Category: Quality Of Life

Making a case for the daring jumping spider

A third-grade environmental science class from Hollis Primary School stood before the Senate Executive Departments & Administration Committee last week to push for the passage of HB 318, which would proclaim the daring jumping spider to be the state spider of New Hampshire, according to a press release. Tara Happy, the teacher who taught the spider unit to her class in October, told the Concord Monitor in December that the daring jumping spider won the school-wide election in part because it can jump really far, can withstand New Hampshire winters, isn’t harmful to people and is the size and shape of a button.

Score: +1

Comment: “Not only was their testimony educational and persuasive, it was a pleasure to hear about the ways in which teachers and their students have creatively adapted approaches to education during the pandemic,” Sens. Kevin Cavanaugh (D-Manchester) and Sue Prentiss (D-West Lebanon) wrote in a statement after the session.

Manchester PD takes 30×30 Pledge

The Manchester Police Department has announced a new initiative called the 30×30 Pledge, with the goal of increasing the number of women in recruit classes by 30 percent by 2030, according to a press release. The department will look at low- and no-cost ways to attract and retain female officers, who, according to the release, generally use less excessive force, are named in fewer complaints and lawsuits, are perceived as being more honest and compassionate by communities and see better outcomes for crime victims, especially in sexual assault cases.

Score: +1

Comment:“This pledge means that the Manchester Police Department is actively working to improve gender equity and identify any disparities that there may be,” Chief Allen Aldenberg said in the release. “The goal is to eliminate barriers and advance women in policing.”

Vaccination registration success!

It took until Phase 3, but New Hampshire’s vaccination scheduling system is now running smoothly — and QOL can vouch for that, as it took all of five minutes to sign up through the VINI website on Monday and find an appointment for later this week. According to a press release, almost 37,000 appointments were booked Monday by 5 p.m., as New Hampshire became the first state in New England to expand vaccine eligibility to residents 40 and over.

Score: +1

Comment: QOL felt bad for all of the people who previously struggled with scheduling problems in Phases 1 and 2 and spent hours trying to navigate an overwhelmed system but was relieved to get that appointment with no issues.

QOL score: 60

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 63

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

Vaccine prompts school cancellations and chaos

After a regional vaccine clinic for teachers was held at the Steeplegate Mall in Concord on Sunday, March 21, several schools were forced to close Monday after hundreds of teachers who received the vaccine called in sick, according to a March 22 report from WMUR. Teachers from several local districts received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and many started feeling side effects shortly thereafter. Concord, Hopkinton and Hillsboro-Deering all canceled school, but it was too late for Bow to cancel after the buses went out, despite ultimately having more than 50 staff members call out. The district sent an emergency alert to parents asking them to keep middle and high school students remote if possible.

Score: -1

Comment: “Is it a perfect day of school? No, but we were able to cover and be open for the students that really needed us to be, especially because of the late-breaking nature of this,” Bow Superintendent Dean Cascadden told WMUR.

Dancing in spite of it all

Some Milford residents have spent part of every evening for the past year dancing outside. According to a March 16 report from WMUR, the Myrtle Street neighborhood celebrated its one-year anniversary of its nightly outdoor dance party on March 15. “We’ve been keeping it going for 365 days and if one of us couldn’t make it, then everyone else would represent,” Monica Kluz said in the report. The parties were inspired by a video of neighbors in Italy singing together from their balconies. Now the whole town knows about the 6 p.m. dance party, and at the moment, there’s no plan to stop.

Score: +1

Comment: Even in the dead of winter, the dancing continued. “We always made it out for at least one song,” said Jamie Anderson. “So we would dance real quick to keep our bodies warm and then we would run back in.”

Meth, not Adderall

On March 22, Sen. Maggie Hassan retweeted a post from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England division warning young people in the region — and specifically in New Hampshire — that they are being targeted with counterfeit prescription pills that look like Adderall but are made with methamphetamine and caffeine. DEA New England has released a poster warning parents, coaches, teachers and kids that the fake ADHD drug is on the streets being sold illicitly. The poster shows how the fake pills are nearly identical to real Adderall and said that meth dealers are specifically targeting students in college, high school and middle school.

