Category: News

NH Fisher Cats star in WS

The Big Story – A Great World Series: It was two outs away from being the Manchester, N.H., World Series — manager John Schneider, pitching coach Pete Walker and eight players, led by Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, all spent time at Delta Dental Stadium with the Fisher Cats before ascending to Toronto. But thanks to Toronto’s answer to Bucky Dent, Miguel Rojas, tying it at 4-4 with a one-out ninth-inning homer followed by the winning run being scored in the 11th, L.A. became the first repeat series winner since the 2000 Yankees. And they actually played baseball as we once knew it with suicide squeezes, solid fielding, advancing runners to manufacture runs over relying on just homer balls, and they had the epic 18-inning Game 4. A great World Series that featured baseball as it ought to be.

Sports 101: Name the five winningest pitchers in World Series history.

News Item – Patriots Now 7-2: They say sometimes it’s better to be lucky than to be good. Which the Pats were in Sunday’s 24-23 win over Atlanta, where the margin of error was a missed extra point.

What’s To Like – Pop Douglas: The upward trend of the second-year receiver continued with four catches for 100 yards, and his TD came on a career-best 58-yard catch and run.

Key Stat: It’s now nine games in a row where the D has not allowed a runner to reach 50 yards, this time holding NFL per-game rushing leader Bijan Robinson to 46 yards.

Backslide: 1. The secondary gave up three TD catches to the same guy, Drake London. 2. In his worst game since Week 1, Drake Maye’s two TO’s led to the 10 Falcon points that let them back in the game. 3. The O-line gave up six more sacks.

Game Ball – Atlanta kicker Parker Romo: The kicker cut by the Pats in training camp missed the fourth-quarter extra point that gave the Patriots a lucky one-point win.

News Item – Epic WS Game 3: It went 18 innings in six hours and 39 minutes and was won on a walk-off homer by last year’s Series hero, Freddie Freeman.

The Numbers:

12 – strikeouts by rookie Trey Yesavage, who set a WS record of 23 swings and misses in Toronto’s 6-1 Game 6 win over L.A.

59 – million dollars owed in buyouts to football coach Brian Kelly ($53 million) and AD Scott Woodward at LSU athletics because their team is 5-3.

68 – yard FG by Jacksonville’s Cam Little to set the NFL’s all-time record for longest FG ever in their 30-29 win over Las Vegas.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Mookie Betts: Oh, great, another reason to mourn the Red Sox losing the greatest RF in team history, as he was named the 2025 winner of the Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award for helping communities in so many ways the list is too long to print here.

Thumbs Down – LSU Athletics: A 5-3 football program from the same state as U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson comes from, wasting $59 million in unnecessary payouts, on the same day the Speaker (and his colleagues) let food stamp payments stop helping feed needy families around that state and the country. Seems like we’ve lost perspective, don’t you think?

Hard To Believe Stat – Josh Allen: Recording the 79th rushing TD of his eight-year career to push a quarterback ahead of the great Earl Campbell for 25th place on the all-time TD rushing list during Buffalo’s win over KC.

Sports 101 Answer: 10 wins, Whitey Ford; seven wins, Red Ruffing, Allie Reynolds, Bob Gibson; six wins, Lefty Gomez, Waite Hoyte and Chief Bender. All Yankees except Gibson (Cardinals) and Bender (A’s).

Final Thought – Shohei Ohtani: It’s rare that I watch a game just to see one baseball player these days. But I did it for Ohtani in the WS. And he did not disappoint. In the epic 18-inning Game 3 marathon alone he reached base nine times via two homers, two doubles and five walks as he scored three times and knocked in three more, which tied the record for most extra-base hits in a WS game set in 1906 by some guy I never heard of and I’ve heard of everyone.

He also became the first to have three multi-homer games in the same post-season. Plus he pitched in the playoffs, where he was 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA, including a 10-K, six-inning effort in the NLCS.

