Author: NH Business Review Staff

Lawmaker, husband cleared in death

LACONIA (AP) - Jurors have cleared a state representative and her husband in a wrongful death case. Rep. Francine Wendelboe of New Hampton and her husband, Matthew, owned an apartment that caught fire in 2001. Patrick Price, its resident, died…

Principals’ contract back to aldermen

NASHUA - School principals in the city could earn a 12.2 percent pay increase over three years in a contract approved by the Board of Education. This is the second effort to approve a contract for the Nashua Association of…

India group hosts candidate forum

LONDONDERRY - The India Association of New Hampshire will sponsor a town-hall-style meeting Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Londonderry Lions Club. Representatives from the Democratic and Republican campaigns for president, Congress, governor and other state offices have been invited…

Main Street paving to impact parking

NASHUA - Street paving on Main Street is scheduled to be finished on Monday and Tuesday, weather permitting. City Engineer Steve Dookran said there would be parking restrictions from 10 p.m. until morning. On Monday, there will be no parking…

Board mulls traffic tie-ups

WILTON- To relieve parking and traffic problems at Florence Rideout Elementary School when students are being dropped off and picked up, should Prince Street be made one-way from Maple Street to Tremont Street? The School Board and a couple of…

NRA offering crime prevention seminar

LITCHFIELD- The National Rifle Association is holding a crime prevention seminar Saturday morning at the Talent Hall Recreation Center. The “Refuse to be a victim” seminar focuses on personal safety issues involving one’s home, automobile, phone and travel, as well…

African center seeks volunteers

MANCHESTER -The New Hampshire African Information Center, a nonprofit organization serving the immigrant and refugee populations of Greater Manchester, is seeking volunteer tutors for its English literacy program. Volunteers spend two hours per week helping immigrants and refugees from Sudan,…

Breast cancer program tonight

NASHUA -Southern New Hampshire Medical Center is offering a program tonight on “The Many Faces of Breast Cancer.” The informal evening will feature dinner and a look at the many treatment choices and options available to women with breast problems,…

Forum to address Mason students

MILFORD -The two big issues facing Milford schools this year - whether to let Mason students attend, and how best to handle a crowded middle school - will be the subject of a public forum Oct. 18. The forum will…

Islamic expert to speak tonight

MANCHESTER -The New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and the Center for the Study of Religion and Public Life will present a lecture by Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic studies and professor of international relations at American…

Food allergy group to meet tonight

NASHUA -The Food Allergy Group of Southern New Hampshire will meet tonight from 7-9 p.m. at St. Joseph Hospital. Jody Greene and Lisa Pleat, both parents of children with life-threatening food allergies, will discuss “Back to School with Food Allergies.”…

Chinese school holding open house

NASHUA -The New Hampshire Chinese School is hosting an open house Saturday in Memorial Hall at Rivier College. The event will be in Room 102 of the building on Clement Street, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The new school will begin…

Cub Scout packs recruiting interested boys

Cub Scout packs in Milford, Amherst and Wilton will hold registration nights this month for boys interested in joining. Cub Scouts is a neighborhood-centered program for boys in grades 1-5, which focuses on combining fun with educational activities while aiming…

Man indicted in girlfriend’s death

LACONIA - A grand jury has issued an indictment for second-degree murder against a local man accused of beating his girlfriend to death. Robert Blair, 47, is accused of killing Donna Bucker, 53, in May. Police say the pair were…

Two young escapees caught

MANCHESTER - Police caught two youths who tried to escape from the Youth Development Center by swimming across the Merrimack River on Friday. The two boys escaped as they were led from a vocational classroom to the main education center…

Bridge between schools may be solution

People have many ideas on how to improve the busing situation between the city’s two high schools, but there may be few immediate solutions besides tweaking the existing system. The one option that most people mention is the one that’s…

Benson’s Committee having 2nd cleanup

HUDSON - Clearing walking paths and trails at Benson’s will move forward this weekend in what’s fast becoming a biannual event. The Benson’s Committee today is holding its second cleanup day this year. So far, members have cleared out overgrowth…

Hudson firefighters are back in the pack

HUDSON - After a seven-year hiatus, the men and women in the Hudson Fire Departments have new cards. The department’s trading cards are complete and available. The cards feature pictures and small biographies of all the department’s members, including administrators…

Rock-Off 2004 launches Teen Council

MILFORD - Dozens of teenagers from throughout the region hanging around the center of Milford: It must be the Oval and it must be trouble, right? Nope. It’s the PAC at the BGCSV, and it’s actually a blast. “Yeah, I’m…

Wheelchair ride provider agrees to fines

NASHUA - The owners of Care Ride Wheelchair Transportation have agreed to pay more than $40,000 in fines to the state for overcharging the Medicaid program for driving people to and from Medicaid-covered services, the attorney general’s office announced Friday.…

Asbestos removal work wrapped up

LYNDEBOROUGH - The Central School is now free of asbestos. All of the old tiles and mastic were removed during the summer, along with the carpeting that has covered them for many years. The removal work was done by Air…

Benson reveals new way to compare drug costs

CONCORD - Gov. Craig Benson announced a first-in-the-nation effort Thursday that allows consumers to compare the price of prescription drugs at New Hampshire pharmacies and state-endorsed locations in Canada. The new prescription drug price device on the state’s Web site…

2-family homes to see jump in taxes

NASHUA - City administrators are predicting that the owners of two family units in the city will see the biggest increase in taxes as a result of the first update of assessments in four years. Some 84 percent of those…

