Today at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; 669-6144, currier.og) veterans and their guests can get a free meal (of up to $15 each) in the Winter Garden Cafe, according to the museum website. Also today, at 11 a.m. and noon the “Looking Together” tour, when a docent focuses on a small number of works, will focus on the “WPA in NH” exhibit. The NH DHHS Mobile Covid-19 Vaccination Van will be set up in the Currier parking lot from 3 to 7 p.m. offering booster shots as well as first shots for adults and children, the website said. And today’s Art After Work, when admission is free to all from 5 to 8 p.m., will feature music by Charlie Chronopoulos.
Saturday, Nov. 13
Catch Warren Miller’s 72nd film Winter Starts Nowtoday at noon and 3 p.m. at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $30.50 ($55 for VIP tickets). Proceeds from this screening will support Kristen’s Gift Endowed Fund at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. The movie will also screen next week at The Music Hall in Portsmouth.
Saturday, Nov. 13
See Matt Carbonello perform a Neil Young Tribute tonight at the Dana Center (Saint Anselm College, 100 St. Anselm Drive in Manchester; tickets.anselm.edu) at 7:30 p.m. with proceeds from the show benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project. Tickets cost $25.
Saturday, Nov. 13
Another November Saturday, another round of craft fairs.
Today, head to Memorial High School in Manchester for their booster club’s craft sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission costs $1 per person; the fair will feature more than 215 booths and vendors, according to the club’s Facebook page.
The Lil’ Iguana’s Craft Fair & Raffle will run today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Nashua North High School. Admission is free and more than 70 crafters and vendors are expected to attend, according to liliguanausa.org.
You can also find a fair at the Eagles Wing Function Hall, 10 Spruce St. in Nashua, sponsored by Bazaar Craft Fairs, which will run from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and feature more than 40 crafters and vendors, according to Bazaar Craft Fairs Facebook page. Admission is free.
The United Church of Penacook (at Community Drive and Canal Street) will hold its fair today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and has a list of participating crafters with photos of their items at ucpnh.org.
At St. Kathryn Parish (4 Dracut Road in Hudson), the Christmas Bazaar and Penny Sale will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow, Nov. 14. The event will include raffles, sales of theme baskets, baked goods and an appearance by Santa, according to stkathryns.org.
Also on Sunday, Nov. 14, head to the Bedford High School for the Bedford High School Handmade Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. featuring local artists and artisans, according to the group’s Facebook page.
Save the Date! Nov. 19
The Jamantics — Masceo Williams, Freeland Hubbard, Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki, Eric Reingold and Lucas Gallo — will reunite Friday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m. at the Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com). Tickets cost $15 for general admission, $25 for reserved balcony seating (plust fees).
The first Inferno of the Badges, a fundraiser and fitness challenge that will have police, fire, corrections and military personnel compete for a title and to help a good cause, is looking for more teams to make the inaugural event a success. Teams of five will perform CrossFit-type exercises, and the one with the best time gets to choose the charity that the event’s proceeds will be donated to. The Inferno is a community effort: CrossFit of New Hampshire and the Manchester Police Department have helped organize it, McIntyre is providing its facilities for free, McHugh Funeral Home in Manchester is a sponsor, and Messy Mike’s Barbecue from Derry is providing free lunch to competitors and volunteers.
Score: +1
Comment: Though this first Inferno of the Badges, happening Nov. 17, is just for police, fire, corrections and military personnel, if it’s successful it will become an annual event that the public will be invited to watch, according to Bibiana Rummler of McHugh Funeral Home.
Something fishy
Elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) have been detected in fish tissue samples in five lakes, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. There are now new and more restrictive fish consumption limits for those lakes: Beaver Lake in Derry, Robinson Pond in Hudson, Horseshoe Pond in Merrimack, Canobie Lake in Salem and Cobbetts Pond in Windham. According to the release, the mercury-based statewide guideline of fish consumption for most freshwater fish is one meal per month for young children and pregnant woman and four per month for adults and children 7 years old or older; in comparison, many of the recommended guidelines for fish consumption in these lakes are more restrictive. The levels of PFOS in Robinson and Horseshoe ponds, for example, are high enough that kids younger than 7 should not eat any amount of any freshwater fish taken from those water bodies.
