Author: NH Business Review Staff

Personal expression or pushing the envelope?

Guitars and guns have high school administrators across Southern New Hampshire scratching their heads over what is appropriate for display in high school senior portraits. Ongoing questions about two area seniors posing with props in yearbook portraits have a few…

Oil prices fueling concern

Hudson resident Janice Pack sat at her home computer Tuesday bundled up in a sweatshirt, long-sleeve top, pants and slippers. With her thermostat set at 60 degrees, her house was chilly. “I need to make this tank of oil last…

Across region, people pitch in to help others

Dozens of people across Greater Nashua got into the giving groove Saturday for USA Weekend magazine’s 14th annual Make A Difference Day - an event known as the largest single-day national effort to help others. From basements to garages and…

City eyes vacant school space

That vacant parochial St. Patrick school on Spring Street can look pretty good from the crowded office that is the city’s Community Development Division. A recently released space study by the Administrative Services Division suggested the old school as an…

Parents scramble to find child care

NASHUA - Phone lines were busy at day-care centers across the city last week. Suddenly, it seemed as if the whole city was looking for child care. Since Tuesday, when the Greater Nashua Child Care Center announced its Friday closing…

Bridge work scheduled on I-93

MANCHESTER - The state Department of Transportation has scheduled bridge repair work on the northbound Interstate 93 bridge over Route 101 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday. Two lanes of traffic will remain open during the work. In the event of…

Red Sox owner stumps for Kerry

John Kerry’s campaign hopes some of the Boston Red Sox come-from-behind magic will rub off on their candidate. Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner will be outside Holman Stadium at noon today to thank southern New Hampshire Red Sox fans for…

Batting cage donation raises board question

MERRIMACK - When it comes to sports innovations, girls here seem to be a couple of steps ahead of guys. The Board of Selectmen on Thursday approved a donation of batting cages to Bise Field in Reeds Ferry for use…

New-look high school gets public showing

NASHUA - Now that Nashua High School South seniors have returned to their newly renovated building, they’re eager to show it off. After three years of construction that sent South’s seniors to the north high school last year, the $70…

We deserve to win Series, maybe even 3 or 4 of them

Red Sox fans have more Gordon Gekko in them than George Bailey. It’s probably hard to be that honest, but mark these words. Surely the movie “Wall Street” and Michael Douglas’ character hit home in an ugly-but-true way because it’s…

Equipment starts fire at Batesville

NASHUA - Fire officials say sparks from grinding equipment were the cause of a small fire at the Batesville Casket Co. Thursday afternoon. Employees evacuated the building at 57 Palm St. and called 911 at about 2:05 p.m., after noticing…

Three people hurt in Merrimack car crash

MERRIMACK - Three people were injured Friday night in a two-car collision on the F.E. Everett Turnpike. The crash happened about 10:15 p.m., just past the Exit 10 off-ramp on the northbound side of the highway. State police responded to…

Family homeless after oven fire

NASHUA-A family is homeless after an oven fire activated a sprinkler system in their apartment Thursday night. Firefighters responded to the six-unit apartment building at 67 Palm St. at about 5:08 p.m. after a teen that was baby-sitting a sibling…

DAVID WHEELER

AGE: 45. ADDRESS: Milford. PARTY AFFILIATION: Republican. OCCUPATION: Maranatha Carpets, owner; Christmas tree farm, honey and egg sales. EDUCATION: Milford High School, 1977. POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: Executive Council, District 5, 2001-present; District 11 state senator, 1993-98; House of Representatives, 1989-92. DEBORA…

Selectmen battle over hiring hand-picked employee

MERRIMACK - John Donne never met David McCray. “No man is an island,” wrote Donne, a 17th-century English poet. Increasingly, McCray has become an island unto himself on the Board of Selectmen, voting in opposition to his colleagues on a…

