News & Notes 20/07/16

Covid-19 updateAs of July 6As of July 6
Total cases statewide5,9146,068
Total current infections statewide826621
Total deaths statewide382391
New cases143
(July 1 – July 6)		158
(July 7 to July 13)
Current infections: Hillsborough County512354
Current infections: Merrimack County5037
Current infections: Rockingham County157134
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Governor’s updates
In a July 7 press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu shared the latest unemployment numbers in the Granite State, which reflect a consistent downward trend since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. About 4,800 unemployment claims were filed in New Hampshire for the week ending June 27, according to Sununu — an 11 percent decline in new claims over the previous week and a nearly 90 percent decline from its highest peak during the pandemic.

On July 8, the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery announced more awardees for the Healthcare System Relief Fund, according to a press release, including nearly $11 million in CARES act funding for long-term care facilities in the state and about $6 million for other health care facilities.

The application period of the New Hampshire Self Employed Livelihood Fund will end on July 17. Self-employed businesses that qualify can access applications online at goferr.nh.gov.

Bill decisions
On July 10, Gov. Chris Sununu took action on a handful of bills, according to multiple press releases from the Office of the Governor.

Sununu signed HB 1129, which contains a portion of the Senate Democrats’ Granite Promise Plan addressing municipal, school district and village district budgets during the state of emergency, into law. Among other things, the bill allows for optional town meeting procedures during the state of emergency declared in response to Covid-19.

Sununu vetoed HB 712, a bipartisan bill that would have created a mandatory family and medical leave insurance program funded by a 0.5 percent tax on wages. “Whether one chooses to characterize it as a ‘premium on wages’ or a ‘payroll deduction,’ the reality remains that if it looks like an income tax, functions like an income tax, and takes more money out of the paychecks of hard working taxpayers like an income tax, then it is an income tax,” Sununu said in a press release.

Sununu also vetoed HB 1247, relative to mortgage defaults and nonpayment of rent during the Covid-19 state of emergency. The moratorium on evictions that was ordered in March expired July 1; this bill would have extended the moratorium. Sununu wrote in his veto message that in phasing out the moratorium, the eviction notice requirement has expanded from seven days to 30 days for new evictions initiated for nonpayment of rent that came due during the moratorium. He also noted that the $35 million in CARES Act funds used to create the New Hampshire Housing Relief Program will help people avoid losing their housing by offering assistance for past due rent and other housing-related expenses like utilities, and assistance to maintain or secure more permanent housing. “We must remember that property owners have also struggled throughout the Covid-19 pandemic,” Sununu wrote. “Small property owners who rent 10 units or fewer account for 90 percent of rental units in New Hampshire. They too have financial obligations that must be met, including mortgages, taxes and utilities. Denying property owners the opportunity to pay their bills is a recipe for them removing these rental units from the market … and further exacerbating the shortage of rental units that already exists across New Hampshire.”

Sununu vetoed HB 1672, relative to absentee voting, as well. According to his veto message, Sununu’s administration supports HB 1266, which makes temporary modifications to the absentee voter registration, absentee ballot application, and absentee voting processes that are specifically in response to Covid-19. He is expected to sign that bill this week.

Sununu will also take action on HB 1166, a portion of the Senate Democrats’ Granite Promise Plan addressing worker safety and unemployment insurance.

Jury trials
The New Hampshire Superior Court will conduct a walk-through for a pilot jury in late July with the first pilot trial planned for mid-August, according to a press release. Jury trials had been postponed since the start of the pandemic; since then, a committee has met weekly to create guidelines that will allow for jury trials to resume while making sure that jurors, witnesses, attorneys, judges and court staff follow stringent health precautions. Although the New Hampshire Judicial Branch stayed open during the Emergency Order, the Superior Court put nearly 1,000 jury trials on hold. “With a thorough plan for sanitation and careful enforcement of mask wearing, social distancing and symptom screening, we think we have the necessary template for beginning in-person jury trials,” Chief Justice of the Superior Court Tina Nadeau said in the release. “The committee, with the input from defense attorneys and prosecutors, determined that virtual criminal jury trials are not feasible at this time because they raise a host of constitutional concerns.”

Catholic schools
All Catholic schools in the state will reopen in the fall with classroom-based instruction, according to a press release from David A. Thibault, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Manchester. “Since March, many parents have struggled to balance their own telecommuting with assisting in the education of their children at home,” said Thibault. “Teachers have missed the one-on-one interaction with their students, and students have missed their teachers and friends. Everyone involved rose to the challenge but we recognize that remote learning is not ideal.” The diocese has worked with each school to ensure that the reopenings will be safe and is prepared to adjust plans if the Covid-19 situation changes. The Catholic Schools Office also announced a new Transfer Incentive program for any students in grades 1 through 8 who are transferring from a non-Catholic school; they will get $1,000 of tuition for the first year and $500 off the second year. Students in grades 9 through 12 transferring from a non-Catholic school will get $2,000 off tuition in the first year and $1,000 off in the second year, according to the release.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen was scheduled to visit the Boys & Girls Club of the Lakes Region’s Early Learning Center in Laconia on Tuesday to talk about the challenges that child care providers are facing during the pandemic, according to a press release from Shaheen’s office. Shaheen also planned to talk about her efforts in the Senate to include child care support in the next round of Covid-19 legislation.

