North Country

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.

One person was killed Wednesday afternoon in a crash in Milan, according to a news release from state police.

The accident occurred about 4:30 on Route 110 when a tractor-trailer carrying logs and a 1995 Dodge pickup collided head-on.

The pickup caught fire and was fully in flames when police arrived. When the Milan Fire Department put out the fire they found a body.

The identity of the victim was not released. The driver of the logging truck was not seriously injured. The cause of the accident is still under investigation by Troop F in Twin Mountain.

Compiled by Tova Cohen of Franconia

When the $30 million renovation of the Balsams Grand Resort is complete it will look a lot like the old grand hotel but will feature much-needed modern amenities making it far nicer for guests and a lot  cheaper to operate.

That’s how Dan Hebert, one of the two owners, described the renovation Tuesday night before the Coos County Planning Board.

Originally the complex had about 400,000 square feet.

Hebert said about 123,000 of that is being retained. About 80,000 square feet will be added.

If the Senate bill that proposes a single casino in the state becomes law it “would dedicate millions of dollars per year directly to North Country economic development,” Governor Maggie Hassan said during a speech Thursday night before the North Country Chamber of Commerce.

That would spur business and job growth “helping us attract new companies by marketing the North Country’s advantages to businesses in Canada and elsewhere,” she told about 125 people at the Log Haven Restaurant on lonely Route 26 in Millsfield, about 145 miles from Concord.

Some North Country landowners are surprised that Department of Energy contractors are gathering environmental information on the Northern Pass project even though the route isn’t complete.

But Patrick Parenteau, a lawyer professor and expert in environmental law at the Vermont Law School, is not surprised.

A New Boston man fell Saturday while ice climbing in the Crawford Notch, according to news release from New Hampshire Fish and Game.

Eric Scoville, 55, fell about 2:30 p.m. while climbing on the Frankenstein Cliffs when he fell about 70 feet. He was climbing alone without ropes, Fish and Game reported.

Nearby climbers reached him, arranged a litter and carried him to the Arethusa Falls parking area where he was met by an ambulance.

He was then flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock where yesterday he was listed in critical but stable condition.