It inspired ESPN’S Buster Olney to call him the greatest player ever. I say pump the brakes on that. He’s never going to catch any of the Babe’s major stats, including pitching, where at 39 to 94 he’s 55 wins behind the Babe. But that doesn’t mean he’s not the most exciting player to watch since at least Junior Griffey. Which is good enough for me.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Nashua pop-up pantries help take up SNAP slack

Sara Ceaser is the Director of Volunteer and Community Engagement for the United Way of Greater Nashua, which organizes five pop-up food pantries each week across Nashua. She said that with SNAP benefits scheduled to run out in November food insecurity in the city is likely to increase.

“We started our [food pantry] program at the beginning of the Covid pandemic to make sure that there was food available in neighborhoods,” she said, “and we saw that there was a continued need. So we stay in those locations and yes, most of the people who attend will walk there.”

“We do these pop-up pantries at different locations in the community every week. I’m hearing anecdotally from the people that are there that we’re seeing an increase already, even before SNAP benefits have run out. We are preparing to provide more food when we can, and being a little bit creative on how we can source food. Another project that we do is grocery deliveries to homebound people from food pantries. I just checked the numbers for Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. We did 52 deliveries, which was an increase of almost 20. We had 34 deliveries the previous month. So things are definitely changing.”

Part of being creative in sourcing food, Ceaser said, is working with groups such as the Regenerative Roots Association. “They are located in Nashua and they are doing what’s called Fresh Rescue,” she said. “They go to stores and they will pick up food in their refrigerated van and drop it off for us for the food pantries as well. Most grocery stores do this fresh rescue program where they have food that’s still good but they need to get it off of their shelves. Most of what we get from this program at the moment is protein, so meat and other types of things like that, and a lot of bread too.”

Another group working with the United Way is the Hillsborough County Gleaners. “They are a group that is run out of UNH Cooperative Extension,” Ceaser said. “They go to farms, and they have volunteers who pick what’s left in a farm’s field after the initial harvest. And so we benefit from that also. The harvest is kind of winding down a little bit, but we’re able to provide fresh fruits and vegetables during the growing season. We’re working on other ways to provide fresh fruits and vegetables as well; we’ll hopefully be able to purchase that using gift cards donated by stores and possibly grant funding as well. So we’re hoping to kind of ramp things up as we can.”

In the meantime, Ceaser said, the United Way’s pop-up pantries have just moved indoors for the winter.

Pop-ups
The United Way of Greater Nashua’s pop-up pantries are open from 11 a.m. to noon:
Monday: Harbor Care, 45 High St.
Tuesday: Girls Inc., 27 Burke St.
Wednesday: Arlington Street Community Center, 36 Arlington St.
Thursday: Nashua Community Music School, 2 Lock St.
Friday: Crossway Christian Church, 33 Pine St.
All locations are in Nashua.

News & Notes 25/11/06

More food news

The New Hampshire Food Bank “is intensifying its fundraising efforts to address the anticipated statewide rise in food insecurity as the federal government shutdown persists,” as the shutdown has impacted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to a Food Bank press release on Oct. 31 at its website, nhfoodbank.org. “The New Hampshire Food Bank has already increased food distribution by 26% year-over-year to meet the growing demand.” The NH Food Bank has a webpage — nhfoodbank.org/govshutdown — with information about SNAP, a food map of partner agencies throughout the state and links to information on mobile food banks and SNAP-recipients-specific mobile food banks. The page also features links on donating to the NH Food Bank.

Veterans Day parade

Manchester’s Veterans Day Parade will kick off changes to the city’s parade route, according to a press release from the Manchester Emergency Operations Center. “Beginning with the Veterans Day Parade on November 11, 2025, and all parades moving forward, the parade route will start at Bridge St and Elm St continuing south on Elm St and concluding at Elm St and Central St,” the release said. The parade steps off around 10:45 a.m., according to the police department.

To celebrate Veterans Day the city is also offering free parking to anyone with a Veteran plate at metered spaces in downtown Manchester, according to The MEDO Minute, the newsletter of the city of Manchester Economic Development office.

