Vermont’s Roman Catholic Diocese faces another wave of lawsuits for past abuse

By KEVIN O’CONNOR

Vermont’s Roman Catholic Diocese, having spent more than $30 million to settle some 40 priest misconduct lawsuits dating as far back as 1950, faces another wave of court cases alleging more past child sexual abuse. The state’s largest religious...

Art Notes: Fair alternatives

By ALEX HANSON

Sometimes there’s an obvious subject for this column, such as the three music festivals I wrote about last week.But sometimes there isn’t. Instead there are a bunch of art opportunities that run counter to the big event, which this weekend is the...

Insurance Department launches weather catastrophe response team

By CLAIRE SULLIVAN

In the wake of recent floods and other damaging weather events, the Insurance Department announced Tuesday it was launching a weather catastrophe response team.After the immediate hazards of a storm have cleared, the team will host community outreach...

New Hampshire will likely have a hotter fall than usual

By MARA HOPLAMAZIAN

After a summer full of record-breaking heat, New Hampshire seems to be in for a particularly warm fall.A seasonal outlook from the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows New Hampshire has a 60% to 70%...

Upper Valley apple crop rebounds after rough season

By CLARE SHANAHAN

NORTH HAVERHILL — Orchards around the Twin States have plentiful crops, following a tough season last year when many growers lost large portions of their apples, due to a late spring frost.In North Haverhill, Windy Ridge Orchards lost 80% of its apple...

Art Notes: Three Upper Valley music festivals set to take place this weekend

By ALEX HANSON

The music festival is a feature of the automobile age. Even before Woodstock, the massive 1969 concert in Upstate New York, the Newport (R.I.) Folk Festival dates only to a decade earlier and the Newport Jazz Festival to 1954. Cheap gas brings people...

Out & About: East Barnard Linen Fair part of company’s effort to bring back flax

By LIZ SAUCHELLI

EAST BARNARD — Flax might best be known for its use in creating linen, a lightweight fabric popular for clothing.But what those unfamiliar with the crop might not know is that flax also is prevalent in everyday items, from rope to car panels to...

Over Easy: We need shared delights

By DAN MACKIE

I’m not exactly Little Miss Sunshine, but I like to have a good time now and then. I couldn’t help but notice the party atmosphere of the Democratic National Convention, which didn’t entirely fit our so-called lifestyle.Good times are swell, but we...

Fish and Game catches criticism from fly fishermen concerned about rule changes

By TODD BOOKMAN

An overflow crowd of anglers piled into the state’s Fish and Game Department headquarters Tuesday night in Concord to express concerns about proposed regulatory changes to fishing in New Hampshire.The proposed rules, which are still being adjusted and...

Some Gulf of Maine seafood has PFAS. Your local freshwater fish may not be safe either.

By CLAIRE SULLIVAN

Some seafood purchased at a Portsmouth seafood market in May 2022 met an unusual fate.Instead of getting fried up, three filets each of haddock, salmon, tuna, and cod, three lobster tails, and some shrimp and scallops were transported by researchers...

Art Notes: Bookstock is back on next year’s calendar

By ALEX HANSON

When this summer’s Bookstock literary festival was canceled, organizers were already looking ahead to next year.So it comes as no surprise that the Upper Valley’s biggest literary event is back on the calendar for 2025. The festival is scheduled for...

A Dartmouth undergrad’s research on seabirds provides a window into mercury in the ocean

By MARA HOPLAMAZIAN

New research from Dartmouth shows one type of seabird in the Gulf of Maine, the black guillemot, has concentrations of mercury in their feathers that are above levels known to have effects on reproduction in other species.The study also looked at...

A Life: Rosalie Cutter ‘rose to every challenge’

By PATRICK O’GRADY

HANOVER — Quilter extraordinaire, ski instructor, successful small business owner, business adviser, pig farmer, homemaker.That could be a list of occupations of several people but it was the resume of just one person: Rosalie Cutter.“My mother’s life...

State confirms Canada lynx for 1st time since 2018

SHREWSBURY, Vt. (AP) — A Canada lynx, an endangered species in Vermont, has been confirmed in the state for the first time since 2018, and farther south than the last confirmed sighting.A Shrewsbury man was driving home on Saturday evening when he saw...

Art Notes: Whaleback benefit concert brings together former KUA bandmates

By ALEX HANSON

Will Sheff had a cozy upbringing in Meriden. His parents were both teachers at Kimball Union Academy, the prep school at the heart of the village, and Sheff had the run of the campus, then was a student there.When he moved away, though, he struggled....

Vermont town weighs removing historic bridge to lessen floodwaters

By K. FIEGENBAUN

Lyndon, Vt. — known as the “Covered Bridge Capital of the Northeast Kingdom” — is facing a dilemma.Should it move forward with multimillion-dollar plans to restore one of its historic covered bridges and create a community park at a well-traveled...

Chicken watching in Lebanon

A fawn watches two chickens on a Poverty Lane lawn in Lebanon on Aug. 14.

Looking for a landscaper? This flock doesn't do a baaaad job

By AMANDA PIRANI

In New Boston, N.H., Saunders Pasture and the Betsy Dodge conservation fields are getting a makeover. But it’s not a crew of landscapers managing this project — it’s a herd of 50 sheep belonging to Kelly McCutcheon. She runs Broken Boat Farms, a...

NH beekeepers say climate change is stressing out their bees

By AMANDA PIRANI

Lee Alexander has been keeping bees most of his life, and learned from his grandfather and great uncle. He’s quick to mention he’s no beekeeping expert, but in 50 years, he’s seen a thing or two.And this year has really thrown him for a loop.“I've...