Category: News

Quality of Life 26/03/12

It’s pothole season

In a March 7 online article, WMUR cited Brian Desfosses, the director of public works for Bedford, explaining how potholes happen: “warm temperatures melt snow, leading to water seeping into cracks in the pavement. When the temperatures get colder, that water freezes and expands, weakening the roadway,” the article said. “As the freeze-thaw cycle continues, it could create more potholes this season,” the article said. “The best advice to avoid damage to a vehicle is to slow down and watch the road.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: Consumer Reports says, “Don’t assume a small-looking pothole doesn’t pose a threat: Deep potholes can fill up with water, concealing their true depth.” Search online for “consumer reports pothole survival guide.”

But it’s also (nearly) baseball season!

In a March 3 press release the New Hampshire Fisher Cats announced a new addition to this year’s home games at Delta Dental Stadium. The “Hot Dog Happy Hour” will include “discounted food and beverage deals, live music and acts by local artists [which] will generate a new pregame buzz to the ballpark. Pregame festivities will take place at the plaza near the main entrance of Delta Dental Stadium, next to the Samuel Adams Brewhouse.” Gates open 90 minutes before the first pitch, with Hot Dog Happy Hour scheduled for the first hour of that time.

QOL score: +1

Comment: The Fisher Cats will open their season at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 3, with a home game against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. There will be a post-game fireworks display.

More proof that social media is the worst

As reported by Boston 25 news in a March 8 online article, “Residents of a Manchester, N.H., three-family woke up early Saturday morning to a loud kick on the front door in a prank made popular by the social media trend, the ‘Door Kick Challenge.’” Home security video showed a person “sneaking up to the door of the Derry Street building, peering through the window and violently kicking the door before running away,” the Boston 25 report read.

QOL score: -1

Comment: The website Police1.com describes the “door kick challenge”: “Participants — typically teenagers — kick or aggressively bang on random residential doors, often at night, then run away. Though reminiscent of the traditional ‘ding-dong ditch’ prank, this challenge has escalated to significant property damage and real safety concerns.”

QOL score: 54

Net change: -1

QOL this week: 53

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

News & Notes 26/03/12

O’Neil in Epping

O’Neil Cinemas in Epping will close after the Sunday, March 15, screenings, according to a statement from the company at epping.oneilcinemas.com. “Changing industry conditions, rising operating costs, and the significant investment required to modernize the theater made it impossible for us to continue operating the Epping location at the level of experience our guests deserve,” the statement said in part. Passes and gift cards to O’Neil Cinemas can continue to be redeemed at the Epping cinema through March 15. and at the O’Neil Cinemas in Londonderry and Littleton, Mass., the statement said. Through March 15, screening tickets for the Epping O’Neil Cinemas will cost $5 (3D and DBox surcharges apply), according to a post on the Epping location’s Facebook post.

Text scam

The New Hampshire Department of Safety’s Division of Motor Vehicles has learned of a new text message scam “in which recipients are asked to submit immediate payment to resolve an unpaid traffic fine. The text messages are fake and should be deleted immediately,” according to a March 7 DMV press release. The texts claim to be “‘automatic alert’ informing recipients they have ‘unresolved traffic violations.’ The scam further threatens prompt enforcement actions … if immediate payment is not made. The scam also provides a link for payment, which includes ‘dmv-nh’ in the URL, an effort to appear to be an official State of New Hampshire website,” the release said. The NH DMV does not send text messages regarding payments and the only texts that will come from the DMV are appointment reminders, the release said. Call 603-227-4000 to talk to the DMV Customer Service line with questions about DMV communication, the press release said.

Give blood, get A1C test

The Red Cross will provide free A1C testing for successful blood, platelet and plasma donations in March, according to a Feb. 25 press release from American Red Cross Northern New England Region. Donors through March 31 can also receive a $15 Amazon gift card, the release said. “New Red Cross data reveals 1 in 5 blood donors have elevated A1C levels — a sign that prediabetes and diabetes are prevalent among adults in generally good health. … Among donors with elevated A1C levels, 80% had readings indicating prediabetes — a condition that can often be reversed through lifestyle changes such as a balanced diet and regular exercise,” the release said. “The A1C test does not require fasting and provides an average blood sugar level over the past three months,” the release said.See RedCrossBlood.org/March for upcoming blood drives and to make a donation appointment.

New Hampshire-based cartoonist, musician and educator Marek Bennett will present his new book, The Civil War Diary of Freeman Colby, Vol. 4: Summer 1864!, the fourth graphic novel of his series about real-life New Hampshire schoolteacher turned Union Army soldier Freeman Colby, at Gibson’s Bookstore, 45 S. Main St. in Concord, on Thursday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m., according to gibsonsbookstore.com. See marekbennett.com for more on Bennett’s work.

