Tag: 200813

The week that was

With news coming fast and furious in the restart of three major sports along with more from NFL camps and in college football, we’ll try to keep up with it all, through a series of news briefs to look at the headlines from emerging stories.

Bloom off the Rose at Fenway: With the Red Sox having the worst pitching staff I’ve ever seen them have, I’d say Chaim Bloom’s bargain-basement shopping approach to finding value pitchers is off to a rocky start. Though even more shocking is that six teams in MLB have even worse team earned run averages than the Sox’s 4.74. Also, seeing the statistics-driven decision-making forcing Ron Roenicke to bat lead-footed J.D. Martinez second is not a confidence-inspiring move either. It was done to let them go lefty-righty through the fifth spot in the order to combat late game relief pitching match-ups even though it puts their best RBI guy hitting directly behind the eighth and ninth dead spots in the order 80 percent of his at-bats. Plus the match-up issue is overrated when guys like Xander Bogaerts hit .317 against right-handed pitching in 2019 and just .291 vs. lefties, while J.D. hit 17 homers and drove in 65 runs against the righties. The order thing changed fairly quickly, but it’s not a good sign that they don’t realize batting that guy there probably knocks 30 RBI off his total in a full season. It’s early in the development process for Bloom, so the headline is a little unfair. But since I’m a guy who thinks it’s smarter to not outsmart yourself as baseball so often does in favor of letting top talent just play, let’s just say I’m not really impressed so far.

The Double Negative and More Thing on Red Sox Pitching Award: Does Matt Barnes never not walk someone when he pitches? I’m just asking ’cause every single time I watch him pitch he’s pitching in trouble due to unnecessary walks. As someone who mourns the passing of the three-hour-and-42-minute game I find it beyond annoying.

Michigan-OSU Rivalry Kicked Up a Notch:Good to see local lad Ryan Day go right back at mouthy Michigan coach/instigator Jim Harbaugh at Big 10 media day last week after he made claims about improper coaching going on at thee Ohio State. Day basically said you worry about your team and I’ll worry about mine. With the game earlier than usual in mid-October Harbaugh might be just getting in some early head games, or, more likely, damage control given the heat he must be feeling for being 0-5 vs. OSU after last year’s 56-27 rout. Especially with Big Blue having lost 15 of the last 16 to their bitter rival. As for Day, word was he later told associates he wants to hang 100 on Harbaugh this time, which given last year’s thumping might be doable.

Plymouth State Alumni News Notes: Of course hanging 100 on Michigan wouldn’t be good news for Plymouth State alumni who still fondly remember the dominant days between 1993 and 1995 when head man Don Brown’s teams went 25-6. He’s now defensive coordinator for Big Blue in Ann Arbor and 100 on the resume is rather unsightly.

Celtic/NBA Alumni News: The sad news of the weekend came from Nashua/Bishop Guertin alum Mike Lupica. The New York Daily News columnist writing one tweet asked the basketball world to pray for his long-time friend Paul Westphal as the one-time Celtic/NBA Hall of Famer has brain cancer.

Celtics Cement 3-Seed in East: Friday’s not-as-close-as-the-122-100-final score-indicated win over Toronto was arguably their best and most satisfying of the year. It featured a balanced attack with seven guys in double figures, but most notably had the kind of fierce defense by all of its parameter defenders that they have not shown enough of in the regular season. The latter suffocated the Raptors potent 3-ball game and that will be paramount for them to duplicate come playoff time. So take it as a good sign.

The 2016 Nightmare: While he didn’t have a strong game, seeing Raptors All-Star Pascal Siakam Friday again brought reminders from the 2016 draft. Danny Ainge had three picks in Round 1 and started by taking Jaylen Brown third overall. Given theversatile inside, mid-game and long-range scoring threat he’s turned into, that was a great pick. But then (gulp) came Guerschon Yabusele at 15. Really? A finesse player being 30 pounds overweight on draft night wasn’t a red flag? Next came Ante Zizic at 23. An in-the-witness-protection 7-footer after landing in Cleveland in the horrid Kyrie Irving trade. Four picks later, the NBA’s savviest judge of young talent, Masai Ujiri, took Siakam for Toronto. Missing him twice gets me every time.

