Sheryl Rich-Kern

Online courses in higher education have been around for decades. Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester has been offering online courses since 1996.

Now the university is piloting a new online model — one that dispenses with courses, grades and credit hours. College for America is a low-cost, nontraditional approach that's getting a lot of attention. And it may be the first of its kind to get federal approval by the Department of Education.

An online petition asks the Nashua school district to establish anti-discrimination policies for transgender students.

For taxidermists like Rick Bewersdorf, business is booming.

"We're hoping for anywhere from 20 to 40 deer heads this year," said Bewersdorf, who has a workshop in a barn in Nashua. "We've already got seven full mount bear in with some rugs."

Rifle season for whitetail deer began only a couple of weeks ago. But already, wildlife officials say the state has topped its record for registered deer kills  compared to the previous nine years.

That's good news for taxidermists.

After the leftovers from a hefty Thanksgiving dinner are put away, it’s become a tradition for many consumers to head to the malls. But one shop-local initiative wants to lure customers away from the huge Black Friday sales — and stir up some excitement about downtown retail.

Nashua’s downtown retail district is located only a few miles away from mammoth chain stores to the south and the recently-opened outlet center to the north in Merrimack.  As the holiday shopping season kicks off this weekend, the mom-and-pop stores face stiff competition.

A firm that helps cities revise their image presented its findings on Nashua’s strengths and weaknesses at a public meeting Tuesday night.

Polling stations in Nashua opened at 6 AM this morning. And many stood patiently long before the sun appeared.

With temperatures hovering around 30 degrees, at least 150 voters wrapped around the Amherst Street School building before dawn.

Arthur Barrett is the town’s moderator.

He says by around 10 AM, almost 1500 had already cast their ballots.

He compares this turnout to that of 2008:

Record numbers of voters lined up this morning at the polls in Nashua.

Priscilla Betses of Nashua is in her late 70s and has been voting she was 18.

That’s a lot of election cycles. But she says this one stands out.

It’s too negative. They’re spending an awful lot of money of advertising. I’ll be happy when it’s over. Too many robo-calls and TV and the whole bit.

Octogenarian Liona Wilson has voted since before World War II and shares similar concerns:

Much of the election limelight has been on big races at the top of the ballot.  But here in New Hampshire, there are also hundreds of state senate and house races on the ballot – races that often go unnoticed, despite the fact that the winning candidates can have a game-changing sway over local politics.

Bette Lasky and Peggy Gilmour have a lot in common. Together, they host a weekly radio show on a local AM station. In 2010, they both lost their state senate races. Two years later, these two Democrats want their jobs back.

The election is less than a week away.  And some worry that the majority of eligible voters ages 18 to 29 aren’t bothering to register or vote.  In fact, over the last few decades, the enthusiasm among college voters seems to be slipping.

In New Hampshire, a statewide task force on effective teaching is publishing new guidelines to improve the quality of teaching.  One issue that’s getting a closer look is teacher mentoring programs.  In Nashua, one mentoring program works to groom better teachers and keep them in the classroom for years to come.

The Southern New Hampshire Jewish Men’s Club sponsored a political breakfast forum on Sunday morning that pitted gubernatorial candidate Maggie Hassan against her rival, Ovide Lamontagne.

Candidates for New Hampshire’s second congressional district answered questions from a small audience in a public forum the Southern New Hampshire Jewish Men’s Club sponsored on Sunday morning.

About 50 students and faculty members gathered at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm’s Wednesday night to watch the debate.

As school districts continue to face budget cuts, administrators look for creative ways to fill in the gaps.  And that means that some schools are warming up to a concept that public educators used to reject: advertising.

In Nashua, the district wants to place electronic billboards at its stadium.  While many welcome the funding, some say commercialism doesn’t belong at public schools.