Category: News

This Week 24/08/15

Thursday, Aug. 15

The Hampton Beach Comedy Festival continues through Sunday, Aug. 18, with shows featuring six comedians starting at 8 p.m. daily at McGuirk’s Ocean View Hotel & Restaurant. Michael Witthaus talked to Jimmy Dunn, the festival’s organizer, and offers a rundown of the comedians slated to perform in the cover story in the Aug. 8 issue of the Hippo. Find it in our digital library at hippopress.com; the story starts on page 10.

Thursday, Aug. 15

It’s Paint Nite at Salona Bar & Grill (128 Maple St., Manchester, 624-4020, facebook.com/Salona) tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. Enjoy food and drinks with your friends, then share some laughs while you create a painting of your very own from start to finish. Tickets are $39 each on Eventbrite.com.

Thursday, Aug. 15

Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com), New Hampshire Public Radio and the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com) welcome best-selling author Jodi Picoult to the Chubb Theatre tonight at 7 p.m. for an evening of literary discussion of her new novel, By Any Other Name. This is part of their author series, Authors on Main. Picoult will be in conversation with NHPR’s Casey McDermott. A meet-and-greet photo line will follow the event. Tickets are $40 and include a pre-signed hardcover copy of By Any Other Name. There will be no signing line at this event.

Saturday, Aug. 17

Combat Zone 85 is coming to the SNHU Arena (555 Elm St., Manchester, 644-5000, snhuarena.com) today at 6 p.m. Mixed Martial Arts Welterweight Champion Sean Wakefield will defend his title against Middleweight Champion Lucas Moreira. Combat Zone, New England’s longest-running fight promotion, promises 15 action-packed bouts, two of them title fights. Tickets start at $29..

Saturday, Aug. 17

Tonight is Swing Dance Night at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com). Swing dancing lessons start at 6:30 p.m., followed by dancing at 7 p.m. Participants can dance the night away or just come to enjoy the exciting sounds of the 19-piece New Hampshire Jazz Orchestra. Tickets are $30.75.

Saturday, Aug. 17

Double Midnight Comics Concord (341 Loudon Road, Concord, 715-2683, dmcomics.com) will host a Pokemon League challenge today at noon. All players are welcome. Entry is $5, and there will be pack-per-win prizing.

Sunday, Aug. 18

There will be a router workshop at Rockler Woodworking and Hardware (290 S. Broadway, Suite 3A, Salem, 898-5941, rockler.com) today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This class is an opportunity to learn about the router and its use in woodworking. Tickets for this workshop are $75.

Save the Date! Saturday, Aug. 24 – Monster Hunt Manchester
For the 12th year, Studio 550 Arts Center (550 Elm St., Manchester, 232-5597, 550arts.com) and Queen City Cupcakes (816 Elm St., Manchester, 624-4999, qccupcakes.com) will hide 100 red clay monsters in downtown Manchester. Monster finders get the immediate reward of being able to keep the monster they find. All searchers are asked to keep only one, even if they see more, so the joy can be shared by as many people as possible. The public all-ages hunt begins after a kickoff meeting at 11 a.m. at City Hall Plaza. Visit 550arts.com/about/monsterhunt.

Featured photo: Jimmy Dunn.

Quality of Life 24/08/15

Covid is back. Again.

A recent variant of Covid-19 is on the rise in New Hampshire. As reported by WMUR in a July 30 online article, “New Hampshire health officials said emergency department and wastewater data show that there has been a rise in recent infections, and they expect that such seasonal surges will continue.” Despite previous infections and vaccinations, it is possible to be reinfected. As described by the Centers for Disease Control on its website (cdc.gov/covid), “Reinfections with the virus that causes Covid-19 are most often mild, but severe illness can occur. If you are reinfected, you can also spread the virus to others.” According to a WMUR report from Aug. 9, the most common Covid strain right now is KP.3, a descendant of the omicron variant. “Protection against severe Covid-19 illness generally lasts longer than protection against infection. This means even if you get infected again, your immune response should help protect you from severe illness and hospitalization,” read the same CDC advisory.

