Rick Ganley

When is a benefit concert more than just a concert? When it’s a show put on by Concord native and Grammy-winning Dan Zanes. We talked with Dan this past March when his old rock band the Del Fuegos reunited for a series of shows. His current band, Dan Zanes and Friends, tours the world playing what he calls “exuberant, handmade 21st century social music for enthusiastic crowds of kids and kid sympathizers”. This Saturday he’ll be back on stage in Concord along with several local musicians for a benefit for the Friendly Kitchen. The soup kitchen lost their building in a fire last spring, but continues to operate at Sacred Heart Parish in Concord.

New Hampshire Filmmaker Dan Habib followed student Kelsey Carrol in the new film Who Cares About Kelsey. His cameras focused on Kelsey both in and out of school to get a sense of the obstacles this troubled teen faced in completing her high school education- and finding hope for her own future. A decade ago Somersworth had one of the highest dropout rates in the state. The movie profiles a program that has changed that, and become a model around the nation.  

Dan Habib will be at Red River Theatres in Concord Sunday for a screening and to lead a discussion about the film. 

See the trailer for Who Cares About Kelsey here. 

New Hampshire foresters are closely watching the movements of an exotic beetle known as the Emerald Ash Borer.  Just last month the U-S Forest Service announced that for the first time, the beetle has been found east of the Hudson river.  That’s just ninety miles from the New Hampshire border.  The Emerald Ash Borer first appeared in North America ten years ago, and has killed millions of ash trees in several mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states, as well as Canada.  To find out whether or not the beetle poses a threat to the Granite State, we turn to Kyle Lombard.  He’s the Forest Health Program coordinator for the state.  He says any threat to the state’s ash trees is serious.

Since 1896, the Manchester Historic Association has been collecting and sharing documents, pictures and other items from the city’s past. The association also encourages preservation. On April 17th, it will present its 20thannual Preservation Awards, honoring those who have worked to restore historic buildings and traditions in Manchester. Aurore Eaton is the Executive Director. She tells  NHPR's Rick Ganley about the awards and the role of the Manchester Historic Association.

Baseball’s spring training is well under way in Florida and Arizona. While players work to make a spot for themselves and prepare for the start of the season, coaches, managers and scouts evaluate the talent they see on the fields; and they increasingly are using something called advanced defensive metrics.  John Dewan is the owner of Baseball Info Solutions, and one of the authors of The Fielding Bible- Volume 3.  The book is a compilation of defensive statistics. We reached him while he was in Arizona to ask him about defensive analysis in the game, and what exactly teams do with that information.

Over this past weekend, Nashua resident Randy Pierce became one of the few- and the only blind person on record- to hike all 48 of New Hampshire’s four-thousand foot mountain peaks in one winter. It’s a feat few dare take on, but Randy and his guide dog Quinn like a challenge. Randy has begun a non- profit called 2020 Vision Quest, seeking to inspire people to reach beyond adversity and achieve their goals. He says he wants to bring attention to those people and organizations that have helped him through his challenges, but the idea of doing it through climbing really didn’t occur until 2010.

Boston-based band the Del Fuegos put out three critically- acclaimed albums, and had hits with the tracks “Don’t Run Wild” and “I Still Want You” in the 1980s.  Declining commercial success and in-fighting caused the original line-up to implode by the end of the decade. Now, the four original members have reunited for a short stint of dates to rekindle the fire, despite very successful careers after their band’s heyday.  Singer and guitarist Dan Zanes is a Grammy-winning children’s music artist, his brother, guitarist Warren Zanes became a professor and executive director at the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, bassist Tom Lloyd became an investment analyst, and drummer Woody Glessman started a renowned addiction treatment program.

NHPR is a sponsor of the 59th annual New Hampshire State Spelling Bee, which will take place this Saturday at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord.   The best spellers from around the state will gather to compete and the top speller will go on to represent New Hampshire at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.   One of the contestants is 12 year old Jasmine Cuenca from Derry, a regional finalist last year.  I had a chance to talk to her and her mother Deborah about what it takes to prepare and compete in a spelling bee.  I started off by asking Jasmine how she felt when she won that regional competition.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, flu season is usually at its peak by February…but not this year.

Might it have something to do with all the warm weather?

State health officials say it’s not likely.

But Doctor Jodie Dion Odom, Deputy State Epidemiologist, says it is unusual that the influenza virus this year is as mild as the winter. 

Opposition to the Northern Pass Project has inspired lawn signs, bumper stickers and even legislation.   Avid hiker Larisa Dannis has taken her protest of the proposed 180 mile transmission line through New Hampshire’s North Country to the top. 

The 24 year old is hiking New Hampshire’s four thousand foot summits this winter- all 48 of them.  At the top of each mountain, she pauses to unfurl a bright orange banner expressing her opposition. She then has a companion snap a picture- sometimes with a fellow hiker she meets along the way. She’s been posting those pictures online, and says she is trying to tell fellow hikers about the Project and why she’s against it. 

It's not all about sports bars and Bowl parties; Hippo Editor Amy Diaz has a few suggestions for those who want a little art this weekend, including a new exhibit at The Currier, a trio of one act plays, and some opera. 

The USDA recently released a new growing zone map for the entire country. The Plant Hardiness Zone Map is the guide gardeners use to determine what plants and flowers will most likely thrive in their location. This is the first significant update in more than 20 years. The new online interactive map takes advantage of much more detailed data analysis, and it’s making news because it shows that warmer winters are sustaining plants that previously would have died off in colder climates.

Cathy Neal is a specialist in nursery and landscape horticulture with the UNH Cooperative Extension. She says the new map hasn’t changed all that much for New Hampshire- but it does offer a few surprises- and much more detail.

You can catch up on the Oscar-nominees this weekend, but there's also a chance to catch a rocumentary on Portsmouth's music scene in the 90's and ask the screenwriter of Ground Hog Day why he wanted Bill Murray to live forever.  Hippo Editor Amy Diaz has the popcorn.