Chris Jensen

Some Northern Pass opponents are hoping Governor Maggie Hassan will sign Senate Bill 99, which they think may complicate approval of the controversial hydro-electric project. The bill may reach Hassan's desk this week but she says she hasn’t decided what to do.

“I haven’t reviewed the bill yet in any kind of detail so I’ll do that and then make up my mind,” she told NHPR Saturday.

A new economic development effort got underway Saturday in the North Country.

It is called Ride the Wilds and it is a linking of ATV trails designed to attract ATV-riding tourists from the Northeast and Canada.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

For decades the North Country has had hundreds of miles of trails on which ATVs could rumble along.

Sound of ATVs…

But they were not linked. So, riders had to stop and put their ATVs on a trailer to get from place to place.

The motorcyclist killed Thursday morning in the Franconia Notch has been identified as Robin Staines, 47, of Pembroke, Massachusetts, according to state police.

Staines was traveling north on the two-lane section of I-93, failed to make the turn at the entrance of the former parking area for the Old Man of the Mountain.

He was thrown from his Harley-Davidson and was not wearing a helmet.

Passersby gave him CPR until an ambulance arrived but he died of his injuries at Littleton Regional Hospital.

The company in charge of building a huge biomass plant in Berlin is suing one of its contractors claiming fraud.

But a spokesman for the plant’s owner - Berlin Station - says it should still open late this year, right on schedule.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen has this report.

The suit was filed in federal district court in New York by Babcock & Wilcox Construction Company.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Michael Bartoszek and the Laidlaw Energy Group – the original developer of the new biomass plant in Berlin - with insider trading.

In a filing Wednesday the SEC said Bartoszek failed in his obligation to publicly disclose the shaky financial state of his New-York based company before he sold his own stock.

COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY TOVA COHEN OF FRANCONIA

The newsletter typically announces events in the next week. The calendar shows you events in the coming months.

OUTDOOR SUMMER CONCERTS

Whitefield Thursdays 6 PM through August 29

FARMERS MARKETS

Lancaster Saturdays 9 AM-noon through October 12

Bethlehem Saturdays 10 AM-2 PM through October 12

Littleton Sundays 10 AM-1 PM through October 13

Lots of people climb Mount Washington. But a North Country non-profit group is wants help to go beyond a normal ascent.

They need people for the Sunrise Ascent to help push and pull two children and three adults with disabilities to the top.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Sandy Olney is the head of Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country and she cherishes her volunteers but she calls them mules.

Compiled and written by Tova Cohen of Franconia

The newsletter typically announces events in the next week. The calendar shows you events in the coming months.

MARK SHELTON CONCERT TO BENEFIT MISS LITTLETON AREA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, LITTLETON

The man accused of murdering a stranger – a California woman - in Littleton in January thought she was the devil who previously used the form of his father, according to Littleton District Court records released Tuesday morning.

And, had Catherine Houghton, 70, not chosen to spend an extra night in Littleton she would have apparently missed her fatal encounter with Rodney Hill, the 37-year-old Vermont man accused of her murder.

Houghton was a trustee at The White Mountain School in Bethlehem and she came to the North Country for a trustees’ meeting.

Nobody expected it to be balmy this Memorial Day weekend but parts of the North Country - such as Bethlehem - had about four inches of snow by 8 a.m. Sunday and it was still snowing only to taper off and end by 10 a.m.

PSNH reported about 2,100 customers in communities clustered around Littleton losing power.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

People leaving the movie at the Colonial Theatre in Bethlehem Saturday night were stunned to see several inches of snow.

Compiled and written by Tova Cohen of Franconia.

The newsletter typically announces events in the next week. The calendar shows you events in the coming months.

AMERICAN VETERANS TRAVELING TRIBUTE AND MEMORIAL WALL, NORTH HAVERHILL

Working largely on what amounts to the honor system state officials say they have decided state air pollution standards were not violated in a fire last January when two buildings at the Balsams resort were burned down as part of a renovation.

In 2003 state and federal officials, a private land owner and conservation groups created a conservation easement to protect about 146,000 acres in northern Coos County from development.

It is called the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters and some opponents of Northern Pass fear the utility hopes to cross it to send hydro-electric power south from its partner – Hydro-Quebec.

But getting permission to do that would be a complicated procedure with so many hurdles it would be the longest of long shots, according to those familiar with such easements.

Compiled and written by Tova Cohen

The newsletter typically announces events in the next week. The calendar shows you events in the coming months.

ARTIST TALK OR STAND-UP ROUTINE - YOU DECIDE, BETHLEHEM

Thursday May 16 5-7 PM The Gallery at WREN, 2013 Main Street, Bethlehem. Larry Golden and Jason Tors will discuss their painting techniques and the ideas behind the artwork in PULP, which is on display at the gallery until June 4th.

MOVIE AT THE COLONIAL: RENOIR, BETHLEHEM

Compiled and written by Tova Cohen