The New Hampshire State Library in Concord has reopened to the public, with safety measures in place, including appointment-only access. Appointments will be scheduled in 30- and 60-minute sessions between the hours of 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, according to a press release. Onsite services include genealogy resources, microfilm and other materials. To schedule an appointment, visit nh.gov/nhsl or call 271-2144.

Tupelo Drive-In Derry will host the 12th annual benefit concert for the Center for Life Management, a nonprofit mental health center, at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 17, according to a press release. Broken Arrow – A Tribute to Neil Young will perform. Tickets are $100 per car and can be reserved at tupelohall.com.

The Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce announced on July 9 the winners of its 17th annual Eminence Awards, which highlight people, businesses and nonprofits that contribute to their industry and the Greater Nashua region, according to a press release. The winners are: Non-Profit of the Year: Nashua PAL; Small Business of the Year: TS Event Productions; Volunteer of the Year: Nashua Police Department’s Chief Michael Carignan for his work with Marguerite’s Place; Business of the Year: Optiline Enterprises; and Young Professional of the Year: Grant Morris of New Sky Productions.

Testing the NH paradox

Cellphone videos are all over the web and the media today, documenting incidents of confrontation between those wearing a face mask and those angrily refusing to do so. A Facebook posting asks: “It’s OK to wear a life jacket, bike helmet, sunscreen, earplugs, sunglasses, or a seat belt when it protects us. Why is it an outrage to be asked to wear a mask if it protects others?”

Individual liberty versus the common good?

Some will be old enough to remember the Governor’s Commission on New Hampshire in the 21st Century. Its report, titled New Hampshire: My Responsibility, took stock of what makes our state distinctive. Very simply stated, it is our sense of individual independence on the one hand and our mutual interdependence on the other. Our state motto captures only half of that reality. Yes, we want to live free, but we also know that we depend on others to do so fully. The members of that commission called this “The New Hampshire Paradox.”

Never before in our state’s history has this paradox been put to the test as it is right now in the Covid-19 pandemic, especially as alarmingly rapid spikes are occurring across the country. However much we may feel ourselves to be individuals with prerogatives and rights, we have obligations to others so that their rights and ours can be safeguarded.

Nothing more dramatically illustrates the challenge of the New Hampshire paradox than the measures we must all take now — immediately now — to contain and ultimately tame this virus. This cannot be a choice between individual liberty and social responsibility, between Republican and Democrat, between conservative and liberal. As the signs popping up all around put it, “We are in this together.”

Yes, a face mask is absolutely necessary to protect others from you and you from others. Forget partisan statements regarding mask wearing and recognize instead that we are all very human and very susceptible to this terrible disease. Keep a respectful distance and wash hands regularly. We in New Hampshire do not have to take our cues from federal officials or left or right media. We know what is needed to protect our fellow citizens and that is a certain sacrifice — hopefully temporary — of individual liberty for the common good.

Thirty years ago, the commission warned us, “As New Hampshire grows, our sense of mutual dependence must become as strong as our independence, or we will lose both.”

Signs of Life 20/07/09

All quotes are from One Man’s Meat, by E.B. White, born July 11, 1899.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22) My goal is no longer a three-hundred-egg hen but to find peace through conversion of my table scraps into humus. It’s good to have goals.

Leo (July 23 – Aug. 22) I have just got hold of a book called Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, which bids fair to shape my mystical course from now on. … The hero of the book is the common earthworm. You’ve got some good reading in store.

Virgo (Aug. 23 – Sept. 22) The possession of a dog today is a different thing from the possession of a dog at the turn of the century, when one’s dog was fed on mashed potato and brown gravy and lived in a doghouse with an arched portal. Today a dog is fed on scraped beef and Vitamin B1 and lives in bed with you. It’s time to update the update.

Libra (Sept. 23 – Oct. 22) As for me, although I am motorized to a degree, I enjoy living among pedestrians who have an instinctive and habitual realization that there is more to a journey than the mere fact of arrival. So much more.

Scorpio (Oct. 23 – Nov. 21) I had expected to see more of the Fair than usual this year, because I had some sheep entered, and had to be around to tend them. But I found that I saw less, rather than more, because of being there in a responsible capacity instead of carefree. Work is work.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 21) The farm as a way of life has been subordinated to the farm as a device for making money. Somewhere … in the process of introducing vitamins and electric time-switches into his henhouse the farmer has missed the point of the egg…. The chicken knows.

