News – Page 154

Going green

Meet Manchester’s official leprechaun

The Manchester St. Patrick’s Parade returns on Sunday, March 27, with Matt Casey, owner and operator of Casey Magee’s Irish Pub & Music Hall in Nashua, as its new “official Leprechaun.”

How did you land this official leprechaun gig?

I opened up an Irish pub, Casey Magee’s, in the middle of the pandemic, in June of 2020. … The logo for the pub is actually [an image of] me as a leprechaun. … I reached out to the organizers of the Manchester [St. Patrick’s] Parade and explained to them that I wanted to participate. They accepted me and are going to allow me to promote my pub in the parade. The plan is for me to march in the parade every year as the official leprechaun.

What will you be doing in the parade?

I’ll be walking. I try not to bring a cane or anything, because I like to have my hands free so that I can wave and shake everybody’s hand. People like to put their arm around me and take a picture with me. … This year it’ll be just me, but eventually I’d like to have my pub staff join me with a banner.

How do you prepare?

I started growing a beard — a big, red beard — out in the fall. … I bought a new hat [on which] I’m going to either sew or glue white letters that say ‘Casey Magee’s.’ I also have a green corduroy jacket that I got four or five years ago, which is vintage from the ’60s. I’m going to put ‘Casey Magee’s’ on the jacket also, somehow. Then I have all the lapel pins to put on. I have at least 30, and about half of them I actually purchased myself in Ireland. … [The night before the parade,] after I close the pub, I’m going to drive to Manchester. I rented a hotel room downtown. I’ll check in at around 3 a.m., and get everything for my outfit laid out so that I know I’m not missing anything. I’ll go to bed, wake up, put on my outfit and walk out the front door of the hotel as the leprechaun.

Do you have prior leprechaun experience?

Yes. I’ve been marching in St. Patrick’s Day parades for roughly 20 years. … I started in the Providence, Rhode Island, one. … I was a Las Vegas leprechaun for about six years years while I lived out there. I used to do the [St. Patrick’s Day] toasts on the Las Vegas strip at midnight, and that was really fun. Then I was the leprechaun in the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade from 2017 to 2019.

How did you get your start?

I’ve always tried to [wear] everything-green on Saint Patrick’s Day. When I was in college, I purchased a green coat, a hat, a bow tie and a vest, and I went to the local Irish pub. The Providence St. Patrick’s Day parade was that weekend. The lady that [organized the parade] ran into me at the pub and said, ‘Hey, we don’t have a leprechaun; how would you like to be our leprechaun?’ and I said, ‘Of course, I will.’

What do you enjoy most about it?

It’s so much fun to see everybody smile and wave … and to see the looks on the kids’ faces when I shake their hand, or I give them a high five, or I give them a little plastic gold coin. Honestly, it’s the funnest day of the year for me, because I get to make everybody happy, and I get a lot of joy in doing that. I’ll continue to do it for as long as I can and for as long as they’ll let me do it. Somebody has to do it, right?

What does this opportunity mean to you, as someone with Irish heritage?

Celebrating my family’s heritage and the history of Ireland is part of why I do it. … New Hampshire has a large Irish population, so there’s a lot of excitement for the parade, and I love to share that with everybody.

Featured photo: Matt Casey. Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 22/03/17

Covid-19 update	As of March 7	As of March 14
Total cases statewide	299,651	300,511
Total current infections statewide	1,045	821
Total deaths statewide	2,403	2,417
New cases	1,922 (Feb. 26 to March 7)	860 (March 8 to March 14)
Current infections: Hillsborough County	256	196
Current infections: Merrimack County	75	67
Current infections: Rockingham County	144	142

Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

Covid-19 news

On March 8, the state Department of Health & Human Services announced in a press release that all of the state-managed Covid-19 testing sites will permanently close on Tuesday, March 15. Both PCR and antigen-based Covid tests remain easily accessible, including at all New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlet stores and at dozens of hospitals, health care practices, pharmacies and urgent care centers. See covid19.nh.gov for a full list of locations that offer tests.

Elliot Hospital also recently said goodbye to a team of 14 officials from the federal Department of Defense helping out with the latest Covid surge, according to a March 9 report from WMUR. The team, which included several nurses and technicians, as well as a physician and an advanced care provider, had been assisting hospital staff for the past two months.

State health officials announced 86 new positive Covid test results on March 11, surpassing the 300,000 mark for overall cases in New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic two years ago. Despite this milestone, numbers continue to trend downward — only 43 active hospitalizations were reported on March 14, the fewest since early August of last year. In a press release issued that same day, DHHS reminded people of the availability of two oral antiviral medications, Paxlovid and molnupiravir. According to the release, both can be prescribed by providers via phone or through a telemedicine visit and can be taken at home.

