accidents and in this case lancaster, walker international events fell short when it came to putting up the tent and heeding weather warnings. a frightening scene, winds whipping, a circus tent collapses, trapping people, killing a father and daughter and injuring dozens of others including two circus employees. now five months later the u.s. department of labor's occupational safety and held administration has completed its investigation and found the tent was not put up properly or secured during the bad weather. >> it was not properly stakes, the stakes were not the right size, design. they did not follow the professional engineer's design to specifically erect the tent. report in its report osha says there were seven warnings broadcast by the national weather service which included hazardous weather outlooks, a severe thunderstorm watch and winds in excess of 60 miles per hour. yet walker international events did not have their workers take the tent down.

that they were in violation of exposing the employees working injury. reporter: there were numerous other violations as well and citations have been issued as well as fines. >> no enforcement action that we take will bring back the victims to the families and the communities, and going forward we want to make sure that we send the message to this employer and other employers that they need to follow proper procedures when they're working outside in inclement weather, the heat, cold, and an incident like this does not occur in the future. reporter: we tried to contact walker international events, which is based out of florida, but we were unable to reach them. osha says they will be meeting with the company on wednesday to discuss this matter further. jer tonight one of the dozens of people who was there after the tent collapsed is talking to news 9.

our live team coverage of this breaking story in lancaster tonight, where this tragedy happened. so what was her reaction to this report? reporter: well, she was very surprised. joa ann whiting says the community is still recovering after last august, a tend class here on the lancaster fair ground. she says after she hears about osha's report that the tent collapse could have been prevented, she says it's little comfort. whiting wasn't home on august 3 when her husband, the deputy chief of lancaster fire department, got a call that a tent had collapsed at the circus. she and her daughter followed him to the fair ground and helped search for injured people and pulled them from the tent. whiting says she had hoped the tent class was just a freak accident. >> it makes me pretty sad, because i was really hoping that wasn't what they were going to find. i think that some of these people think it will help them,

it makes me sad that this wasn't set up properly and these people were put in danger. reporter: she says the day of the tent collapse was okay on thetic and seemed like a scene out of a movie. and not something she would expect from her small mountain town. stephanie woods, wmur news 9. tom: also breaking tonight, a former belknap county sheriff's deputy has been indicted on nine counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault, and all the alleged victims were inmates. let's go to shelley walcott, she's live in laconia tonight with more on these allegations. shelley: tom, this former sheriff's deputy is behind bars tonight and it's the second time he's been charged with sexual assault involving an inmate. today 37-year-old earnest justin blanchette was indicted on nine counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault. and one count of felonious sexual assault. the cases involve five different

all inmates. he's accused of assaulting those inmates while transporting them to or from collection alpha sits. he's also accused of watching inmates having sex. >> the fact that the deputy was in charge of the inmates and they were being transported by him, he was in a position of authority over them. and inmate in our other three cases actually engaged in sexual contact with one another. shelley: blanchette is in jail tonight, his bail set at $ 100,000. shelley walcott, wmur news 9. tom: right now lawmakers in concord are considering a new tool in the fight against heroin and fentanyl abuse in new hampshire. jennifer: today house reps took a leaser look at the idea of a trench industry for convicted drug dealers. adam sexton will explain. reporter: legislators rejected broader version of this bill in the past, given the public

the idea of a drug dealer registry is getting a fresh look. at the state house in concord, dealing with new hampshire's heroin and fentanyl epidemic remains a pressing priority. >> not a day goes by without somebody saying to me, you know, my family member or my neighbor is affected, and it's not just kids. reporter: while the state looks for ways to expand treatment options, today the house criminal justice committee took up a bill targeting the people who sell drugs. >> it establishes the definition of habitual drug dealer, which is one that has been convicted for the third time in new hampshire, after this bill passes. reporter: house bill 1603 would put those habitual drug dealers on a registry, similar to the one already in use for sex offenders. but once on the list, chronic dealers could have their names removed after four years of good behavior. >> nobody wants to be branded for life, the scarlet letter, nobody wants to bear that, because people learn from their

