Tagged: Berlin

The new federal prison in Berlin still has plenty of jobs to fill and there’s a chance next Tuesday to learn more about them.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

With 255 jobs at the new federal prison still available a job fair is planned next Tuesday in Berlin.

Officials from the Bureau of Prisons will be answering questions,  says Diana Nelson, with New Hampshire Employment Security.

“We’ve had a lot of questions come up about what were the hours be, when will my days off be, is it shift work. These people will be able to answer those questions for them.”

After several delays the new federal prison in Berlin is getting closer to opening and hiring is underway.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen has an update.

The first prisoners – about 50 minimum security inmates - could arrive at the federal correctional institute in Berlin as early as the end of August, says Judith Nichols, the prison’s spokeswoman.

But that could be pushed back because there is still plenty of hiring to do.

“We are looking to fill 341 positions. We currently have 86 staff that have been hired.”

The man who died in a fire in Berlin Sunday was Edward Wedge, according to a news release from Troop F.

Wedge, 73, died of smoke inhalation, according to an autopsy conducted Monday

Investigators believe Wedge was working on a vehicle in his garage and it appears he tried to fight the fire.

In a written statement State Fire Marshal J. William Degnan said people should not attempt to fight fire in a building.

“You have as little as three minutes to escape a fire once it begins in your home,” he said.

A body was found in a burned-out garage in Berlin Sunday afternoon, according to a news release from state and local fire officials.

The fire was reported in a garage at 16 Williamson Avenue about 12:30.

The garage was engulfed in flames when the fire department arrived and the body  was found after the fire was extinguished.

The name of the victim was not released and an autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

Fire officials said they are still investigating the cause of the fire but there's a possibility repairs were being made to a vehicle.

After about 25 years the Car-Freshner plant in Berlin is closing.

Judy Piarulli, an official at Car-Freshner’s headquarters in Watertown, N.Y.,  declined to say how many workers are losing their jobs.

But Diana Nelson, an official with New Hampshire Employment Security office in Berlin, said 46 workers were laid off.

She said another 24 part-time workers lost their jobs in February.

The plant makes the Little Trees brand of air fresheners typically seen hanging from rear-view mirrors.

After Isaacson Structural Steel was sold off in a bankruptcy auction last month it wasn’t certain what would happen to the employees. But NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports it’s clear now and the news is not good.

In a blow to the North Country more workers at Isaacson Structural Steel in Berlin are being laid off.

About 80 have already lost their jobs with another 40 still on the job finishing up a project, says Diana Nelson with New Hampshire Employment Security.

“There will be a handful of employees at Isaacson’s through mid-April.”

The Manchester lawyer who handled the bankruptcy of Isaacson Structural Steel in Berlin will receive about $313,000 for his work if a federal judge approves.

In a recent filing William Gannon asked the judge for $191,000 for his work between September 1st and February 29th.

Previously the judge approved about $122,000 for work between June 22ndand August 31.

In the filing Gannon said he worked about 444 hours at $400 an hour in addition to work done by his staff.

There were three bidders hoping to buy Isaacson Structural Steel with a $100,000 difference determining the winning bid, according to a report filed Thursday in federal district court in Concord.

The top bid was $2.4 million by Counsel RB Capital, Myron Bowling Auctioneers and Hilco Industrial.