Tag: 240711

Quality of Life 24/07/11

A date with giant balloons

Members of the Spartans Drum and Bugle Corps (spartansdbc.org) learned last week that they will march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York in November. WMUR reported in an online article July 4 that the Spartans “were selected from more than 100 applicants and were one of nine bands that received the invite.” The invitation came with a $10,000 donation from Macy’s to help with fundraising for the Spartans to travel to New York City next year. “What an amazing way to celebrate the Spartans’ 70th anniversary!” the Spartans posted on their website.

QOL score: +1

Comment: The Spartans describe themselves as “a community-based performing arts program in Nashua, NH.”

Laid-back in Nashua

In a recent study by WalletHub (wallethub.com), an online financial management website, Nashua ranked as one of the least stressed cities in America. Out of 182 U.S. cities, Nashua placed 175th. In a July 8 press release, WalletHub described the study. “WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 39 key metrics. The data set ranges from average weekly work hours to the unemployment rate to divorce and suicide rates.” Nashua scored in the 20th percentile or lower in terms of work, financial, family, and health & safety stress.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to this study, Cleveland, Ohio, is the most stressed-out city in America, and Charleston, South Carolina, is the least.

Falling for love

Ninety-year-old Manchester man Bill Rogers sky-dived last Sunday to celebrate his anniversary with his late wife, Natalie. According to a July 7 online story by WMUR, Rogers completed his sixth skydive in Pepperell, Mass., with an eye toward teasing his wife, like he would have if she were still alive. “Every time I jump out of a plane, I can hear her say, ‘Billy, you’re as crazy as ever,’’” WMUR quoted him.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to Guinness World Records (guinnessworldrecords.com) the oldest skydiver on record is 106-year-old Texan Alfred Blanschke, who broke his own record in May of this year.

Goodbye to Bob’s

On July 1, Bob’s Stores announced it would close all its remaining stores, which included one in Salem, New Hampshire. Bob’s Stores began with a single store in Connecticut and eventually expanded throughout the Northeast. Meanwhile, several Eastern Mountain Sports stores, including the one in The Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, are closing as well. EMS and Bob’s Stores are owned by the same parent company, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

QOL score: -1

Comments: The going-out-of-business sale at Bob’s was expected to continue through July 14, according to a story on WMUR.com. EMS still operates its Eastern Mountain Sports School in North Conway and is the official outfitter of the Mount Washington Observatory. (Bob’s Stores, by the way, are NOT affiliated with Bob’s Discount Furniture, a whole separate company that sent out a press release to clear up confusion, according to a July 9 Boston Globe story.)

QOL score: 72

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 74

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Sox in thick of things

The Big Story – Red Sox Are Rolling: After coming back to beat the Yanks in dramatic fashion 5-3 on Friday with ninth- and 10th-inning homers and again 3-0 on Sunday with three more, they’ve won 16 of their last 21. It’s turned a 13.5-game Yankees lead over them to just 4.5 by Monday. It also has them 1.5 games up on KC for the final wild card spot. That’s shaken up the conversation over what to do at the trade deadline and let the thought creep into Red Sox Nation’s mind that maybe John Henry’s been right and they’ve been wrong all along.

Sports 101: Name the five pitchers who have started the All-Star game for both the AL and NL.

News Item – Who’s Hot:

Jarren Duran: With three homers last week he became the first person ever to have 100 hits, 10 homers, 10 triples and 20 stolen bases before the All-Star break. Which is why he was named to the AL All-Star team.

CeddanneRafaela: After doing what Dustin Pedroia did as a rookie in battling to get over the Mendoza line through the first two months, he’s now on a tear. And it’s not just the two big homers he hit over the weekend. Friday’s 10th-inning game-winner came in his first ever game at Yankee Stadium. The 412-foot shot to dead center raised his average to .311 since the switch got flipped on June 1. Then he did it again in the eighth in Sunday’s win.

It left him with 11 homers and 50 RBI in his first 85 games. Both are the most by anyone hitting in the 9-hole this year.

Rafael Devers: He topped his young friend by hitting three homers and having six hits vs. the Yanks. That pushed him over the 1,000 career hit plateau, while the homers are something not even all-time great sluggers like Jimmie Foxx, Harmon Killebrew, Yaz or even Ted Williams ever did. They gave him 16 career homers at Yankee Stadium to tie him with Big Papi and leave him just three behind all-time visiting Stadium homer king Jose Bautista.