Score: -1
Comment: NHDES pointed out in the release that there is no known risk to catching and handling these fish, so catch-and-release fishing is not impacted.
Three more cases of Jamestown Canyon virus
Three adults have tested positive for Jamestown Canyon virus, a viral infection transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The adults are from Loudon, Pittsfield and Rumney, and they are the second, third and fourth detections of the virus in the state this season. According to the release, the adults from Rumney and Pittsfield were hospitalized with neurological symptoms but are now recovering at home, and the person from Loudon was not hospitalized and is in good health.
Score: -1
Comment:“It is important to remember the season of mosquitos is longer than just the summer months. Mosquitos can continue to transmit infections like Jamestown Canyon Virus until there is a mosquito-killing hard frost,” Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire State Epidemiologist, said in the release.
Letter a scam
A consumer alert has been issued by the Attorney General’s Office after scammers sent a fraudulent letter purporting to be from the Office to a New Hampshire resident. According to a press release, it appears to be issued on Attorney General’s Office official letterhead and has a forged signature from the New Hampshire’s Deputy Attorney General. It claims the recipient’s identity has been used in connection with a purchase through an online retailer and warns that any of the accounts linked with the resident’s Social Security number will be shut down.
Score: -1
Comment:The resident called the number in the letter and was asked to buy gift cards from a local retailer and send photos of the gift card numbers, and to send cash through the mail with personal identifying information, the release said.
QOL score: 77
Net change: -2
QOL this week: 75
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].
Another week, a few more scandals to report on including in the NHL, with the Phoenix Suns, no real accountability for the Washington Football Team’s workplace abuse scandal and the Aaron Rodgers lies, there’s plenty of ammo for another World’s Gone Mad column. But we’ll keep it to the good, the bad and the ugly from the current or past field of play.
News Item: Pats Update
(1) The 24-6 win over Carolina on Sunday moved the 5-4 Patriots into a six-team scrum for an AFC wild card playoff spot, as well as drawing them to a half game behind Buffalo for first place in the East. That makes Sunday’s game with the 5-4 Browns like a playoff game, where a win moves them a game ahead of Cleveland in the playoff race and gives them the tie-breaker if they finish with the same record to make it actually worth two wins, like their recent win over the Chargers was as well. (2) Here are two questions regarding pursuit of Odell Beckham Jr. after he was dumped by Cleveland. With Cleveland also a contender, what makes anyone think he’ll behave any better here than in NY or Cleveland? And regarding the Randy Moss comparison, Moss came to a team with a three-time SB winning quarterback, not an impressionable-kid nine games into his rookie year. So do you want a serial malcontent yacking in his ear if things don’t go OBJ’s way? (3) Despite losingtheir QB for good, the Saints passed on signing the unemployed Cam Newton.
News Item:Not So Smart Marcus
Things have not started great for your Boston Celtics. There have been frustrating close-but-no-cigar losses to New York and Washington, mixed in with awful non-efforts in home court blowouts by Toronto and Chicago. Then after getting blown out by Chicago after leading by 19 in the third quarter, Marcus Smart sounded off correctly (in frustration) that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown need to share the ball more. But it’s hard to escape the irony of him complaining about people not giving up the ball, when everyone in Celtic Nation wants him to stop taking all his plain stupid threes. Yes I know his buzzer three sent the opener vs. NY to OT, but overall he’s been awful. Best expressed by Tony Massarotti on the Sports Hub when he said of a possible trade involving shooting impaired Ben Simmons and Smart last summer, “I’d rather have a guy who can’t shoot and knows it than a guy who can’t shoot and thinks he can.” Amen to that. Though most would prefer Smart just get a clue about what a bad shot is and gain the restraint not to take them. However, it should be noted that after his complaints the C’s won two straight in Florida before (not so) Smart’s foul on Luka Doncic that gave him five extra seconds to beat them, which he did at the buzzer.
News Item:The Big Mac Project – Update
While not so great the last two games, Mac Jones is still crushing it in direct competition with the QB’s taken ahead of him in last year’s draft. He leads in every category, including wins. He’s also on pace to throw more for more yards, TD passes and have a better completion percentage than any of the QB’s taken first overall (Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow and Kyler Murray) the last three years did as rookies and has also thrown for over 500 yards more than Jimmy Garoppolo.