Score: -2

Comment: “They’ve shown up all over New England, but specifically New Hampshire,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Jon DeLena said in a WMUR report. “All four corners of the state are seizing these pills and they are deadly. … It’s probably one of the most critical messages that we’ve had to deliver yet.”

Rent costs going up in New Hampshire

The average cost to rent an apartment in New Hampshire is increasing at a higher rate than almost anywhere else in the country, according to a new report from QuoteWizard, an online insurance marketplace. While the average cost of one-bedroom apartments in 15 states has dropped in the past two years — mainly highly populated states like Massachusetts, whose rent dropped 11.3 percent to an average of $1,152 — New Hampshire joins other rural states like Montana, Idaho and Vermont in the Top 10 states that have seen an increase. The Granite State ranks No. 6 for rental increases, with the average cost of an apartment has gone up 7.5 percent in the last two years and is now $1,010, compared to $939 in 2019.

Score: -1

Comment: According to the report, since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of available apartments has gone down 10 percent in suburban areas.

QOL score: 63

Net change: -3

QOL this week: 60

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

More people are making New Hampshire home

Based on a 13-percent net gain of new residents, New Hampshire was the sixth most moved-into state last year, a recent HireAHelper migration report found. According to a press release, the report analyzed 75,000 moves across the country and found each state’s net growth, which takes the number of new residents moving in and divides it by the number of individuals moving out. Topping the list was Idaho, with a net growth of 103 percent, followed by our neighbors, Vermont, which had 62 percent new growth, and Maine, which saw its net population grow by 48 percent.

Score: +1

Comment: According to the release, results of a HireAHelper survey showed that about 25 percent of the moves in the last year were related to Covid-19.

And they’re choosing the Granite State because…

New Hampshire has been ranked the fourth best state to live in, according to the recently released 2021 rankings from U.S. News & World Report. The publication analyzed data in each state from government and private sources, as well as a survey of nearly 70,000 U.S. residents, measuring things like health care, education, economy, crime and more, according to the report. New Hampshire ranked No. 1 for being low crime, No. 2 in natural environment and No. 3 in opportunity, which considers the opportunities that a state offers its residents in terms of economy, housing and equality.

Score: +1

Comment: Washington, Minnesota and Utah were ranked as the Top 3 states to live in, while in New England, Massachusetts ranked ninth, Vermont ranked 11th, Connecticut came in at No. 20, Maine was 27th and Rhode Island was 34th.

Seriously?

The residents of the nonprofit Evergreen Place Supported Assisted Living in Manchester had been looking forward to taking a scenic ride on the facility’s 15-passenger wheelchair bus, which hadn’t been used at all in the past year as residents quarantined. But according to a message on Hippo’s website from Evergreen Place President and CEO Linette D. Handschumaker, on Saturday, when the facilities manager started the bus, it was louder than it should have been, and he thought there might be rust in the exhaust. “He then shimmied under the bus only to discover that someone had CUT OUT the catalytic converter!!!” Handschumaker wrote. After a year of waiting for that scenic ride, the residents now have to keep waiting.

Score: -2

Comment: As Handschumaker wrote to the Hippo, “Just when you think you’ve seen it all….”

A week of hope and appreciation

Throughout this entire week, Catholic Medical Center will honor its workforce with “Hope Week 2021.” It was on March 14 last year that the Manchester hospital suspended its visitor policy, canceled classes and closed its Wellness Center, followed two days later by the cancellation of elective procedures, according to a press release. One year later, Hope Week kicked off Monday with the installation of more than 700 mirrored butterflies on the hospital sky bridge. The butterflies represent the Covid-19 patients who were cared for by CMC in the last year, including the 87 who were lost, the release said. Hope Week will also feature multiple drawings for gifts donated by CMC management and area companies like Millennium Running and Luxe Salon and Spa, and a donor recognition wall is now on display, thanking the hundreds of people and organizations that have supported CMC through the last year.