Which I find amazing.

News Item – Celtics Keep Team Together: Brad Stevens wasted little time locking up his team for a run to repeat. That included signing Jayson Tatum and Derrick White to max extensions that run through 2027, and also bringing back Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman.

The Numbers:

11 – MLB-leading wins for Chris Sale after allowing one run on six hits over six innings while striking out nine in a 3-1 win over the Giants.

12 – record-tying consecutive hits recorded by Twins infielder Jose Miranda over four games last week, last done in 1952 by Sox first baseman Walt Dropo.

$1,193,248.20 – annual payment Bobby Bonilla has received every July 1 from the Mets in deferred income since 2011 and will continue to get until 2035 even though the ex-Met and Pirate outfielder retired in 2001.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Celtics Brass: For putting their money where their mouth is to keep the team together.

Thumbs Down – Celtics For Sale: Because Wyc Grousbeck and company have been great owners and they’re really hard to come by. So, Celtics Nation, keep your fingers crossed.

Good News / Bad News Award – Caleb MartinTo 76ers: He hurt the C’s badly in the playoffs two years ago. So his leaving Miami is good for them. Except he signed a four-year deal with a better team in Philly, so they’ll still likely face him in the playoffs.

Har Dee Har Har Award: To the Lakers brass for saying at his introductory press conference that four-point-a-game-scorer-at-USC Bronny James “earned” being drafted in the second round last week to counteract the belief by every other person in the universe that it only happened to keep papa LeBron from leaving as a free agent.

Random Thoughts:

If the Red Sox are going to add at the trade deadline, forget rentals. Make a major/real deal that brings back a starter who’ll be under their control for a few more years.

Sports 101 Answer: The five who started All-Star games for both leagues are Vida Blue, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer.

Final Thought – Caitlin Clark Records First WNBA Triple Double: This is not aimed at Clark’s 19-point, 13-assist, 12-rebound effort in Indiana’s win over New York on Saturday. It’s just that folks are making a big deal about that being the first triple D in WNBA history and I’m asking why it took so long.

It’s not like dunking, which is a size and jumping thing. It comes from just playing, where it happens all the time in the NBA and I even did it five or six times myself in college.

The league started in 1997, so why did it take that long? Style of play, bad coaching or the players themselves not playing all-round games? It just seems weird.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Planning for NH’s health

The Department of Health and Human Services releases its 2024-2025 Roadmap

Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Weaver talks about the new DHHS Roadmap 2024-2025, which outlines the plan the DHHS developed with input from many stakeholders (people involved with or affected by the Roadmap) to help improve the state of health for all Granite Staters. Visit dhhs.nh.gov (get to the Roadmap via News & Events).

Explain ‘Mission Zero’ and how the Roadmap will address Emergency Department boarding?

Mission Zero is the Department’s commitment to eliminating boarding in an Emergency Department. … It used to be, years ago, that we would have 40 or 50 people sitting in any given day waiting to find a bed for psychiatric care. … the beginning of this year in January of ’24, we were at about 4 1/2 days sitting in an emergency department waiting for a bed … now we’re down to 2 1/2 days [in May]. … That basically means that you’ll have people come in that will need that level of care and rather than waiting weeks and months they’re actually getting care within an average of 2 1/2 days at this point.

What are school-based services for children enrolled in Medicaid and how will they be strengthened through the Roadmap?

We have a lot of school counselors who provide services to youth that may be having some issues. That could be mental health counseling, that could be substance-use disorder counseling, could be any sort of peer-related issue. The schools need a mechanism to be able to, for those students that have Medicaid, to be able to bill Medicaid for that service….The Department was able to secure a grant to be able to build an administrative infrastructure. … This process will automate and streamline those processes for schools to be able to bill Medicaid and then get reimbursed to be able to provide that service so the schools aren’t losing any money …. The commitment here is really about investing in the infrastructure so that it’s self-sustaining and lasts for a while.

Would you mind expanding on the Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies initiative and why that’s important in the Roadmap?