QOL score: -1

Comment: According to WMUR’s Aug. 9 report, the 2024-2025 Covid-19 vaccines, expected to be out this fall, will target the JN.1 strain because it, too, is in the omicron family.

“I’ve got a bridge to sell you.”

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation (dot.nh.gov) announced in an Aug. 8 press release that it has a bridge for sale. “The NH Department of Transportation (NHDOT) is accepting proposals for the purchase, relocation and preservation of the Bridge (No. 254/180) that carries Route 127 over the Warner River, in Warner, NH,” the press release read. On its Bridge Sales Website (dot.nh.gov/historic-bridge-dispositions-bridges-sale) the NHDOT stated that bridges on its sales list are, “in general, eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, and any sale will be awarded for $1.00 to the entity who develops the most responsive preservation proposal.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: The NHDOT describes Bridge No. 254/180 as an example of a steel stringer bridge and says such bridges “rarely feature aesthetic treatments and usually have standard railings or guide rails. Warner 254/180, built in 1937, is the oldest extant example of a continuous I-beam bridge in the inventory.”

Vacationing extraterrestrials?

The website Staker.com has aggregated data from reports of UFO sightings to the National UFO Reporting Center (nuforc.org), which has been compiling reports since 1974. In a ranking of most UFO sightings reported to least, New Hampshire comes in sixth, with 85 reports per 100,000 residents. According to the ranking, Washington State has the highest rate of reported sightings with 100 per 100,000 people, and Washington, D.C., has the lowest rate with 22 per 100.000. Vermont and Maine are both in the top 10, with Vermont fourth (90/100.000), and Maine seventh (85/100,000).

QOL score: +1 probably? Tourism is tourism.

Comment: It has been 53 years since Betty and Barney Hill’s reported alien abduction in Lincoln.

Last week’s QOL score: 74

Net change:+2

QOL this week: 76

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at [email protected].

Paris games earn gold

The Big Story – Paris Olympics Come to an End: It was a memorable Olympics for good and bad reasons. The biggest story was the leading 40 gold (tied with China) and 126 overall medals won by the Americans in Paris. It continued their streak of winning the most medals every games since 1996.

Sports 101: Name the two athletes who were immediately sent home for making the Black power salute at their medal ceremony during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

News Item – Olympic Wrap-up – MemorableStories

Historic – Katie Ledecky: Cementing her place as the greatest female Olympic swimmer in winning her record ninth gold medal and 13 overall.

Biggest Upset – Cole Hocker: The Indiana miler left the starting gate a 21-to-1 long shot but somehow found a crack in the pack to slither through down the stretch to win gold in the 1500 meters with an American and Olympic record time of 3:27:53 — the equivalent of a 3:44.3 American mile.

My Favorite Story – USA Basketball: Both finals vs. France were closer than they should have been. But that only made their quest for dual gold more dramatic. Especially the women winning their ninth straight gold medal and the clutch shooting of MVP Steph Curry, who saved his team twice in their last two games.

News Item – The Rest Of The Week: (1) The Pats won their first preseason game 17-12 over Carolina. (2) The Sox’ playoff chances took a hit after they were swept over the weekend by Houston to fall three back in the wild card race.

The Numbers:

4 – year show-cause penalty for ex-Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, which is the NCAA’s fancy new title for being banned that many years for a variety of recruiting violations to keep him out of the college game till 2028. Said another way: Since he has a new five-year contract with the L.A. Chargers, who cares. That’s like when the NFL suspended Michael Vick when he was in jail for dog killing and couldn’t play anyway.

9.20 – shockingly horrid combined ERA from the Red Sox starting rotation when they lasted just 29.1 innings of the six-game road trip to Texas and KC and still somehow managed to go 4-2.

