Jason Lindahl bought his first comic book when he was 6 years old. More than 40 years later, he still loves those brightly colored pages and has found a way to surround himself with them: by opening a comic book store in downtown Dover.
Khaotic Comics opened April 17, the location chosen because of the city’s lack of comics.
“There’s been a huge need for it in this area,” he said. “People in the Dover area had to go to Rochester or Newington to buy comic books. … I’ve got customers that used to take buses over to Newington because that was the only place they could get the stuff they wanted to read.”
Lindahl believes that comic books have been and still are making a comeback.
“The industry is building up,” he said. “There’s more and more movies coming out. Comic books are becoming more and more popular.”
The shop’s name is inspired by the nature of comic book stores, with the purposeful misspelling adding to the meaning.
“When you look in a comic book store, it can look kind of chaotic,” he said with a laugh.
Lindahl and his wife already have experience with owning and operating businesses: He runs a generator company and she runs a health care company. Still, opening a new business in these times was nerve-wracking, despite the field’s growing popularity, Lindahl said. Between financial concerns, community interest and finding a location, there was no shortage of stress.
But so far, it’s all been worth it. Opening day was met with great success.
“We had over 400 people show up at the store,” Lindahl said. “My wife served over 200 [free] hot dogs to anybody that wanted them.”
Lindahl hopes that Khaotic Comics can be a meaningful addition to the Dover community.
“I’d like to help out the library and youth groups,” he said. “I can give them free comic books to help with education and reading.”
The shop also plans to offer tabletop gaming, such as Pokemon and Dungeons & Dragons.
“Kids will have a place to come and hang out and relax and be in a safe environment,” he said.
-Sadie Burgess
Khaotic Comics Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., 7 days a week Where: 590 Central Ave., Dover More info: khaoticcomics.com
The fourth installation for Flags for Forgotten Soldiers in New Hampshire will be placed at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack on May 1, according to a press release. There will be 660 flags installed, representing the loss of veterans to suicide, of which there are an average of 22 each day in the U.S. The first installations were in Derry, Chester and Danville and were installed for 30 days each — 22 a day multiplied by 30 days. This larger installation will include five flags that represent the first responders lost daily, and a single flag to signify active-duty members, according to the release, and it will be left up all summer.
Score: +1, for bringing attention to a tragic problem
Comment: The public is invited to attend and assist placing the flags on Saturday May 1, at noon at Anheuser-Busch Brewery, 221 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack.
Breathing better
New Hampshire’s air quality has improved for both ozone and year-round particle pollution, according to the 2021 State of the Air report from the American Lung Association. According to a press release, New Hampshire has several counties that were ranked among the cleanest in the Boston metro area for short-term particle pollution. All five reporting counties (Belknap, Hillsborough, Rockingham, Cheshire and Grafton) maintained A grades for short-term particle pollution, and all seven of the state’s reporting counties (all of the above, plus Merrimack and Coos) either maintained or improved their grades for ozone.
Score: +1
Comment: In just the counties included in this report, more than 240,000 residents are living with lung diseases like asthma, COPD and lung cancer, as well as heart disease, making them more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution.
Manchester cleans up
The Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration Program is in the midst of its annual spring cleanup. According to a press release, the program has organized 119 cleanups since it started in 2000, and its kept tally of some fun stats: 1071 volunteers have spent approximately 3,632 hours collecting 2,431 bags of trash — which does not include illegally “dumped” items like shopping carts (99), tires (441), car batteries, construction debris and more. The value of volunteer time spent at these cleanups has amounted to over $78,000, the release said.
Score: 0 (+1 for the volunteers, -1 for the absurd number of illegally dumped items found in Manchester’s parks and ponds)
Comment:The next two cleanups are at Stevens Pond and Stevens Pond Park on Saturday, May 1, from 9 to 11 a.m., and at Nutts Pond and Precourt Park on Saturday, May 8, from 9 to 11 a.m. Cleanups will be held rain or shine and anyone is welcome. Latex gloves and plastic trash bags will be provided.
Scam alert
Last week Eversource warned its customers to watch out for scammers who are using new techniques to trick people into thinking they’re legit, including using phony caller IDs that display “Eversource” and reading from scripts that sound like they’re coming from a real company representative who is threatening to disconnect their electric or gas service because of an unpaid bill. According to a press release, Eversource will never ask for an instant payment over the phone, will not ask for prepaid debit cards and will not ask customers to meet at a “payment center” to make the payment. Anyone who thinks they might have received a scam phone call, text or email should contact local police.