Sox fans don’t leave anything to chance

We believe in the Sox - at least we do now. But what did fans put stock in as the local nine climbed out of a hole larger than the Bronx? Apparently some depended upon an otherworldly device that, despite…

NAACP to help voters register

NASHUA - The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua will host a community coffee Saturday from 9 a.m.-noon to inform voters how and where to register for the upcoming election. The nonpartisan event is sponsored by the Greater Nashua…

Idea of large outdoor recreation area surfaces again

LYNDEBOROUGH - More than three years after it first came up amid fierce resistance, helping launch a statewide debate about control of off-road vehicles, the idea of a huge outdoor recreational facility has returned - but this time, without the…

Merrimack principal asked often "Who's your daddy?"

MERRIMACK - Ken Johnson stood Thursday morning in what used to be his office at Merrimack High School. His college photos had been surreptitiously removed sometime earlier that morning, replaced by signs mocking the high school principal and avowed Yankees…

Fire department opens house

HOLLIS - The Hollis Fire Department invites the community to its open house at 10 Glenice Drive tonight between 6-8 p.m. All are welcome. Bring the kids, review your home escape plan and tour the Fire Safety House. There will…

Time to register is running out for would-be voters

Polls show the race between President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry is neck and neck, and New Hampshire is a battleground state that may be key to deciding the election. And people all over Greater Nashua are beating a…

Fever pitch energizing sleepy fans

Patti Killwey starts her workday at BAE Systems’ Nashua plant at 8 a.m. On Tuesday, punching the clock on time wasn’t an easy feat, considering the six hours she had spent late Monday at Fenway Park, watching the longest postseason…

Nashua High South, 2 area groups receive health grants

Nashua High School South and two Nashua area social service organizations are among 55 organizations and educational institutions statewide that will share $2.9 million in grants from the Endowment for Health. The endowment, a Concord-based health foundation charged with improving…

State board approves area schools’ appeal

The state Board of Education approved appeals from five local schools, removing them from a statewide list of schools labeled as “in need of improvement.” The board agreed Wednesday to eliminate the designation for Elm Street, Fairgrounds and Pennichuck middle…

Fever pitch energizing sleepy fans

Patti Killwey starts her workday at BAE Systems’ Nashua plant at 8 a.m. On Tuesday, punching the clock on time wasn’t an easy feat, considering the six hours she had spent late Monday at Fenway Park, watching the longest postseason…

Senior photo with guitar rejected

HOLLIS - High school senior Jess d’Arbonne said it made sense for her to pose with her arms cradling her guitar for her final yearbook photo. D’Arbonne, who turns 18 on Saturday, is the lead singer of the Cindy Loo…

Task force takes aim at teen drug, alcohol abuse

NASHUA - Mario Pena first went to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua at age 13 to play sports with other kids. By the time he was 18, the center had turned his life around. Pena, the child…

Lions plan craft fair

HUDSON - The Lions Club is holding a craft fair at the Lions Hall on Saturday. The fair will be open from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and the concessions will run from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The fair will feature crafters from…

Lack of space to be discussed

LYNDEBOROUGH - The Central School Space Options Committee will hold a public forum on Friday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m., at the school. The committee will present several options for dealing with the lack of space at the Central School.…

Post-high school program offered

Nashua High School South is offering a workshop for seniors and parents titled “Life After High School,” today from 6:15-9 p.m. The program will start in the school’s auditorium with a brief overview of guidance services available to students. A…

Nashua day-care center closing

NASHUA - A week ago, Miguel Lopez found the perfect child-care facility for his stepgrandson, 2-year-old Jose Barrios Jr. The center charged only $20 a week and employed a teacher who could communicate with Jose in Spanish. Next week, he’s…

Reversalis sought in visa case

CONCORD - A Kenyan immigrant is asking a judge to reverse her conviction for visa fraud, saying federal prosecutors withheld key evidence and pressured witnesses to testify falsely. Wanjiku Thiongo already has served nearly two years of a 46-month federal…

