Author: NH Business Review Staff

About 2,497 people in New Hampshire woke up in prison this morning, and it’s safe to say most of them would rather be somewhere else instead. State officials would like to find alternatives, too, because it’s expensive to keep so…

CONCORD - State taxpayers paid $36,000 in September to obtain the 2003 sports utility vehicle that a state trooper uses to drive Gov. Craig Benson, according to documents released Friday in response to a Right-to-Know Law request filed by the…

LYNDEBOROUGH - Selectmen will host a community/employee Christmas party at Citizens’ Hall on Dec. 22. The event will be held upstairs and all are invited to attend and enjoy a casual, social time with neighbors and friends. Attendees are encouraged…

HUDSON - Selectmen deadlocked Tuesday night on whether to support a revised warrant article that would convert a part-time library position into a full-time one. Selectmen Ann Seabury and Shawn Jasper voted in favor of the proposal, while Ken Massey…

WILTON - An increase of about $400,000 in special education tuition costs is the main reason for an estimated 11.6 percent rise in the proposed 2004-05 budget for the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative Middle and High School. The regular operating budget proposal…

MERRIMACK - A sneezing fit is to blame for a Thursday afternoon car crash in which one woman was injured, police said. Mary Higginson, 55, of 18 Sandpiper Lane in Merrimack told police she was hit by a round of…

MERRIMACK - If you subscribe to Adelphia and your bill for basic cable service goes up on Jan. 1, pay it, selectmen advised Thursday night. But pay it knowing that town officials will work to get you a rebate for…

History-of-aviation fans who are missing out on the 100th anniversary celebration of the Wright Brothers flight in North Carolina have an extra opportunity, thanks to a Daniel Webster College donor. The college is auctioning a pair of five-day tickets to…

MILFORD - A broken water line that leaked roughly one million gallons shut Milford schools Friday out of concern that sprinkler systems wouldn't work, and town officials issued a recommendation that drinking water be boiled. "It (the boil notice) is…

MERRIMACK - The Mastricola Middle School parent-teacher group will begin a new holiday tradition, by presenting “Homes for the Holidays,” a tour of decorated homes in Merrimack on Sunday, Dec. 14, from noon to 4 p.m. Visitors can tour five…

“Last night’s debate did not change my view on whom I’m supporting. . . . I did find Howard Dean’s statement that the other candidates should not criticize Al Gore for the endorsement, and he’s willing to take the heat…

HOLLIS - While people are out tackling holiday wish lists for their loved ones, the Board of Selectmen is trying to trim back its wish list for next year’s budget. After a 2½-hour presentation to the Budget Committee Tuesday night,…

HUDSON - The former Nadeau Farm could become the site of single-family homes and housing for elderly. The Planning Board reviewed conceptual plans Wednesday for the former dairy farm, which was sold more than a year ago. The property was…

CONCORD - A Merrimack woman’s lawsuit against Walt Disney World should be tried in Florida, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled. Megan Slattery filed suit against the company this summer on behalf of her late husband, Sean Slattery, who…

MILFORD - If you like to jump your opponent and get kinged, or roll doubles to complete a backgammon, or think Miss Scarlet did it with the lead pipe in the conservatory, then Milford has something for you. It’s Family…

LYNDEBOROUGH - The Central School is out of space, essentially because the building doesn’t meet current state standards for classroom size - two of them date to 1949 - and services have expanded over the years. Those services include a…

NASHUA - Snow may have stopped bells from ringing last Saturday, but it hasn’t stopped some firefighters in their mission to raise money for local needy families. Nashua Fire Rescue personnel will be giving their all this weekend to get…

NASHUA - The different perspectives between the city’s overwhelming numbers of customers connected to the Pennichuck water system and the surrounding towns’ control of the water supply played out clearly Wednesday. City residents told the Regional Water District Charter Committee…

Homeless families should have more places to sleep soon, thanks to ongoing efforts of a local group that has been working several years on the issue. The Greater Nashua Interfaith Hospitality Network now has the minimum eight congregations it needs…

HOLLIS - The raw data from a survey to generate solutions to the Hollis/Brookline Middle School space crunch - commissioned with taxpayer money - won’t be available until after the final analysis is presented. With the exception of Betty Hall,…