reporter: while many are still forming their opinions on this concept, members of both parties want to be sure any rent industry would be narrowly afloyd. >> it needs to get the people that are actually working very hard to sell the drugs, instead of some casual mistake that some teenager height make. reporter: the dealer registry would not be published online. but if a public shaming aspect is juiced, civil liberties advocates stand ready to object. >> certainly if it were to be made public we'd have due process concerns, clearly that could have a real impact on people's lives. reporter: the new hampshire chapter of the aclu still has concerns with this bill pointing out that if the registry is not made public, all this will do is create a lot of extra administrative work for police. adam sexton, wmur news 9. jennifer: a traffic stop in manchester in manchester leads to a bigger discovery, gary

not having a license plate, he was then arrested for driving with a suspended license and while being searched the trooper discovered fitzgerald was wearing a bullet proof vest under his coat, he also had pills and heroin. a search of his car also turned up two digital scales and a gun that was reported stolen in december. tom: minutes ago a stretch of 101 in marlborough reopened after being shut down since early this morning, that's when a tractor trailer crashed, taking out two utility poles, let's head into the monadnock region. reporter: power has been restored to everyone in this area and you can see that traffic is once again moving in marlborough. but it was quite a mess here earlier today. a tractor trailer that was contracted to carry mail to keene took out two utility poles morning. he told police he swerved to miss a dog in the road, causing the crash.

400 people in this section of route 0 was close forward hours. around 1:00 power had been brought back onto about half the customers. some businesses were forced to close for a while this morning. and those who saw what happened said it was a violent crash. >> when we heard it this morning we thought it was maybe the snow plow, i didn't think we were going to -- i looked out and i saw the trailer truck and then i saw the explosion from the pole and then everything just went black. reporter: the power crews have left the scene here and right now they're only working to restore some cable service and they expect to be done with this the a relatively short amount of time. police say the crash is still under investigation. live in marlborough, i'm andy hershberger, wmur news 9. tom: thank you.

>> the lack of snow is impacting activities and events across the state even way up north. i'm kristen carosa, i'll have that story coming up. mike: seasonably cold today, colder tonight. jamie: our home town hero this

tom: despite a petition that started circulating around the pembroke academy community, the superintendent of schools there says there was never a substantiated threat. jennifer: students and parents signed a petition that alleges a student threatened to do something violent on graduation day, and they believe the student was allowed to stay in school. the superintendent says they did investigate, but after numerous interviews with students

they determined it was all a rumor. >> we had about 100 students absent, it was upsetting to all of us that that was a superintendent's worst nightmare to hear a threat to the school and the safety of the students, so that's why we called the police immediately and thoroughly investigated the threat, and we couldn't substantiate anything. >> the kid spoke up and talked to us, and it was a pretty good working relationship and environment over there. jennifer: the superintendent says an alert was sent to parents to let them know about the investigation and its findings. tom: so what happens next. mike: it's cold and gets colder, eventually we'll track three

tom: this winter's lack of snow is causing problems for winter activities and events all across new hampshire. jennifer: now the state has told snowmobiling clubs to stop grooming. kristen carosa is in the lakes region tonight. reporter: this winter has been a challenge for so many people. you can see grass under what's left of the snow and ice, it looks more like spring and there aren't any big snowstorms in sight. the snow coaches at the mount washington auto road are sitting

lot waiting to be used. >> right now we're just on hold and we'll see when mother nature wants to bring us more snow. reporter: staff stopped the tours on monday, right now snow mountains. >> we have a little coming in saturday, a little more tuesday and wednesday, so we don't expect this to be very long. reporter: ski resorts have been making snow nonstop, but according to the mount washington valley chamber of commerce, it hasn't been easy. >> it's been tough for our nordic centers, because some of them center snow making and some don't. reporter: when it scoms -- comes to snowmobile trails -- >> all the trails are closed right now. we received notice -- reporter: the president of the snowmobiling club said the mild weather has had an impact on businesses too. >> on the restaurants, rental properties, the whole nine

reporter: business owner jim salerno works on snowmobiles, although not much this year. >> very tough, the economy, the industry, we're hutting. reporter: and at this point he doesn't think things will turn around. >> last year we had another wave coming in at this time, this year we're done. reporter: there's still plenty of winter left, so we'll have to see what happens. kristen carosa, wmur news 9. mike: he just declared the season over, well, we'll see what happens. we do have some cold air in place right now. up at the weirs we did have a fair amount of sunshine, all day long from sunup to sundown, along with that classic winter chill.