Groundhog Day – The Football Edition: Really? They’re gonna give the XFL yet another try? Yup. Not even four months after it filed for bankruptcy again, ex-Miami footballer turned mega-movie star Dwayne Johnson, better known as the Rock, bought the XFL remnants for $15 million last week with a pledge to try it a third time. That will make it five tries overall for spring football, starting with the USFL in the 1980s. That one at least produced real talent and some eventual big names like Famers Steve Young, Jim Kelly and Reggie White, along with the now on to bigger things owner of the New Jersey Generals, Donald Trump.

Faces in the Non-Crowds: Best face in the Sgt. Pepper’s-like virtual sports crowds last week was Bernie Lomax. If you don’t remember Bernie, he was the dead guy everyone partied around in his Hamptons beach house after the illicit insurance executive was bumped off by his mob boss partner in the 1989 major Hollywood motion picture Weekend at Bernie’s. He was at the Dodgers game Friday and, if you’re wondering, he still looked dead to me.

Now hiring

UNH alumni help tech companies find diverse talent with Shtudy

Shtudy (shtudy.co) is a career advancement startup that matches talented tech professionals of color — specifically those who are Black, Latinx and Native American — with leading tech companies looking to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in their workplaces. Founded by UNH alumni Geno Miller and Ravoughn Millings, Shtudy recently moved from Washington, D.C., to Manchester and expanded its services with a new online platform that screens and trains job seekers to provide employers with a selective hiring pool of guaranteed qualified candidates. Miller talked about how Shtudy works, why it’s needed and how job seekers and employers can work toward a more inclusive tech industry in New Hampshire and beyond.

What is the mission of Shtudy?

Everything we do comes back to bridging the racial wealth gap in America, and we feel like the fastest, most efficient way of doing that is through [the] tech [industry]. The average tech employee’s salary is $135K. The average Black family makes $60K a year, and the average Latinx family makes $68K a year, so the average tech worker makes more than both of those families combined. … The current amount of people of color in tech jobs is nine percent. Our mission is to double that to 18 percent.

How was Shtudy born?

I was born and raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland, which is about five minutes away from D.C. Growing up in a city environment and underrepresented community, there are a lot of trials and tribulations, like drugs and guns. I was fortunate enough to overcome those things, but I had a lot of friends who weren’t as fortunate. … When I got a full football scholarship to go to the University of New Hampshire, I saw a world of opportunity open up to me, and I couldn’t help but think, ‘Wow. What if the people I grew up with knew there were opportunities out there for them, as well? How can I help provide opportunities to people who look like me and come from areas similar to where I come from?’ … Then, I met my [Shtudy] co-founder Ravoughn Millings, also a UNH alum, who had a similar experience to me. He was always at the top of his classes, but when it came time to find a job, he was having trouble. That told us there was a huge disconnect between the processes companies use to find top talent, and what job seekers are doing to try to get in front of those employers in a way that they can actually stand out. That’s what led to the development of Shtudy. … We launched toward the end of 2017 … and moved to New Hampshire about a month and a half ago.

How does it work?

[Job seekers] sign up and select their desired career path. Then, they take a quiz to prove they can do the thing they say they can do. These quizzes are verified by companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon and are what they use to hire their engineers. Once they pass those quizzes, we introduce them to our “Soft Skills Training Library,” where they can watch videos teaching them what they need to know for interviews and how to handle issues that often arise for people of color in a workplace. The next step is to do a one-on-one mock interview with a corporate recruiter. Then, we enter them into the hiring pool so they can be viewed by employers interested in hiring them.

Is it effective?