Capricorn (Dec. 22 – Jan. 19) Anything can happen at a county agricultural fair. … To the fair come the man and his cow, the boy and his girl, the wife and her green tomato pickle, each anticipating victory and the excitement of being separated from his money by familiar devices. Your green tomato pickle is on the road to victory.

Aquarius (Jan. 20 – Feb. 18) The lake had never been what you would call a wild lake. Even the tamest lake has a wild side.

Pisces (Feb. 19 – March 20) This month … I am going to get a cow. Perhaps I should put it the other way round — a cow is going to get me. It should be mutual.

Aries (March 21 – April 19) This morning made preparations for building a boat — the first boat I ever prepared to build. Bought ten cents’ worth of wicking and borrowed some caulking tools, and prepared myself further by asking a man how to build a boat and he told me. Now ask another one and compare.

Taurus (April 20 – May 20) The sum of ninety cents seems a lot to spend for anything, no matter what. But when I get up into gustier amounts, among sums like fifty dollars, or a hundred and thirty-two dollars, or three hundred and seven dollars, they all sound pretty much alike. “Out of your league” is a big category but so is your league.

Gemini (May 21 – June 20) Some people can look at the notation 5/23/29 and it means something to them, calls up some sort of image. I can’t do that. I can see lust in a pig’s eye, but I can’t see a day in a number. There’s a whole day in a pig’s eye.

The Music Roundup 20/07/09

• Good times: One of the region’s musical treasures, Charlie Chronopoulos is a triple threat. He writes lyrically complex and compelling songs, renders them in a soothing honey and woodsmoke voice, and plays guitar like a beast. Good to have him back on the circuit, with shows booked throughout July. Check out his original “Chief and a Warrior,” recorded at Manchester’s Studio 2, for a taste of his brilliance. Thursday, July 9, 6 p.m., Village Trestle, 25 Main St., Goffstown. See facebook.com/charlie.chronopoulos.

• Wooden music: Like Jethro Tull, no member of The Clavis Brudon Band answers to that name, which is an amalgamation of the first three letters of the quartet’s surnames. They play a tasty brand of folk rock, this time at a new-ish venue; the restaurant’s been around for a while, but the rustic deck in back was just completed (one of the few bright spots of the pandemic is more outdoor performance spaces). Friday, July 10, 5 p.m., Tooky Mills Pub, 9 Depot St., Hillsborough. See facebook.com/The-Clavis-Brudon-Band.

• Happy man: Another among the plethora of entries into the live music scene is Paul Lussier, a singer, guitarist, actor and veteran of the regional scene. Lussier promises songs about peace, love and understanding to remedy current contentiousness, with a set that includes classic rock covers, and he may sprinkle in a few originals from his rock musical in progress, You Are My Song. Saturday, July 11, 4:30 p.m., The Hill Bar & Grille, 50 Chalet Way, Manchester. See paul-lussier.wixsite.com.

• Local hero: The Concord music community got sad news recently that True Brew Barista is closing, as the owners are retiring. Thanks for the many years of memories. The scene continues apace led by dedicated folks like Lucas Gallo, a musician and show promoter, who plays at a brewery that’s also keeping the flame burning. Enjoy an all original set along with stellar craft beer. Thursday, July 16, 7 p.m., Lithermans Limited Brewery, 26B Hall St., Concord. See facebook.com/lucasgallomusic.

Live and local

Soulful Concord band plays in Bow

FieldHouse Sports, a Bow facility better known for year-round indoor soccer, is the latest entry into the live music scene. Fiddler Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki led off the drive-in lot series on July 3, performing with his trio. A week later Trade, a rhythmic, horn-seasoned combo featuring some of New Hampshire’s finest players, will host the parking lot party.

Trade began with singing drummer George Laliotis and guitarist Scott Solsky, and a batch of Solsky’s songs that departed from his then band The Hats.

“I was at the point where I wanted to start a project and write the kind of music that has always spoken to me,” Solsky said in a recent phone interview. “The one thing I always came back to is that soul Motown thing … and no one sings that like George does.”

Early on, Trade played as a trio with keyboard player Matt Hogan, later adding horns.

“Over the years there were people coming in and out,” Solsky said, “But it’s always been George and I.”

In mid-2018, Trade released a CD, Puzzle. The album’s nine tracks were cowrites.

“I’ll come up with the idea, and George writes a lot of the lyrics — being a singer, it’s more in his wheelhouse — but the band does the arrangements,” Solsky said. “We’ve worked really well together as a group; everyone has ideas, and everyone contributes.”