Trooper training

Eleven members from the New Hampshire Division of State Police have completed the national Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement Project, which provides training and support to help law enforcement agencies build a culture of peer intervention that prevents harm. According to a press release, those 11 designated instructors will now be able to provide ABLE training to all other New Hampshire state troopers. The Project’s Board of Advisors is made up of civil rights, social justice and law enforcement leaders, and the strategies and tactics that are taught through the program aim to prevent misconduct, reduce mistakes and promote health and wellness, the release said. The training is consistent with the recommendations of the state’s Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency. “This training will ensure that we continue to provide the highest degree of law enforcement service throughout the state while maintaining our core values of professionalism, fairness and integrity,” State Police Col. Nathan Noyes said in the release.

Courtroom equity

The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation released a new Gender Matters report last week that explores the inequitable representation of women and people of color in the New Hampshire judicial branch, according to a press release. “Women in the New Hampshire Judiciary” points to the fact that 38 percent of all New Hampshire state court judges are women, with the ratios of female judges being even smaller in the state’s Superior and Supreme Courts. Only one person of color, a woman, is currently serving as a judge in the state judicial system. According to the release, governors’ administrations play an important part in who makes up the judicial system; former Gov. Maggie Hassan’s administration appointed the highest percentage of women during her tenure, at 48 percent. “Representation matters in all branches of government,” Tanna Clews, CEO of the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation said in the release. “We see many opportunities in New Hampshire to increase gender and racial diversity among New Hampshire judges.” Some of the Foundation’s policy recommendations to increase gender and racial diversity include urging governors to nominate more women and people of color; appointing more members with gender and racial diversity to the Judicial Selection Commission; and providing female attorneys a mentorship program that supports career trajectory, including judgeship.

University system chancellor

The University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees voted last week to combine the university system’s chancellor position with the role of the president of the University of New Hampshire on an interim basis for the next two-plus years. According to a press release, UNH President James W. Dean Jr. will serve as interim chancellor effective immediately, and the combined role will be in place through June 30, 2024. The board will evaluate the efficacy of the new position throughout that time. The chancellor role has remained vacant since former Chancellor Todd Leach departed in June 2021; since then, the board and administrative leadership have focused on “the economic stability, growth and transformation of its institutions” and explored various governance structure options to determine which might best secure those outcomes. In the new role, Dean will “lead and ensure the success of UNH, including the current merger of UNH and Granite State College, while working with the other campus presidents to advance the interests of KSC, PSU and the overall university system,” the release said.

Preschooler support

Federal funds are being used to make the Waterford Upstart at-home program available to hundreds more pre-K-age children in New Hampshire. According to a press release, the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund will give more kids access to Waterford Upstart Summer Learning Path from June to August. The program is designed to prepare young students for kindergarten, and many who complete it “will be reading at a nearly first-grade level,” the release said. It offers positive parent-child interactions through personalized online instruction. The summer program has kids working on the curriculum for 20 minutes a day, five days a week. “Preschool is the ideal platform for children to build a strong academic foundation and enhance language and literacy — skills that are critical for school readiness,” Christine Brennan, deputy commissioner of education, said in the release. New Hampshire families with a child entering kindergarten in the fall of 2022 or the fall of 2023 can register by calling 1-888-982-9898 or visiting WaterfordUpstart.org. “The Waterford Upstart program helps close the well-documented preschool access gap, providing proven school-readiness support for children most at risk of school failure,” Frank Edelblut, commissioner of education, said in the release.

The Nashua Board of Education and the Nashua Teachers’ Union have tentatively reached a four-year contract agreement. According to a press release, negotiating teams met last week and agreed to an average salary increase of 4.1 percent over four years for all teachers, totaling $11,127,830. “Our teachers, nurses, counselors, school psychologists, and many others have been at the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic these last two years and this agreement recognizes their efforts and honors their work with increased pay, benefits, and support,” Superintendent Garth J. McKinney said in the release.

Husband and wife Max and Saverna Ahmad of Bedford, who founded the ride-share startup Rydelinx, have expanded their operations beyond New Hampshire to all 50 states. According to a press release, Rydelinx lets riders name their price and choose specific drivers or vehicle types, while drivers can accept the ride, counter the offer or decline the ride.

