Category: Quality Of Life

Maybe the pollen was preferable?

On June 8, the National Weather Service announced an Air Quality Alert for the state for particle pollution until 10 a.m. on June 9. “The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is predicting unhealthy air quality in the above-mentioned counties. Sensitive individuals include children and older adults; anyone with lung disease such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis; and people who are active outdoors. Even healthy individuals may experience mild health effects and should consider limiting strenuous or prolonged outdoor activities,” the alert said. In reports last week, WMUR attributed haziness to smoke from Canadian wildfires.

QOL score: -1

Comment: Find up to date air quality information at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Prediction website www4.des.state.nh.us/airdata.

At least it’s a dry heat, though, right?

Unexpectedly heavy rains over the past two weeks led to flash flood warnings in Cheshire, Hillsborough, Merrimack and Belknap counties. In a June 7 online weather update, WMUR warned readers, “Drivers who encounter flooded roadways need to turn around. Never drive through a flooded roadway as it is hard to tell how deep the water is in flash flooding situations.” This followed reports the previous week of roads being washed out and eroded from another storm system. On May 31, WMUR reported that Route 47 in Francestown was closed due to flooding, and quoted Francestown Fire Chief Larry Kullren, who said that due to the rain damage, parts of Second New Hampshire Turnpike North had started to erode. “We were anticipating some heavy rains this afternoon, but we were not anticipating flooded roads and washouts,” he said.

QOL score: -1

Comment: According to U.S. Climate Data (usclimatedata.com), the state normally receives an average of 4.11 inches of precipitation in June. In a June 9 online article, WMUR reported that between Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7, “more than 5 inches of rainfall fell in Bradford. Rainfall totals between 1.5 and 3 inches were observed in Hopkinton, Weare, Hanover and Roxbury.”

At least things will dry out by the weekend, right?

As reported by New Hampshire Public Radio, the weather across the state has been rainy for the last 13 weekends in a row. In a June 6 online article, NHPR reported that “after an unusually wet May — in fact, this May was the third wettest in New Hampshire’s history, according to AccuWeather — this weekend marks an equally wet start to summer.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: On the plus side, NHPR reported, “All that rain will help keep temperatures down, especially in comparison to last year’s intense heat. In 2024, New Hampshire — and the entire country — registered its hottest summer on record. This year’s increased precipitation, combined with predicted cold fronts, means heat waves will most likely not last long or hit record breaking numbers, [Paul Pastelok, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather] said.”

QOL score: 65

Net change: -3

QOL this week: 62

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Animal news, part 1

The state’s moose population is under siege by winter ticks, according to a New Hampshire Bulletin article from May 29. The story by William Skipworth reported that a warming climate has nurtured an increased population of winter ticks, which have been having “a huge impact on the area’s moose,” the story read. The article quoted Eric Orff, a New Hampshire-based wildlife biologist: “They [the moose] basically become zombies and die.” Unlike other varieties of ticks, the story explained, winter ticks find a moose, deer or other animals around November and extract their blood for the entirety of winter, with hundreds or thousands of ticks often latching onto a host.

QOL score: -1

Comment: The New Hampshire Bulletin article said New Hampshire Fish and Game estimates indicate that the state’s moose population peaked in the late 1990s around 7,000 to 8,000 moose and has declined to “roughly 3,000 to 4,000.”

Animal news, part 2

The Loon Preservation Committee’s (183 Lees Mill Road, Moultonborough, 476-5666, loon.org) Loon Cams are up and running for the season. In a May 26 statement, the Committee announced that two cameras are broadcasting from loon nesting sites somewhere in the Lakes Region. There is no nest visible on Loon Cam 1 yet, but a mated pair has been spotted visiting the nesting raft regularly and been seen mating several times over the past two weeks. Another pair has laid two eggs on Loon Cam 2 and is brooding them. Visit loon.org/looncam.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the Loon Preservation Committee, “The male and female loons take turns incubating, and nest exchanges happen several times each day and can last minutes or much longer.”

Feeling shaky

As reported by WMUR in a May 25 online article, Greenland was not exactly slammed, but gently nudged, by a 1.6 magnitude earthquake. “The earthquake epicenter was 1.9 miles south-southeast of Greenland and happened around 1:45 p.m. The earthquake was about 4 miles deep, according to the USGS,” WMUR reported.

QOL score: -1 (-1.6)

Comment: “Earthquakes in the Granite State are typically minor, though there have been other memorable ones,” the WMUR article reported. “

Communicating better at the airport

According to a May 29 Nashua InkLink story, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) has announced an “expanded partnership with Aira, a video remote interpreting app, to now offer free access to Aira ASL (American Sign Language) for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. The airport already offers Aira Explorer for the blind and low-vision community.” Deaf and hard-of-hearing passengers can download a free smartphone app that will connect with a professional sign language interpreter, using the phone’s camera and speaker, the story said.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the InkLink story, MHT is the fourth airport in the country to make the Aira ASL service available to passengers.

