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By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

A walk down Commercial Street in Boscawen foreshadows the town’s future – or at least that’s what Kellee Easler likes to think.It may not seem like much today. The street is the site of a former leather tannery that left behind such a mess the...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Ali Sekou knows that his two kids won’t remember the day their mom brought them to the polls to cast her first vote in an election in the United States. She bubbled in the spot next to her husband’s name on the ballot in Concord’s city election.His...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

From the parking lot of Betkash Shriners, where Ward 8 voters entered to cast their ballots in Tuesday’s election, green sheathing framed a building over the fence in the lot next door. It’s the first of three structures that will establish 123 new...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

To witness Democracy in action, Damian and Jennifer Kennedy brought their extended family visiting from Australia to the polls on Tuesday. For the Kennedys, who have lived in Concord for nine years, voting in local elections is tradition. Especially...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Concord voters will elect a new mayor on Tuesday and choose between candidates in contested races up and down the ballot. After 16 years at the helm of city government, Mayor Jim Bouley decided he would not seek another two-year term. Instead,...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Long after the school day ends, class is still in session on Thursday nights in Franklin Middle School as teachers trade their lesson plans for a seat in a graduate course led by Plymouth State University.Last spring, a pilot version of the...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Purple bags, leaf collection and traffic.When Concord residents talk to Zandra Rice Hawkins about the community’s needs, these three items come up time and time again.  These routine grievances can come with solutions, she said. Leaf collection was...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

When a group of neo-Nazis gathered outside Teatotaller cafe on Main Street this summer, Kris Schultz expected to hear an announcement from the Concord Police Department about what officers were doing to keep the city safe.But instead, she said the...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

When Ali Sekou was sworn in as a new United States citizen, the presiding judge reminded the crowd that being an American means having responsibilities. Sekou took that to heart and is now acting on that responsibility, he said, by running to...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Earlier this fall, residents wrote to City Councilor Keith Nyhan after a homeless encampment was established in the woods near Martin Field in the South End.Fearing for the safety of children in the neighborhood, they called on Nyhan, who represents...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Jacob Drouin, a former Franklin police officer and union president, is an aspiring school resource officer and father of two supporting his family, his lawyer Peter Perroni told the city’s personnel advisory board.He was fired from his job in...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

When Kate West’s landlord sold her apartment building, she and her child were forced to stay with friends until they found another place to rent.Byron Champlin has watched his 34-year-old daughter try to call Concord home again. She’s working two jobs...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Matt Walsh can draw a timeline of development in Concord of peaks and valleys. In 1986, residential development was at a high, with colored vinyl panels and geometric shapes putting a mark on new construction. The Great Recession of 2008 marked a low...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

The completion of the first phase of the Railyard apartment complex in Concord’s South End will mean that 10 people currently experiencing homelessness in the community will have an apartment.Dakota Partners, the developers of the nearly 100-unit...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Under Gabriel Reynolds’ bed in his dorm at New England College, three white signs with black Sharpie letters are tucked away.One reads, “to take away our 26th amendment, you’ll have to take away our 2nd.” Another says, “no forever war in Mexico.” And...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Barbed wire disguised in the dirt. Beer cans, wrappers and syringes litter the trail.This is what residents in the South End of Concord said they found at a homeless encampment in the woods next to Martin Park off Iron Works Road in early...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

The former director of Warner Connects, Lori Garrett, has been indicted for theft and fraudulent credit card charges from the local food pantry. Over the course of almost two years, Garrett is accused of using a Warner Connects credit card to charge...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Franklin voters elected a new mayor Tuesday, choosing Central Street Laundromat owner Desiree McLaughlin over incumbent Jo Brown by nearly a two-to-one margin.McLaughlin will serve at the helm of Franklin’s government for a two-year term. After...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

As he accepted his Emmy in New York City, Samuel Habib was thankful and proud, but just like his award-winning film, he had a message.“My goal for this film is that people won’t talk down to people with disabilities,” the 23-year-old Concord High...

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Four hours in four years.That’s the amount of time nursing students at the University of New Hampshire spend learning about care specific to the LGBTQ community. And that’s a statistic Michael Newell wanted to change.For his senior honors thesis at...