News Item:RemDawg Passes
Rarely, if ever, has a team’s broadcaster gotten into the DNA of its fan base quite like the late Jerry Remy did with Red Sox Nation. Vince Scully with the Dodgers comes to mind but not all that many others on Remy’s scale. His death was front page news for three days and rarely has anyone gotten that. Especially beyond awful news like the death of Reggie Lewis. It was mixed with sadness, humor and warmth. Not sure how it all came to be, but for me, it was two things. The silliness to downright giddiness at times during the Don Orsillo era and with the Eck and the insight. I don’t suffer broadcast fools easily. To avoid that you have to tell me something I don’t know or make me think. RemDawg did both. RIP.
News Item:1980s NHC/SNHU Star Cleveland Woods Passes
He was the most likable person I ever met and it had nothing to do with how great a player Cleveland Woods was at NHC/SNHU, which included being a two-time Division II All American, the New England Player of the Year his senior season, NHC’s all-time leading scorer and only player to accumulate over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. All of which makes him the first guy on my Mt. Rushmore of NHC/SNHU basketball players.
But forget the player. The grief and affection expressed on Facebook by so many who knew him following his death last week at 56 tells you the impact he had. Always a smile. I don’t think I ever saw him in a bad mood. Even during all the insanity that went on our practices his first few years playing on North River Road. It obviously is a reflection on all the players given the bond shared by the guys he played with. A snapshot of a great thing sports can create when the right people cross paths at the right time. As one of his coaches then, the bond that developed is what I’m most proud of from his time. He wasn’t the only reason, it was the group as a whole, but he certainly was a major contributor to it all. Sadly, he leaves behind his wife Joliette Hall-Woods, two sons and a daughter.
After nearly two decades at the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration serving in various roles, Lisa Crowley has stepped into a new position as the director of the Taxpayer Services Division. Crowley offered a look at what the division does and what it’s like to work a job that is “no one’s favorite topic.”
What is the function of the Taxpayer Services Division?
The Taxpayer Services Division is the largest division in the Department of Revenue. Essentially, we’re very much customer service-based. We hold the DRA [Department of Revenue Administration] call center. All of the mail and the money that comes into the department comes right to us, so we process and scan everything in. We also have a Tax Account Reconciliation Group; if there are any issues or errors that come up with the processing that we can identify right off, the Tax Account Reconciliation Group takes care of those so when the other divisions have to use … that information in our system, hopefully most of the bugs are worked out and they can just do their job. We also update our forms … and make any changes that need to be made on the website. Most recently, we’ve been overseeing the production support phase of our most recent system upgrades.
What does your job as director entail?
I oversee essentially everything in this division. … I do whatever I can to support my employees. I manage staffing, making sure we have the right amount of staffing to get our jobs done. … I make sure we’re processing our returns on time and getting the money in the bank on time. I just support the group in whatever way I can, even if that means opening mail during our busy times. That’s part of the job as well — managing from an upper perspective as well as diving in to do the little deeds our current staff may not have time to do.
What is your background in this work?
I’ve been with the department for about 19 years. This was my second job out of college. … I was hired as a tax forms examiner … starting in the Document Processing Division, which is now the Taxpayer Services Division. From there I became a supervisor in the Document Processing Division, worked in an audit group for a little while, and worked in our Municipal and Property Group. Then … I became our hearings manager, managing the department’s appeals. About three and a half years ago I was asked to be the director of our legacy system upgrade project, where we took our 30-year-old tax information management system and upgraded it into new software. It was quite an undertaking. Now that that project is done, I was asked to take over as the director of Taxpayer Services. … I think it’s a natural progression for me to come into this position.
What are some of the biggest challenges for the division right now?
There are a lot of challenges with getting used to this new world we operate in, especially [due to] Covid. … One is the new [software] system. … It comes with a learning curve. We’ve automated a lot of things, which means more mailings need to go out. … We’re also assisting GOFERR, the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery, with some of their programs. … There’s a lot coming at us, and we’re a very small department of a little less than 150 people … so everyone is working very hard right now to [adjust to] all these changes and overcome these challenges we’ve been faced with.