New house of worship approved

MILFORD - Several years after planning began, the 150-year-old Milford United Methodist Church has received town permission to build a new church on North River Road, even as it talks with a buyer for its historic property just north of…

School OKs copying tape of scuffle

NASHUA - Milford school officials have agreed to make a copy of a videotape showing a scuffle between a student and an aide at the Sage School last summer, court records show. A student and his mother claim that the…

Rotary Club expands forum for District 12 hopefuls

NASHUA - The Rotary Club of Nashua West is expanding its speakers forum to give both candidates for the Senate District 12 seat the opportunity to meet with and field questions from club members. Democrat David Gottesman, a Nashua attorney,…

Crash victim devoted to God

MILFORD - Sheryl Ann Gardner was “totally in love with the Lord,” her daughter remembers. On Sunday afternoon Gardner, a mother of three, was killed in a car accident on Route 101 in Amherst. She was 47 years old. “She…

Local effort completes farmland preservation

WILTON - It took a long time and a lot of hard work on the part of a lot of people, but on Sunday, about three dozen friends of Four Corners Farm gathered by the new hay barn to celebrate…

Town tax rate set

Merrimack - The tax rate is just a bit lower than what the town had estimated. The state Department of Revenue Administration has set the town’s 2004 property tax rate at $22.36 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That’s an increase…

NAACP to help voters register

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua will host a community coffee Saturday from 9 a.m.-noon to inform voters how and where to register for the upcoming election. The nonpartisan event is sponsored by the Greater Nashua chapter of…

City apartments burn

NASHUA - Two roommates went their separate ways, and three other families went to local motels after a fire broke out in a downtown apartment building Sunday afternoon. No one was hurt in the fire at 9 Patten Court, and…

Vandalism forces skate park shutdown

HUDSON - In response to rampant littering and vandalism, the town has closed the skateboard park for the season several weeks early. Such vandalism is becoming more common in area skate parks, prompting communities to consider ways to stop it.…

Forward progress

NASHUA - When Lynn Laughton started walking to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer five years ago, she had no idea she would some day be walking as a breast cancer survivor herself. “(The walk) took on a…

Promoting positive growth in Wilton

WILTON - The office of the Main Street Association is in the Wilton Falls Building with a grand view of the Souhegan River. Elizabeth Arsenault considers that view one of the perks of her new job as Main Street Association…

Board looks to fill its vacant seat

MONT VERNON - For the second time this year, the Mont Vernon School Board is looking to replace a member leaving because of a spouse’s job - but this time, the replacement process should cause less debate. Susan Swartz resigned…

Gottesman gets floor at Rotary Club

One of the tenets of the Rotary movement is found in asking: “Is it fair to all concerned?” On Tuesday, Nashua Rotary West is scheduled to give Democratic candidate David Gottesman, a member of the civic group, the dais to…

Amherst marks 150th year of Brick School

AMHERST - Bob Heaton attended fifth through eighth grades at the Brick School from 1957 to 1961. There used to be a basketball court in front where there is now lawn, he said on Saturday at the 150th anniversary of…

Nashua area shows support for soldiers overseas

NASHUA - Leslie Baron has a 2-month-old daughter who doesn’t know her dad. She fears they might never know one another. “He may not be here for her first birthday,” she said. Baron’s husband is stationed in Iraq with the…

N.H. Guardsman killed in Iraq

LANDAFF - A New Hampshire National Guardsman died in Iraq after a car bomb went off near his patrol Friday, authorities said. Spc. Alan J. Burgess, 24, of Landaff, was on patrol as a vehicle gunner in the northern Iraqi…

Same-sex Greenville couple exchange wedding vows in Belgium

New Hampshire might frown on same-sex marriages, but that disapproval has been translated into overseas support for two former Greenville residents. On Oct. 9, Christopher Staker, 49, and Phillip Sorensen, 46, exchanged wedding vows in Enghien, Belgium, where they have…