Features
Over Easy: Outlook uncertain for love outbreak
By DAN MACKIE
We recently voted in the New Hampshire presidential primary — you may have heard of it. I went to the polls in low spirits, but I am always cheered by the friendly poll workers in West Lebanon who have to make sure I’m not trying to steal an...
Art Notes: Lebanon Opera House, Chandler Music Hall reopen following renovations
By ALEX HANSON
A pair of the most venerable and active Upper Valley performance venues, Lebanon Opera House and Randolph’s Chandler Music Hall, are reopening in the next week after renovations.The opera house, which will reopen with a refreshed lobby and new seats...
Theater Review: Shaker Bridge’s ‘The Cake’ juggles humor and pain
By CAOIMHE MARKEY
Oscar Wilde wrote in his play “A Woman of No Importance” that “after a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” Replace “dinner” with “dessert,” and you’ve nailed down the sentiment of Shaker Bridge Theatre’s newest showpiece,...
Hanover High drama club to stage play about Ukrainian teens during invasion
By ALEX HANSON
HANOVER — During a rehearsal at Hanover High School a couple of weeks ago, a handful of young actors recited lines an Upper Valley audience wouldn’t expect to hear spoken on a high school stage.“That’s when I had my first panic attack.” “The scariest...
A Life: Royal Houghton ‘was never one who did things half way’
By PATRICK O'GRADY
ASCUTNEY — Royal Houghton struggled in elementary school, left high school after his junior year to join the Navy as World War II was winding down and he never earned a degree.Still his artistic talents, engineering aptitude, volunteer work...
Out & About: Creativity and humor key to senior center’s ‘bad art’ fundraiser
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — On the wall of Gaal Crowl’s White River Junction art studio is a painting of Bugbee Senior Center director Mark Bradley.“It makes me smile every time I see it,” Crowl said in a phone interview. While the portrait has Bradley’s...
Noticing less snow in New England? Researchers are too.
By MARA HOPLAMAZIAN
With much of New Hampshire covered in a white blanket, this moment in January feels like winter to many.The rainstorms, flooding, 50-degree temperatures and bare ground earlier in the season? Not so much.But that kind of weather is becoming a new kind...
Art Notes: Real-life couple brings a ‘cosmic love story’ to life at Northern Stage
By ALEX HANSON
Some partnerships seem destined from the start. A pair of elementary school friends who get married out of college and stay together forever, or Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, to consider just two scenarios.But most people in enduring relationships...
Out & About: Dartmouth resumes public astronomy events
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
HANOVER — Talking about space with community members — especially children — helps Dartmouth College astronomy graduate students Keighley Rockcliffe and Stephanie Podjed reconnect with the passion and curiosity that brought them to their chosen field....
A Life: Jack Candon ‘took total joy in being helpful and bringing some joy to others’
By NORA DOYLE-BURR
NORWICH — Complete with a red suit and hat and with his trademark good humor and a twinkle in his eye, Jack Candon gave many Upper Valley children (including mine) their first Christmas gift each year: a bell.The gift was a token of the Polar Express,...
Over Easy: Give us serious winter
By DAN MACKIE
It doesn’t do much good to complain about the weather because Mother Nature ignores my texts and emails.Thanks to climate change or something else (choose your own reality), the 10-day outlook calls for warm, cold, sun, clouds, calm, gales, drought...
Vermont beekeepers rebuke Agency of Agriculture’s assessment that the industry is in good health
By EMMA COTTON
On Sunday, the president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association got a call from a friend, a beekeeper in Pennsylvania, who remarked snarkily, “It looks like Vermont has saved the bees!” The Pennsylvania apiarist had seen a report and accompanying...
NH aims to measure overall health of fishers through Wildlife Restoration Program funding
By HADLEY BARNDOLLAR
A carnivorous, forest-dwelling animal commonly found throughout New Hampshire is the focus of a more than $2 million project funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.The state’s Fish and Game Department is slated to partner with the University of...
A Life: Linda Wilson ‘always noticed what needed to be done’
By FRANCES MIZE
HARTFORD — Returning home from an errand run in a thunderstorm, Linda Wilson was stopped by a felled tree blocking the road. She got out of her car — where her young daughter Amy remained seated — slapped on some chaps and revved up a chainsaw, which...
When El Niño and climate change collide: What it means for a New Hampshire winter
By HADLEY BARNDOLLAR
The Granite State may have been pummeled by a good ol’ snowstorm on Sunday, but the 50-degree temperatures, rain, and flooding emergencies that followed a few days later were quick reminders that winters here are changing. This year specifically has a...
Art Notes: Upper Valley arts offer to brighten winter nights
By ALEX HANSON
On the cultural calendar, September tends to be the biggest month. Summer is over, kids are back in school and theater, visual art and music are all ascendant.But January is a close second, and looking at the events coming at us in the next few weeks,...
New Hampshire bald eagle population continues to rise
Once a rare sight in New Hampshire, bald eagles continue to make a resurgence with the number of breeding pairs setting new records each year. Bald eagles were removed from the state’s list of endangered species in 2017, after two decades of...
Out & About: 20 good things from 2023
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
The year is coming to a close and that means it’s time for the “20 Good Things” wrap-up. Out & About started the list at the end of 2020 to acknowledge the good moments that happened in an otherwise difficult year. While 2023 was quite different from...
From some area Catholics, new policy on same-sex blessings a welcome change
By CHRISTINA DOLAN
NORWICH — The Vatican recently issued a declaration that allows Catholic priests to deliver blessings to same-sex couples. It has been a welcome change to some Upper Valley residents.The announcement marks a departure from a 2021 statement on same-sex...
Out & About: Hartford Community Coalition hosts sober New Years
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — While many holidays can be challenging for those in recovery, perhaps none is more challenging than New Year’s Eve — where many events feature alcohol.That’s why events such as the annual Alcoholics Anonymous’ “Alcathon” of...