Score: -1
Comment: “These scam artists sound sophisticated and are ruthless,” Eversource Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Penni Conner said in the release. “[If you] get a call and the caller’s message doesn’t look or sound right, don’t panic and don’t pay. Remember, we will never threaten to disconnect service or demand instant payment over the phone.”
QOL score: 69
Net change: +1
QOL this week: 70
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Covid-19 news
During the state’s weekly public health update on April 22, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported that New Hampshire has averaged about 350 new infections of Covid-19 per day, while the test-positivity rate was at 4.5 percent.
Over the last several weeks, the number of active infections in the state has hovered around either side of 3,000, while the total number of positive cases since the start of the pandemic last year is creeping toward 100,000.
According to Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, roughly 47 percent of the state’s population (about 637,000 people) have received at least their first shot as of April 22, while 28 percent of the population (about 387,000 people) has been fully vaccinated. “We continue to receive around 50,000 first doses of vaccine each week, between the doses that are allocated to us at the state, as well as our pharmacy partners,” she said. “We still have thousands of open appointments available … at over 200 different locations where you can get vaccinated.”
Thousands more people received their shot at a mass vaccination site at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on April 24. Unlike previous sites at the Speedway, this one was only held by appointment for people to receive their second shot.
Later during the press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu said that the state would likely resume administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine “in a matter of days.”
The following day, April 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food & Drug Administration issued a joint statement lifting the recommended pause of the vaccine, saying that its “known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older.” Federal health officials had recommended a pause of states’ usage of the vaccine on April 13 following six reports of a rare blood clot disorder, a condition the CDC is now calling “thrombosis involving the cerebral venous sinuses, or CVST (large blood vessels in the brain).”
Re-election campaign
On April 27, Mayor Joyce Craig announced that she will be running for re-election for mayor of Manchester. She is currently serving in her second term and is the first woman to serve as mayor in the Queen City, according to a press release. “Manchester is a city on the rise. When the pandemic hit, our progress was interrupted, and we focused our efforts at City Hall on keeping our community safe while still providing essential services,” Craig said in the release. “I’m running for Mayor in 2021 to ensure our city fully recovers from this pandemic, builds upon our progress and comes out of this stronger than before.” This announcement comes after Victoria Sullivan announced her run for mayor last week. According to a press release, Sullivan is a former New Hampshire state representative and assistant majority leader who served two terms on the House Education Committee.
Unemployment
The work search requirement for people getting unemployment benefits will be reinstated starting May 23, Gov. Chris Sununu said in a press conference on April 22, so anyone receiving benefits after that date will have to show proof that they are looking for work. The requirement has been waived during the pandemic, but Sununu said that the state now has a 3 percent unemployment rate, one of the lowest in the country. “Our economy is very, very strong,” he said during the conference. “And it also unfortunately means that we’re, if anything, facing a workforce shortage. … There are tens of thousands of high-paying jobs across the state available today.” The state has hosted 15 virtual job fairs since last summer to help employers find employees, he said, but there haven’t been nearly as many potential employees attending these fairs as there are jobs. Several more job fairs are planned, including one on Thursday, May 6, aimed toward veterans, and one Monday, May 10, for students and recent graduates, as well as one on Thursday, May 13, for those in the construction industry. Sununu encouraged anyone seeking employment to get details about those and other upcoming job fairs at unemploymentbenefits.nh.gov. Meanwhile, he said, all NH Works Centers will be back open to the public by May 10.
Virtual urgent care
Instead of traveling to an emergency room or urgent care clinic, people who need non-emergency care can now connect with a provider by phone or by video on their laptops or mobile devices with the new D-HH Virtual Urgent Care. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health’s Connected Care and Center for Telehealth has partnered with MDLIVE to launch the new service, which provides patients with 24/7 access to urgent care by fully licensed providers from Dartmouth-Hitchcock or MDLIVE-affiliated physicians who are board-certified, licensed, telehealth-trained and have an average of 15 years of experience, according to a press release. Once they sign on, patients can wait for an available provider — the wait time is usually less than 15 minutes — or schedule an appointment for later that day for common health concerns like cold, flu, and other upper respiratory illnesses, allergies, bug bites, rashes, gastrointestinal issues, urinary tract infection and more. They can get prescriptions sent to their pharmacy, if necessary, the release said. The cost is $59 per visit, and the service is currently available to those with private insurance or those who can self-pay. In accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), patient and visit details are shared only with the patient’s primary care physician, the release said. Visit go.d-h.org/virtualurgentcare.
