Author: Jody Reese

In just a few days we may have an election that sees one of the highest turnout rates ever — and this is during a pandemic.

Many voting models suggest that as many as 150 million people will cast ballots in the Nov. 3 election. That’s about 65 percent of eligible voters nationwide.

In New Hampshire turnout is expected to be at an even higher rate, likely over 70 percent of eligible voters.

According to the New York Times on Oct. 26, about 61.3 million votes nationwide have already been cast in the 2020 election — a record number.

In a map on the Times website, they demonstrated how that number represents 44 percent of the total vote in 2016. In New Hampshire, 181,577 votes have been cast so far, according to WMUR’s politics newsletter on Oct. 27.

As with many states, New Hampshire made it easier for voters to vote by absentee ballot in this time of the coronavirus. This election, with our ability to request a ballot and return it to the town clerk — even all within the same day, if you wanted — we got a taste of something very close to the early voting that other states offer.

But this easy absentee voting isn’t something we’ll likely see for the next election. Here voting generally means going in person to polling places that are generally open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for one day. But planning when in your day to vote isn’t always easy. It can be hard to break away from work or to go in the early morning or the evening when it means there might be a line and you’re crunched for time. Many school districts make Election Day a holiday, which means you have to figure out what to do with the kids when you make your voting plans. What if there’s a wait? What if they get fidgety?

Forget gaming out what party benefits from what kind of voting; there’s something to be said for just getting more voters involved, and not just during the presidential election years but for other elections as well.

What would offering people more options for when they vote — by mail or in person before Election Day — look like in New Hampshire? What would it mean to have more Granite Staters exercising their right to have a say? In the aftermath of this election, it’s worth taking a closer look at making voting easier for everybody, not just those who have some flexibility in their Tuesdays.

Hippo’s annual magazine, Cool Things About New Hampshire, will hit newsstands next week. It highlights many of the local, independently owned businesses and nonprofits that make our corner of America unique.

The magazine pulls its cool things from our annual Hippo Best of Readers’ Poll (published this year in August). These people and businesses are part of what makes our community a community. On an economic level, they help keep our hard-earned dollars in New Hampshire. For every $100 we spend at a local business, $68 stays in the local economy; at a national chain, $43 out of every $100 spent stays here, according to independentwestand.org. I would guess even less stays local when we buy online from Amazon.

This sense of community that local independent businesses help foster requires lots of in-person interaction. Often, it’s that personal service that gives them a competitive advantage.

As one might imagine, the pandemic has been especially challenging for independently owned small businesses and nonprofits. Many national chains, such as McDonald’s and Taco Bell, have seen revenues trend up recently as consumers shift toward drive-thrus. Amazon, Walmart and Target too have all seen a rise in revenue as consumers opt for more online shopping.

Additional government support may be needed to save many small businesses, but with the political climate the way it is, it’s doubtful that any aid will be coming.

That leaves us, the consumers, to vote with our dollars, to make an effort to support the corner cafe rather than always heading to Dunkins or to shop at the local health food store rather than defaulting to Whole Foods. We get the community — with its cool, unique people and businesses — that we support.

Just as I’m asking you to support, as much as you reasonably can, local independent businesses by voting with your dollars, I also ask you to financially support the Hippo, which is also local and independent. For nearly 20 years we’d been completely ad-supported (99 percent of those being local ads) but that source of revenue has rapidly declined recently and we now need broader community support from readers.

We are so grateful to the readers who have already contributed (and we especially love the notes of support!). Please go online to hippopress.com to contribute or mail a contribution to: HippoPress, 195 McGregor St., Manchester NH 03102. We appreciate any amount (and we have some extra thank-yous for those who become members).

Thank you for reading, thank you for contributing and thank you for all the ways you support this community that is so important to us all.

Now more than ever Hippo depends on your support to help fund our coverage. For almost 20 years Hippo has worked hard to provide high-quality news, information and coverage about the local food, music and arts scenes. We track down things to do and places to go — and it isn’t easy. Just putting together our weekly live music listing takes hours. The time and the expense required are why you won’t find a more comprehensive list of local live music anywhere else.

And we spend time digging into our stories about food, arts, the outdoors and nightlife as well. In this issue, our food reporter Matt Ingersoll talked to multiple bartenders and cocktail experts about the Moscow mule and its local popularity and variations (Matt uncovered the mule scene!). We’re also introducing a new column called Drinking With John Fladd this week by longtime Hippo veteran John Fladd. Don’t get the wrong idea. We’re about more than drinking. We’re about covering the creativity — in cocktails and food and beyond — that makes southern New Hampshire unique. Local craft, local creativity — that’s the heart of Matt’s story. Who else covers that week after week?

Though we’ve been fortunate over the years to be supported by local advertisers (and, thankfully, continue to be), the pandemic has severely restricted the amount of advertising. This means that without your support we won’t be able to continue to cover southern New Hampshire arts, food, music and events like we have in the past. Hippo needs your support.