603 Brewery, 42 Main St. in Londonderry, will hold its Fire on Main event Saturday, March 14, from 3 to 9 p.m. featuring food trucks, a DJ, bonfires and more, according to 603brewery.com. See Hippo’s story about the event (originally slated for February before it was postponed due to weather) in the Feb. 5 issue of the Hippo at hippopress.com.

Four-time NBA Champion, nine-time All Star, Robert Parish, who played with the Boston Celtics from 1980 to 1994, will be at Balin Books, 375 Amherst St. in Nashua, on Thursday, March 19, from 7 to 9 p.m. with his new book The Chief, according to balinbooks.com.

This Week 26/03/05

Friday, March 6

The Windham Actors Guild (windhamactorsguild.com) will perform Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Adventure tonight, Saturday, March 7, and Sunday, March 8, at the stage at Windham’s Golden Brook School (112 Lowell Road, Windham). Described as “fast-paced, clever and occasionally ridiculous,” the play is a sequel to Ludwig’s Baskerville, according to a press release. “Packed with disguises, danger, and Ludwig’s signature wit, this fast-paced mystery reunites Holmes, Watson, and a colorful cast of characters as they pursue the world’s most notorious criminal mastermind,” according to the website, where you can purchase tickets.

Friday, March 6

Described as “hybrid of Canadian Highland Scots and French Canadian musical idioms,” Glengarry Bhoys will perform tonight, 8 p.m., the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St., Derry, 437-5100), according to tupelomusichall.com, where you can purchase tickets.

Friday, March 6

Jewel Music Venue (61 Canal St., Manchester, 819-9336, facebook.com/jewlnh) will present Detroit bass legend DÊTRE with special guest Tsimba and a stacked lineup of local support. Show starts at 8 p.m.; see the Facebook page for a link to tickets.

Friday, March 6

Bedford Off Broadway kicks off a two-weekend production of Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers, running tonight through Sunday, March 15, at the Bedford Town Hall, 70 Bedford Center Road in Bedford. The play runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., according to the company’s Facebook page, where you can find info on tickets. See bedfordoffbroadway.com.

Friday, March 6

Also hitting the stage for two weekends is Arsenic & Old Lace presented by the Milford Area Players. This dark comedy farce will run through Sunday, March 15, at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts, 56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford, according to the Players Facebook page. The production will run Fridays at 7:30 p.m and Sundays at 2 p.m., according to the post, which contains a link to purchase tickets.

Saturday, March 7

Spend an evening with Symphony NH (6 Church St., Nashua, 595-9156, symphonynh.org) for a production of Bernstein’s Legacy tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Keefe Center For The Arts (117 Elm St., Nashua, 820-2666) with Music Director finalist Adam Kerry Boyles, according to symphonynh.org, where you can purchase tickets

Saturday, March 7

The Concord Community Music School (23 Wall St., Concord, 228-1196, ccmusicschool.org) will host the 23nd Annual David Surette Mandolin Festival today and tomorrow, Sunday, March 8. To register for the workshops or buy tickets for the Saturday evening concert at Concord Community Music School, visit the Music School’s website.

Save the Date! Sunday, March 15
On Sunday, March 15, firefighters, police officers and first responders from across New Hampshire will battle it out in one competition on and off the ice at this year’s Battle of the Badges hockey tournament for the kids and families of Dartmouth Health Children’s. The action will take place at the SNHU Arena (555 Elm St., Manchester, 644-5000, snhuarena.com) beginning at 1 p.m. The proceeds are used to help kids in pediatric intensive care and with management of chronic illnesses, as well as for patient and family support services, according to Dartmouth Health. See snhuarena.com for tickets.

Featured photo: Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Adventure.

Bill Lee in town Wednesday

The Big Story – The Spaceman Landing At Boys & Girls Club: There have been many adjectives — feisty, clever, inventive, one of a kind and (always) entertaining — used to describe Red Sox lefty Bill Lee. On Wednesday, March 11, he comes to the Manchester Boys & Girls Club on Union Street to give his unique views on everything from pitching in Boston against the Evil Empire to even global warming. It will be fun.

Sports 101: Name the four winningest lefties in Red Sox history.

News Item – Celtics Update: Helped by starting with low expectations after Jayson Tatum’s injury and three bigs departing for financial reasons they’ve been overlooked all year. But somehow they’re 40-20 and far better than I thought they’d be. The latest examples were a win by 37 points over the “no, we’re not tanking” Brooklyn Nets when they shot 66.7% from the field and got a whopping 77 points from the bench, and an easy 114-98 one over the Embiid-less 76ers.