Stock your backyard ponds with rainbow and brook trout, available in 6- to 8-inch and 10- to 12-inch sizes from the Merrimack County Conservation District in Concord, according to a press release. The order deadline is Tuesday, May 11. Any trout sized 6 to 8 inches can be picked up on Sunday, May 16, from 1 to 1: 30 p.m. at 10 Ferry St. in Concord, while the larger trout will be directly delivered to your pond. Call 223-6023 or order at merrimackccd.org. Anyone from any county can participate.
The Manchester Board of School Committee has been named the 2021 School Board of the Year by the New Hampshire School Boards Association, according to a press release. “In addition to its response to the pandemic, the board has maintained its focus on implementing a long-term strategic plan,” the release said.
The Upper Room and the Marion Gerrish Community Center in Derry are relaunching the On My Own Series, a virtual way for teens to explore skills such as cooking, painting, drawing and yoga. According to a press release, the program will be offered Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., and all classes are free. Visit urteachers.org to register.
The Friends of the Plaistow Public Library are asking gardeners to consider splitting some of their perennial plants and donating them to the library’s upcoming plant sale, proceeds of which will benefit the Friends of the Library. Donations should be in pots and labeled with the plant name; they will be accepted beginning Monday, May 3.
The New Hampshire Film Bureau, which has helped bring movies like 1981’s On Golden Pond and this year’s Sound of Metal to the state for filming, may be dissolved if the proposed state budget is approved. Professionals from the New Hampshire film industry explain what’s at stake if that happens and why the Granite State is a film destination worth fighting for.
Also on the cover, the Hampstead Eats food truck festival is rolling into town this weekend, p. 21. Hudson Brews is now open and offering craft beers, p. 22. And find all kinds of live music this weekend in Music This Week, starting on p. 32.
Covid-19 updateAs of April 19As of April 26Total cases statewide91,78393,935Total current infections statewide3,3292,717Total deaths statewide1,2701,286New cases2,554 (April 13 to April ...
A student in an engineering class at Milford High School & Applied Technology Center is helping the residents of Crestwood Center in Milford get around. According to a press release, senior Daniel Schongar has spent about a year building a mobility scooter that the school will donate to the residential long-term care facility in May. The school purchased parts for the scooter on Craigslist, and Schongar had to rebuild some of its major systems — a project that was made even more difficult because of the pandemic, which forced him to work at home and meet with his teacher only once a week during remote learning. Schonger said in the release that he was able to 3D print many of the accessories that he needed to build at home.
Score: +1
Comment:Everyone’s a winner here — the residents of Crestwood Center and Schonger, who said in the release that this project has helped prepare him for college, where he wants to study engineering and learn how to build robotic arms.
Safe space
New Hampshire has been the safest state during the pandemic, according to a study from WalletHub, which recently released rankings based on data that was available as of April 14. WalletHub, a personal finance website, compared all states and Washington, D.C., in the rates of Covid-19 transmission, positive testing, hospitalizations, deaths and number of eligible people getting vaccinated. Helping it reach the top spot was the Granite State’s vaccination rate, where it ranked No. 1, and its death rate, which was one of the lowest at No. 8. New Hampshire edged out Hawaii and Alaska, which ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Score: +1
Comment:New England as a whole fared well in this survey; Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine and Massachusetts ranked 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th, respectively, and Connecticut ranked 18th.
Watch out for wildfires…
It’s Wildfire Awareness Week in New Hampshire (April 18 to April 24), and the state is trying to raise awareness about the dangers of wildfires, which are more common here in the spring as dry grasses, leaves, pine cones and fallen branches can act as fuel. According to a press release, more than 57 percent of the state is still experiencing moderate drought conditions, and the rest of the state is classified as abnormally dry, which raises the risk of wildfires even more. New Hampshire had an average of 119 wildfires that impacted an average of 276 acres each year from 2016 to 2020, the release said.
Score: -1
Comment:Ninety percent of wildfires in New Hampshire are caused by human behavior, according to the release. Common causes are brush fires and campfires, improper disposal of smoking materials, overheated engines and sparks emitted from machinery.
… and rabid wildlife
The Londonderry Police Department warned residents in a press release last week to keep an eye on their pets when they’re outdoors after a dog got in a fight with a raccoon. The raccoon was euthanized and sent for testing because it showed signs of possible rabies, and testing confirmed that it was rabid.