Score: +1

Comment: The press release said that the public is invited to send messages of appreciation and download a custom Hope Week profile frame on CMC’s social media, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

QOL score: 62

Net change: +1

QOL this week: 63

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

Work and learn

Anyone interested in joining the health care field now has the chance to work while earning a nursing license or degree — at no cost to them. Catholic Charities NH has created a program called Pathways that encourages full-time and part-time employees to develop their careers, according to a press release. Entry-level candidates can get full financial assistance to pursue an LNA Certificate program; upon its completion they will be placed into a full-time or part-time LNA role. Those who are already LNAs can get a full-tuition scholarship to attend a full-time Licensed Practical Nurse degree program at Harmony Health Care Institute in Merrimack. And there are select scholarship opportunities for LPNs to earn their Registered Nurse degrees as well. Catholic Charities NH has seven skilled nursing facilities, including three in Manchester. Visit cc-nh.org/pathways.

Score: +1

Comment: In a time where having a strong health care workforce is more essential than ever, and with post-secondary education being cost-prohibitive to many, Pathways seems like a great opportunity for anyone interested in joining the nursing profession.

A chance to volunteer

New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility will host a Virtual Volunteer Fair on Thursday, March 18, to show what some of the state’s biggest nonprofits are doing for our communities, and how volunteers can have a major impact. According to a press release, the fair will highlight all kinds of opportunities for businesses and people to get involved. Register at nhbsr.org/volunteer-fair to attend the virtual event.

Score: +1

Comment: One of the nonprofits that will be at the event is CASA of NH, which pairs kids in the court systems with individuals in the community who have volunteered to advocate on a child’s behalf, according to the press release, and volunteers don’t need any particular skills other than a desire to help kids.

U.K. Covid is here

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has resumed its contact tracing investigations and in doing so has confirmed six cases of the United Kingdom variant of Covid-19 in the state in people who did not travel internationally, according to a March 8 report from WMUR. “Many of these variants do not result in increased illness or risk of hospitalization or death,” Beth Daly, chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control, said in the report. “They do appear to be more transmissible and can spread more easily, so that is certainly concerning.”

Score: -1

Comment: Great, an even more transmissible version of Covid — here’s hoping that vaccinations and safety measures will make this a non-issue.

Working toward diversity in health care

Network4Health, a collaboration of more than 40 area health care providers established in 2016 to improve behavioral health services in the greater Manchester, Salem, and Derry areas, is working to increase diversity, equity and inclusion, according to a press release. James McKim — managing partner of Organizational Ignition, current president of the Manchester NAACP, and a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion — will work with N4H members on things like improving hiring practices to promote diverse, recovery-friendly workplaces; making staff feel welcome and respected; and creating equitable policies throughout an organization, the release said.

Score: +1

Comment: “We want this effort to help our partners build and leverage a diverse and inclusive workforce that mirrors the communities they serve,” Peter Janelle, executive director of Network4Health, said in the release.

QOL score: 60

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 62

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

NH is 2021’s 8th most educated state

The Granite State is smart! A recent study from personal-finance website WalletHub looked at data from all 50 states, comparing factors like educational attainment, school quality and achievement gaps between genders and races. According to the study, New Hampshire ranked fourth for percentage of people with high school diplomas, eighth for percentage of people who hold bachelor’s degrees, ninth for both percentage of associate’s degree holders and graduate or professional degree holders, and 16th for average university quality.

Score: +1

Comment: Some of our closest neighbors beat us in the rankings, according to the study, with Massachusetts taking the No. 1 spot and Connecticut and Vermont coming in third and fourth, respectively.

Exploring gender justice in NH

The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation recently announced the launch of the Gender Justice Cafe, a series of conversations about topics that impact equity for women and girls in the state. According to a press release, the Gender Justice Cafe will begin on International Women’s Day, March 8, at 10 a.m., with a 90-minute Zoom panel that explores gender justice internationally and features New Hampshire leaders and organizations that are working to elevate the voices of women and girls on a global level. Future conversations include gender and the climate crisis, racial equity and intersectionality, and transgender justice.

Score: +1

Comment: These programs are free, and anyone interested can register at nhwomensfoundation.org/GJC.

Exploring slavery in NH

The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire has released a 45-minute video called “I was a slave, even here in New Hampshire”: The Concord Black Heritage Tour, which features notable African Americans from throughout Concord’s history. According to a press release, it includes stories of enslavement, emancipation, the underground railroad, abolitionism and visits from Frederick Douglass, as well as more recent stories, like that of renowned African American illustrator Mel Bolden. The video can be accessed at youtu.be/WhNu6mWn4xI.

