News/Business
River Bend Career and Tech Center expands cosmetology program
By LIZ SAUCHELLI
BRADFORD, Vt. — Growing up in Hartland, Iris Morand started working with horses as a young child and developed an affinity for a particular skill: braiding hair.As she got older, Morand’s interest in hairstyling increased and during her junior year at...
A year into retail sales, Upper Valley cannabis industry growing
By FRANCES MIZE
CHELSEA — An old-timer might plant potatoes in accordance with phases of the moon. To best suit his cannabis plants, 31-year-old Sean Trombly carefully times his LED grow lights.This winter, Trombly is growing hydroponically, which for him means that...
Jim Kenyon: A small win for tenants
By JIM KENYON
Jesse Keenum, a 67-year-old disabled veteran, is staying home for the holidays — and hopefully well beyond — after his landlord recently backed off from trying to kick him out of the Lebanon apartment he’s lived in for 14 years.While Keenum’s case...
Chipotle and Wendy’s coming to Claremont
By PATRICK O’GRADY
CLAREMONT — A developer is planning to bring burritos and burgers to Washington Street.Pending city approvals, DDMNS Realty will build a Chipotle Mexican Grill and a Wendy’s restaurant on the lots at 384 and 392 Washington Street, according to Daniel...
Lower natural gas prices all over the world drive down NH electrical rates
By DAVID BROOKS
When it comes to our electric bills, sometimes global fuel trends giveth and sometimes they taketh away. Right now they’re giving.Eversource on Thursday said it has asked state regulators to cut its energy supply rate as part of the twice-yearly...
Upper Valley residents, businesses face mail delivery delays
By NICOLA SMITH
Jane Spooner, who lives with her husband in Woodstock, relies on a regularly scheduled UPS delivery of medical supplies that comes through the Woodstock post office and is delivered to their home mailbox. They’ve never had problems with delivery,...
Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce names new executive director
HARTFORD — Havah Armstrong Walther has been named the new executive director of the Hartford Area Chamber of Commerce.She replaces PJ Skehan, who retired Dec. 1 after leading the nonprofit organization for more than a decade.Armstrong Walther, of West...
Valley News announces additions to newsroom leadership
WEST LEBANON — Two longtime Valley News journalists are taking on expanded roles in the newsroom.Geoff Hansen has been named managing editor, and Nora Doyle-Burr has been named news editor.Hansen was hired as a staff photographer at the Valley News in...
NH energy efficiency plans moving forward, with split Public Utilities Commission decision
By MARA HOPLAMAZIAN
A new round of plans for energy efficiency programs in New Hampshire is set to take effect after two years of controversy.The state’s Public Utilities Commission approved small changes to the $250 million program that helps Granite Staters with things...
A Look Back: The Golden Age of radio added color to Upper Valley life
By STEVE TAYLOR
Radio had come in big-time by the 1930s, but if you lived in the Upper Valley, you needed a wire hooked up to a tree or post outside your house if you wanted to get any reception. And the reception you got off this crude antenna system came from...
Winter Celebration kicks off tonight in Lebanon
Devon Blanchard, 21, of West Fairlee, right, and his friend Carter Shannon, of Canaan, left, wait for Lebanon Recreation, Arts and Parks Director Paul Coats, not pictured, to secure a support for strings of holiday lights from a lift truck while...
Valley News to publish weekend edition beginning on Jan. 6
The Valley News has long taken pride in being a daily presence in the lives of Upper Valley residents. Since 1993, the newspaper has been delivered seven days per week to communities from Haverhill to Charlestown, Woodstock to New London, and...
Nonprofit bookstore opens Friday in White River Junction
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — On Friday, a new and used bookstore operated by the nonprofit COVER Home Repair is set to open its doors to the public for the first time.Cover to COVER Books will be run primarily by volunteers, according to a news release from...
After delays and cutbacks, Randolph hotel complex coming together
By JOHN LIPPMAN
RANDOLPH — Standing next to a pancake-flat concrete foundation more than twice the area of a basketball court in a clearing a few thousand yards from exit 4 on Interstate 89, Perry Armstrong viewed the scene under sunlight and clear skies one...
Upper Valley housing projects in the pipeline amid supply shortage
By PATRICK ADRIAN
LEBANON — If you attend any public discussion in the Upper Valley about the regional housing crisis, expect at least one participant to mention the number “10,000.” According to Keys to the Valley, an oft-cited housing study of the Upper Valley by...
Sandwich enthusiasts turn out for restaurant opening on Route 12A
By JOHN LIPPMAN
WEST LEBANON — The months dissolved into weeks, the weeks shortened into days, the days ticked down to hours and finally, on a fine November morning in West Lebanon, the portal to sandwich satisfaction finally opened: Jersey Mike’s, a fast-food chain...
Ice cream sold at Co-op Food Stores is subject of recall
By NORA DOYLE-BURR
HANOVER — Consumers should avoid eating Wilcox Ice Cream with certain best by dates, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The ice cream is sold at New Hampshire retailers including the Hanover and Lebanon Co-op Food...
Claremont board approves plan for Domino’s on Washington Street but nixes left turn
By PATRICK O’GRADY
CLAREMONT — The Planning Board unanimously approved a site plan for a Domino’s Pizza restaurant on Washington Street at the site of a shuttered gas station and car wash, but board members denied the applicant’s request for a left-hand turn across...
Long-vacant gas station torn down on Route 12A
A crew works to demolish a defunct Irving gas station in West Lebanon on Tuesday, which closed in 2010 when the I-89 overpass was rebuilt and Route 12A was widened, leaving little room for gas pumps. Irving plans to redevelop the site along with the...
A Look Back: Upper Valley grocery stores change with the times
By STEVE TAYLOR
Talk about all the things that have changed in the Upper Valley since, well, 1950 — the interstates, the rising influence of Dartmouth College and its ever-expanding health care colossus, disappearance of textile mills and hill farms, staggering gains...
