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By DAVID BROOKS

As the region’s aviation community anxiously awaits the annual yes-or-no decision about whether the Alton Bay Ice Runway will open, here’s a tidbit to consider: Keeping Cessnas and Beechcraft from crashing through as they land isn’t why officials have...

By DAVID BROOKS

The most interesting energy thing happening in New Hampshire right now isn’t due to cool tech or federal money, it’s part of that terribly ho-hum tedious topic, local governance.Actually, it’s more ho-hum than that: It’s county governance.Compared to...

By DAVID BROOKS

As more New Hampshire lakes suffer from blooms of toxic algae due to warming weather and increased development, two water bodies in Henniker were part of a study of a faster way to spot outbreaks, using drones.“With the (drone), a small lake might...

By DAVID BROOKS

One of New Hampshire’s most interesting-looking bridges straddles one of its handsomest river gorges next to a road and a rail line that have been used for well over a century. It’s the perfect recipe for tourism success in a state that increasingly...

By DAVID BROOKS

A woman was injured Saturday in a fire apparently caused by the failure of her home’s battery backup system after the power went out in Sanbornton, an example of a new concern for fire departments and building inspectors.“We’re going to have growing...

By DAVID BROOKS

A few New Hampshire school districts are getting ready to enter the electric transportation era, which means they have to figure out a pretty basic question: How to get the electricity.Once that’s solved, they will get to ponder a more interesting...

By DAVID BROOKS

Last week’s election includes some perfect examples of why political parties don’t want to give up the job of drawing the boundaries of voting districts.Start with the five-person New Hampshire Executive Council, a poster child for the power of...

By DAVID BROOKS

For the fourth time in its 50-year history, Concord’s piece of New Hampshire’s state university system is about to get a new name, part of a big change that should raise the profile of this often-overlooked institution but not alter its underlying...

By DAVID BROOKS

Automation of the workplace can make life easier. Just ask Walker Fitch about the downright luxurious change it brought to his life as a dairy farmer.“I get up at 5 now,” Fitch bragged during a recent tour of his Milford farm. “It used to be 4.”He...

By DAVID BROOKS

A trial starts Monday on whether Merrimack Station in Bow releases too much warm water into the Merrimack River in violation of its EPA permit, a case that could decide the fate of the last coal-fired power plant in New England.The lawsuit, brought by...

By DAVID BROOKS

An unusual plea for veterinary clinics to donate money to a state laboratory so it can diagnose a mysterious syndrome hurting New Hampshire’s dogs is another reminder that we aren’t doing enough to spot emerging diseases – as if a reminder was needed...

By DAVID BROOKS

The price hikes and supply crunches that have clobbered fuel supplies and raised prices throughout the world are starting to affect the one fuel we can call our own: Wood pellets.“There is quite a bit available right now but with the ongoing...

By DAVID BROOKS

Heidi Holman wants you to know that it’s not her fault all the lettuce you planted in the spring has disappeared.“I often get letters from people that are very upset about their garden because we’ve released so many rabbits,” said Holman, a wildlife...

By DAVID BROOKS

The last couple of years have seen such a parade of problems that it’s hard to be surprised by them any more. Even so, here’s a problem you probably haven’t thought of: New Hampshire is facing a shortage of bassoon players.A combination of factors...

By DAVID BROOKS

Smooth slender crabgrass, a plant known to exist only at Rock Rimmon Park in Manchester, has been officially declared globally extinct, the N.H. Natural Heritage Bureau announced Wednesday.This is the first documented plant extinction ever in New...

By DAVID BROOKS

Operators of hydropower dams face plenty of complications, including the wrong sort of bubbles, too many American eels and super-cooled “frazil ice,” but one thing that the owner of the Penacook Lower Falls dam doesn’t have to worry about now is...

By DAVID BROOKS

After years and years of declining birth rates, New Hampshire has surprised just about everybody by seeing the country’s biggest baby boom last year with a birth rate that rebounded 7% since pre-pandemic times, far more than any other state.Whether it...

By DAVID BROOKS

The continent-wide destruction of ash trees caused by an invasive insect has taken an economic toll in New Hampshire: The Peterboro Basket Co. is shutting down after making its specialty baskets for 168 years, partly because it can’t get enough of the...

By DAVID BROOKS

The news that Tesla is coming to New Hampshire – probably, at least – is the latest indication that life is changing for New Hampshire’s auto dealerships as electric vehicles take center stage. But it’s not the only one.“Prepping for EVs (electric...

By DAVID BROOKS

The coal-fired power plant in Bow has won another year’s funding from a program designed to guarantee future electricity supplies, although at about three-quarters of previous levels.The two units at Merrimack Station, the last coal-fired power plant...