Hippo keeps you informed with entertaining, thoughtful offerings from our veteran and award winning writers including Amy Diaz, Michael Witthaus, Eric Saeger, Matt Ingersoll, Angie Sykeny, Lisa Parsons, Meghan Siegler, Dave Long, Jeff Mucciarone, Jennifer Graham, Henry Homeyer and Michele Kuegler. The writers you love or love to argue with (Dave Long’s loyal readers have many opinions about his opinions).

Hippo answers that vexing question of what to do and where to go (yes, even now). We need your help to do that.

Please consider supporting our local food, music, arts, pop culture and news coverage by becoming a sustaining member. Our staff is hard at work making your contributions count. Thank you and we are truly grateful for your support.

Go to hipppopress.com to contribute online. If you prefer to send a check please do, to: HippoPress, 195 McGregor St., Suite 325, Manchester, NH 03102.

We’re very happy and a bit relieved to present Hippo’s Best of 2020 in this week’s issue. It’s been a long time coming.

Readers voted in our annual poll back in February (you know, “BC,” Before Covid) and we planned to publish the results in the March 26 issue, but with the shutdown of most businesses, schools and everything else, we worried that the list would be very unhelpful. Here’s a list of things you can’t do! So we held off until we had a bit more confidence that things would be opening back up. And here we are — opening back up (for the most part).

The Best of has always been a celebration of what makes southern New Hampshire different from other parts of the country. It’s the things you like the best about your community — the people, parks, community activities, restaurants, cafes and small businesses. It’s been a guide by our readers, for our readers.

The people, places and things that we ask readers to vote on are a part of the arts, entertainment and quality of life here that we strive to cover in each issue. And while we are proud to present those issues to you in this free newsweekly, the Hippo is not free to publish. Since our founding nearly 20 years ago, local advertising support has provided us with the revenue to publish a quality free paper. Not so much anymore. And now, we’re asking for your help.

Please consider becoming a sustaining member to help us to continue providing this coverage. We want to continue to give you the information that can help you make the most of living here, and we need you to pitch in. We want to keep offering you live music listings, updates on the comedy scene, a look at new art exhibits, a peek at theatrical productions, interviews with local authors and ideas for your weekend hikes. To do that, we need your financial support. Help us continue our mission of strong local coverage so we can help you make the most of your next meal or your weekend plans.

Please consider supporting us by becoming an annual member. All members will get exclusive access to Hippo’s online articles and archives, exclusive content, Hippo deals (when available) and a bumper sticker.

Contributions can be made online at hippopress.com.

Thank you for voting in the Best of 2020 poll and sharing your favorites, and thank you for continuing to support the Hippo.

Most New Hampshire public school districts are expected to go to a hybrid school model in the fall. This will mean kids go to school for a few days a week in smaller groups. When not in school, those kids will be remote learning.

It’s a compromise intended to reduce potential transmission of Covid-19 by reducing the contact kids have with each other and staff while acknowledging that remote learning has its limitations. In most districts, class sizes will be limited so kids can sit six feet apart.

Though I’m sure it’s well-intentioned, I wonder if this hybrid plan is actually counterproductive.

The challenge here more than anything else is the logistics of caring for kids and reducing potential transmission.

First there is the issue of getting these kids to school. How many kids will be allowed on buses? How do we make sure the kids wear masks? Do we have the buses and drivers to do that in a way that won’t completely undo the measure being taken to reduce class size?

Once at school, can we reasonably expect kids to socially distance themselves? It sounds as if recess and other activities like that could be eliminated or curtailed. What impact will that have on learning?

After all that, kids will still be expected to be remote learning for two to three days a week. Who is going to be at home with them to keep them on task and to watch over the younger ones? As more parents go back to work, will caregivers be friends, grandparents, day cares or a patchwork of those? Will these kids be exposed to even more people thereby increasing their exposure to Covid? If parents have to stay home, who is going to pay them?

On top of all that, women, in many cases, will end up being the primary caregivers for kids’ remote learning. What is the impact to them? Are we furthering the longtime earnings gap between men and women?

These are all issues greater than our public school districts, but federal and state governments have essentially laid all of these problems and concerns at their feet without giving those districts the resources to adequately deal with them.

As tough as it is, state and federal governments need to take an active role in helping districts make in-school learning as safe as possible for kids and staff. If this means extending the day, then do it. If this means putting more buses on the road, then do it. If this means bringing in more teachers, paying teachers for extended days or offering hazard pay, then do it. If this means bringing in portable classrooms then do it.

There are no easy solutions — no silver bullet. But with more assistance and coordination from state and federal governments schools (or other buildings turned into schools) could be made more safe. But we can’t expect public schools to solve this on their own.