QOL score last week: 65

Net change: 0

QOL this week: 65

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Concord has the best water

According to a tasting panel of fourth- and fifth-graders, Concord’s municipal water is the best-tasting. As reported by the Concord Monitor in a May 13 online article, this year’s New Hampshire Drinking Water Festival (nhwaterfestival.org), hosted by the Department of Environmental Services, brought “professionals from around the state to show fourth and fifth graders how water treatment — and contamination — works.” The yearly event includes a water-themed science fair and a poetry contest. The Water Festival itself features classes, demonstrations and a blind taste-test of “five tap waters from five New Hampshire municipalities: Concord, Hooksett, Manchester, Plymouth and Rochester,” according to the Monitor story.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the Monitor story, this is Concord’s sixth victory in the past seven years.

That’s a lot of Tagalongs

Some Loudon Girl Scouts have put their cookie money to good use in traveling to New Mexico. According to a May 15 press release, the seven girls from Loudon Girl Scout Troop 60180 “planned the trip themselves with help from their leaders and funded it from the proceeds of their Girl Scout Cookie sales. The troop voted on where to go, where to stay, eating, packing, and picking out a car.” The press release quoted Girl Scout Dalia, who said, “The trip was completely worth the cold, long cookie booths!”

QOL score: +1

Comment: During the trip in March, the Scouts visited White Sands National Park and Carlsbad Caverns. They rode horseback and met with “female college students that were volunteering at the caverns to clean lint that builds up from visitors.”

All girls. All named Willow.

According to a May 17 online story by NHPR, retired Forest Service ecologist Scott Bailey has tracked down something elusive to the point of near non-existence: male specimens of a rare New Hampshire tree. “Specifically,” the NHPR story read, “Bailey has been inventorying satiny willow trees, also known as Salix pellita. They’re more shrub than tree, native to northern parts of the United States, and shiny.” Like all trees, the satiny willows need blossoms on female trees to be fertilized by pollen from male trees. But nobody had been able to identify any male satiny willows since it was discovered until Bailey finally identified two males this spring.

QOL score: +1

Comment: Male silky willows are incredibly difficult to find, as it turns out, because they produce blossoms for an incredibly short time, often a matter of hours, before dropping them, the story said.

QOL score last week: 62

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 65

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Competitive Ford fixing

As reported by Nashua InkLink on May 8, teams of high school students in auto tech programs took part in a statewide competition to determine which team could most efficiently diagnose a troubled vehicle. The 2025 NH ACE Competition was a hands-on, timed event. “Ten New Hampshire Automotive Programs from across the state compete in teams of two to diagnose and repair a Ford Bronco within 90 minutes,” InkLink reported. The event, organized by the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association and Ford Dealerships, brought student tech teams together from 10 area high schools, the story said.

QOL score: +1 for investing in our vocational students

Comment: As reported by Nashua InkLink, “the winning school receives a 2024 Ford F-150 to enhance their training.”

A diploma and an ear-scritch

As reported in a May 14 online article by WMUR, Bear, the Derry Police Department’s first comfort dog, officially graduated from his training program in a ceremony attended by Gov. Kelly Ayotte. “During a ceremony, Ayotte congratulated Bear and his handler, Master Patrol Officer Erin Sullivan, for their hard work and dedication throughout training,” the WMUR story read. “More than 10 fellow service dogs from law enforcement departments across New Hampshire were also in attendance.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: Lt. Shawn O’Donaghue from the Derry Police Department said in a telephone interview that Bear, a 1-year-old black Lab, is ready to go to work full-time for the Department. His duties will “involve the well-being and mental health of officers,” O’Donaghue said, “as well as outreach to the community and helping ease emotional trauma for emergency victims.”

Not enough lifeguards

The City of Concord doesn’t have enough lifeguards. According to a May 13 online article by WMUR, Concord’s Parks and Rec Department is still trying to fill openings before the City’s pools open for the summer in mid-June. WMUR quoted City Councilor Stacey Brown: ““We desperately need more lifeguards. This is something that is incredibly important. We don’t want people swimming in the river; we want people learning how to safely swim. [Our pools are] clean, there is no cyanobacteria, and this is something that sets us apart from other communities,” In a telephone interview with the Hippo, Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Laura Bryant said there is no clear cause for this year’s lifeguard shortage. “It ebbs and flows year to year, so I think maybe people just aren’t thinking about it as much. We’re probably still looking for another 10 to 12 [more lifeguards] at this point.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: Bryant said her department has several interviews scheduled for prospective lifeguards over the next week. She said that there are still a few weeks until Pool Time. “Our Public Properties Division is just getting out and opening all the pools up and seeing where we’re at with everything. So we don’t have an official date, but typically it’s around Father’s Day weekend.”

QOL score last week: 61

Net change: +1

QOL this week: 62

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Ew, ticks

In a May 1 press release Gov. Kelly Ayotte declared May Lyme Disease Awareness Month in New Hampshire. Deer tick nymphs, which can carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, are most active from May to July, the release said. The press release offered recommendations from the state Department of Health and Human Services to lower one’s risk of tick bites, including wearing light-colored clothing when outdoors, and washing and drying clothing immediately after being outdoors. Information about tickborne diseases is available atdhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/disease-prevention/infectious-disease-control/tickborne-diseases.