five off the average. there's the record high, 63 set back in 1981. notice sunset time, we continue to stretch out the daylight time, 5:20, another few weeks and when we set the clocks ahead we'll be closer to 7:00. temperature wise upper teens, a little colder in the monadnock region and upper valley. the winds have been active all day as well, but right now they're beginning to diminish a little, still 5 to 15 sustained. wind chill temperature between 10 and 15 north of the lakes region, and teens to around 20 points south. certainly feels the part of winter, and with the wind going light tonight, temperatures will bottom out, about four or five below on average. between 10 and 15 from manchester, nashua, rochester and the coast.

in over the next few days, we go from seasonably chilly tomorrow, in the mid to upper 30's, well into the 40's. we will not get 50's and 60's. but we do turn warmer as we go through the weekend. as we see that transition take place friday night, our next as to chance moves on in. but not a blockbuster storm, just a little bit in many spots. fair skies now, plenty of sunshine to be had for tomorrow morning, into the early afternoon, but the clouds will lower and thicken, with the thicker clouds a little light as to will develop later tomorrow evening, into the early, early part of saturday morning, so that's when the roads could get a little bit slick. not out there for tonight and tomorrow, fair skies statewide. lots of sun to at least lunch time and early afternoon, and then again as the clouds move in, it will tend to fit filter the sun a little bit. snow arrives after 8:00 or 9:00, in western sections after nine or 10. it's a narrow band of light to moderate snow that pivots through by early saturday morning, then a few breaks of

in southern new hampshire. but a lot of clouds and a couple snow or mixed showers will do it. sunday looks like a fair amount of partial sun south, a few extra clouds to the north, not a whole lot of snow with this next system, but just enough, one to three inches from the monadnock region into the heart of the white mountains and a coating to an inch south and east of concord. beyond that next light snow chance will be sunday night, early monday morning, then it dries out for later monday into tuesday, and the next big storm chance would come in here on wednesday, but right now that's a strong coastal storm that is trending more to the east. that would mean more snow than anything, but if it keeps on turning out to see, that would mean very little snow. tom: do not put your snowblower away just yet. >> no. president obama in our sports tonight, plus the home town hero

>> it's also a tribute to the head of scouting who just told me that he could help me pick my supreme court just is the. [laughter] . jamie: funny moment at the white house as the president welcomed his beloved chicago blackhawks for the third time in his administration. he was given a permanent parking spot at the united center and joked that he might sell it on e bay.

thing for the the bruins lately, they've won three of their first four games of their trip. they look to keep it going tonight against nashville. this week's home town hero surprised everyone last weekend including herself. >> she's only 14 years old but already a new hampshire state champion. torre sipes is a gymnast and completes independently for the derryfield school. this past weekend she claimed the all around tight at the gymnastics championships. she won both the bars and the beam. scoring a meet high 9.55 on the beam. >> it means a lot, just to know you won the overall is great. reporter: torre trains in her home town of windham, she's been competing since she was 7 and is currently a level 9 gymnast,

hard work. >> 30 minute drive home and when i get home i immediately start getting ready for gym and i don't get home from gym until 9:00 and that's when i do homework, so it's a lot. it's really hard with school work, homework and all that. >> after four hours a night at the gym, she still maintains a good g.p.a. and plays field hockey. >> i wouldn't want to do anything else in my free time. reporter: she has several club tournaments ahead of her. only a freshman, you certainly haven't heard the last of torre sipes. mike: four hours a day at the gym. when do you nap. b.u. plays in boston on saturday. wildcats struggling with their offense, 12 games in this calendar year, 2016. they have yet to score more than three goals. tom: we'll see you back here

breaking news tonight. chopper down. the helicopter crashing into the water near pearl harbor. civilians on board. a popular trip for tourists. witnesses say it dropped from the sky. several on board. the heroes jumping into the water. also tonight, donald trump takes aim at pope francis, after the pope suggests trump is not christian. the moment on the pope's plane. and tonight, trump's fiery response. the terror attack in california, and this evening, major developments. the fbi moving in. in san bernardino, what did they find? forced to pay. the hackers locking personal computers, trapping your personal information, your photos. forcing you to pay to get it