At the DMV

The New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles is fully appointment-based as of Nov. 3, according to a press release from the state’s Department of Safety on Oct. 27. Go to dmv.nh.gov to make an appointment at one of the state’s 14 locations. “DMV staff will assist walk-in customers with finding appointments, including at other DMV locations if necessary,” the release said. “The busiest DMV locations in Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Epping will also offer appointments during extended hours until 5 p.m., twice a week. Additionally, a limited block of same-day appointments will be made available each day for customers with urgent transactions,” the release said. This new system is designed to reduce waiting times in DMV lobbies and manage customer flow more effectively, the release said.

The new exhibition “If You Had to Choose: Patriots and Loyalists in Revolutionary New Hampshire,” which “presents the stories of New Hampshire colonists in 1775 and 1776,” is on display now at the New Hampshire Historical Society, 30 Park St. in Concord. Also on display is “Lafayette’s Visit to New Hampshire,” about the Marquis de Lafayette’s 1825 visit to the state, according to nhhistory.org. The Society is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Hive Mind: Nature Inspired Group Art” from the New England-based artist group NAV Arts will be on display through Dec. 27 at the New Hampshire Audubon’s Massabesic Center, 26 Audubon Way in Auburn. An artists’ reception will be held Saturday, Nov. 8, from noon to 3 p.m. See nhaudubon.org.

The Friends of the Newfields Public Library will hold an antique and vintage item appraisal event called “What’s It Worth?” on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Brook Casino in the Showroom, 319 New Zealand Road in Seabrook, according to an email from organizers. The event is 18+, with no firearms allowed, up to three items per person and a fee by donation, the email said. See newfieldslibrary.org/whats-it-worth-2025

This Week 25/10/30

Thursday, Oct. 30

The 18th New England Regional Genealogical Conference will run today through Saturday, Nov. 1, at the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Manchester. This conference is designed for researchers at all experience levels. Onsite registration for the main conference is available. Visit nergc.org.

Friday, Oct. 31

The Anselmian Abbey Players present a stage production of Dracula, adapted by Neil LaBute from the novel by Bram Stoker, at the Dana Center for the Humanities (Saint Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester, anselm.edu) tonight and tomorrow night, Saturday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m, and Sunday, Nov. 2, at 2 p.m. This adaptation “strips the legend to its barest and most brutal bones—revealing a chilling, psychological battle between predator and prey,” according to the Players. Tickets start at $10 through the Dana Center website, tickets.anselm.edu.

Friday, Oct. 31

Arts Alley (20 S. Main St., Concord, artsalleyconcordnh.com) will hold a Halloween Party: Alley After Dark today at 7 p.m. The evening will feature a party with DJ music, specialty cocktails, costume contest and giveaways. Admission is $30. Find more Halloween parties for grown-ups in the story on page 22.

Saturday, Nov. 1

The Ladies of Saint Anne Sodality will hold a Christmas Fair today from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and tomorrow, Nov. 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Anthony of Padua Parish, 148 Belmont St. in Manchester.

Saturday, Nov. 1

SNHU Arena (555 Elm St., Manchester, 644-5000, snhuarena.com) will host MMA super event Combat Zone 90 today at 5 p.m. The fightcard for this event features 18 matches. Tickets start at $59 through ticketmaster.com. Visit czmma.com/cz90fightcard.

Saturday, Nov. 1

“Roaring for a Cause,” the third annual gala for Less Leg More Heart, will take place at the Castleton Banquet and Conference Center (58 Enterprise Drive, Windham) tonight from 6 to 11 p.m. This Roaring ’20s-themed celebration will feature a DJ and dance floor, a buffet dinner, a cash bar with signature 1920s cocktails, and more; 1920s attire is encouraged. Tickets are $100 each at lesslegmoreheart.com/events.

