seacoast

The endless summer is coming to an end, but there is still time to dial into the surf scene on the New Hampshire Seacoast.  If you are a gremmie or a grommet (inexperienced surf enthusiast), and want to avoid looking like a tourist or an inland squid, here is a paddle out primer.

Authorities have identified a 45-foot dead whale that washed onto rocks near Rye State Park as an 18-year-old female named Snow Plow.

The Portsmouth Herald reports that fishermen had reported seeing the humpback whale's corpse floating 20 miles out to sea on Sunday. Officials believe it had been dead for several days before washing ashore.

Officials from New Hampshire Fish and Game, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and the New England Aquarium were called in to investigate the cause of death.

The Environmental Protection Agency has asked a federal judge to approve a deal reached with the city of Portsmouth about an $83.4 million plan to upgrade the existing Peirce Island wastewater treatment plant.

The Portsmouth Herald reports that the agreement, called the second consent decree, lays out the timetable for building the new plant. It has to be entered by the court before it can go into effect.

A collective of retired veterans and local residents known as the "Pease Greeters" have welcomed their 1,000th flight to the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease.

The Portsmouth Herald reports the greeters were formed to help active military members feel appreciated before they head overseas or prepare to return home from the New Hampshire airport.

The group traces its lineage to 2005, when a plane carrying about 135 service members landed at Pease to refuel. The greeters have evolved since a handful of people brought out coffee and doughnuts to that initial flight.

Portsmouth's parking and transportation engineer has recommended that the Parking and Traffic Safety Committee approve an ordinance forcing moped drivers to pay for parking on city sidewalks.

The Portsmouth Herald reports Eric Eby has proposed that drivers of mopeds and "similarly sized motorcycles" be required to display a sticker stating that they comply with the state's legal description of a moped.

Eby says the sticker would be purchased from the Parking Clerk's office for a nominal fee.

Six police departments in New Hampshire and Maine plan to open their police stations to drug addicts seeking treatment.

Under the Community Access to Recovery program, those suffering from drug addiction may come to the police departments and be referred to treatment.

Police departments in Portsmouth, Dover and Newmarket, New Hampshire, and Eliot, York and Kittery, Maine, are participating.

They plan to announce the program on Wednesday.

A malfunction during a lift opening on the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge in Portsmouth was to blame for a 2-hour closure of the bridge that passes over the Piscataqua River into Maine.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Boynton tells The Portsmouth Herald that a span lock on the bridge malfunctioned Wednesday during a 5 p.m. lift opening. Travelers along the U.S. Route 1 Bypass encountered bridge gates that remained closed and a traffic light that refused to turn green.

North Hampton officials say the southeast New Hampshire town is interested in discussing the possible regionalizing of fire services with Rye and Portsmouth.

The North Hampton Select Board plans to send a letter to Rye requesting that the two select boards hold a joint meeting to gauge interest in regionalizing.

Residents aware of Rye's regionalization talks with Portsmouth led them to write to North Hampton selectmen asking for the town to join. Rye Selectman Craig Musselman says the Rye board would welcome North Hampton to the conversation.

Developers have applied for variances to construct a 38-unit "age-targeted" residential complex for seniors along the U.S. Route 1 Bypass in Portsmouth.

The Portsmouth Herald reports Stonegate NH Construction LLC has asked the city's Board of Adjustment for permission to build the senior housing on the site of a former medical office building on Route 1 Bypass North.

A new study from the UNH Carsey School of Public Policy says towns in the Great Bay watershed stand to save a lot of money if they can coordinate their efforts at reducing the amount of nitrogen entering the bay.

Communities in the Great Bay watershed have been tasked with lowering the amount of nitrogen entering the bay by federal and state regulators for years now.

New Hampshire's senators are supporting fishermen in their fight against federal regulations that shift at-sea monitoring costs to them.

Fishermen of New England species such as cod and haddock must pay the cost of fishing monitors under rules that took effect Tuesday. The monitors collect data to help determine future fishing quotas and can cost several hundred dollars per day. Many fishermen say they can't afford the new cost and some say they will likely go out of business.

Senator Kelly Ayotte agrees the costs have to be covered now or people will be out of business.

A former manager of a scrap metal business in New Hampshire who admitted to dumping contaminated water into the Piscataqua River will be on federal probation for a year.

The Portsmouth Herald reports Christopher Garrity, of Leeds, Maine, was also ordered last month to pay a $5,000 fine. He pleaded guilty last year to a felony charge of discharging a pollutant into water in the U.S. without a permit.

A state health official says the state is monitoring after a study found a cluster of cases of a rare form of a pediatric cancer in southeastern New Hampshire.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan says they didn't find any behavioral or environmental risk factors deemed a contributor to the "small excess number of cases."

The report published last month was launched after a child in Rye was diagnosed in early 2014. The study found less than five cases in the area over a decade. That's still higher than average. The study didn't indicate a link.

A committee formed by the mayor of Portsmouth gathered for its first meeting to discuss creating a master plan for a 10-acre park located along the city's waterfront.

The Portsmouth Herald reports that Mayor Jack Blalock's Blue Ribbon Committee on Prescott Park met yesterday to discuss what Blalock called "a very active park with no real coordination."

Blalock says multiple "cooperative interests" make use of the city-owned park, and he believes it's up to Portsmouth to coordinate activities there.

A fire sparked at a historic Portsmouth building built in 1880 required upward of 75 firefighters to battle the flames that began in a first-floor restaurant and burned its way through the roof.

The Portsmouth Herald reports the initial damage assessment for the Portsmouth Gas Light Co. building is $2.1 million.

Fire Chief Steven Achilles says no one was injured in the blaze. It was first reported just after 10 a.m. Wednesday by firefighters training on the city's fire boat in the Piscataqua River.

A Portsmouth Auxiliary Police officer submitted his resignation letter Wednesday to get out from under a gag order imposed by the city’s police department.

The gag order was part of a case involving a now-fired police officer accepting an inheritance from a neighbor.  The department placed Officer Connors under the gag order more than a year ago after he spoke with a local newspaper about the now-fired Portsmouth police Sargeant Aaron Goodwin.

A New Hampshire city is urging the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to restore the Cocheco River's historic spelling.

The river's name used to end in e-c-h-o instead of e-c-o, but officials say the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office removed the "h'' by mistake in 1828.

Foster's Daily Democrat reports Dover city councilors unanimously approved a recommendation Wednesday to go back to the original spelling.

Portsmouth City Council isn't allowing the Prescott Park Arts Festival to have concerts on school nights next year.

The Portsmouth Herald reports the council voted unanimously Tuesday to pass a motion prohibiting the festival from holding concerts on school nights.

Mayor Robert Lister proposed the measure after councilors received complaints from residents when the arts festival held a concert at the city-owned park on a school night last week.