Firefighter cancer screening
According to a press release, Gov. Chris Sununu signed SB 352 into law at the Manchester Central Fire Station establishing an early detection cancer screening pilot program for active and retired firefighters.
In a statement, Gov. Sununu said that “the dangers of being a fire fighter go beyond running into a burning building, and today, New Hampshire is taking a leading role in having the backs of these heroes. This cancer screening program will have a lifesaving impact. New Hampshire’s fire fighters are the best of the best.”
This bill makes New Hampshire the first state in New England to establish an early detection cancer screening pilot program for firefighters.
Vote in honor of vets
According to a press release, Secretary of State David M. Scanlan and Senior Deputy Secretary of State Patricia Lovejoy introduced the “Vote in Honor of a Veteran” program, which gives New Hampshire voters the opportunity to recognize veterans and service members in their lives.
New Hampshire voters can visit.sos.nh.gov/vote-honor-veteran to submit the name of the veteran or service member they are voting in honor of and are given a chance to write a short testimonial on what their service means. The Secretary of State’s Office will send them a “Vote in Honor of a Veteran” pin to wear at the polls on Election Day, according to the press release.
In a statement, Secretary of State David Scanlan said, “New Hampshire enjoys free and transparent elections thanks, in large part, to the sacrifices of our veterans and service members. We’re pleased to officially vote in their honor and encourage New Hampshire voters to do the same.”
In a statement, Senior Deputy Secretary of State Patricia Lovejoy said that “the ‘Vote in Honor of a Veteran’ program provides New Hampshire citizens with a visible tribute to those who so proudly serve and have served this country in the United States Military Service. This program recognizes their efforts to keep our democracy strong and to ensure that we may continue to cast a ballot each election day. Through this initiative, New Hampshire voters can demonstrate the pride they feel for an individual, and, at the same time, encourage others to vote on Election Day.”
Navy Veteran Jacob Aldridge, who worked on the USS New Hampshire and as an engineering tech at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, designed the “Vote in Honor of a Veteran” pin, and was also a recipient of five Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medals and is currently pursuing a degree in fine arts at Great Bay Community College, according to the the release.
Wild, wild turkeys
According to a press release, the New Hampshire 2024 spring turkey harvest was lower than in recent seasons due mainly to decreased reproductive success and poult survival in 2023. Hunters harvested 4,563 turkeys this spring, which is a decrease of 18 percent from 2023’s tally (5,580) and 17 percent below the previous five-year average (5,503), but the 2024 harvest level was similar to 2017 and 2018.
Reproductive rates for wild turkeys are high during years with warm, dry spring and summer weather, but the opposite occurs when cool, wet weather persists for an extended period of time, according to the release.
Above-average rainfall during the spring and summer of 2023 resulted in lower nesting success and fewer turkeys maturing into the fall population last year, so a reduced harvest is conceivable, according to the release.
The 2024 harvest consisted of 12 (less than 1 percent) bearded hens, 661 jakes (14 percent), and 3,890 toms (85 percent), with the lack of juvenile males reflecting the poor weather conditions of 2023 and the overall decrease in harvest in 2024 presumably relating to the decrease in juvenile turkeys on the landscape, according to the release.
At the individual Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) level, turkey densities remained either above or consistent with objectives specified in the New Hampshire Game Management Plan in nearly all WMUs, according to the release.
Young hunters registered 423 birds during the special youth weekend that took place at the end of April and represented 9.3 percent of the total spring harvest, similar to the number of birds harvested by young hunters over the past two years, according to the release.
Of the 3,742 successful hunters this spring, 2,921 registered one bird and 821 registered two birds. Of the 821 hunters who registered two birds, 751 were adults and 70 were young people under the age of 16. The proportion of hunters who harvest two birds during the spring has remained consistent at 22 to 24 percent of hunters each year, according to the release.There was an increase again this year in online registrations with 3,150 (69 percent) of birds being registered online versus 1,413 (31 percent) that were registered in person, with participation in the online registration system growing each year, according to the release.
The summer 2024 Online Brood Survey is now underway, where Granite Staters can help monitor the wild turkey population and this year’s breeding productivity by reporting sightings of hen turkeys and their poults online at wildnh.com.
Wild turkey management in New Hampshire is funded in part through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Restoration Program. Visit nhfishgame.com.
It’s New Hampshire Telephone Museum Benefit Night at Reed’s North Restaurant in Warner (2 E. Main St.) on Wednesday, July 17, in support of NHTM’s upcoming Honor Bear Project installation, taking place July 20 at the NHTM. The Honor Bear Project is a nonprofit charity organization that publicly coordinates the Flags for Forgotten Heroes program around New England to bring public awareness to the issue of veteran and first responder suicide, according to their website. Visit nhtelephonemuseum.org.
The Nashua Historical Society at the Speare Museum Library (5 Abbott St., Nashua) will host a free screening of At Home and Abroad: Nashua and World War II, a locally produced and professionally developed oral history project that features Nashua’s WWII veterans, homefront civilians and Holocaust survivors, on Saturday, July 13, at 1 p.m. The film lasts approximately one hour; doors open at 12:30 p.m. Visit nashuahistoricalsociety.org.
The Andres Institute of Art in Brookline (106 Route 13) presents a show of more than 350 oil portraits rendered by Anne Marie Zanfagna that were selected portraits from “Angels of Addictions,” with a special reception with the artist on Sunday, July 14, starting at 2 p.m. Visit andresinstitute.org.