AMHERST - The only thing missing from a public hearing on a proposed $1.4 million budget for fiscal 2005 for School Administrative Unit 39 was the public. A couple of residents were in the audience, but the multipurpose room at…

MERRIMACK - Thomas Monahan owns 170 acres near Exit 10 of the F.E. Everett Turnpike. The land is zoned for industrial use, but he wants to build a mall or some sort ofretail complex. Some residents of the nearby Spruce…

CONCORD - Gov. Craig Benson announced plans Tuesday for the state government to purchase cheaper-priced drugs from Canada and allow any adult to use a state Web site to buy their own prescriptions. “Pharmaceutical companies should charge one price for…

NASHUA - Nashua High School junior Dylan Luers wanted to know what Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich thinks of the American criminal justice system. Then he asked the four-term U.S. congressman about his daily diet. Kucinich gladly answered both questions,…

NASHUA - Educating students in Nashua during the next school year could cost taxpayers nearly $10 million or more than it did this year. Next year’s school budget will have to cover the opening of two high schools for the…

HUDSON - Acting Fire Chief Shawn Murray is now heading up the department permanently. Murray, who was assistant chief, was appointed by the Board of Selectmen in a nonpublic meeting last Wednesday. His appointment is now in effect, selectmen said…

NASHUA - A subcommittee of the school board made no decision regarding the high school boundaries in the Sunset Heights neighborhood on Tuesday night. The matter will be on the agenda of the next Board of Education meeting on Monday,…

Nashua ZBA unanimously rejects proposal for 14 Broad St., raises concerns about property’s use. NASHUA - Saying it would impair the integrity of the surrounding neighborhood, the Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 5-0 Tuesday night to deny a request for…

The residents of Hooker, Okla., have one message for all you wiseguys out there who would never be able to resist cracking a joke about their town’s bawdy name: Bring it on. Hooker is, after all, the town whose official…

HOLLIS - Approximately 360 veterans might get a bigger property tax break if voters approve an article at next year’s Town Meeting. After some debate, the Board of Selectmen voted Monday night to present voters with a warrant article that…

AMHERST - The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday to support a warrant article intended to simultaneously preserve open space in town while providing more land for active recreation. The article, drafted by the Amherst Conservation Commission, would ask voters…

CONCORD - A Manchester physician has agreed to pay $285,000 in civil damages and penalties to settle allegations that he violated federal laws and regulations by filing false claims to Medicare for patient services in the late 1990s while practicing…

MERRIMACK - Eight of 51 septic systems at the Camp Sargent Road Cooperative Park have failed in the last six months, creating a health and safety problem for the manufactured housing park deemed one of the few sites for affordable…

MILFORD - As expected, a planning committee has recommended that Milford tear down the Garden Street School and build a new police station there - and as expected, the main concerns appear to be the cost and the loss of…

AMHERST - The town’s Public Works director thinks he can fix the traffic problem near the high school for about $178,000 less than previously anticipated - a 42 percent discount. The proposed solution - widening a portion of Boston Post…

NASHUA - Keeping its eye on the public’s pristine sanctuary, a newly formed Land Conservation Committee is getting to work. The committee’s immediate task is developing a stewardship plan for the Northwest Conservation Land, the city’s only designated conservation land.…

BROOKLINE - The 20th annual Tree Lighting Ceremony scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today will be cancelled if more than a foot of snow has accumulated, organizer Michelle Hakala said. If the show, not the snow, goes on, the Church of…

WILTON - It could have been the stormy weather forecast for Saturday. It might have just been a good idea whose time had come. Whatever the reason on Friday evening, an offer from the Sacred Heart Church Fair Committee for…

MERRIMACK - For the second year, the Planning Board will hear a request for a zone change that would clear the way for “a regional mall” to be constructed off Exit 10 of the F.E. Everett Turnpike. Developer Thomas Monahan…

People can do a lot of things on the Internet these days, but not quite everything - which partly explains why libraries haven’t given up one of their cherished traditions, the used-book sale. “People like to come in and touch…

Strong winds canceled the fireworks that had been planned to kick off the Holiday Stroll, but a pyrotechnics show still will go on before year’s end. Weather permitting, of course. Discussions are under way to tie the show in with…

The Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony originally scheduled for 10 a.m. today has been canceled. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 483 decided, because of snow forecasts, to cancel the ceremony for the military personnel who died at Pearl Harbor on…