‘A very precious resource’: Penacook housing project denied zoning exception

By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN

The five members of the board were torn.

Andy Sanborn makes first court appearance in pandemic relief fraud case, GOP asks Supreme Court to allow Concord Casino sale

By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN

Normally absent from his legal proceedings, Andy Sanborn made his first appearance before a judge on Thursday since the controversy surrounding his Concord Casino began two years ago.

How do they know how cold it feels when it’s windy out?

By DAVID BROOKS

It’s cold outside and you’re trying to decide how much to bundle up. Should your decision be based on the air temperature, the wind chill or the “feels like” number?

Study: More than 9,000 have left NH labor market or cut back due to long COVID

By DAVID BROOKS

The lingering effects of COVID-19 have driven an estimated 4,000 people out of New Hampshire’s workforce and led around 5,300 more to reduce their hours, according to a new study from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.

‘I thought he was going to kill him’: Trial for Concord cop accused of assaulting homeless man in 2023 begins

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

A former employee of Sal’s Pizza said she thought an on-duty Concord police officer was going to kill a homeless man when she witnessed him push the man to the ground outside the Storrs Street restaurant in April 2023.

‘We deserve more’: City and fire officers union take steps towards contract agreement

By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN

After five months working without a contract, negotiations between the Concord Fire Officers Association and the city have made progress, according to union leadership. 

‘What happens if Joe Six Pack comes in’: With a spirited debate, Franklin City Council approves liquor license at recreation lodge

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Brad Gauthier paints a simple picture. After a day on his mountain bike at the Veterans Memorial Recreational Area, it’d be nice to drink a Kettle Head IPA beer in the lodge.

Survey: Nearly 50% of NH residents fear being priced out of their homes

By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN

A new survey reveals that nearly half of New Hampshire voters fear they could be priced out of their own communities if they had to move.

Thousands flee as wildfires burn out of control across LA area

By JAIMIE DING, CHRISTOPHER WEBER and JULIE WATSON

LOS ANGELES — Multiple massive wildfires tore across the Los Angeles area with devastating force Wednesday, destroying more than 1,000 structures and killing at least two people as desperate residents escaped through flames, ferocious winds and...

New pod design could be temporary shelter solution

By DANIEL SARCH

For the third year in a row, Kenzo Morris slept outside for three days in December to raise money for the soup kitchen where he volunteers. After suffering hypothermia during an early snow in December 2023, Morris created a new method of shelter this...

Whale watch, other Rye Harbor businesses remain in limbo

By TODD BOOKMAN

The fate of some harborside businesses in Rye — including a whale watch, lobster pound and charter fishing operators — remain in limbo months out from the summer season, as their annual leases with a state agency haven’t yet been renewed.It’s part of...

After another resignation, Boscawen without representation on Merrimack Valley School Board

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

The town of Boscawen is currently without representation on the Merrimack Valley School Board after both members from the town resigned in the last three months.Loren Martin stepped down on Sunday due to what board Chair Tracy Bricchi described as...

‘Let’s just get it over with and move on’: With incoming cost comparisons, school board leans toward Rundlett

By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN

Barb Higgins wants her fellow school board members to stop delaying the inevitable. The Concord Board of Education has been weighing the location of the new middle school should go to a public vote, either in the spring or the fall, or to simply work...

Merrimack Valley High trumpeter wins statewide music competition for second year in a row

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

Merrimack Valley High School senior Alison Lamontagne’s first foray into New Hampshire’s All-State Music Festival came not as a trumpeter, but rather as a vocalist.“When I was in eighth grade, I was approached by my band director and he heard me sing...

‘The public interest’: City and developer at odds over industrial versus residential use of Penacook land

By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN

A proposal to build nearly 200 housing units along the Merrimack River near the Wheelabrator power plant in Penacook is not in the “public interest” for multiple reasons, according to Concord’s city planner.The city has ample housing in the works, and...

Jan. 6 celebrants, hoping for pardons, gather in NH to rewrite narrative

By TODD BOOKMAN

Four years ago, Cindy Young and Kirstyn Niemela entered the U.S. Capitol building, part of a larger wave of disorder seeking to disrupt the peaceful transfer of presidential power.On Monday — the fourth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack — they took to...

Little Free Libraries in Peterborough provide books to young readers

By DAVID ALLEN

In recent years, many public libraries have dispensed with fines for overdue books, but they would still like them back. However, some much smaller local libraries geared toward young people actually don’t expect books to be returned at all. “There’s...

UNH police chief criticized for protest response to take job in Ayotte administration

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

Longtime University of New Hampshire Police Chief Paul Dean, under scrutiny for his role in the response to a pro-Palestine protest last May, will leave the university to become incoming Governor Kelly Ayotte’s director of citizen services.The...

City removes day from diversity and inclusion calendar following concern from Jewish organization

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comments from Concord Mayor Byron Champlin.Late last month, a leader in New Hampshire’s Jewish community reached out to Concord staff to express concern about a description on a little-known...

Granite Geek: What’s the dollar value of a forest that you can’t cut down?

What is a living forest worth in money? That’s a simple-sounding question which has flummoxed New Hampshire for a long time.We know what forests are worth when they are no longer alive, after they’re cut down and sold, but putting a dollar figure on...