What do you hope to accomplish as director?
The employees in this division work really hard and do such a great job. … One of my goals … is to make sure they understand the great work they do, and to reward them as much as I possibly can. … Another thing I want to do is support our employees … with our new software. Some of our employees have been here for 10- or 20-plus years, so going into new technology is difficult. I want to make sure they know it’s OK if they aren’t as quick with the new system as they were [with the old one]. We’re all learning this together, and we’ll just keep plugging away until we get there.
What do you enjoy about your work?
It’s funny — when you say you work in taxes, a lot of people are like, ‘Oof,’ and, admittedly, tax isn’t the most exciting thing to work in every day. What I love about the department is the people; we’re a family here, and we support each other. We all understand that maybe tax isn’t the most exciting area to work in, but it’s necessary. … Even though we’re looking at numbers and returns all day and sometimes dealing with unhappy taxpayers, we make the best of it and find ways to make our days happy.
What do you wish people knew about the Taxpayer Services Division?
We [at the division] get it; we all pay taxes, too, and it’s no one’s favorite topic … but we care about our taxpayers. They aren’t just a number. … We want to help them as much as we possibly can. Of course, we have a job to do, and if there are bills that have to go out, unfortunately, [sending them] is part of that job … but I think [taxpayers] can at least come away with a positive feeling about [being] treated [well] and respected.
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. *Numbers not available on Oct. 26 when the state’s Covid dashboard was undergoing maintenance.
Covid-19 news
Due to a continued increase in Covid-19 numbers in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu recently announced that state officials will be returning to press conferences on a weekly basis.
During the state’s weekly public health update on Nov. 2, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported that New Hampshire continues to average between 500 and 600 new infections of the virus per day, while test positivity and hospitalization rates remain high. As of Nov. 8 there were 5,164 active infections of Covid-19 statewide and 212 current hospitalizations. All 10 counties in the state still remain at substantial levels of community transmission.
Pfizer vaccines are now available for kids ages 5 to 11 in New Hampshire, following the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Oct. 29 authorization for emergency use. Dr. Chan said during the Nov. 2 press conference that 5- to 11-year-olds receive a smaller dose, about one-third of a dose compared to adolescents and adults. “Even with this smaller dose … it creates a similar antibody response, and has been shown to be effective at preventing symptomatic disease,” he said. A statewide map of locations by town can be found at vaccines.nh.gov.
OSHA vaccine mandate lawsuit
New Hampshire will join a coalition of states filing a lawsuit to challenge the Emergency Temporary Standard issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandating that all private employers with 100 or more employees require their employees to be vaccinated, or conduct weekly Covid-19 testing and implement mask requirements. The Petition for Judicial Review was filed in the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on the morning of Nov. 5, Attorney General John M. Formella announced. New Hampshire is the 11th state to challenge the mandate, joining Missouri, Arizona, Nebraska, Montana, Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska and Wyoming, as well as a number of private businesses and organizations. “Covid vaccines are the most effective tool we have to protect ourselves and our community from this virus,” Gov. Sununu said in a statement. “but as the head of state, I recognize the limitations of government in mandating this personal medical decision. President Biden has created a loophole to facilitate this overreach, which is why I fully support the Attorney General’s decision to sign on to this lawsuit.”
No Senate for Sununu
Gov. Chris Sununu will not pursue a 2022 run for the U.S. Senate, but will seek re-election as the New Hampshire governor, he announced in a news conference on Nov. 9. According to WMUR, the decision is a surprise to Washington Republicans, who expected to see Sununu in a run for the Senate in a possible match-up against Sen. Maggie Hassan. “My responsibility is not to the gridlock and politics of Washington, it’s for the citizens of New Hampshire,” Sununu told reporters in Concord, according to WMUR. If reelected as governor, Sununu will be the second governor to serve four two-year terms, following Democrat John Lynch.