Score: +1

Comment: “By reintroducing these stories of New Hampshire’s early Black citizens, we create a space for dialogues around race, diversity and inclusion,” Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire Director JerriAnne Boggis said in the release. “These corrective narratives make it possible to decrease barriers of misunderstanding and decrease people’s racial anxiety.”

Concord launches citizen reporting app

The City of Concord has announced a new citizen reporting platform and mobile app that will allow the Concord community to report non-emergency quality-of-life concerns and service requests. According to a press release, community members can use the web portal on the City website or download the free MyConcordNH app to submit a request or report to the City, including things like potholes, missed trash collection, snow plowing, downtown maintenance, trees, water, sewer and more. Users can also get email updatesabout theirrequests, which are automatically directed to appropriate city staff.

Score: +1

Comment:The MyConcordNH mobile app is available for download on Android and iPhone and includes links to city services and information, and push notifications can be enabled for things like winter parking bans or delayed trash collection.

QOL score: 56

Net change: +4

QOL this week: 60

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

Bedford boy appears on Ellen

“This is awesome! I never thought I would hear my voice and now it’s on this show!” That was 9-year-old Elliot Perry’s response to Ellen DeGeneres when she asked how he was doing during his appearance on her show on Feb. 18. The Bedford resident appeared as a CHaD ambassador; after he was born several months premature, doctors said he would never walk or talk. He spent 121 days at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s intensive care nursery, and now he’s on a mission to raise $121,000 to build two playgrounds for CHaD in 2021, one at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon and one at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Manchester, according to a press release. During the segment, Ellen presented Elliot and his parents, BJ and Carrie Perry, with a $20,000 contribution from Shutterfly.

Score: +1

Comment: This is one cute kid doing a whole lot of good. The Perrys have also joined forces with Team Police forward Kyle Daly of the Manchester Police Department to raise more than $100,000 in five years through CHaD’s Battle of the Badges Hockey Championship, according to the press release. You can see Elliot on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at ellentube.com.

Fisher Cats plan their comeback

After missing the entire season last year, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats have announced a 120-game season that kicks off May 4. According to a press release, the Toronto Blue Jays Double-A affiliate will play its first home game at Delta Dental Stadium on May 11 against a new division team, the Somerset Patriots (the New York Yankees Double-A affiliate). Other highlights of the season include 18 home games against the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) and 17 post-game fireworks shows throughout the season.

Score: +1

Comment: Single-game tickets for the month of May will go on sale March 15, according to the release, and single-game tickets for the rest of the season will be available in the coming months “as stadium capacity regulations continue to evolve.”

The final reel?

New Hampshire movie lovers will have fewer places to go for buttery popcorn and cinematic goodness (or cinematic badness, which can be just as fun). According to reports this week in multiple media outlets, Zyacorp Entertainment, parent company of Cinemagic theaters, announced on Feb. 22 that it is closing all eight of its New England theaters (including the three New Hampshire locations in Merrimack, Hooksett and Portsmouth). “After 20 years’ operating movie theaters … and with a heavy heart, Zyacorp Entertainment has closed its Cinemagic Movie Theaters with no plans to reopen,” according to a statement from the company as reported by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in a post on Feb. 23. (QOL attempted to contact Zyacorp by phone and email Tuesday morning but couldn’t reach anyone.) The theaters had been on “intermission till spring” since early February, which is what the website still said as of Tuesday. QOL has seen more movies at the Merrimack and Hooksett theaters than QOL can count. Returning to those theaters, loading up on snacks and watching a summer tent pole or a late-year Oscar hopeful was definitely near the top of QOL’s “things to do when This is over” list. Though southern New Hampshire is lucky to have other movie theaters in operation (and more that are still planning to return to operation), this loss of so many screens is a real blow.

QOL score: -3 (one for each of those theaters)

Comments: Sure, QOL enjoys the convenience of having the big movies hit home screens roughly the same time they’re hitting theaters but nothing quite captures the escapism of seeing a story play out on a giant screen or the joy of cheering for an action movie climax with a crowd.

QOL score: 57

Net change: -1

QOL this week: 56

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