News

A new nationwide study released today/Tuesday ranks Coos County as the least healthy county in the state. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

A Massachusetts man fell into a deep crevasse in the Tuckerman Ravine Sunday afternoon and is thought to have died, according to a news release late Monday from the White Mountain National Forest.

The man was identified as Norman Priebatsch of Boston.  He was said to be in his late 60’s.

He was hiking with friends when he tripped and slid down a slope before falling into a crevasse between areas known as the Lunch Rocks and The Lip.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced cuts to the catch limits on Atlantic Cod for the 2012 fishing year. But New Hampshire fishermen got a reprieve, since the cuts could have been much worse.

As I write today's entry for "Here's What's Awesome," I'm listening to a tune by Richard and Linda Thompson called "Lonely Hearts." The chorus speaks of lonely hearts in "an ocean of loneliness" and "a shipwreck of pain." As if that wasn't sunny enough, along comes this cheerful verse:

No-one needs a friend, no-one cares no more
They'll look hard at you but they won't take the chain off the door
O they work and slave, keep their conscience clean
They come home at night and they talk to an empty screen

Successful brands can cost millions of dollars to create, protect, and control. Despite those mammoth efforts, name brands can take on a life of their own. Take Skittles, the brand of candy Trayvon Martin bought shortly before being shot by George Zimmerman. Now, the candy is being used at protests and getting big play in the media, translating to a brand boost of sorts.

A branch of the military is taking a new tack in intelligence gathering…video games. The US Navy has contracted a private firm to buy up used gaming consoles  - mostly in foreign markets  to extract sensitive data on gamers. Jacob Aron wrote about the new strategy for New Scientist.  

Fast Company’s annual list of the world’s 50 Most Innovative Companies included many of the usual suspects: Apple, Facebook and Google all made the list.

Holyoke, Massachusetts has a rate of childhood obesity much higher than the national average, especially within its considerable Puerto Rican community.

Karen Brown reports on how a community center is enacting change for this population in a three part series. In this story, a 9 year-old finds herself in a house now full of healthy food and surrounded by adults encouraging her to ride her bike instead of watching TV. But with a lack of sidewalks, a high rate of neighborhood crime, and the odds seemingly stacked against her, can the balance truly be shifted in her favor?

The Granite State recently joined the growing ranks of states that have adopted this approach to self defense, which allows the use of deadly force anywhere a person has a right to be. But it has come under national scrutiny following the shooting death of a Florida teenager. We’ll explore the issues surrounding this law with its supporters and critics.

Guests

The Upper Valley Business & Education Partnership makes connections between schools and their wider communities. Tyler Mansfield and Jim Madden met through the Partnership’s “Everybody Wins!” reading mentoring program.

JIM: I’ve always loved to read so it was really just sort of a natural fit to share my love of reading with the students. I guess we both discovered we kind of liked mysteries.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to join a federal lawsuit suing New Hampshire over its mental health system.

Government lawyers allege without adequate community-based services, the state is violating the American with Disabilities Act.

The federal government says people with mental illness in New Hampshire are too often forced into institutional settings due to a lack of resources.

New Hampshire’s mental health system isn’t the first state to catch the attention of the federal government.

There’s a big showdown going on this weekend in the world of flat track roller derby. A New Hampshire team known as the Skate Free or Die All Stars are heading to New York for a bout billed as the Suburban Brawl.

I cannot verify any of the circumstances here, but the video appears to be a dude who protests his arrest by singing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Spoiler alert: his plaintive, Freddie Mercury-ish cries of "Let me go" are, figuratively speaking, met with a message of "We will not let you go."