Definitely. We’ve gotten two [hundred] to three hundred signups [from job seekers] in the last two weeks, alone … and in the time we’ve been doing this, somewhere between 30 and 50 [job seekers] have been successfully placed [in tech companies].

Why is the number of people of color in the tech industry so low?

Based on the research we conducted … employers want to hire people of color, but they’re looking in the wrong places … and candidates who want to work for these companies don’t have the tools in their toolbox to get directly in front of employers in a way that they’ll get noticed. There are a multitude of different reasons for that. Implicit bias is definitely a thing. There’s also a huge communication barrier to overcome between employers and people who come from different backgrounds than them.

Why is Shtudy needed now, and in New Hampshire?

There’s a lot of social injustice right now, especially racial injustice. In addition to that, we have Covid-19, [which has resulted in] a lot of employers having to change their traditional hiring process of conducting on-site, in-person interviews. Shtudy helps with both of those things. We’re providing opportunities for people of color who need them, and we’re making it easy for employers to tap into a reliable pool of candidates, specifically in New Hampshire, because the goal is always to bring more diverse young talent to the state.

What would you like tech companies to know about hiring people of color?

This isn’t a one-off thing where employers can just check a box and expect the full benefits of hiring people of color who actually enjoy their experience at the company. There has to be a mental shift. The entire company has to buy in, from the executive board down to the junior and associate-level workers. That’s what it takes to transform a company and bring people of color into an environment where they can thrive.

What advice do you have for young people of color who are interested in pursuing a career in tech? How can they set themselves up for success?

The first thing I’d say is that they can do it. I feel like that’s something young people of color don’t hear enough, especially in the tech world. … In regards to advancing their careers, I’d say, dress up your LinkedIn [profile], revamp your resumes and build internal networks. Look at the resources out there that can help you get better grades and stand out in competitive workplaces. And, of course, use Shtudy. That’s what we’re here for.

Featured Photo: Geno Miller

News & Notes 20/08/13

Covid-19 updateAs of August 3As of August 10
Total cases statewide6,6606,840
Total current infections statewide395326
Total deaths statewide417419
New cases219 (July 28 to Aug. 3)180 (Aug. 4 to Aug. 10)
Current infections: Hillsborough County197137
Current infections: Merrimack County1913
Current infections: Rockingham County104103
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Covid-19 news

On Aug. 4, Gov. Chris Sununu issued Exhibit O to Emergency Order No. 29, which had been issued on April 9. Emergency Order No. 29 requires state agencies, boards and commissions to submit recommendations to Sununu if any regulatory deadlines should be adjusted in response to the state of emergency. Per Exhibit O, the deadline to complete two hours of continuing education for licensees as pump installers or well water contractors through the New Hampshire Water Well Board has been extended for one year, from June 30, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

On Aug. 5, Sununu issued a statement in response to reports that some states may be improperly taxing New Hampshire residents who are working remotely during the pandemic. “The New Hampshire Department of Justice will conduct a review of … each state’s Department of Revenue’s actions to determine whether any state is engaging in improper taxation of our citizens,” the statement reads. “We will take immediate steps to stop any attempts to impose income taxes on Granite Staters in a manner that violates the law or the New Hampshire or United States Constitution.”

Also on Aug. 5, Sununu announced the federal government’s approval of New Hampshire’s plan to reduce premium rates in the state’s individual health insurance market. The reinsurance program, according to a press release issued by the Governor’s Office, is estimated to reduce premiums in 2021 by approximately 16 percent over what they would have otherwise been. The individual market’s unsubsidized population is expected to grow by about 8 percent due to lower premium costs resulting from the stabilization of the market.

Also on Aug. 5, Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 62, an order protecting the pre-existing non-conforming use status for summer camps in the state that have been unable to operate, have had their seasons shortened or have had their capacities reduced this year as a result of the pandemic.