We know that our maternal health definitely stands out as a need in the state of New Hampshire. What we do is we put a lot of money into prevention and being able to get moms into prenatal care as soon as they’re eligible in their first trimester and then caring throughout … and then obviously post-delivery care. We know that if we put our money and time into prevention, then we’re seeing less on the other end of having to continuously treat. It’s putting the money in and the time in to be able to have that healthy mom and healthy baby and then sustaining as a community member not necessarily having to go in for needs after that. Maternal mortality rates for the state of New Hampshire are pretty high, as they are nationwide, so we’re looking to reduce those maternal mortality rates as well.

Why is it that the maternal mortality rate is so high across the country and in New Hampshire?

I think when we’re looking at equity of care that oftentimes we will see a lot of our diverse populations don’t have the same access to maternal care that some other parts of our population do. It’s really making sure that no matter who you are in the state of New Hampshire that you have access to that care. I think in New Hampshire we’re a small enough state that we can set that as a goal and I think make a dent in it.

Could you expand on the ‘building a system of care for healthy aging’ initiative?

… Basically, taking a lot of the parts of our services that serve seniors and working to update, upgrade, automate and making sure that seniors have access to services. It goes back to a lot of the same things about community-based services about trying to keep folks within communities rather than having to be in institutional care, so that means having a robust system that can get seniors’ needs met before having to go into a nursing facility, say, that they could actually get their care at home or in a community-based setting. We have things like our service link centers, which I think in our report is called the ‘aging and disability resource centers.’ Those are some of the first stops that our folks in the long-term care system will go to to get help. It’s making sure that wherever you are in the state you could go to one of these centers and clearly understand what … resources were available to you or your family members.

In what ways will customer service be improved?

When you think about the Department from customer service, we have a couple of different customers. … Oftentimes you have to fill out a form to see if you’re eligible for a service. We’re committed to making sure that there’s efficiency and expediency in those processes … The Department is so large, you could come in, Zach, and you might think you need one service from here but all of a sudden you find out you need a couple of other services from the Department. …You shouldn’t have to go knock on 10 doors to figure out how are you going to be able to get these services. You should knock on one door and then be able to have a care plan developed for you. So there’s that side of it. Our customers are also our providers, so we get a lot of federal money and [with] the money that we have we do contracts with providers, then those providers will go out and provide a service. Let’s just say, like a residential care home for the developmentally disabled, we would give money to a provider to stand up that service. That provider is also our customer, so we want to make it easier for them to do business with us, right. We want to be a better business partner. … We also want to be able to have a financial payment model that works for providers so that they’re able to be paid in a timely and sustainable way.

Is there an aspect of the Roadmap you’d like to expand on that you haven’t been asked about or something particular in the Roadmap you think is exciting to talk about?

The one thing you didn’t ask me about, really, was the commitment one, which is People and Culture. That’s our focus internally. … If we’re taking care of our staff and our workforce, it’s going to show up in the work … we’re going to have better customer service skills from our staff if we’re able to create an environment in the Department where people want to be, can grow and learn …. The Roadmap, really, is about the Department being able to say to all of those stakeholders that I just mentioned, who we are and what we do. —Zachary Lewis

Featured image: Lori Weaver. Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 24/07/11

Firefighter cancer screening

According to a press release, Gov. Chris Sununu signed SB 352 into law at the Manchester Central Fire Station establishing an early detection cancer screening pilot program for active and retired firefighters.

In a statement, Gov. Sununu said that “the dangers of being a fire fighter go beyond running into a burning building, and today, New Hampshire is taking a leading role in having the backs of these heroes. This cancer screening program will have a lifesaving impact. New Hampshire’s fire fighters are the best of the best.”

This bill makes New Hampshire the first state in New England to establish an early detection cancer screening pilot program for firefighters.

Vote in honor of vets

According to a press release, Secretary of State David M. Scanlan and Senior Deputy Secretary of State Patricia Lovejoy introduced the “Vote in Honor of a Veteran” program, which gives New Hampshire voters the opportunity to recognize veterans and service members in their lives.

New Hampshire voters can visit.sos.nh.gov/vote-honor-veteran to submit the name of the veteran or service member they are voting in honor of and are given a chance to write a short testimonial on what their service means. The Secretary of State’s Office will send them a “Vote in Honor of a Veteran” pin to wear at the polls on Election Day, according to the press release.