Saturday, Nov. 1

Lend Me a Theater will present Deadly Deal, a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St., Derry, 437-5100, tupelomusichall.com) tonight at 6 p.m. and tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 2, at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $60 for dinner and the show or $30 for the show only.

Sunday, Nov. 2

Catch 1976’s All the President’s Men at the Nashua Public Library, 2 Court St. in Nashua, today at 1 p.m. in the theater. See nashualibrary.org.

Save the Date! Saturday, Nov. 22

The Franco American Centre will present its annual Beaujolais Nouveau Gala on Saturday, Nov. 22, 6 to 10 p.m., at Oscar Barn in Hooksett. Celebrate the release of 2025 Beaujolais Nouvea with a five-course dinner to complement the wine, according to the Centre’s newsletter. The cost is $155 per person for the dinner ($135 without wine). See facnh.com/facevents.

Quality of Life 25/10/30

Fisher Cats alumni go the distance

In an Oct. 24 press release the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (milb.com/new-hampshire) announced that 11 former Fisher Cats are on the Toronto Blue Jays’ roster for this year’s World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (the World Series could run through Saturday, Nov. 1, if it goes all seven games). Players include pitchers Trey Yesavage, Braydon Fisher, Jeff Hoffman and Mason Fluharty, right fielder Addison Barger, left fielder Davis Schneider, first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and shortstop Bo Bichette.

QOL score: +1

Comment: In addition to the eight players, the Manchester alumni include team manager John Schneider, pitching coach Pete Walker and assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense. The Fisher Cats are a double-A farm team for the Blue Jays.

Toll increases

As reported by the Portsmouth Herald in an Oct. 27 online article, “New Hampshire Department of Transportation officials have floated a $1 hike at three tollbooths across the state.” “If approved by the Executive Council and the governor,” the Herald article said, “the proposed toll increase would raise rates from $2 to $3 at the Hampton plaza and from $1 to $2 at the Hooksett and Bedford tollbooths.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: As reported by the Herald, Department of Transportation officials cited “stagnating revenues and a growing list of priorities” as the impetus for the proposed toll increases. “The idea, if it moves forward,” the article continued, “may be paired with a discount for New Hampshire-registered E-ZPass holders to ensure additional tollbooth revenue is generated primarily by out-of-state tourists.”

Families losing ground financially

According to a new study by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute (nhfpi.org), average New Hampshire families are not making enough to cover their expenses.”The typical New Hampshire family has lost major ground over the past decade, as the cost of basic necessities has risen substantially faster than household incomes,” the NHFPI reported in an Oct. 21 press release. “According to the study, the typical four-person New Hampshire family’s disposable income — the amount left after paying for only a few of the essentials (food, housing, child care, health care, gasoline) — has dropped by $17,349 since 2015. Ten years ago, a New Hampshire family with the median household income would have had an inflation-adjusted surplus of about $15,400 after those same basic needs — money that could be saved, invested, used for other typical expenses, or used for emergencies.”

QOL score: -2

Comment: According to the NHFPI report, it’s not the expensive items that have gotten pricier. “While prices for many luxuries like certain types of clothing, recreation, and technology have remained relatively stable or even declined since 2005, the cost of essentials such as food, housing, and health care has risen sharply. For example, the price of a television or toys, listed as recreational commodities in the Consumer Price Index, decreased by 96 and 64 percent, respectively, between 2005 and 2024. At the same time, necessities like medical care, food, and housing costs increased.” Visit nhfpi.org/press-releases.

QOL score last week: 71

Net change: -2

QOL this week: 69

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Sports gambles with future

The Big Story – World Series? It takes a big story to bump the World Series from the front page. But the growing pro sports gambling problem did that with the arrest of ex-Celtics Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier in a nationwide gambling probe.

But we’ll be total homers and go with the 6-2 Patriots start that no one saw coming after Sunday’s 32-13 win over Cleveland.

Sports 101: Who has the most career World Series hits, and most in a single series?