On Aug. 7, Sununu issued Executive Order 2020-16, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the pandemic for another three weeks through at least Aug. 28. It’s the seventh extension he has issued since originally declaring a state of emergency on March 13.

Details of all of Sununu’s Emergency and Executive Orders can be found at governor.nh.gov.

Legislative action

Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed several more bills in the past week, according to press releases from his office. These include:

House Bill 687, also known as the “extreme risk protection” bill. While the New Hampshire Democratic Party said in a statement that the bill would “keep Granite Staters safe by keeping guns out of the hands of people in crisis when there is evidence they pose an extreme risk of harming themselves or others,” Sununu said in his veto statement that while mental health, including suicide prevention and awareness, continues to be one of the state’s top priorities, “the process laid out in House Bill 687 goes too far and would weaken the constitutional rights of law-abiding New Hampshire citizens.”

House Bill 1375, regarding claims for medical monitoring related to exposure to toxic materials. In his veto statement, Sununu said that while the bill was created with good intentions, “this legislation would subject businesses to increased liability by creating a pathway for almost anyone exposed to hazardous or toxic substances to prove a claim for medical monitoring damages, regardless of the level, risk or consequences of exposure.” He also said he is willing to work with proponents to explore a more tailored and responsible approach in the next legislative session.

House Bill 685, the Reproductive Health Parity Act. According to a press release from the New Hampshire Democratic Party, the bill “would have ensured Granite Staters access to a range of affordable reproductive health services, including abortion.” In his veto statement, Sununu called the legislation unnecessary and said it would threaten the state’s ability to get federal funding for health care programs.

House Bill 1494, which would have established benefits for public works employees who die on the job. In his veto statement, Sununu said that while he supports parts of the bill, there are parts that he is unable to support “because of negative policy and financial impacts on the state and municipalities.”

City school reopenings

With all of New Hampshire’s school districts creating their own plans for reopening, “back to school” is going to look different across the state. Some smaller districts are working toward full in-person reopenings or hybrid learning models, but all three of the state’s biggest cities have approved reopening plans that have most students learning remotely for the start of the 2020-21 school year.

The Manchester Board of School Committee voted during a five-hour meeting Monday night to reopen with fully remote learning for grades 2 through 12 for the first quarter of the school year, with students in pre-kindergarten through first grade attending school in person two days a week, according to a report from WMUR. “While a full in-person reopening may work for other communities, it was simply not feasible or responsible for our district to do so. In choosing to slowly bring students back in person — starting with specialized programming and our youngest students — I believe we are striking the right balance for our students, families and staff,” Superintendent Dr. John Goldhardt said in a statement. Mayor Joyce Craig said in a statement that throughout the first weeks of school, “the school administration, along with stakeholders, including the Manchester Health Department and the City Facilities Division will assess whether a blended model can be implemented by the end of November.”

On Aug. 5, the Nashua Board of Education approved a plan that will have students starting the year remotely on Sept. 8. The reopening plan, which is posted on the school district’s website, will start with full remote learning (Model III) until Oct. 5, when a rollout of a hybrid model (Model II) will begin. Based on Nashua’s numbers of Covid-19 cases, public health officials advised that the district eliminate Model I, a return to in-person teaching, from consideration. According to the plan, parents/guardians will be able to choose whether their children will participate in Model II when it is rolled out or stay in Model III. The plan also says that “Flexibility and the ability to pivot between models is key … as local epidemiology may possibly alter our schedules for teaching and learning at any time during the school year.”

On Aug. 6, the Concord School Board voted to “employ a fully remote learning model for students this fall,” according to a letter to students, families and staff posted on the district’s website, with the first day of remote learning starting Sept. 8. The letter said that pushing back the start date will allow staff to continue to train for best practices for remote learning. “We understand that all of the return to school models will present difficulties for some of our families, and we want to assure you that the Board took into account hundreds of concerns and questions which parents, staff and students have expressed,” Interim Superintendent Kathleen Murphy wrote in the letter.