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Covid-19 news
During the state’s weekly public health update on April 15, Gov. Chris Sununu announced that he would not be renewing the statewide mask mandate, citing a more than 95 percent drop in seven-day average daily deaths from Covid-19 from Nov. 1. The mandate, which required everyone over the age of 5 to wear masks in both indoor and outdoor public spaces where social distancing wasn’t possible, was originally issued on Nov. 20 and extended twice before it expired on April 16. Despite the lifting of the statewide mandate, those in several cities and towns remain in effect. Concord’s citywide face covering ordinance, for instance, is still valid through at least June 1, while Nashua’s will remain in place “until further notice,” according to an April 16 press release. Private businesses such as retail stores also reserve the right to continue enforcing masks or face coverings when entering their establishments.
On April 16, Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 90, an order extending Emergency Order No. 52 regarding public health guidance for business operations and advising Granite Staters they are safer at home, through at least May 7. During the press conference, Sununu said that the restrictions outlined in the guidance “will transition from required mandates to universal best practices” beginning May 7. “Whether you’re talking about the restrictions we have in a retail store or a restaurant, or a large venue, all of that stays in place until May 7,” he said.
Also on April 16, Sununu issued Executive Order 2021-6, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the pandemic for another three weeks through at least May 7.
According to an April 18 report from WMUR, Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, said he expects there will be “a resumption in some form” of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Friday. State health officials had announced April 13 that they would pause the use of the vaccine based on a recommendation from the federal government, following six reports nationwide of a blood clot disorder.
School support
Schools, students and families will get a little extra support with two programs launching this summer, both of which are efforts to address the negative effects that the pandemic has had, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Education. The first is ReKINDling Curiosity: Every Kid Goes to Camp, whichwill give children the opportunity to attend approved overnight and day youth recreation camps, with a focus on promoting social, emotional and mental wellness. The program will be run by the state and will pay up to $650 for camp fees at approved recreation facilities for qualifying students. DOE is also offering grants to school districts to create District Learning Pods this fall through a program called Recovering Bright Futures, the release said. The Learning Pods are designed for five to 10 students and follow a trauma-sensitive instructional model, providing students with in-person learning and peer interaction outside of traditional school. DOE will also support the creation of Community Learning Pods, especially for families who do not have a District Learning Pod available to them.
Ethical issues
The Center for Ethics in Society, whose mission is to encourage constructive conversations surrounding ethical questions, is the new name for the Manchester organization formerly known as the Center for Ethics in Business and Governance. The Center, which is located at Saint Anselm College, wanted to expand ethical issues pertaining to business and corporate governance. Its advisory board includes 18 leaders from New Hampshire’s business, nonprofit, and public policy communities and is a partnership between Saint Anselm and the people who live and work in New Hampshire. The Center has been involved in the housing crisis, having assembled a task force to provide recommendations for the state’s housing action plan, and its housing research has impacted advocacy in the field, the release said. It is also hosting a new series called Corporations and the Common Good: How Should Businesses Respond to Social Issues? Upcoming programs include an April 22 Ethics Lab on Ethics and Economics of Health Insurance and an April 27 Honorable Business webinar and panel discussion with Notre Dame professor James Otteson.
Humane treatment
The Governor’s Commission on the Humane Treatment of Animals has been reestablished after Gov. Chris Sununu issued an executive order April 19, charging the commission with preparing a report that includes the number of animal cruelty-related convictions; the number of animal cruelty-related cases; relevant proposed or enacted legislation; and suggested legislation as necessary to ensure the safety and welfare of domestic animals and New Hampshire citizens, according to a press release.
The Warner Historical Society presents “Social History of the Mink Hills,” a virtual talk about the history of the 15,000+ acres of land in Warner that once encompassed 10 independent school districts, 13 burial grounds and several small mills, according to a press release. The presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, April 28, at 7 p.m.; register for the Zoom link at bit.ly/3rerX7O.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services recently issued two registration certificates for new therapeutic cannabis dispensary locations, according to press releases. One allowed Prime Alternative Treatment Centers to begin operations in Chichester, and one allowed Temescal Wellness to begin operations in Keene. At the end of 2020 there were 11,161 qualifying patients and 564 designated caregivers participating in the state’s Therapeutic Cannabis Program, according to the release.
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to visit New Hampshire on Friday, April 23, according to a report from WMUR. The April 19 report said a source has confirmed that Harris will discuss the American Jobs Plan at the IBEW headquarters in Concord.
National Drug Take Back Day is Saturday, April 24, in towns and cities across the state, coordinated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to allow people to properly dispose of prescription medication. In Manchester, the event will be held between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Elliot at River’s Edge at 175 Queen City Ave. The DEA will accept pills and patches and vaping devices and cartridges but no liquids, needles or sharps, the release said. Check with your town for similar events on that day.
