Story Archives of 'Workplace'

The state firefighter’s union has filed a lawsuit against the Local Government Center.

LGC is an organization that provides a variety of services to cities and towns in the state.

The suit alleges the organization’s municipal health insurance risk pool HealthTrust is badly mismanaged.

So badly that the union charges LGC has broken the law.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports.

For the first time in decades more females than males have jobs. With many male-dominated professions like construction especially hard hit by the economic downturn, more women are becoming the sole breadwinners for their households. We’ll look at this new trend and its implications for our economy, for relationships, and for family life.

Guests

• Kristin Smith, family demographer for the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute and author of a study called "Wives as Breadwinners"
• Ross Gitell, economist and professor of management at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at UNH and forecast manager of the New England Economic Partnership
• Nikki Murphy, executive director of the New Hampshire Women's Lobby and Alliance

Officials at the University of Alabama in Huntsville were shocked when Biology Professor Amy Bishop opened fire at a faculty meeting last week, leaving three dead and three injured. Officials wondered why previous incidents of violence, including the shooting of her brother in 1986, were not taken for warning signs.

In another tragedy, British fashion designer Alexander McQueen overcame humble beginnings to land on top of his game, only to be found dead of an apparent suicide last week. Both were regarded as successful in their fields, yet both were haunted by internal struggles that eventually overtook them.

Countless similar examples offer insight into how psychological battles can destroy hard-won careers and lives. Chicago psychotherapist Jinnie English runs a counseling service for accomplished professionals who are looking to leave behind the baggage of their earlier lives. Her clients are often raised poor and from immigrant or minority communities.

The University of Chicago Magazine: Life After Poverty

Today's Chicago Woman: The Paradigm Shifter

(Photo by vironevaeh via Flickr/CreativeCommons)

In the days where all the world’s information laid within the covers of books, librarians were our guides to hidden treasures of knowledge. But the Internet has brought a glut of information to our fingertips. So who needs a librarian? All of us do, says longtime magazine writer and author Marilyn Johnson. She became interested in librarians while researching her book about obituary writers, The Dead Beat. She found that librarians lead fascinating lives, being at the cuttingedge of research and technology.

Marilyn spent nearly four years inside the often strange and compelling world of librarians, meeting as many pink-haired, tattooed librarians as the stern, finger-wagging variety. And she calls for a renewed appreciation for libraries in This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. She joined us from her home in Westchester, NY.

You can hear Marilyn Johnson read on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 5 pm at the University of New Hampshire's Memorial Union Building, and on Friday, Feb. 19, at 7 pm at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth.

Lea's Book Critiques: This Book Is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson

The Wall Street Journal: From Wisdom to Wi-Fi

A list of Marilyn Johnson's favorite librarian blogs

In this bad economy, construction workers have not had it easy when it comes to finding work.

Some wait months between jobs.

So, during this down time, a union representing electrical workers has focused on training its members for new green construction.

They’re betting the demand for greater efficiency and alternative energy will increase, once the market picks back up.

NHPR Correspondent Robin Respaut brings us this report.