QOL score: -1

Comment: An online report from Harvard Health Publishing on April 29 noted, “Ticks are now thriving in a wider geographic range, and appearing earlier and sticking around later in the … spring and fall.”

Those Chromebooks are not free, kids

In a May 11 online article, WMUR reported on a recent TikTok trend has challenged students to sabotage Chromebooks, such as the ones used in many school districts, the article said. Parents in some NH towns received alerts from their school districts about this latest bit of dangerous and expensive TikTok-ery. WMUR quoted New Hampshire Fire Marshal Sean Toomey: “Any sort of lithium-ion battery fire is going to release [fumes]; it’s extremely dangerous. And it releases toxic gases…”

QOL score: -2

Comment: The WMUR article reported a statement by “School officials [saying that] any student caught participating in the challenge will be required to pay for a replacement.” Fire Marshal Toomey was quoted as saying that “in some cases, the behavior could lead to criminal charges.”

Speaking of electricity

In a May 6, online article, WMUR reported that electricity provider Eversource has informed the Public Utilities Commission that it will raise electric rates for New Hampshire customers beginning in August. As reported by WMUR, “Eversource is requesting a 6.75% increase, along with a separate adjustment that it said would help offset the cost of recent storms.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: “If all the changes are approved, the average customer could be paying nearly $19 more per month to Eversource than they were a year ago,” the article reported. “The hearings on the rates will continue until mid-June. The approved rates will go into effect on Aug. 1.”

Nashua Tooth Fairies

As reported by WMUR in a May 6 online article, a pair of Tooth Fairies are “offering in-school dental care from pre-K through high school. Each week, the nonprofit organization sets up a dental office inside a different school building, returning to the rotation after visiting all of them.” The Traveling Tooth Fairies’ certified public health dental hygienists Myra Nikitas and Mary Duquette “provide cleanings, screenings, fluoride treatments, sealants, and even fix cavities with no drill fillings,” WMUR reported. Treatment is carried out under the supervision of a dentist and is performed regardless of whether a student is covered by insurance.

QOL score: +1

Comment: The Traveling Tooth Fairies program is supported by sponsors including Northeast Delta Dental and the Nashua Lions Club. It is a nonprofit organization. Visit travelingtoothfairies.com.

QOL score last week: 64

Net change: -3

QOL this week: 61

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

A reprieve from pollen

Although this time of year is typically one of high pollen counts, recent rainy weather has temporarily knocked pollen out of the air. In an April 29 online weather update, WMUR warned New Hampshire allergy sufferers that this is usually the high point of airborne pollen in the state. “Late April and early May mark the peak of tree pollen season in New Hampshire,” the report read. “Maple, birch, and juniper are currently the dominant allergens, though nearly every tree species produces pollen.” Recent rainy weather has brought some relief, however. According to a May 5 15-Day Allergy Forecast by the Weather Channel (weather.com/forecast/allergy) area pollen counts should remain low through the weekend.

QOL score: +1 for a ah ah ahchoo break

Comment: The same allergy forecast projects a return to between “Moderate” and “Very High” levels starting around May 12.

Your package is not waiting to be delivered

According to a recent study by online technology education website Fullstack Academy, the most common way for New Hampshire residents to get scammed out of their personal data is through fake messages claiming that the target has a package or online order that can’t be delivered without more information. According to an April 4 blog post by Fullstack Academy, “Shipping scams are so prevalent that the [U.S. Postal Service] has guides to detecting and protecting yourself from such impersonators. Per [Federal Trade Commission] data, consumers lost $12.5 billion in 2024 to scams, with imposter scams accounting for $2.95 billion in losses alone.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: According to the study, “women are more likely than men to receive phishing lures impersonating shipping companies. Out of all female respondents, 54% said they’ve received USPS scams, while just 46% of male respondents said so. And with UPS-impersonated scams, 53% of women reported receiving one, while just 45% of men have received one.” To read more about this report, search online for fullstackacademy.com and “Phishing Lures.”

Hot. Very, very hot.

A May 2 story from Patch.com warns that this summer will bring “brutally hot weather for our part of the country.” A comparison of “NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and Farmers’ Almanac shares predictions for the Granite State’s summer weather,” the story reported, and the consensus is that this summer will probably be another one of record-breaking heat. “A three-month outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center calls for above-average temperatures across the country from June through August, with pockets of extreme heat in the desert Southwest and parts of the Northeast. In New Hampshire, temperatures have a 70 to 80 percent chance of being above average.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: “Last year saw one of the hottest summers on record,” Patch.com reported, “with a nationwide average temperature of 73.8 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2.5 degrees above normal. It was also Earth’s hottest summer since global records began in 1880, surpassing a 2023 record.”

QOL score: 66

Net change: -2

QOL this week: 64

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.