Hollis police are cracking down on drunk drivers, having doubled the number of arrests for suspected drunk driving this year compared to this time in 2021, according to a report from WMUR. Several officers have taken advanced roadside impairment detection classes to help with this effort, the report said.

This Week 22/03/10

Big Events March 10, 2022 and beyond

Thursday, March 10

Thursday means it’s Art After Work at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org, 669-6144), when, from 5 to 8 p.m, museum admission is free and you can view the art, listen to music (performing this week: River Sister) and check out the food and happy hour specials in the Winter Garden. This week’s special tours include “A Glitter of Green” at 6:30 p.m., when you can get ready for St. Patrick’s Day (next Thursday, March 17) by looking at the significance of green in three museum pieces, according to the website. Current museum exhibits include “Appeal of the Real: 19th Century Photographs of the Ancient World” and “WPA in NH: Philip Guston and Musa McKim.”

Friday, March 11

Majestic Theatre presents the comedy Nana’s Naughty Knickers tonight through Sunday, March 13, at the Majestic Studio Theatre (880 Page St. in Manchester; majestictheatre.net). The show runs Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and 17 and under.

Friday, March 11

Oscar completists can add another movie to their “seen it” list: The Worst Person in the World (R, 2021), nominated for original screenplay and international feature film, starts screening today at Red River Theatres (11 S. Main St. in Concord; 224-4600, redrivertheatres.org). Red River is also still screening the nominated shorts packages: Catch documentaries on Thursday, March 10, at 6:15 p.m. Live-action shorts will screen Thursday, March 10, and Friday, March 11, at 3:15 p.m. and Saturday, March 12, at 11:30 a.m. And the animated shorts will screen Saturday, March 12, at 5 p.m.; Sunday, March 13, at 3:15 p.m. and Thursday, March 17, at 4 p.m.

Saturday, March 12

Get a taste of AC/DC with Dirty Deeds The AC/DC Experience at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com, 437-5100) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35.

Sunday, March 13

The Milford Area Players production of the comedy The Philadelphia Storyfinishes its run today with a 2 p.m. show. Other shows this weekend are at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12. The show runs at the Amato Center for the Arts (56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford). Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors. Visit milfordareaplayers.org.

Tuesday, March 15

Lil’ Buck brings “Memphis Jookin’ The Show” to the Capitol Center for the Arts’ Chubb Theatre (44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) tonight at 7 p.m. The show is presented with free admission for four tickets for Concord-area residents by the William H. Gile Concert series according to the website, where you can see a video of Lil’ Buck’s dance moves.

Wednesday, March 16

It’s storytime at the New Hampshire Telephone Museum (1 Depot St. in Warner; nhtelephonemuseum.org, 456-2234) tonight when Miss Sue of the Pillsbury Free Library in Warner comes to read some of Gianni Rodari’s Telephone Tales at 3 p.m. Suggested donations are $5. Telephone Tales features stories within the story of a father who travels for work but calls his daughter every night to tell her stories.

Save the Date! Saturday, March 26, and Sunday, March 27

The Citizens Shamrock Half-Marathon, Relay and Shuffle will take place the last weekend of March in downtown Manchester. Sunday, March 27, is also the day of the Manchester St. Patrick’s Parade, for which the shamrocks have already been painted on Elm Street, according to saintpatsnh.com. As for the races, the half-marathon and relay take place on March 26 and the Shuffle and an 8-and-under Lil Leprechaun Run take place on March 27. There are also virtual options. See millenniumrunning.com/shamrock.

Featured photo. River Sister. Courtesy photo.

Quality of Life 22/03/10

Making progress in the war on drugs

While drug overdose deaths in the United States increased 20.6 percent in one year (from the time period of June 2019 to June 2020 to the time period of June 2020 to June 2021), during the same time period New Hampshire was one of just four states to reduce its number of drug overdose deaths. According to a press release, the Granite State is projected to reduce the number of drug overdose deaths by more than 11 percent from 2018 to 2021, thanks in part to the state’s progress on its three-year action plan, Expanding Our Response, which was created in 2019 by the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol & Other Drugs. The action plan has increased access to substance use disorder peer recovery support and recovery housing, and increased investments in prevention, treatment and recovery. The commission recently updated the plan to set priorities for 2022 to 2024, including the formation of a Stimulants Committee that is tasked with addressing the increased use of stimulants in the state, the release said.

Score: +2

Comment: “Over the last few years we have made substantial progress in our long-term fight against the opioid epidemic by prioritizing a community-based Doorway response to this epidemic that puts individuals ahead of systems,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in the release.