21 – where the White Sox losing streak ended with a 5-1 over the moribund A’s to tie Baltimore’s 1988 AL record and fall two short of the MLB record 23 the Phillies lost in 1961. Though it didn’t do Pedro Grifol much good as he was fired as Chicago’s manager the next day.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Down – Jerod Mayo: Hate to pick on the new coach after his first exhibition game. But you have to wonder why in the name of Babe Parilli a team with a highly drafted rookie quarterback desperately in need of reps would play just one series as Drake Maye did in preseason Game 1. What did that do? Especially since the horrid Panthers gave said rookie the perfect team to play against.

Nickname of the Week – Triple Espresso: The name Olympic Soccer stars Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith gave themselves amid lesser names the media has tried to come up with for the threesome that scored 10 of the 11 U.S. goals including Swanson’s game winner in the gold medal game vs. Brazil.

Party Pooper of the Week – Corey Seager: For the Texas shortstop wrecking Framber Valdez’s bid for the second no-hitter of his career by launching an opposite field two-run homer with two-out in the bottom of the ninth.

Random Thoughts:

If you think the embarrassing double DNP is going to drive Jayson Tatum next year, forget about it. Nope. Since nothing ticks him off he’s going to just take it in stride.

Sports 101 Answer: Gold medal winner in the 200 meters Tommie Smith and teammate bronze medal winner John Carlos were the ones sent home for giving the Black power salute.

Final Thoughts – A Little History: To the sad person lost in the culture wars who wrote on my Facebook feed that the bogus controversy over Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was “the darkest day in Olympic history” — get a life and a history book.

That actually happened at the 1972 games in Munich when the Black September terrorist group kidnapped and murdered eight athletes and one coach from the Israeli team, leading broadcaster Jim McKay to famously say “they’re all gone” after the rescue attempt failed.

Hard to imagine anything eclipsing that.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

News & Notes 24/08/15

NH Artist Laureate

Genevieve Aichele of Portsmouth is the next New Hampshire Artist Laureate.

She was nominated by Gov. Chris Sununu and confirmed by the Executive Council, according to a press release.

Aichele is the founder and former executive director of the New Hampshire Theatre Project and has performed, directed, choreographed and taught theater arts nationally and internationally for more than 40 years, according to the release. Under her leadership, the New Hampshire Theatre Project won the 2021 Governor’s Arts Award for its Elephant-in-the-Room Series, which uses performance and audience discussions to address a range of topics, including substance misuse disorder, human trafficking, mental health, school violence, eating disorders and attitudes around death and dying, according to the release.

In a statement, Aichele said, “The arts have positive effects on our lives in ways that people don’t always realize. As New Hampshire’s artist laureate, I look forward to continuing interacting with people of all ages and backgrounds to help them find ways to draw on the arts as a resource, both to find strengths within themselves and to make connections with others.”

The New Hampshire Artist Laureate position was established in 1997 and is a two-year honorary term served without compensation. Aichele is the 10th artist laureate in the program. Visit nh.gov/nharts.

PFAS removal help

According to a press release, House Bill 1649 was signed into law allowing the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) to continue to provide rebates for water treatment or connection to public water systems as part of an effort to assist private well users whose water supply has been impacted by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination, although administrative rules are still in the process of being adopted.

In response, NHDES will reinstate the PFAS Removal Rebate Program for Private Wells for eligible applicants on Monday, Sept. 9. The department still continues to process rebates for applications submitted prior to the program suspension on Monday, June 10, according to the release. The NHDES will release a new application form for submission starting Sept. 9. Highlights of the program terms include rebates up to $5,000 to assist in the installation of a treatment system designed to remove PFAS or up to $10,000 for a service connection to a public water system completed after Sept. 30, 2019; applicants are limited to owners of residential properties in the state of New Hampshire that use a drinking water well impacted by PFAS and who have not been offered or are not being provided alternate water, temporary or permanent, from a potentially liable third party, and provisions will be made available for income-qualified applicants to request rebates be distributed directly to a treatment installer or contractor, according to the release. Program specifics will be made available on the PFAS Removal Rebate for Private Wells website as soon as possible. Visit des.nh.gov.