Craig re-elected
The Manchester mayoral election on Nov. 2 ended in another victory for incumbent Joyce Craig, as she was elected to her third term as the mayor of the state’s largest city. According to WMUR, Craig defeated former state Rep. Victoria Sullivan by a significant margin; the unofficial count from the Manchester City Clerk’s office on election day was 10,228 votes for Craig and 9,005 votes for Sullivan, a margin of 53 to 47 percent, with Craig winning eight of the city’s 12 wards. Craig won her first term in 2017, defeating incumbent Ted Gatsas, and her second term in 2019, defeating Sullivan by a margin of 56 to 43 percent. In her victory statement Craig reflected on the challenges that faced the city at the beginning of her second term, specifically in regard to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We took decisive action — developing guidelines, increasing access to city services, and providing free testing and vaccinations — all to ensure the health and safety of our community,” she said. “And through it all, we continued to move Manchester forward. We prioritized public safety, made investments in affordable housing, returned our students safely to the classrooms, and fostered economic growth.”
Veterans Day parade
The Manchester Veterans’ Council will present a Veterans Day Parade in Manchester on Thursday, Nov. 11, at 10:30 a.m. The parade will proceed down Elm Street starting at the north end and concluding at Veterans Park. Visit sweeneypost.org.
Enrollment open
The open enrollment period for the Healthcare.gov Marketplace, during which New Hampshire residents can purchase or change their Affordable Care Act individual health coverage for 2022, kicked off on Nov. 1 and will run through Jan. 15, 2022. According to a press release from the New Hampshire Insurance Department, New Hampshire has two Navigator grantees this year, First Choice Services and Health Market Connect, who will award a total of $1.6 million aimed at making affordable health insurance more accessible. Lower individual premium rates on the Marketplace were also made possible through a 1332 State Relief and Empowerment waiver approved in 2020, allowing New Hampshire to run a state-based reinsurance program that provides partial claim reimbursements to insurers from 2021 through 2025. “Premiums for individual and small group markets are the lowest in New England,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement. Insurance companies offering ACA-compliant individual health insurance plans on the Marketplace for coverage through 2022 include Anthem, Ambetter from NH Healthy Families and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Residents are still eligible to enroll for Marketplace insurance outside of the enrollment period if they have a life event such as a marriage, the birth of a child or a change in employment status, according to the release.
Sports betting
Retail locations for sports betting are now permitted to operate in Nashua, according to a press release from New Hampshire Lottery. The sports betting legislation drafted in 2019 allows individual communities in New Hampshire to have their residents vote on whether or not to allow the operation of sports betting retail locations in their own communities. Nashua residents voted to permit retail sports betting during city elections on Nov. 2, becoming the 21st community in the state to do so. There are currently three retail sportsbooks operating in the state, located in Seabrook, Manchester and Dover, and the New Hampshire Lottery and DraftKings are looking to eventually operate as many as 10, according to the release. September was the state’s largest sports betting month on record with more than $68.1 million wagered.
CASA of New Hampshire is hosting a virtual information session to recruit new advocates in the Manchester area on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 5:30 p.m. CASA is a nonprofit that trains volunteers to advocate for children who have experienced abuse and neglect, according to a press release. To register for the session, visit casanh.org, click on the Volunteer tab and select Virtual Info Sessions.
The State Historical Resources Council has added six properties to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places, according to a press release. Most locally, it includes the Milford Suspension Bridge, which has been in nearly continuous use since it was built in 1889, and the Goodhue House in Deerfield, which was built circa 1773 and is a Georgian-style, center chimney farmhouse with an attached ell, according to the release.
The Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua, built in 1961, was rededicated on Nov. 4, according to a press release. It is the first phase of a $118 million middle school project that includes ongoing expansion and renovations at Pennichuck Middle School and the building of a new middle school at Buckmeadow Road, the release said.
The NH Tech Alliance TechWomen|TechGirls Annual Awards, delivered virtually this year, were presented to women who are making an impact in STEM education or professional advancements. The Tech Student of the Year is Isha Mistry of Salem High School, who graduated third in her class and was a part of her school’s FIRST robotics team and Girls Who Code. Tech Educator of the Year went to Kimberly Eckenrode, the Career and Technical Education Pathways Director at Nashua Community College. The Tech Professional of the Year is Melissa Jurkoic, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Addapptation.
