Tag: 250828

Quality of Life 25/08/28

Welcome, Titan

Manchester’s most recent police horse has a name. As reported by WMUR in an Aug. 21 online article, there was an online contest earlier in August to find a name for the Mounted Patrol’s 6-year-old equine officer and voters picked Titan.

QOL score: +1

Comment: Titan is the equine officer’s working name; his official registered name is Tally Ho Alphie’s Fritzmon.

Back to school, looking sharp

For many families, back-to-school shopping puts a strain on already strained budgets. This year, local businesses and organizations have stepped up to lend a hand. As reported by WMUR in an Aug. 24 online article, for the third year, Get Faded Barbershop (282 W. Hancock St., Manchester, 628-2867, getfadedbarbershop.com) organized a back-to-school event to provide returning students with free haircuts, braiding and other services. School supplies were also given away. Meanwhile, for the 30th year, the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter (2 Quincy St., Nashua, 889-7770, nsks.org) held its annual Backpacks for Back-to-School program last week. As reported by Nashua InkLink in an Aug. 24 article, “Each backpack is loaded with age-appropriate school supplies”

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the InkLink story, the NSKaS distributed 1,600 backpacks this year, and 42,000 since 1995.

Nature in Nashua

As part of this year’s City Nature Challenge (citynaturechallenge.org), communities across New Hampshire took time out to count how many species of wildlife they could find, and register them on a smart-phone app. According to an Aug. 15 article on Nashua InkLink, the Challenge “is a bioblitz-style competition where cities embark to find and document the most observations of plants and wildlife in their city.” This year, the article continued, Nashua residents found the most species: “405 observations of 184 species, such as staghorn sumac, American toads, blue herons and barred owls,” the InkLink article read.

QOL score: +1

Comment: See citynaturechallenge.org for information about 2026.

Last week’s QOL score: 63

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 66

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Sox yank top WC spot from NY

The Big Story – Sox and Yanks Do Battle: Well, it wasn’t much of a battle, as the Sox won three of four over the weekend in NY. That made it six of the last seven vs. their rivals and 8-2 overall in 2025. We start the week with the Sox in the top wild card spot by a half game at 71 and 60. Next up is playing 16 straight games against bottom-feeding Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Oakland and under .500 Cleveland. If they take care of business, they’ll give themselves a cushion by the time they see the Yanks next on Sept. 12. The only caution is nine of the games are on the road, where they’re 30-35 in 2025.

Sports 101: What MLB team has had the most no-hitters broken up in the ninth inning?

News Item – Pats’ Pre-season Game 3: They lost. No one of interest played. Being forced to pay full price for a ticket to that game was a joke because it told us absolutely nothing.

News Item – Juan Soto: I know few in these parts care about the NL. But after the Mets outbid the Yankees and (supposedly) Red Sox let’s take a look at the impact his 32 homers, 76 RBI and .249 average has had on the team. In the Bronx, even though they’re just a half game behind Boston, the team that went to the 2024 World Series is considered a mess by the media and fans alike. In Flushing it’s had less impact than you’d think. At the moment the Mets’ record is 69-60 for a .539 winning percentage. That’s lower than last year’s .549 WP in an 89-73 season. However, it’s a different story at the box office as with a month still left to go in the season their attendance stands about 200,000 ahead of 2024 at 2,522,264 compared to 2,329,299, while the Yanks are down 522,000 with 15 home dates left.

The Numbers:

49 – after hitting two Sunday homers, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh has moved past Salvador Perez for most by anyone who caught 50 percent of his games, and with 40 he’s two behind Javy Lopez’s record 42 while just catching.

14 – career high and AL leading wins for Garrett Crochet against five losses with a MLB-leading 207 k’s and a second best in the AL 2.38 ERA.

… Of the Week Awards

Alumni News: Mookie Betts: Starting with his lingering illness this spring that has him still looking to find his stroke in late August, it’s been a rough year for the Mookster, as in a career-worst year where he’s hitting .244 with 13 homers and just 54 RBI.

History Made – Yankees: The Yanks matched their own record set earlier this year with nine homers in a 13-3 drubbing of Tampa Bay. Most notable was Aaron Judge hitting his 40th, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton each hitting two and that trio starting off the game with back-to-back-to-back homers to give them a 3-0 lead after just four batters.

Random Thoughts: Alex Cora is going to have to explain to me why taking one of the fastest and most dangerous men on the bases in baseball out of the leadoff spot to bat Jarren Duran in the power third spot and put the more powerful Roman Anthony at leadoff makes sense. However, from the RBI perspective, moving Ceddanne Rafaela back to ninth to hit in front of both guys makes a lot of sense, as does moving Rafaela and Duran to 8 and 9 respectively if you want Anthony’s .400+ OBP since July 1 at the top of the order.