All kinds of tax help

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration is reaching out to residents to let them know that it is available to offer guidance throughout the taxpaying season and directing taxpayers to its new tax management portal, Granite Tax Connect. According to a press release, Granite Tax Connect allows taxpayers to schedule payments to be automatically withdrawn from their bank account on a specified date. Taxpayers can either create an account or make a payment without a login. With an account, taxpayers can file returns, schedule estimated payments, see a history of returns and payments submitted and see letters received from the Department, the release said. “As a resource to the taxpaying community, we are committed to assisting taxpayers and tax preparers with all their needs this tax filing season,” NHDRA Commissioner Lindsey Stepp said in the release.

Score: +1

Comment: Taxpayer resources are available at revenue.nh.gov, and the Taxpayer Services Division is available to answer all filing questions by phone at 230-5000 (option 2), the release said.

Longtime holiday food program canceled

The Capital Region Food Program’s Holiday Food Basket Project will no longer exist in the same format, after five years of research and analysis have shown that the project in its current form is not sustainable. According to a press release, the 50-year program has seen changes over the last 10 that have caused “fragmented communication and complexities that led to complications in effectively executing the project.”

Score: -2

Comment: The CRFP, which is an all-volunteer organization, will still work to get food to those in need during the holidays and throughout the year through its Year Round Distribution Project, the release said.

New grants for women and girls of color

The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation has launched a new grant program, the Women and Girls of Color Fund, for initiatives led by or serving women and girls of color in the state. According to a press release, the fund “aims to reverse the historic and persistent underinvestment in women and girls of color” and will provide low-barrier, faster turnaround grants to projects by and for this population.

Score: +1

Comment: The fund will accept applications quarterly, with the first grants deadline on July 1; visit NHWomensFoundation.org.

QOL score: 63

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 65

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Lockout outlook

Well, with the announcement last week that the first two series of the 2022 baseball season have been canceled due to the lockout, get ready for an onslaught of sky-is-falling claims from the baseball media.

You’ll hear familiar phrases like “tone deaf,” “greedy,” “exploitation,” baseball’s becoming a “niche” sport and it could go the way of horse racing and boxing, which at the midpoint of 20th century were two of the nation’s three most popular sports. Oh, and of course there’s also the “how could they do this?” unseemly money grab when people are suffering in a brutal war in Ukraine.

The latter is valid, but was also used during the dust-up over who’d get what during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

In fact, the onslaught has already started with no fewer than four columns in the Boston Globe last week alone. The last was by usual voice of reason Tara Sullivan and carried the title “Indifference has replaced interest in baseball and it is unfathomable the sport let itself get here.”

Two came from Dan Shaughnessy. I call him the prince of darkness because of his knack for making any misstep seem like a triple homicide. I’ve been reading the guy since the 1980s and during that time there have been numerous sports work stoppages and last week’s columns were dusted off “Armageddon is here” iterations of those written during the other disputes.

Then there was young Chris Gasper’s Norma Rae-inspired screed that (seemingly) took longer to read than War and Peace. It took the owners to task for exploiting the poor players. Problem is that amid all the overwriting he never got around to why we should care that players are being exploited.

And while I know full well the owners are lying and have been crying poor since before miserly Charles Comiskey’s pernicious ways made it seem like a good idea to eight of his White Sox players to throw the 1919 World Series, let me infuse all this with a little perspective. Or is it reality? Or sanity maybe?

The Players Association just rejected a proposal to make the minimum annual salary $700k as too low; the annual average salary is north of $4 million while an unlikable stiff like Bryce Harper makes $40 million a year for each of the next eight years. A guy who was so indispensable the Nationals won the World Series right after he left as a free agent.

So if that’s what exploitation is, someone, please, please, PLEASE exploit me like that!

Since the players are the actual product they certainly have a right to fight for what they help the owners take in. But with what they already get, why should anyone care one what they get, win or lose? Especially when they individually are just as greedy as the owners.

They claim to all be in it together. But that‘s only because a united front gives them needed leverage in their fight with the owners. But once that’s out of the way, it’s every man for himself.

Consider Max Scherzer, who took the Yankees to task last week for manipulating the competitive balance tax to hold their spending at the luxury tax threshold at “just” $188 million. Which he said considering their profitability they shouldn’t do.

That’s the same Scherzer who just signed a deal with the Mets to make a whopping $42 million for each of the next three years, while the guys at the bottom are making $600k. If Max were really interested in all his brothers in the labor battle he could kick, say $12 million of his $42 million into a fund for the guys at the bottom to split at the end of the year like a World Series share. It would still leave him with $30 million per, which I’m guessing he can get by on. And if others in his tax bracket like Harper and Mookie Betts did the same they could probably get the minimum guys over a million a year.

