, the result of a record number of adult salmon captured while returning from the Atlantic Ocean, will be released in addition to the roughly 800 younger, smaller salmon that are released each year. “These record returns have finally given us the opportunity to release adult salmon to spawn naturally in the river this fall,” said Matt Carpenter, coordinator of the state Anadromous Fish Restoration Program. The program was founded in 1969 to restore salmon and herring populations, among other fish, to the Merrimack and other rivers across the state. Salmon are one of several fish species known as anadromous, meaning they live part of their life in fresh water and part in salt water. Officials have worked for decades to capture salmon returning from the ocean to spawn in the Merrimack River, but they rarely find more than 100 adult fish, according to state counts. This year’s record haul of more than 400 adult salmon is more than program officers need to meet their goal of producing 1 million fry to put in New Hampshire streams. Once they’re captured, the adult salmon are kept in hatcheries, including the federal hatchery in Nashua, to produce fry, or very young fish. These salmon are released in streams throughout New Hampshire, where they live for a year or two before going down the Merrimack River to the ocean, where they breed. When it’s time for them to give birth, the adult fish return to the stream where they were born.

NASHUA – A prospective member of an outlaw motorcycle gang has received a rare maximum sentence for assault following the shooting of a teen after a melee at a pizza joint last year. Kristofer Haken, 32, formerly of Londonderry, was sentenced to 10-20 years in prison by Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson on Wednesday. Haken had pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for shooting a high school student during a gang turf war at Luigi’s Pizza Bar and Grill in Manchester, said Hillsborough County Attorney Dennis Hogan. Police were called to the restaurant at 712 Valley St. around 8:30 p.m.

Summer-like weather lasted for most of September, even though meteorological fall began Sept. 1. No doubt few complained about the lack of the chill that sometimes takes hold during September. The jet stream maintained a position mostly to the north of New England last month and allowed the subtropical high through the western Atlantic to be more dominant. Winds flowing around at that height brought air our way from the South and Southwest during most of September, and that’s why cooler-than-normal temperatures were confined to just a few days. Temperatures averaged above normal for the sixth month in a row after a four-month period of colder-than-normal readings last winter. “Normal” is a term commonly used in weather, and as we all know, weather is virtually never normal. “Normal” with respect to weather and climate refers to averages that have been created using the previous 30 years of recorded weather data.

Summer has always been my favorite season, although I can hardly remember the days it came with an extra-special bonus: 10 or so leisurely weeks of bike riding, swimming, baseball playing, playground-hanging, beachgoing and so on, without that pesky school thing getting in the way. Spring is neat, mainly because it means summer’s coming, and fall is OK, I suppose. And I’ve even heard of people who actually like winter. But think for a minute about October. Even if you take the highly overrated obsession (my words) of driving around and wasting gas just to ooh and ahh at dying leaves out of the equation, October has to win Month of the Year because it seems to offer something for just about everybody. Aside from its fresh, cool breezes and bright sunshine, October means apple festivals, pumpkin festivals, the World Series and weekends of almost nonstop football, from Pop Warner to the NFL. It’s time for soccer, field hockey and half-marathons; for picking apples; and for pies and cider and that perfect pumpkin. October even has a federal holiday, albeit a “pseudo-holiday,” as we who don’t get it off call it.

Monday is a federal holiday in observance of Columbus Day. Most public schools are closed, as are state offices and courts. Post offices are closed, although automated postal centers, the postal equivalent of ATMs, will be available. Nashua City Hall is closed, but many town halls are open, including Brookline, Litchfield, Merrimack and Milford (where the town clerk’s office will be closed). Most public libraries will be closed, including those in Brookline, Merrimack and Nashua.

NASHUA – Dr. Harris A. Berman, M.D., cofounder of the Matthew Thornton Health Plan in Nashua, was hired as dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine, the school announced Thursday. Berman had served as interim dean since December 2009. Berman is originally from Concord and graduated from Concord High School in 1956, but he developed strong ties to the Nashua area while helping create Matthew Thornton, one of New England’s first HMOs. During Berman’s time as interim dean, the School of Medicine expanded global health programs, recruited key clinical and basic science faculty, and strengthened its finances, the university said. Berman was the School of Medicine’s dean of public health and professional degree programs and served as chairman of the department of public health and community medicine from 2003-08. Before he arrived at Tufts, Berman was the chief executive officer of the Tufts Health Plan for 17 years. Berman has also served as chairman of the board of the Massachusetts Association of HMOs and of the Celebrity Series of Boston.

