Chris Jensen

After about 25 years the Car-Freshner plant in Berlin is closing.

Judy Piarulli, an official at Car-Freshner’s headquarters in Watertown, N.Y.,  declined to say how many workers are losing their jobs.

But Diana Nelson, an official with New Hampshire Employment Security office in Berlin, said 46 workers were laid off.

She said another 24 part-time workers lost their jobs in February.

The plant makes the Little Trees brand of air fresheners typically seen hanging from rear-view mirrors.

Veterans in Coos County deserve a medical clinic in Colebrook, according to a letter sent to the Department of Veterans Affairs by Senators Kelly Ayotte and Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Charlie Bass.

“While Coos County’s population is small compared to the area covered, there are some 3,605 veterans in New Hampshire’s North Country, of which 1,821 are in the VA medical system,” the letter says. 

A Littleton man hiking without a flashlight, map or warm clothing spent the night in the mountains while officials looked for him, according to a news release from New Hampshire Fish and Game.

Dylan Jessen, 20, planned to hike the 15 miles from the Lafayette Campground in Franconia to Route 112 in Woodstock but didn’t begin until about 1 p.m.

His mother lost cell-phone contact with him about 7 p.m.  when he still had about five miles to go and only 30 minutes of daylight left.

The new owners of the closed Balsams resort in Dixville Notch are moving ahead with plans to renovate the North Country resort.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Improvements at the Balsams resort will include a new conference center, spa, pool house and suites near the Hampshire House.

That’s according to the web site of Summit Engineering of Portsmouth which says the firm has been chosen to handle the structural engineering.

An Intervale firm is in trouble with the Environmental Protection Agency over allegations of water pollution in the North Country.

 NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

CSG Holdings – also known as Columbia Sand & Gravel - is accused of allowing polluted water to get into the Connecticut River.

“The nature of the discharge from the site contained large amounts of suspended solids basically.  Sand.  Silt.”

That’s David Deegan, an EPA spokesman.

The North Country Health Consortium in Littleton has scheduled a June summit to tackle some of the health problems in Coos County noted in a recent study.

The University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute study released last week evaluated the health of individual counties nationwide.

The study has been done for the last three years. Each time Coos was ranked last in the state.

A bill critics say would reduce funding for legal services for the poor was sponsored by Gregory Sorg, a Republican from Easton, and heavily favored by North Country representatives.

The bill - HB 1395 - passed the House 235 – 99.  It now goes to the Senate.

Eight North Country representatives – all Republicans – voted in favor.

Four North Country representatives – all Democrats – voted against it.

Four legislators were excused from voting.

Newly appointed Public Utilities Commissioner Michael Harrington says having a pension from Northeast Utilities is not a good enough reason to disqualify him from hearing a case involving the utility – and so he won’t.

Harrington made the statement in an order he signed Tuesday dismissing a motion arguing that he has an unacceptable conflict of interest.

A new nationwide study released today/Tuesday ranks Coos County as the least healthy county in the state. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

A Massachusetts man fell into a deep crevasse in the Tuckerman Ravine Sunday afternoon and is thought to have died, according to a news release late Monday from the White Mountain National Forest.

The man was identified as Norman Priebatsch of Boston.  He was said to be in his late 60’s.

He was hiking with friends when he tripped and slid down a slope before falling into a crevasse between areas known as the Lunch Rocks and The Lip.

Seven North Country legislators were among the majority passing a bill on Thursday that would ban abortions after 20 weeks.

Three North Country representatives voted against the bill while six were excused from voting.

The bill, HB 1660, passed 190 – 109. It now goes to the Senate.

Here are the legislators who voted in favor of the bill:

* Lyle Bulis (Republican) of Littleton

* Larry Rappaport (Republican) of Colebrook.

Ten out of 13 North Country representatives voted against a bill that would have abolished the State Art Fund.

According to the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts the fund is also known as the Percent for Art Program and it was established by the legislature in 1979.

That 1979 action “authorizes one-half of one percent of the capitol budget appropriation for new buildings or significant renovations to be set aside in a non-lapsing account for the acquisition or commissioning of artwork.”