But we don’t hear that from Max, because he wants to get every last dime he can get out of the free market for himself. Especially since that’s what the Players Association preaches in fighting to avoid a salary cap like the one in the NBA that’s such a drag on salaries poor Russell Westbrook only makes $47 million a year.

Besides, that would be socialism. Except isn’t that, for better or worse, what a union actually is?

Fine. But if Max and his exploited compadres can do that, why can’t the Yankees? Then it’s may the better man/group win.

As for this adding to the woes of baseball’s declining national interest, I would point out that since there has not been a work stoppage in baseball, none of the decline (between 2007 and 2019) has anything to do with bickering over money.

Not to mention that while some may grumble during it, it’s all soon forgotten and fans come back every time. True even when a strike canceled the 1994 World Series and an entire NHL season was wiped out by the lockout of 2004-05. So don’t listen to the doomsday prediction because history shows they’re wrong every time.

As for the fan indifference mentioned by Ms. Sullivan, while it’s real at the moment, I’d argue it’s not specifically for the sport itself. It’s more of the “been there done that, so wake me when it’s over” variety.

So instead of looking at the glass being half full, this could actually be an opportunity to fix what really is causing the decline in attendance. Make one of the bargaining concessions be putting a structure in place for players and owners to jointly address everything from the cost of tickets to the pace of play to altering the way stat geek baseball is sucking the excitement out of the game.

That would make this stoppage constructive and if it takes until even July, it’s time well spent.

Weekend scientist

Meet Aspire Intern Vick Mahindru

Over the last five months, Manchester High School West sophomore Vick Mahindru has had the unique opportunity of working with staff at the SEE Science Center in Manchester to develop and test the museum’s hands-on STEM exhibits. The Aspire Internship, offered at SEE in partnership with Sunrise Labs, a medical device engineering company in Bedford, is awarded each year to a local student of color who is interested in pursuing a career in science or education.

How did you discover this internship, and what made you want to apply for it?

What made me apply for this internship was that I always wanted to learn more about engineering, since it is one of my career interests, and evaluate and design different prototypes and then see the finished product at the end. I became aware of the internship [through] another opportunity, the Health Career Quest weekly class. In that class, every week [the organizers] would bring in guests to the meetings who were [in] health-, medical- and science-related [fields]. One day the guests were [from] the SEE Science Center, and they were telling us about their engineering feats such as the iBOT electric wheelchair, which interested me a lot in applying for this internship. I then officially wrote my cover letter and resume and submitted it and made sure to explain what this internship in particular meant to me.

What does it involve? What kinds of things do you do when you’re at the museum?

This internship involves learning about engineering, working with kids [and] collaborating with others…. The kinds of things I do when I’m at the museum are: I get to collaborate with the exhibit team and outside contractors to create exhibit prototypes; help to design evaluation tools … such as prototypes for Social Science Research [an academic journal]; and conduct research for exhibit topics such as the Amoskeag Mills.

Do you have any ideas about what you would like to study or pursue as a career in the future?
Yes, after my experience at this internship [and] with multiple extracurricular [activities], I am trying to narrow it down, [based on] my interests and skills, to a couple of career fields, such as engineering, medical, software engineering, orthodontics, real estate, nanotechnology engineering, Lego design, [a field that’s] music-related and the CIA.

What are some skills you’re learning at the museum that you think could be applicable to your future education and career?

I am learning in this internship … [about] how to build and test prototypes; resume-building; collaborating with others; workflow pacing [and] time management; and [how] to help design evaluation tools for social science research.

What is your favorite part of doing this internship?

My favorite part of this internship was every week, going on Sundays and working toward my goals, such as learning more about engineering, how to build and test prototypes and how to be more efficient and productive, and then seeing all those goals come to reality nearing the end of my internship.

What has been the most challenging part?

There weren’t really any challenging parts of this internship besides [having to] work individually on projects I was assigned and then give updates to my supervisor, which I was hesitant [to do] at first, but then [the projects] came out great.

Would you recommend this internship to other students? What kind of student do you think would be a good fit for it?

Yes, I definitely would recommend this internship to other students. The kinds of students that I would think would be a good fit for this internship are students who can give 100 percent commitment and reliability to this internship.

Featured photo: Manchester High School West sophomore Vick Mahindru. Courtesy photo.

Category: News