A solar panel in the New Hampshire woods is old enough to run for president

By DAVID BROOKS

In 1979, or maybe it was 1978, Ralph Jimenez and Linda Graham got tired of lighting their off-the-grid home via candles, Coleman lanterns and kerosene lights, and they decided to take a high-tech plunge.Thirty-nine years later (or maybe 40, but...

In this store, Diane the near-50-year-old turtle helps you come out of your shell

By RAY DUCKLER

Diane greeted her guests with a pullup, peeking over the edge on top of her 60-gallon home, hoping Jim Tonner had brought her a snack.And he had. Tonner, who co-owns TwinDesigns Gift Shop with his twin brother, Brad Tonner, gave a strawberry to the...

Donald Hall, a giant of American poetry, dies at 89

By MIKE PRIDE

Donald Hall, one of the last major American poets of his generation, died Saturday night at Eagle Pond Farm in Wilmot, where he hayed with his grandfather during boyhood summers and later cultivated a writer’s life. Hall was 89 years old and had been...

N.H. Moose Plates are so popular they need another letter

The state’s Moose Plate program has proved so popular that it’s starting to take over the alphabet. When the first Conservation Number Plates were issued in December 2000, the letter “C” for “conservation” was part of each five-digit number...

Franklin VFW officers removed, post shut down after complaints about canteen

By LEAH WILLINGHAM

The Franklin VFW post was closed suddenly Monday and its leaders were asked to step down after members of the state organization raised concerns about the bar inside the veterans’ social organization.VFW State Judge Advocate Dana Hussey would not go...

As Motorcycle Week in Laconia gets older, so does its bikers

By JACOB DAWSON

It’s pretty obvious who is participating in Laconia Motorcycle Week. It’s no longer the rough-and-tumble riders of yesteryear.“We tend to get older people,” said Charlie St. Clair, executive director for the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association.Bike...

Dumping stereotypes: Hopkinton-Webster transfer station run by all-female staff

By OLIVIA BURDETTE

Kathy Alcott explained the tidiness of the Hopkinton-Webster transfer station when she spotted a piece of newspaper blowing away in the wind.“I think we’re probably a cleaner, neater transfer station than some others I’ve seen,” she said. “I think...

If your free-range chicken does its ranging in the wrong place, you might get fined

By David Brooks

Fans of free-range chicken farming take note: If your chicken freely ranges onto somebody else’s property, you could be in trouble.On Tuesday, Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law a bill that adds “domestic fowl” to a long-standing state law that makes...

Removal of bridge in White Mountains generates ethical debate

By DAVID BROOKS

The dilapidated Thoreau Falls Bridge which provides a rare river crossing in the Pemigewasset Wilderness will be removed but not replaced in order to maintain the wilderness experience, federal authorities have decided – a decision that will anger...

Former Sununu Youth Center counselor to register as sex offender for assault of detained teen

By ALYSSA DANDREA

Twenty-two charges were dismissed against a former Sununu Youth Services Center counselor who will avoid significant jail time for sexually assaulting a teenager sentenced to the juvenile detention facility.Kirstie Bean, 26, of Concord recently...

Community gardens offer room to grow in Concord, Boscawen

By ELIZABETH FRANTZ

On a recent Thursday morning, before the weather got too hot, Peter Ellermann was preparing a bed of soil to plant some green and yellow beans.Like all the gardeners at the Birch Street community garden, he has to haul in his own tools and water, but...

End of an era for Concord church, and perhaps start of a new neighborhood

By CAITLIN ANDREWS

In one week, the Concord Catholic community will witness the former St. Peter’s Church’s last rites.They’ll gather on May 27 for a final liturgy, their voices echoing among the church’s vaulted ceilings, where countless marriages, baptisms and...

White supremacist shot, killed in Claremont parking lot, N.H. AG says

By TIM CAMERATO

A former prison gang leader who was active in the white supremacist movement died shortly after midnight on Sunday in the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant after being shot multiple times, according to the New Hampshire attorney general’s...

Loon Mountain purchased by Michigan-based Boyne in six ski resort deal

Lincoln Loon purchased in 6 ski resort dealMichigan-based Boyne Resorts has completed its purchase of six ski resorts it was operating under long-term lease agreements, including Loon Mountain.CEO Stephen Kircher called the closing with Oz Real...

Poll: Should N.H. redesign the state flag?

New Hampshire’s flag – the round state seal featuring the U.S.S Raleigh floating on the ocean with the sun in the background – all set on a lovely shade of blue is certainly iconic in these parts.   In somewhat of a shock to longtime Granite Staters,...

Judge rules use of drug-sniffing dogs unconstitutional in checkpoint lawsuit

By CAITLIN ANDREWS

Police dogs used to sniff out drugs at a border patrol checkpoint on Interstate 93 last summer amounted to a violation of the state Constitution, a judge ruled, throwing out evidence against 18 defendants.The American Civil Liberties Union of New...

Rebuild the Old Man of the Mountain? Many say let him be

By RAY DUCKLER

Rest in pieces, Old Man.That’s what I was told Thursday, which marked the 15th anniversary of the day the Old Man of the Mountain crumbled during an early-morning fog.Not out of disrespect. Quite the contrary, this opinion grew out of love and respect...

Face of Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia Notch fell 15 years ago

After a stormy night in Franconia Notch 15 years ago, daybreak on May 3 – still rainy and dreary from the night before – revealed that New Hampshire’s iconic Old Man of the Mountain was gone.News of the rocky profile’s fall spread quickly, and people...

At least six trees in Concord are the biggest of their kind in the whole state

By DAVID BROOKSand JONATHAN VAN FLEET

It turns out Concord has something to brag about on Arbor Day when it comes to trees: Within the city limits, at least six trees qualify as the biggest of their species in all of New Hampshire. That includes the huge Norway maple next to the arch in...

Franklin man pleads guilty to shooting boyfriend in head, waiting for him to die in woods

By ALYSSA DANDREA

Fresh off Laconia’s annual Motorcycle Week, Richard Tripaldi II and James Brock returned to the remote campsite bordering the Great Gains Memorial Forest in Franklin.The two young men, in a fledgling relationship, had spent some nights there...