NASHUA – Several local police departments want your drugs. Capitalizing on the success of previous drives, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency is coordinating a National Take-Back Initiative later this month. Residents can drop off old, unneeded or otherwise unwanted prescription drugs to police – no questions asked. Police will then dispose of the drugs. The collections will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

MILFORD – The Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley was selected to receive $10,000 as a recipient of a nationwide Boys & Girls Club of America and Disney filmmaking contest. The prize, which will support arts programming, was driven from the premiere event of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” in which ticket proceeds were donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. A film from members of the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley is among the 10 film projects that were chosen for creative approaches in Claymation, short film and music video. A panel composed of judges from Disney, Regal and Comcast selected the top 10. “Disney has provided us with so many opportunities, and we are thankful to have such a special relationship with them that dates back many years,” said Roxanne Spillet, president and CEO of the BGCA. “This latest collaboration will help provide club members with new resources to be creative and discover talents through the arts.” The legacy began more than 50 years ago when Walt Disney was made an honorary member of the BGCA Board of Governors.

MANCHESTER – Manchester police deployed its SWAT unit Thursday to take down what they say was a “large scale,” garage-based drug dealing operation, arresting four people including a Nashua resident. The SWAT unit executed a search warrant at 544 Somerville St. on Thursday and arrested: •Willy Valentin, 26, of Nashua. •Felipe Pizarro-Ayala, 39, of Weare. •Jose Rodriguez, 39, of Manchester. •Rey Barrientos, 44, of Lawrence, Mass. Valentin and Pizarro-Ayala were each charged with one count of sale of a narcotic and expect Valentin to be charged with violating his federal probation, police said. The building where the men were allegedly selling drugs is a rented property operating as an auto repair garage. Police had “developed information” that a busy drug trade was being conducted there. They found surveillance cameras around the building and a shotgun in a van parked at the address, police said. Police also executed a search warrant on Brown Avenue in Manchester where Pizarro-Ayala allegedly stored property and found a .22 caliber handgun with scratched out serial numbers.

NASHUA – Despite recording only two sub-80 scores on the day, the Keene Blackbirds were able to bask in the Nashua sun, repeating as Division I champions, edging out Bishop Guertin 402-408 in Thursday’s team competition at Nashua Country Club. Once again, Keene – which won last year’s title on the best regular-season record after the tournament was rained out – was led by Chelsoe Barrett. This Blackbird was medalist for the day with a 74. The three-over par round puts last year’s individual state champion ahead of the rest of the field and in good position to repeat. The top 24 (and ties) individual scorers from the team competition round will take to NCC again Saturday for the individual championship. The first tee time Saturday is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Thursday’s scores will be added to Saturday’s totals to arrive at a 36-hole cumulative score, which is used to determine the individual champion. The Cardinals led the way for area teams with four qualifiers for the individual component of the tournament.

Nashua South football is on a tear, as it showed by destroying crosstown rival Nashua last week – but was it right to move the big game so it wouldn’t conflict with Yom Kippur? Those are the topics discussed on the first Sports With Big George, featuring Telegraph staffers George Scione and Gary Fitz, on www.NashuaTelegraph.com

NASHUA – Harris A. Berman, M.D., cofounder of the Matthew Thornton Health plan in Nashua, has been hired as dean of Tufts University School of Medicine, the school announced Thursday. Berman had served as interim dean since Dec. 2009. Berman, known for his strong ties to the Nashua area, is originally from Concord and graduated from Concord High School in 1956. He was also one of New England’s first HMOs. During Berman’s time as interim dean, the School of Medicine expanded global health programs, recruited key clinical and basic science faculty, and strengthened its finances, the University said. “As interim dean, Dr.