What makes the Brewers having the best record in baseball even more impressive is that they have the 11th-lowest payroll in the NL.

Sports 101 Answer – The all-time leader for ninth-inning no-no’s broken up against their pitchers is Cleveland with 11 after Soto homered to break up Gavin Williams’ bid with one out in Cleveland’s 4-1 over the Mets two weeks ago.

Final Thought – Waiting For Jerry Jones’ Latest Contract Screw-up: It’ll probably wind up just costing the Cowboys owner a lot more money than it should have instead of what it would have if he’d gotten it done earlier. But if it doesn’t and Micah Parsons goes on the trade block the Patriots should be ready to open the wallet and give up two first-round picks and other later picks if needed, as I stand by what I said prior to the draft: that the Patriots should have done what was needed to move up to get Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter. An elite pass rusher added to what they brought in during free agency would likely have made them a Top 5 defense. Parsons would do that on Day 1. So they should be ready to act if they get lucky and he becomes available.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

News & Notes 25/08/28

Remembering 9/11

Glenn Carlson, a Laconia resident and a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, will talk about his experiences as an active duty Air Force officer at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Sept. 11, 2001, on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, aviationmuseumofnh.org. Carlson was a B-52 crew member who was stationed at Barksdale, the “undisclosed location” that President George W. Bush, who was at an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida, was taken to after learning about the 9/11 attacks in New York City and on the Pentagon, according to a museum press release. Carlson had “just returned from a Red Flag exercise in advanced aerial combat training — and … suddenly found himself part of the unfolding response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,” the release said. “Carlson will speak about his perspective from the air surrounding the horrific events of 9/11, and how that day shaped his military career and U.S. air power from that point forward,” the press release said. Admission to the talk costs $10 per person.

Teen talk

The Upper Room, a family resource center at 36 Tsienneto Road in Derry, has classes for teens and parents of teens on its fall schedule. The center will offer a six-week program called Mindful Teens for teens that “focuses on relationships, consent, decisions making” and more, according to a press release, with facilitator Val Mazzola starting Monday, Sept. 8, from 3 to 4 p.m. The program will run through Oct. 27 on Mondays and is offered at no cost. On Thursday, Sept. 18, the Upper Room will host an internet safety class with Derry Police detectives 6:30 to 8 p.m. where parents can “learn a little more about what access your children have, and the potential safety concerns it poses for them, including possible legal implications,” the release said. Register for either program by calling 437-8477, ext. 110.

Scouting history

Amherst Girl Scouts Troop 60162 of girls in grades 4 and 5 has earned a Girl Scout Bronze Award for a project that involved finding the graves of 48 Revolutionary War soldiers in Amherst and creating a booklet and website with each grave’s location, according to a Girl Scout press release. The website also features audio recordings of short biographies of each soldier, the release said. See their work at girlscouts60162.wixsite.com/patriotsamherstnh.“The troop worked with the Daughters of the American Revolution to get the monuments and headstones cleaned, which took place recently. The public can now enjoy a walk through the newly freshened cemeteries,” the release said.

See girlscoutsgwm.org for more about Girl Scouts.

Head to Kimball Jenkins Mansion, 266 N. Main St. in Concord, through Sept. 27 to check out “Old Friends, New Works,” an exhibit of paintings by local artists Tricia Gibbs, Betsy Holmes, TylerAnn Mack and Christine Ryan, according to a press release. The gallery is open for viewing Tuesdays through Sept. 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Wednesdays through Sept. 24 (except for Sept. 17) 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursdays through Sept. 25 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 5, for an artist reception from 6 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m .to 4 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Joppa Hill Educational Farm in Bedford will hold a “Living Land: Field and Farm Walks and Talks” event on Thursday, Aug 28, from 5 to 7 p.m. focused on “Growing Grass for Healthy Herds” with UNH Extension’s Carl Majweski, according to jhef.org/events-at-the-farm. The program is free and starts at the farm stand. Upcoming talks include “From Feed to Field: Behind the scenes look at livestock care” on Thursday, Sept. 18.

The Nashua Garden Club will hold a free fall program, “Native Plants for New England Gardens,” with speaker Jane Raymond, a Master Gardener and Goffstown Conservation Commission member, on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 121 Manchester St. in Nashua, according to a club email. See nashuanhgardenclub.org.

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