The current lineup is Laliotis, Solsky, bassist Chris Noyes, a horn section of tenor sax player Zack Jones and Jamie Boccia on trumpet, and newest member Chris Sink on keys. The band recently released a new single on their SoundCloud page. “Real Deal” was an outtake from Puzzle.

“We were on the fence about whether or not we were going to do that one, then we were like, nah,’ Solsky said. “We kind of regretted not recording it, so it’s like we’ll just do it now.”

Working in isolation during quarantine was a daunting exercise.

“It was interesting; everyone having their own part, one person recording and sending it to the next and so on down the line,” Solsky said. “There was a learning curve for all of us, and I feel especially me, because I’m not super digitally inclined. To be able to get ourselves set up so that we can each individually record was the biggest challenge.”

Another track, called “Attachments,” is in progress, with hopes to complete it in the coming weeks. Solsky is also at work on a solo record at The Noise Floor in Dover. The backing band for half of the instrumental effort was Trade, and most of its songs are now part of their stage repertoire. Solsky calls his music “Jazztronica,” noting that “it came about because for my solo stuff I do the looping thing … it kind of has a flow to it.”

Both Solsky and bandmate Sink contributed tracks to Pass the Hat, a benefit LP organized by Chris Chase at Noise Floor. Fifty musicians offered songs, raising over $10,000, which was donated to 25 of the record’s contributors. Solsky played several Facebook Live shows during lockdown and was encouraged by fans’ willingness to drop money into his virtual tip jar.

He and the rest of Trade are anxious to be back in front of an audience, however.

“It’s exciting,” Solsky said. “As much as I’ve appreciated the support while livestreaming, whether it’s by myself or with the band, I always find that there’s a certain energy that you never really can reclaim when you’re just playing in front of the camera. That feeling of having a live crowd in front of you makes the energy of the music very different.”

Trade
When: Friday, July 10, 7 p.m.
Where: FieldHouse Sports, 12 Tallwood Drive, Bow
Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at the gate per vehicle (up to 2 people), $10 each additional person at fieldhousesports.com

Hamilton (PG-13)

Film Reviews by Amy Diaz

Go watch Hamilton, the movie created from filmed performances of the musical made in the summer of 2016 and now streaming on Disney+.

You don’t need me to tell you that the musical based on Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton, the “ten dollar Founding Father” as the play reminds us, is great. I feel like even if musical theater isn’t your thing, you’ve read stories about the production, which follows Hamilton’s life from the time he arrives in New York City through the Revolutionary War and into the first few decades of the new American government. Maybe you’ve heard a few of the songs, maybe seen video of the performances at the White House. Maybe you’ve gone further — listened to the cast recording or seen the PBS show Hamilton’s America, filled with making-of and behind-the-scenes information. I’m not one of the lucky people who have seen the production live but I feel like I had some familiarity with Hamilton. Even after all that exposure to the story and the songs and the performances, this production still feels fresh and this movie is still excellent.

As advertised, this movie features the people I most associate with Hamilton when it first came out: Lin-Manuel Miranda (also the play’s writer and lyricist) as Hamilton, Leslie Odum Jr. as Aaron Burr, Daveed Diggs as Lafayette and Jefferson, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica, Phillipa Soo as Eliza, Jonathan Groff as a delightfully maniacal King George and Chris Jackson replacing whatever image I had in my head of George Washington. Rather than run down the plot, which you probably know, either from previous Hamilton coverage or, like, history (which, sure, this takes some liberties with), let me run down some of what stood out from finally getting to see the whole play and see it as a play and not as a movie adaptation (which, I feel like I would have missed out on so much seeing a version of the story shot on location, 2012’s Les Miserables-style).

• I was surprised, delightfully, how much of this is Aaron Burr’s story and how meaty and complex that part is.

• I also liked how much heft the character of Eliza Hamilton, Alexander’s wife, has. This story acknowledges women (and the limits of their opportunity) in a way I don’t think you often see in big mainstream Revolutionary era stories outside of Abigail Adams and her “remember the ladies” quote.

• I am not the first or the 1,000th person to say this, I’m sure, but wow is the staging a real thing of wonder — how the play uses its set and set pieces, how it uses costumes. It’s beautiful and clever and just such a joy to watch how one actor can be two different characters or how a relatively sparse set can be a battlefield or an office or whatever is needed.

• For being a film of a stage production, this movie is incredibly dynamic. I have seen plays turned into movies (the recent Cats, for example) that felt more stuck on a stage than this one. There is great movement and action.

• King George is a hoot.

• I was not prepared for the different times and different reasons this movie would get me all choked up.

Go watch Hamilton if you’re a super-fan. Go watch Hamilton if you’re mildly curious. Just go watch Hamilton, a slice of history about a slice of history. A

Rated PG-13 for language and some suggestive material, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Thomas Kail with music, book and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda (based on Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow), Hamilton is two hours and 40 minutes long and is streaming on Disney+.

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