News/Business
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...
Downtown Bethel building changes hands
By CHRISTINA DOLAN
BETHEL — When Lindley Brainard and three other partners purchased Bethel’s Arnold Block building in 2018, they knew it was a “really strange business model,” said Brainard, who is also a member of the Bethel Selectboard. Their vision was to create a...
Plans still in the works for Lebanon riverfront property
By PATRICK ADRIAN
LEBANON — City councilors said that more study of downtown parking and of community priorities is needed before exploring development opportunities for 2.9 acres of municipally owned property between the Mascoma River and City Hall. The City Council...
Route 12A sandwich shop sets opening date
By NORA DOYLE-BURR
WEST LEBANON — There’s now a sign up on a door along Route 12A, answering the question many have asked on Upper Valley social media channels in recent months: When will Jersey Mike’s open?The answer is Nov. 15, said Chris Brown, the Bedford,...
Lebanon considering city ownership of roads in River Park development
By PATRICK ADRIAN
WEST LEBANON — A proposal to place River Park’s future road under city ownership is anticipated to open new funding sources and project opportunities, including the creation of a new mass transit hub in West Lebanon.On Wednesday the Lebanon City...
Billing difficulties still hang over many Liberty customers
By FRANCES MIZE
CANAAN — As temperatures drop and the Upper Valley braces for colder months ahead, some electric customers of Liberty Utilities in New Hampshire are still playing catch-up from last winter.Last fall, Liberty — which covers areas of Cornish, Enfield,...
Trail Break eatery owner says hiring shortages, too much success leading to closure and move
By PATRICK ADRIAN
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — It may sound odd that a restaurateur would respond to the success of a flagship restaurant by closing it.But Topher Lyons — who recently announced plans to close Trail Break, a popular Tex-Mex restaurant in downtown White River...
