Stories from surrounding communities, closest first.
Concord Monitor · Concord, NH
Nearby: Concord, NHThe pool at Garrison Park is headed for permanent closure after a vote by the Concord City Council this week, and leaders are seeking public input as they weigh the future of the West Street Ward House. With multiple ongoing major capital projects, Concord City Councilors have been wary of how much taxpayers can take on. At the same time, city leaders have been criticized for deferring crucial maintenance on city-owned facilities, like Memorial Field, over the years. Two city facilities are in need of major investments — the pool and the ward house — and city staff came to the council this month asking, essentially, what they should do. Garrison Pool The Garrison Pool has been due for updating for several years. Garrison, with a smaller parking area and farther from dense neighborhoods, has historically seen the lowest attendance. In years when the city has been short on lifeguards (almost every year since COVID), it’s been the first pool to close.
New Hampshire Bulletin · Concord, NH
Nearby: Concord, NHRep. Alexis Simpson, who has led the New Hampshire House Democrats as minority leader for two years, is the caucus’ pick for speaker of the House. House Democrats met in Concord Thursday to vote on who to rally behind to lead the chamber. On Dec. 2, the entire New Hampshire House of Representatives will meet to officially elect the speaker. After Democrats won a supermajority in last week’s elections, the party controls who holds the speaker’s gavel. Thursday’s meeting was an attempt by Democrats to get on the same page before the final vote. Still, fractures have emerged within the party in recent weeks after Rep. Jim Maggiore, a former Republican candidate who now represents North Hampton as a Democrat, unsuccessfully challenged her for the role and rallied a group of supporters unhappy with Simpson’s leadership. The final vote was 200-75. Simpson is a Christian minister who represents Exeter. This will be her fifth term in the House.
Concord Monitor · Concord, NH
Nearby: Concord, NHChloe Norman came into her shift at the Red Arrow Diner off Loudon Road in Concord right at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday in early November and found the eatery mostly empty. A few minutes later, an older couple sat down at a booth in her section and she swiftly poured one a fresh cup of coffee and the other a cool glass of chocolate milk. The 41-year-old from Henniker started working part-time at the diner last winter, while also working as a lead bartender at another establishment in Concord. Those were the first two jobs she had held since being diagnosed with autism and ADHD in the last three years. “I’ve never been able to hold down a job for more than a year,” Norman said. “I have a really high sensitivity, like a dysphoria, for justice, and so when I see injustices happening in the workplace, I’ve never been able to kind of shut my mouth.” People like Norman who have physical or cognitive disabilities often struggle not only to find work, but to find success in their jobs long-term.
Concord Monitor · Concord, NH
Nearby: Concord, NHConcord High School’s music program raised $5,250 in partnership with Grappone Mazda’s Be Moved Drive Program last weekend. More than 100 community members turned up at the school on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., totaling 105 qualified test drives, each of which generated $50 for the program. “It feels nice to know there are people out there who care about our program,” said Sylas Ruff, a Concord High junior and choir member. The donations will go a long way to support the Tri-M Music Honor Society. The money will help fund scholarships for additional performing arts studies, department-sponsored travel and educational experiences — reducing the out-of-pocket costs that can keep students from participating. A student shows off her new instrument to music teacher and art coordinator Gabe Cohen. Credit: CHANCE VILES / CourtesyWhile too young for a test drive, an attendee got a first-hand lesson in how a car engine works from Mazda organizers.
Concord Monitor · Concord, NH
Nearby: Concord, NHHooksett, NH – Claire Diana (Desmarais) DiCicco, 85, a resident of Hooksett for nearly 60 years, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 following a brief illness.Claire was born in Concord, NH on November 1, 1941, to the late Oscar E. and Diana A. (LeBrun) Desmarais. She attended Sacred Heart School in Concord, and then as a sophomore, entered Concord High School, graduating in 1959.Claire fondly remembered growing up in Concord surrounded by friends and relatives from her large, extended French Canadian family. One of her favorite activities was ice skating at White Park. Many of the children she skated with remained her lifelong friends. Claire and her husband, Al, first met in December of 1961 at an outing with mutual friends. They soon fell in love, and Al proposed to her only three months later.
Concord Monitor · Penacook, NH
Nearby: Penacook, NHOne person was hospitalized after being pulled from a burning house in Penacook on Thursday afternoon. Concord Fire crews responded to a two-story house at 20 Penacook Street, a little after 1 p.m. on Thursday. John Chisholm, the fire chief, said the call came from the person trapped inside the house. When firefighters arrived, there was smoke pouring from the building. “Our crews went inside the building, found near-zero visibility due to the smoke and fire up on the second floor,” he said. “We wanted to rescue them because we had very good information.” Firefighters located the person and brought them out of the house, and they were transported to Concord Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The fire was brought under control by 2 p.m. But the exterior of the home shows signs of fire damage, with soot visible on the window glass where smoke had escaped. There were also two dogs in a separate part of the building. The animals were not harmed by the blaze.