Riverstone admits revenue inflation in SEC filings

Riverstone Networks, one of the troubled spin-offs of the former Cabletron Systems, admitted in recent filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that former officials were engaging in revenue-inflating practices similar to those that have led to criminal indictments…

Conference to offer insights, advice on business growth

New Hampshire Business Review and CEI Community Ventures Inc. are joining together to present “The Agenda for Growth,” a first-of-its-kind collaborative conference on planning, growing and financing your New Hampshire business. To be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.…

New logo, new focus for annual Seacoast Business Expo

Seven chambers of commerce in southern Maine and New Hampshire have been hosting an annual business-to-business expo for 16 years. This year, chamber organizers agreed that it was time for a new look and a new focus for the event.…

Low-key Seabrook machine company is a ‘monster garage’

For nearly 30 years, Rowe Machine Company in Seabrook has turned out parts for aircraft, race cars and motorcycles. Now owners Marc and Nancy Rowe have turned their small fabrication business into a “monster garage.” Rowe Machine Company was chosen…

A family farm’s egg-ceptional business

Eggs, once shunned by the health-conscious public, are making a comeback. High in protein and vitamins, low in saturated fat and only 70 calories apiece, their benefits outweigh most cholesterol concerns. But Jesse Laflamme, his father Gerry and cousin Pete…

GUEST OPINION: Manufacturing partnership deserves our support

New Hampshire’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership has demonstrated value in job creation and profitability for manufacturers, yet remains in danger of failing because of insufficient funding. The program is part of the national MEP network, which operates in all of the…

The primary trouble with primary elections

Another September primary election has faded into history, accompanied by another thoroughly predictable prediction by Secretary of State Bill Gardner of a low voter turnout. Mr. Gardner is a thoughtful, articulate man, but we think legendary Hollywood film producer Sam…

GUEST OPINION: Why would they want to stifle competition?

There is a movement mostly among Democrats to continue to stifle competition in the health insurance market. This started here in the state about 10 years ago when then-Senator Shaheen pushed through a bill which effectively (and predictably) drove all…

Look out below: Nashua OKs indoor skydiving business

Ever want to try skydiving without going outdoors or jumping from a plane? It’s likely you’ll have your chance fairly soon after a vote by the Nashua Zoning Board of Adjustment, which has unanimously approved three variances that will allow…

Making history

The Inn at Spruce Wood, a senior living community offering in Durham, is planning to bring Seacoast history to life with a series of presentations by noted authors. The series, “Seacoast History Comes Alive,” is designed to give audiences a…

A year to remember

The 2005 edition of the Living Legacy calendar will be a celebration of New Hampshire’s diverse and historically significant cultural and performing arts centers. The calendar, published by Citizens Bank New Hampshire and the state Department of Cultural Resources, will…

Making a red hot Red Hot

Fenway Franks. Chicago-style. Schultz Hot Dogs. Now you can add Shields Provisions Natural Casing Frankfurters to that pantheon of hot dogdom. Seacoast locals loved the Schultz hot dog until a fire in 1990 destroyed the factory. The line was sold…

What they’re drinking at the state’s top bars

Early autumn is a time of transition. A jacket to the office, shorts on the tee in the afternoon. But what’s in your glass at the 19th hole? Dropping the “summer brews” for amber ale? Switching from a light Pinot…

They said it…

“It does show that people take elections seriously, and they want to win. In a warped way, that’s a positive thing, I suppose.” - University of New Hampshire pollster Andy Smith finds the glass half full when it comes to…

Life of the parties

Perhaps it was inevitable that Manchester Mayor Bob “Breakaway” Baines would fly the Queen City coop in the last week of July to attend the Democratic convention in Boston. After all, Baines is both an elected official and a Democrat,…

Radio round-up: Manchester stations in wave of changes

Change is in the air and on the airwaves at Clear Channel radio station WGIR in Manchester and its affiliate stations in New Hampshire. The local news/talk network recently dropped morning drive-time host Mike Ball and replaced him with former…

Sacre bleu!

We mean no offense to France, Canada or to Americans of French descent, but an anonymous “White House official” used the term as an epithet about John Kerry when the Massachusetts senator appeared irresolute about invading Iraq. So we are…

A shmear of tofu

Forget about Governor Benson’s by now notorious decision to leave the Republican convention in New York City a day before President Bush’s acceptance speech - he was reported as being “bored,” at least when it came to some of the…

Time is on our side

Remember when President Bush wanted to keep America out of the business of nation building? Apparently his wife has forgotten, or at least wants to. In New Hampshire earlier this month to stump for her husband, First Lady Laura Bush…

Taking a stand

Sure, Craig Benson announced his neutrality in the GOP N.H. Senate primaries, but that didn’t mean the guv’s aide-de-camp Keith Herman had to abide by his pronouncement. Herman was busy spreading the word shortly before the District 11 primary -…

It's been making the rounds

The Concord Monitor sure talks tough on its editorial pages - taking strong pro-income tax and anti-war stances. But apparently the paper gets cold feet when it comes to endorsing candidates, opting for Jeanne Shaheen over Mark Fernald in the…

Who, what, when, where, why

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Paul McEachern was standing outside the Chateau restaurant in Manchester, greeting arrivals to the AFL-CIO Labor Day breakfast, when he offered the following observation about the state of the press in New Hampshire: “We really don’t have…