News Item – Celtics Thoughts:

• Outside of Jaylen Brown’s career year, the biggest reason for their success is they’re allowing a league-low 107.4 points per game.

• I liked Neemias Queta even in his rawest form a year ago. But never saw Sunday’s 27-point, 17-rebound in just 22 minutes explosion he went for vs. Philly.

• Derrick White: The Celtics guard’s 1.5 blocks per game ranks ninth in the NBA, putting him ahead of 7-footers like former 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson, Myles Turner, and teammate Queta as well as several others.

• Love rookie Hugo Gonzalez’s defensive toughness and hustle while compiling a team-best +17 over opposition per 100 possessions (per Boston Globe). But with him shooting only 31% on shots beyond 4 feet he still has a need to grow offensively.

• I’ve often been very critical of Joe Mazzulla, but he deserves much credit for having them play as well as they have so far.

News Item – Alumni News:

• Al Horford left for Golden State because they supposedly had a much better chance to compete for a title than the dismantled Celtics. Except now the C’s have the East’s second best record, while if everyone below them weren’t tanking for draft position GS would have a tough time holding on to their play-in slot after losing Jimmy Butler for the year.

• Luke Kornetis averaging 7.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per in 22.1 minutes of PT while helping the Spurs to have the NBA’s second best record.

A Little History – Bill Lee: He won 110 games in 10 MLB seasons and had three seasons with ERAs of under 3.00. His 1975 season was his peak, as a key cog for Boston’s World Series team when he was 17-9 with a 3.90 ERA. But to those of us rooting for that team in the Bronx, he was a Yankee-killer, the leading evidence being 12-5 vs. the New Yawkas. He also was in that major 1976 brawl after a play at the plate, where he tore a ligament in his left shoulder while fortifying his beloved status in Red Sox Nation.

The Numbers:

27 – million dollar one-year deal given to ex-Sox lefty Chris Sale by Atlanta.

33.4 – NBA-leading ppg by Luka Doncic. Imagine how good he’d be if he ever got in Larry Bird-like shape.

43.5 – second-highest vertical leap ever recorded by a linebacker at the NFL Draft Combine, by Ohio State’s Sonny Styles. For context, the greatest basketball leaper I’ve seen was David Thompson, whose VL was 44 inches.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Down – U.S. Men’s Hockey Team: They went from the ultimate high of winning gold dramatically to sad me-first behavior by accepting a White House invite after the President treated the women’s team like second-class citizens during their invite. They should’ve had the back of their same-sport Olympic teammates. Sad behavior, fellas. Booooooooo!!!!

What A Stupid I Yam Award – Me: Thanks to reader Chuck Furciniti for pointing out there have been three lefties in Sox history who’ve won at least 17 games three straight years. Not two as I said last week. The third is Mel Parnell, who won 25, 18 and 18 from 1949 to 1951.

Sports 101 Answer: The four winningest Red Sox lefty pitchers are Parnell (125), Jon Lester (110), Lefty Grove (105) and Lee (94).

Final Thought – Jayson Tatum: The rumors are flying that his return is imminent. A good thing, but they should not force/rush his return unless the Achilles is 100% healthy. But the notion his return could upset the surprising way the team has played in his absence is ridiculous. Would they have said that if Bird was coming back? No. Instead, with him on a likely minutes restriction, I’d bring him off the bench. Which would give them a potent three-man scoring trio — Tatum, Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic — for a big edge playing against bench players.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Quality of Life 26/03/05

Dog for Hopkinton

Town elections are coming up and in Hopkinton all the town and school office races are uncontested except one. On March 10 town residents between 0 and 17 years old will be invited to vote for Dog of the Year, for which there will be five candidates, according to a story published on the NHPR website on Feb. 25. Voters will receive “I Voted” stickers designed in recent years by the town’s schoolchildren. The article noted that only one dog per household may run for the office, and candidates must be registered and have up-to-date rabies vaccination records.

QOL score: +1 for civic participation

Comments: The idea came from the new town clerk, the article said; she thought it might help remind people to register their dogs by the April 30 deadline.

A plan for plants

On Feb. 26 Merrimack’s Town Council voted unanimously for a new plan to manage invasive plants. The plan was developed by a committee formed last summer. Merrimack Outdoors, the website for the Town’s Conservation Commission, says, “The term ‘invasive’ is often misused to refer to any aggressive weedy plant. The term actually refers only to plants which are BOTH non-native to the region, AND cause environmental or economic harm, or pose a health risk to humans.” Merrimack’s invasive plant species include Japanese knotweed, kudzu, burning bush, and autumn olive.