Political sign rules

According to a press release, the Department of Transportation is once again reminding candidates and their campaign workers about proper placement of political signs. The law prohibits placement of political signs on the interstate highways, including the entrance and exit ramps. The law also prohibits placement of political signs on or affixed to utility poles or highway signs, including delineators; signs that create a traffic hazard or obstruct the safe flow of traffic will be removed and it should be noted that signs affixed to bridges create a traffic hazard and will be removed. Signs will be removed to perform maintenance, and this is prime mowing season. Placement of signs on private property requires permission from the landowner; signs on private property that obstruct traffic signs or signals, or restrict a motorist’s field of view at an intersection, will be removed as a traffic hazard. (RSA 236:1, 236:73). Candidates are required to remove all political signs by the second Friday following the election, unless the election is a primary and the advertising concerns a winning candidate (RSA 664:17). Visit dot.nh.gov.

Legionnaire’s alert

Five people were diagnosed with Legionnaire’s Disease in June and July after visiting Lincoln, possibly from exposure to contaminated water droplets from a cooling tower behind the RiverWalk Resort in the downtown area, according to a New Hampshire Dept. of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health Services press release from Aug. 12. “Legionnaire’s disease is a bacterial pneumonia caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with Legionella bacteria,” the release said. “Many people who are exposed to Legionella bacteria develop only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, the bacteria can cause a more serious pneumonia …. Symptoms usually begin 2 to 14 days after exposure and can include fever, cough, and shortness of breath.”

DHHS confirmed the presence of Legionella bacteria contaminating the cooling tower and RiverWalk is partnering with DHHS to address the contamination, with additional test results for the cooling tower expected next week, the release said. For more information about Legionella, see dhhs.nh.gov.

The Sunflower Soirée is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Sunday, Aug. 18, at Brookford Farm in Canterbury (250 West Road). Children 4 and under are free. Children ages 5 to 12 are $7 ($10 at the door) and those 13 and older are $10 in advance, $14 at the door. Visit brookfordfarm.com.

The New Hampshire Telephone Museum and Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum will host a program called Code Talkers at Warner Town Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 21, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Judith Avila will be discussing her work Code Talker, which is the memoir of Chester Nez, one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII. Tickets are $10 and children 10 and under are free. Visit indianmuseum.org or nhtelephonemuseum.org.

Head to The Word Barn in Exeter (66 Newfields Road) for The Call to Adventure, an evening of storytelling around the fire pit in the meadow with professional storyteller Alex Foy, on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. Bring a chair or blanket. The program is free and open to all with a $5 suggested donation. See thewordbarn.com.

This Week 24/08/08

Thursday, Aug. 8

It’s Jaws Week at Chunky’s (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com). Tickets for the are on sale now. Sponsored by Narragansett Beer (narragansettbeer.com), the classic 1975 shark movie will be screened until Wednesday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m. each evening, accompanied by retro 1975-inspired cans of Narragansett, swag and shark-bite bowls. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 8

Hudson’s Old Home Days run Thursday, Aug. 8, to Sunday, Aug. 11, on the grounds of the Hill House (211 Derry Road, Hudson). There will be carnival games, live music, fireworks, food and more — Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m., Friday from 5 to 11 p.m., Saturday from noon to 11 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. See hudsonoldhomedays.com.

Thursday, Aug. 8

It’s the opening day of the 66th annual New Hampshire Antiques Show, hosted by the New Hampshire Antique Dealers Association, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (700 Elm St.in Manchester). The show runs through Aug. 10 and will feature nearly 60 professional antique dealers. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $15 on Thursday; $10 on Friday and Saturday. Visit nhada.org.

Thursday, Aug. 8

Cirque du Soleil returns to SNHU Arena (555 Elm St., Manchester, 644-5000, snhuarena.com) with its high-energy and high-acrobatic production “Ovo,” a colorful intrusion into a new day in the life of insects. Performances will be today at 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 9, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 10, at 3 and 7 p.m, and Sunday Aug. 11, at 1 and 5 p.m. Tickets start at $45.