News Item – The World Series Games: With the series tied 1-1 on Monday morning, it could be over by the time you see this. So we’ll save the post mortem for next week.

Maye Day In October: The prodigy’s latest was 18-24 for 282, three TD’s and a pick. The 135.8 QB rating was the fifth time he’s been over 135.

Painful Lesson – Will Campbell: All five of his sacks didn’t come against him, but Myles Garrett gave the fourth overall pick a rough day Sunday.

Play of Game – Jaylinn Hawkins: For the reach back one-handed grab/pick.

Game Ball – The D: No one rushed for 50 yards against them for the eighth straight week.

News Item – Celtics Opener: They lost to Philly 117-116. Here’s what jumped off the box score: (1) They shot 25.3% on 3-balls as Payton Pritchard and Derrick White went 5 for 20. (2) The Sixers won while getting just four points from Joel Embiid. (3) Starting center Neemias Queta scored 17 on 7 of 8 shooting and had eight rebounds in 25 minutes before fouling out. (4) Pritchard joined White and Jaylen Brown in the revamped starting line-up.

News Item – NFL Trade Deadline is Nov. 4:

Top NE Target – Trey Hendrickson – Bengals: The free agent to be is dealing with a nagging hip issue. But they’re 28th in sacks, and adding an edge rusher who had 17.5 sacks in 2024 and ’25 would help the pass D immensely.

RB – Depth: With TreVeyon Henderson coming off his best game Sunday (despite a red zone fumble) they don’t need a name. A solid backup who does not fumble would provide the depth they need.

Wide Receiver: New Orleans’ three-time 1,000-yard receiver Chris Olave is available. But with the receiving room dramatically improved he’d be a luxury.

The Numbers:

40 & 15 – points and rebounds from Victor Wembanyama as San Antonio ruined the NBA debut of maniac Cooper Flagg in a 125-92 slaughter.

105 – after getting five on Sunday vs. NE, career sacks by Browns DE Myles Garrett to move past the great Reggie White on the all-time sack list.

111 – career rushing TD’s for Derrick Henry as he passed Walter Paytonfor fifth place on the all-time list. And to add insult to injury he did it playing against the Bears.

… Of the Week

Thumbs Down – Merch Sales: The Packers in all white and Steelers in all gold on SNF, give me a break. U-gly!

Worst Loss: Nope, notCoach B; UNC lost again 17-16 but it was in OT to a quality Virginia team.

Instead, Deion Sanders sees Colorado drop to 3-5 after a 53-7 toasting from Utah on Saturday in the worst loss of Coach Prime’s coaching career as his UC record dropped to 16-17.

Random Thought: John Smoltz is a great color analyst because he uses his experience to tell us what he would do facing the hitter at the plate before he throws the pitch, giving us something to look for on the next pitch.

Sports 101 Answer: With 71 the all-time WS hit leader is Yogi Berra. For one series it’s a tie with Bobby Richardson (64), Lou Brock (68) and Red Sox alum Marty Barrett (86).

Final Thought – Gambling Threat to Sports: It is a story that first came to light during the 1919 World Series and has reared its head many times in boxing, horse racing, college basketball and many other activities in the years since. The latest episode of Gambling And Sports Together Is A Disaster Waiting to Happen has come to the legal gambling industry in the last year or so.

First the interpreter for baseball’s biggest star goes to prison for embezzling money from him after getting in over his head to gamblers. Then last week the NBA had a head coach (Billups), of all things, and an assistant coach (Pitino-era Celtic Damon Jones) who is a confidant for their game’s biggest star, along with an active player (Rozier), indicted in a nationwide FBI-led gambling sting. The indictments say those mentioned either allegedly provided inside player info to bettors or were separately involved in a systematic way of cheating in high-stakes poker games that had ties to the mafia.

Hello, professional sports, you have a problem! And guess what, I’m, ahhh, betting, a college scandal isn’t far off. I mean where else is a college kid gonna put all that NIL money? Bet on it.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

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