New Hampshire Bulletin · Franklin, NH
Nearby: Franklin, NHThe foundation for a child’s lifetime of learning is built from birth to age 5. By the time they reach kindergarten, there are certain expectations about the skills they should possess. But what happens when they come in not knowing what they are supposed to know? Early education and kindergarten teachers say the gaps among students entering kindergarten are often wide and can be wider if it is a child’s first time in a classroom setting. They say while everyone starts at a different point, it is becoming harder to get them all across the finish line at the same time. Day one looks different for every student Caitlyn Greene is a kindergarten teacher in Franklin and has spent all of her teaching career in the city. She understands the array of circumstances from which students arrive in her classroom. The rural city has a high percentage of students from low-income backgrounds, and the school also operates under a tax cap, which limits the available resources.
Londonderry Times · Manchester, NH
Nearby: Manchester, NHThe Londonderry High School cross country teams turned in strong performances at the 2026 NHIAA Division I Championship Meet at Derryfield Park in Manchester on Saturday, Oct. 31, with the boys finishing seventh and the girls placing 11th. The boys’ seventh-place finish among 21 teams continued a remarkable tradition for the Lancers. The team has now qualified for the Meet of Champions for the 39th time in the past 40 years. Junior Patrick Ramsey led the Londonderry boys, turning in an outstanding fifth-place finish among 133 competitors with a time of 16:50.7. Ramsey was followed by junior Alec Lemeris, who placed 32nd in 17:47.9, and junior Aaron Modini, who crossed the line 38th in 18:05.7. Senior Joey Gainey finished 51st in 18:31.5, while sophomore Silas Robles took 94th in 19:52.2. Junior Jamie Godbout placed 105th in 20:14.2, and freshman Carson Presher finished 108th in 20:21.1. The boys’ team earned seventh place out of 21 competing schools.
Toor News · Manchester, NH
Nearby: Manchester, NHCoastal rental markets run on two clocks. One is the twelve-month lease calendar that most renters live by. The other is the tourism season, which compresses demand into a few warm months and pushes short-stay prices up while longer leases sit still. Any "what your budget gets by the water" guide has to separate the two, because a summer nightly rate and an annual rent are different markets wearing the same postcode. A note on the evidence first. The source material for this piece covers Plymouth, England — the port city on Devon's south coast — not Plymouth, Massachusetts. No rental price data for the Massachusetts city appears in the supplied sources, so no such figure is printed here. What the sources do support is a clear picture of a working coastal city whose waterfront draws visitors, and that picture is the honest way to explain how seasonality and proximity to the water shape what a budget buys. What kind of coastal market is Plymouth?
Concord Monitor · Henniker, NH
Nearby: Henniker, NHKay and David Reynolds carried meatballs, spinach dip and crackers on small paper plates to the spacious active living space in Henniker’s Cornerstone Building. The pair sat in the same space where Kay’s mother, grandmother and great-grandmother grew up. Several generations of Kay’s family lived in the Hazen Homestead off Main Street until the 1950s; it was eventually sold and developed. Kay walked around the perimeter of the space the old house occupied, and gazed at all the additions: a kitchen, a foyer and a space where her mother now does crafts in a group called the Knit Wits. “It’s kind of fun for her to come here and reminisce,” said Kay, who’s the eighth generation in her family to live in Henniker. The Cornerstone building on Main Street in Henniker. Credit: GEOFF FORESTER / For the Monitor The old house had many lives, including being home to a quilt shop that closed in 2024.
Derry News / Weekender · Derry, NH
Nearby: Derry, NHGetting your Trinity Audio player ready... Giving starts close to homeThe holiday season has a way of reminding us that some of the best gifts don’t come wrapped in colorful paper or tied with a ribbon. Sometimes, they’re a warm meal, a bag of groceries, a toy under the Christmas tree or simply the knowledge that somebody cares.With Thanksgiving just around the corner and Christmas not far behind, there are plenty of opportunities to make the holidays a little brighter for our neighbors who could use a helping hand.In Derry, Sonshine Soup Kitchen, 6 Crystal Ave., provides free weekday evening meals to people in need throughout the year. Residents interested in donating food, money or volunteer time can contact the kitchen at 603-437-2833 to learn about current needs and opportunities.Derry families facing homelessness can also benefit from the work of Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire, which maintains a location on Peabody Road.
Derry News / Weekender · Derry, NH
Nearby: Derry, NHDERRY — With Thanksgiving just around the corner, young artists got into the holiday spirit on Nov. 3, at the Derry Public Library’s Afterschool Fun Club.
Derry News / Weekender · Derry, NH
Nearby: Derry, NHGetting your Trinity Audio player ready... Efforts to cap school spending in New Hampshire met with varied results in local communities.Voters in Derry, Pelham and Hampstead approved a two-year cap on school property tax increases in the Nov. 3 general election, while Londonderry and Windham rejected the measure despite majority support in both communities.Question 2, which appeared on ballots throughout New Hampshire, required approval by at least 60% of voters to take effect. The measure limits annual growth in local school property tax collections to the rate of inflation, adjusted for new construction, and caps school administrative unit central office spending at 6% of total district appropriations.The results revealed sharply different levels of support among neighboring communities, with approval ranging from 52% in Londonderry to 71% in Pelham.According to a town-by-town compilation published Nov.