Saturday, Aug. 10

Brookford Farm (250 West Road, Canterbury, 742-4084, brookfordfarm.com) will host a Sunflower Soiree today through Sunday, Aug. 18, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Enjoy sunflowers, food, hay rides, a sunflower stroll, sunflower picking, a cow parade and more. General admission tickets are $10 online and $15 at the door. See brookfordfarm.com.

Saturday, Aug. 10

It’s free admission Saturday for New Hampshire residents at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org), which is open today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the Creative Studio from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., make paper flowers inspired by the work of Daniel Otero Torres, whose “Sonidos Del Crepúsculo (Twilight Sounds)” exhibit is on display now through Oct. 6.

Wednesday, Aug. 14

School of Rock (PG-13, 2003) will screen in Veterans Park in Manchester today at dusk, according to a post on the Manchester Economic Development Office Facebook page.

Wednesday, Aug. 14

Outdoor Movies in Concord with Concord Parks and Rec and Red River Theaters will show Jurassic Park today at sundown in Memorial Field.

Save the Date! Friday, Aug. 16
There will be a Silent Dance Party at the Auburn Pitts (167 Rockingham Road, Auburn, 622-6564, auburnpitts.com), Friday, Aug. 16, from 7 to 11:30 p.m. Paricipants will use a pair of three-channel headphones, each with a different playlist. Tickets can be purchased in advance at gsgnh.org for $20. Admission will be $25 at the door. All proceeds will go to Granite State Generocity, to aid their mission of helping people in New Hampshire with debilitating illness or disabilities.

Featured photo: Jaws.

Quality of Life 24/08/08

New Hampshire girls and mental health

In an Aug. 2 article, Nashua InkLink, nashua.inklink.news, reported that according to a recent study by the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation, “50% of girls in the state suffer from mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. This rate is the highest in New England and surpasses the national average of 41%.” The article went on to quote data from New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services revealing that girls in the state attempted suicide twice as often as boys between 2011 and 2023. The reasons for the challenges for New Hampshire’s girls remains unclear.

QOL score: -3

Comment: Read the report at nhwomensfoundation.org/status-of-girls-nh.

Problematic liverwurst

Deli meat supplier Boar’s Head (boarshead.com) initiated a recall of its Strassburger Brand Liverwurst on July 25, after learning that it might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria that causes the food poisoning listeria. The company subsequently expanded the recall to include “71 products produced between May 10, 2024, and July 29, 2024, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names,” according to a July 30 USDA announcement.

QOL score: -1

Comment: For a full list of recalled products, visit fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts or the Boar’s Head website.

We’re smaaahties

As reported by Newsweek (newsweek.com) in an Aug. 1 online article, New Hampshire residents have the second highest IQs in the United States; we average 104.2, with Massachusetts just edging us out with an average score of 104.3. The Intelligence Quotient, or IQ score, assesses a range of cognitive abilities and attempts to reflect these in a two- to three-digit score. As the article points out, human intelligence is too complicated and nuanced to be truly reflected in one number. Nevertheless, it is gratifying to outscore the rest of the country, which has a reported average of 97.43.

QOL score: +1

Comment: Mississippi placed the lowest in the U.S. with an average IQ score of 94.2. The U.S. itself ranked 26th among countries; Japan placed first, with an average IQ score of 106.48.

Hidden treasure

Contractors renovating a barn for Manchester resident Toni Pappas discovered a cache of vintage baseball cards last week, including a Ted Williams rookie card. As reported by WMUR in an Aug. 4 online article, “The collection was hidden in the walls of Pappas’ barn, where she lived with her late husband for many years and where he grew up.” Altogether, workers and friends found 52 baseball cards from the late 1930s and early 1940s.

QOL score: +1

Comment: “Billy Pappas was a baseball Hall of Famer at the University of New Hampshire, a player for his Air Force football team,” the article reported. If any of the cards are sold, the proceeds will go to a sports scholarship in his name at the University of New Hampshire.

QOL score: 76

Net change: -2

QOL this week: 74

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at [email protected].

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