New Hampshire

Bears In Seacoast Spark Anxiety, Questions

Ella Nilsen — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 20:58:00 +0000

Two separate black bear sightings in Portsmouth earlier this week startled residents and raised new questions about bears in urban areas.

Early this week, two Portsmouth residents reported black bear sightings to police. Officers responding to the calls said they believed the bears were cubs, but were unsure if a larger bear was with them. Bear sightings are rare instances in the Seacoast, but N.H. Fish and Game’s Wildlife Damage Specialist Rob Calvert says that this behavior isn’t entirely out of character.

Birdwatching In New Hampshire

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:14:02 +0000

Eric Masterson is a blogger and the author of Birdwatching in New Hampshire, and joins us for a hyper-local guide to spotting species around the state.

The Middle-School Dress-Code Blues

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:21:08 +0000

Junior high school can be an awkward, unsettling experience for anyone. Especially for teachers; imagine having survived it once, then witnesses cavorting teens finding their way over and over again. Jessica Lahey is an English, Latin, and Writing teacher at Crossroads Academy in Lyme, New Hampshire. She also writes about education and parenting for the New York Times and other publications, and on her blog, Coming of Age in the Middle. Her article, “A Dress-Code Enforcer’s Struggle for the Soul of the Middle-School Girl” was recently published in The Atlantic and she joins us to discuss the worry over dress codes and the chaotic middle years.

Beekeeping In New Hampshire

Ryan Lessard — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:59:50 +0000

Hundreds of first-time beekeepers across the state are anxiously awaiting their first shipment of honey bees this week. NHPR’s Ryan Lessard reports on the growing popularity of the hobby and what it could mean for the pollinating insects’ struggle for survival.

Nature Schools

Melanie Plenda — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:11:58 +0000

President Obama’s newly unveiled budget is making political waves…he’s pushing for publicly funded “preschool for all,” paid for with a new tax on cigarettes. Here in New Hampshire, there’s been a different kind of preschool push…toward teaching kids outside. So-called nature preschools and forest kindergartens may sound like more fun than foundational, but this approach to early learning is gaining popularity for teaching the basics, while getting kids away from screens into the wilderness.

Lake People

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:21:15 +0000

An unnamed lake in Kettleborough, New Hampshire has an almost mythological pull on the characters in a new novel by Abi Maxwell. Bodies disappear into the ice, the shamed and broken hearted sometimes float…sometimes are swallowed in its depths. A young woman named Alice, abandoned as an infant, is found floating in a tethered canoe. Its mysteries are deep and startling, the inventions of a first-time novelist who is also the assistant librarian at the Gilford public library. Abi will read from her new book, Lake People tomorrow night at Gibson’s Books in Concord.

Report Examines Rising Health Insurance Costs In N.H.

Alison Kuzmickas — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 21:18:31 +0000

A new report from the New Hampshire Insurance Department says that heath insurance rates are on the rise in the state. The “Medical Cost Drivers Report” finds that health insurance premiums jumped 3.8% in 2011.

The data also shows that insurance companies saw a near 3% increase in profits.

Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny says that rising co-pays and deductibles mean the insured are less able to rely on their health plans to cover medical bills.

There’s only so much cost sharing that someone can bear, and still call it insurance.

"Peyton Place" Sixty Years Later

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:53:56 +0000

Nearly sixty years after “Peyton Place” was published, tourists still stop in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, to ask locals about its author, Grace Metalious. The novel shocked America with tales of small town secrets, sex, and hypocrisy, and outraged the citizens of Gilmanton, where the unconventional Matalious lived with her family. It became one of the best-selling books ever, a hit movie, and TV's first prime-time soap. Writer George Kelly, came across some persistent Matalious myths while writing about the novel for New Hampshire Magazine. His article, “50 Shades of Grace: The Impact of ‘Peyton Place’ on New Hampshire Sixty Years Later”, can be found in the current issue of the magazine, as well as online.

Video Game Industry Could Keep N.H. Young and Tech-Savvy

Ryan Lessard — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:00:00 +0000

New Hampshire is producing young programmers and designers looking to start their own video game business. And the trick is getting them to stay in the state…

Ice Fishing Angles Toward Innovation

Sam Evans-Brown — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:11:45 +0000

NHPR’s Sam Evans-Brown found that the traditional ice-fishing bob-houses that pop up each winter may be on their way out. Earlier this month, Sam caught up with Dave Genz—the man credited as the “Godfather of modern ice fishing” and the only ice-angler to be named to America’s fresh water fishing hall of fame—as he fished and demonstrated and some of the newer innovations to the winter sport.

New Hampshire's Ice Climbers

Sam Evans-Brown — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 17:00:36 +0000

Conditions in New Hampshire’s White Mountains are notoriously for being more harsh than ranges of similar altitude. Those conditions make the Whites a perfect training ground for world class mountaineers. NHPR’s Sam Evans-Brown spent the day with Fred Wilkinson as he climbed Cathedral ledge.

The Case of the Missing Santa Claus

Zach Nugent — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:36:54 +0000

It’s a sad sign of holiday desperation that in many towns, burglaries and thefts spike around the holidays. Two years ago a landmark seasonal statue was stolen from a small New Hampshire town…now a gallery in Massachusetts is trying to find it through the power of art.

The 10 Best NH Employers

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:13:28 +0000

Some employers are willing to try anything to incentivize employees to work harder and increase productivity. But what exactly are employees looking for in a job these days, aside from the pay? Business NH Magazine's annual competition identifies the top ten best New Hampshire companies to work for and what makes them so great. Matthew Mowry is editor for Business NH Magazine and he joins us to talk about who came out on top.

The Art and Science of Chocolate

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:05:10 +0000

Richard Tango-Lowy is a physicist turned chocolatier who melds a zen-like appreciation for the process with exacting standards for experimentation. Virginia Prescott visited Dancing Lion Chocolate in Manchester, New Hampshire to learn the art of making (and tasting) chocolate.

Mourning a Loved One Via the Internet

Alison Kuzmickas — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:16:00 +0000

The funeral industry is embracing the digital age. Funeral homes are beefing up their websites and social media to include tributes and photographs of the departed.