In a statement, Secretary of State David Scanlan said, “New Hampshire enjoys free and transparent elections thanks, in large part, to the sacrifices of our veterans and service members. We’re pleased to officially vote in their honor and encourage New Hampshire voters to do the same.”

In a statement, Senior Deputy Secretary of State Patricia Lovejoy said that “the ‘Vote in Honor of a Veteran’ program provides New Hampshire citizens with a visible tribute to those who so proudly serve and have served this country in the United States Military Service. This program recognizes their efforts to keep our democracy strong and to ensure that we may continue to cast a ballot each election day. Through this initiative, New Hampshire voters can demonstrate the pride they feel for an individual, and, at the same time, encourage others to vote on Election Day.”

Navy Veteran Jacob Aldridge, who worked on the USS New Hampshire and as an engineering tech at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, designed the “Vote in Honor of a Veteran” pin, and was also a recipient of five Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medals and is currently pursuing a degree in fine arts at Great Bay Community College, according to the the release.

Wild, wild turkeys

According to a press release, the New Hampshire 2024 spring turkey harvest was lower than in recent seasons due mainly to decreased reproductive success and poult survival in 2023. Hunters harvested 4,563 turkeys this spring, which is a decrease of 18 percent from 2023’s tally (5,580) and 17 percent below the previous five-year average (5,503), but the 2024 harvest level was similar to 2017 and 2018.

Reproductive rates for wild turkeys are high during years with warm, dry spring and summer weather, but the opposite occurs when cool, wet weather persists for an extended period of time, according to the release.

Above-average rainfall during the spring and summer of 2023 resulted in lower nesting success and fewer turkeys maturing into the fall population last year, so a reduced harvest is conceivable, according to the release.

The 2024 harvest consisted of 12 (less than 1 percent) bearded hens, 661 jakes (14 percent), and 3,890 toms (85 percent), with the lack of juvenile males reflecting the poor weather conditions of 2023 and the overall decrease in harvest in 2024 presumably relating to the decrease in juvenile turkeys on the landscape, according to the release.

At the individual Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) level, turkey densities remained either above or consistent with objectives specified in the New Hampshire Game Management Plan in nearly all WMUs, according to the release.

Young hunters registered 423 birds during the special youth weekend that took place at the end of April and represented 9.3 percent of the total spring harvest, similar to the number of birds harvested by young hunters over the past two years, according to the release.

Of the 3,742 successful hunters this spring, 2,921 registered one bird and 821 registered two birds. Of the 821 hunters who registered two birds, 751 were adults and 70 were young people under the age of 16. The proportion of hunters who harvest two birds during the spring has remained consistent at 22 to 24 percent of hunters each year, according to the release.There was an increase again this year in online registrations with 3,150 (69 percent) of birds being registered online versus 1,413 (31 percent) that were registered in person, with participation in the online registration system growing each year, according to the release.

The summer 2024 Online Brood Survey is now underway, where Granite Staters can help monitor the wild turkey population and this year’s breeding productivity by reporting sightings of hen turkeys and their poults online at wildnh.com.

Wild turkey management in New Hampshire is funded in part through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Restoration Program. Visit nhfishgame.com.

It’s New Hampshire Telephone Museum Benefit Night at Reed’s North Restaurant in Warner (2 E. Main St.) on Wednesday, July 17, in support of NHTM’s upcoming Honor Bear Project installation, taking place July 20 at the NHTM. The Honor Bear Project is a nonprofit charity organization that publicly coordinates the Flags for Forgotten Heroes program around New England to bring public awareness to the issue of veteran and first responder suicide, according to their website. Visit nhtelephonemuseum.org.

The Nashua Historical Society at the Speare Museum Library (5 Abbott St., Nashua) will host a free screening of At Home and Abroad: Nashua and World War II, a locally produced and professionally developed oral history project that features Nashua’s WWII veterans, homefront civilians and Holocaust survivors, on Saturday, July 13, at 1 p.m. The film lasts approximately one hour; doors open at 12:30 p.m. Visit nashuahistoricalsociety.org.

The Andres Institute of Art in Brookline (106 Route 13) presents a show of more than 350 oil portraits rendered by Anne Marie Zanfagna that were selected portraits from “Angels of Addictions,” with a special reception with the artist on Sunday, July 14, starting at 2 p.m. Visit andresinstitute.org.

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