Law enforcement

New Hampshire Police Standards and Training will undergo several changes, including the creation of guidelines regarding use of force as well as improvements to diversity training, after the initial recommendations from the New Hampshire Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency were endorsed by Gov. Chris Sununu last week, according to a press release. These recommendations include the creation of a Job Task Analysis for entry-level law enforcement officers and entry-level corrections officers, as well as a review of the present Academy curriculum; improving police academy training on diversity; amending administrative rules to mandate that background investigations vet police recruit candidates to see if they have ever “demonstrated outward bias of a protected group by way of past history, behavior, affiliation with a subversive group, social media posts and other objective sources to help determine the overall fitness for duty the candidate possesses and to consider those findings in the overall decision to hire the candidate”; and the creation of guidelines relative to: use of force, duty to intervene, code of conduct, duty to report misconduct, prohibition of chokeholds, procedures to guard against positional asphyxia.

Saint Anselm College in Manchester has started welcoming students back and is one of the first schools in the area to do so, according to a report from WMUR. Around 200 students are moving in each day over the course of 10 days, and classes are scheduled to start Aug. 19, which will allow for some classes and other activities to be held outdoors, according to the report.

Susan Downer of Souhegan High School in Amherst and Michelle Morton-Curit of Exeter High School have been named this year’s recipients of the Presidential Excellence Awards in Mathematics and Science Teaching, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Education. The award is given by the U.S. government to educators who excel in their roles as math and science teachers for grades K through 12.

The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire in Londonderry is hosting a volunteer open house on Monday, Aug. 17, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., according to a press release. Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas, including tour leaders, administrative work, historical archiving, education outreach, tech support and more. Find details at aviationmuseumofnh.org.

The American Cancer Society recently honored Tracy McGraw of Merrimack with the Sandra C. Labaree Volunteer Values Award for her support of the Society’s mission. McGraw is a two-time cancer survivor and has been a volunteer with the American Cancer Society for the last six years, according to a press release. She is currently the event chair for the Relay For Life of Nashua.

Granite Views: Hippo’s Best of 2020

We’re very happy and a bit relieved to present Hippo’s Best of 2020 in this week’s issue. It’s been a long time coming.

Readers voted in our annual poll back in February (you know, “BC,” Before Covid) and we planned to publish the results in the March 26 issue, but with the shutdown of most businesses, schools and everything else, we worried that the list would be very unhelpful. Here’s a list of things you can’t do! So we held off until we had a bit more confidence that things would be opening back up. And here we are — opening back up (for the most part).

The Best of has always been a celebration of what makes southern New Hampshire different from other parts of the country. It’s the things you like the best about your community — the people, parks, community activities, restaurants, cafes and small businesses. It’s been a guide by our readers, for our readers.

The people, places and things that we ask readers to vote on are a part of the arts, entertainment and quality of life here that we strive to cover in each issue. And while we are proud to present those issues to you in this free newsweekly, the Hippo is not free to publish. Since our founding nearly 20 years ago, local advertising support has provided us with the revenue to publish a quality free paper. Not so much anymore. And now, we’re asking for your help.

Please consider becoming a sustaining member to help us to continue providing this coverage. We want to continue to give you the information that can help you make the most of living here, and we need you to pitch in. We want to keep offering you live music listings, updates on the comedy scene, a look at new art exhibits, a peek at theatrical productions, interviews with local authors and ideas for your weekend hikes. To do that, we need your financial support. Help us continue our mission of strong local coverage so we can help you make the most of your next meal or your weekend plans.

Please consider supporting us by becoming an annual member. All members will get exclusive access to Hippo’s online articles and archives, exclusive content, Hippo deals (when available) and a bumper sticker.

Contributions can be made online at hippopress.com.

Thank you for voting in the Best of 2020 poll and sharing your favorites, and thank you for continuing to support the Hippo.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!