Congress passes fiscal cliff plan
E E R F WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2013
GOP leadership divided but 257-167 bipartisan vote seals the deal — P. 2
VOL. 13 NO. 148
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Another warming car stolen
LACONIA — Two men allegedly stole a blue 2012 Nissan Versa while it was warming it up in front of a house on Dixon Street at 6:45 p.m. Saturday. The owner reported he saw two men jump into the car and drive it away. Police found the car within an hour on Isabelle Street. Lt. Rich Simmons said yesterday the investigation into the most recent car theft is still ongoing. This is the second theft of a car left runsee CAR page 6
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A Lion of Main Street
Robert Sawyer in his jewelry store in downtown Laconia. (Alan MacRae/for The Laconia Daily Sun)
Perhaps part of a dying breed, Robert Sawyer has owned both building & business for 33 years BY MICHAEL KITCH THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
LACONIA — Unlike his grandfather and father, both watchmakers, Robert Sawyer readily admits he cannot fix a timepiece, but for the past 33 years he has run Sawyer’s Jewelry like clockwork, sustaining one of the longest running family businesses to operate from its own down-
town property. Sawyers’s father Jack learned watchmaking apprenticed to his father Alexander, who ranked among the finest craftsmen at the Boston Jewelers Building. Sawyer recalled that when his father grew restless confined to a small workshop in a big city, his brother, a traveling salesman, told him that Myer Kassner was seeking
a buyer for his jewelry store in Laconia. “In 1945 my father took the train to Laconia and bought the business at 628 Main Street,” he said. “He was an entrepreneur,” he continued, describing his father as equally willing to take risks and work hard. Sawyer said that his father kept shop during the day, returning the profits to the business,
and repaired watches in the evening to support his family while becoming one of the first gemologists in New Hampshire certified by the American Gem Society. By 1952, the business had outgrown its space and moved to new quarters twice the size across the street at 633 Main Street. Sawyer, who as a schoolsee SAWYER page 5
City takes delivery on new ATV, courtesy of Bike Week profits BY ADAM DRAPCHO THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
LACONIA — Several years ago, beginning with the fiscal year ending in 2007, City Council decided to establish a special account for Motorcycle Week. The reason was to provide a clear accounting of the 9-day annual event, a way to prove whether or not the fees collected from vendors were
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enough to match the expenses incurred by the municipality in putting on, and cleaning up after, Bike Week. With six years of Bike Week in the books, the event has shown itself to be a profitable venture for the city. Revenues, primarily realized through license fees paid by vendors and the rental of city-owned property, have exceeded the costs of police, fire and
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public works services in each year, leaving the city with a windfall of anywhere from $54,618 in 2007 to $6,858 in 2011. On average, the city has earned about $30,000 each year from Bike Week. The account does not consider the broader economic benefits of the many thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts that make their see ATV page 9
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