QOL score: +1

Comment: “Merrimack’s forests, wetlands, and river corridors are vital natural assets that connect the community to its ecological heritage and future,” the plan says. In a phone interview with the Hippo, the Town Manager’s Office said the plan will be available on the town website soon.

Not a lot of zombie homes

According to a Feb. 26 story published on the New Hampshire Public Radio website, New Hampshire “has the lowest ‘zombie’ vacancy rate in the nation.” A “zombie vacancy,” the story said, “is one in which the homeowner abandons the property before a foreclosure is finalized.” New Hampshire also ranked 41st in the nation in foreclosure rate, the story said.

QOL score: +1

Comment: “The Granite State also had the lowest overall home vacancy rate in the country, 0.03%, and the lowest vacancy rate for institutional investor-owned properties, 0.08%,” the article said.

QOL score last week: 51

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 54

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

News & Notes 26/03/05

Trees for schools

The New Hampshire Division of Forest and Lands is accepting applications for the Schoolyard Canopy Enhancement Program, which is part of the division’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, according to a press release. The program selects schools to receive two or three trees with staff from the Urban Forestry Center working with teachers, principals and students to plan the planting and maintenance process, the release said. “New Hampshire is so well-known for its forests and it’s really encouraging to see how excited kids get when their school is involved in the program,” A.J. Dupere, urban forester at the Division of Forests and Lands, said in the press release. “They ask a million great questions about ‘their trees.’” To receive the one-page application form, contact Liz McKinley, community forester, at elizabeth.c.mckinley@dncr.nh.gov and submit the application by April 3. See nhdfl.dncr.nh.gov.

Help Hooksett

Hooksett service organizations and the town will hold a Beautify Hooksett Day on Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Scheduled activities include roadside trash pick-up, planting flowers and other projects, followed by a gathering at Lambert Park, according to a flyer in the Hooksett Chamber of Commerce newsletter. Sign up by April 11 at bit.ly/3Kjc0ui and email hooksettkiwanis@gmail.com with questions.

Poetry

The Derry Public Library will hold its 9th Annual MacGregor Poetry Contest March 9 through April 11, with categories for poets ages 15 through adult and ages 14 and under, according to a library flyer. Prizes are offered in each category and poets can enter up to two poems, no more than two pages each, the flyer said. See derrypl.org.

The Dover Public Library is holding a poetry contest for Seacoast residents as young as 5 years old through adults. The deadline for entry is April 15; see dover.nh.gov/government/city-operations/library.

Authors

Save the date for the Derry Author Fest on Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Derry Public Library. This year the theme is “Pathways to Publication” and the fest will feature panels and a keynote speaker as well as a book sale, according to derryauthorfest.wordpress.com, where you can register for the event.

Rochester will also host an authors event: The Rochester Writers Night will hold its third annual Rochester Area Authors Fair on Saturday, April 11, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the covered pavilion at Hanson Pines Park, 68 Dominicus Way in Rochester, featuring keynote speaker J.R. Rainville, author of the Ungifted fantasy series, according to a press release. See facebook.com/rochesterNHwriters.

The Concord Arts Market will hold a HeARTwork market event on Saturday, March 7, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Carriage House at Kimball Jenkins, 266 N. Main St. in Concord. The day will also feature faculty demos, kid-friendly interactive art activities and more, according to kimballjenkins.com/events.

“Spray: Jules Olitski in the 1960s” will open at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester on Saturday, March 7 (with an opening reception on Thursday, March 5, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. for members and “not-yet-members” paying $25; register on the website). The exhibit “invites you to rediscover a modern master who explored the possibilities of color with gumption, vision, and a passion for experimentation,” according to currier.org.

The Franco-American Centre will hold a Cabane à Sucre celebration on Saturday, March 21, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Murphy’s Taproom & Carriage House in Bedford, according to the Centre’s newsletter. The evening will feature a “cabane a sucre-style dinner,” sweet maple treats and contra dancing with The Reel McCoys, the newsletter said. Purchase tickets by Thursday, March 12, at facnh.com.

The New Hampshire Outdoor Expo takes place Friday, March 6, from 1 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, March 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hampshire Dome in Milford. The expo will feature vendors related to fishing, hunting, camping, kayaking and boating as well as appearances by experts, a boat display, an archery range, a trout pond, a gaga pit for kids and more, according to nhoutdoorexpo.com, where you can purchase tickets and find information about parking.

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