Story Archives of 'New England'

During the month of October, nearly 24 million Americans will wander through the twisted hallways of a haunted house, where zombies emerge from darkened corners and blood-curdling screams rise to the rafters.

Why do some people seek out that creepy feeling of being scared while others avoid haunted houses and horror films at all costs?

Word of Mouth’s Sheryl Rich-Kern visited one of the largest haunted houses in the country, Spooky World in Litchfield, New Hampshire, to find out.

(Photo courtesy of Spooky World)

Fairpoint Communications has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

If a US Bankruptcy Judge agrees, Fairpoint will reorganize in a deal with its lenders and reduce its debt by 1 point 7 billion dollars.

State officials are expected to be at the hearing in New York on Tuesday to make sure resident's interests are protected.

In the meantime, New Hampshire Consumer Advocate Meredith Hatfield tells NHPR's Mark Bevis that Fairpoint customers should not see any difference in service.

A record 25 thousand dollar bill for a rescue last spring is fueling a debate among search and rescuers in the North Country.

Last April, 17-year-old Eagle Scout Scott Mason got lost during a one-day, 18 mile, solo hike in the Presidentials.

After a massive search, Mason got home alive and his family got the tab.

They’ve hired a lawyer to fight the bill, but the case brings up some important questions.

What’s the role of government and should people have to pay when they get into trouble?

NHPR correspondent Chris Jensen has the story.

From the water problem to water as metaphor. Our story begins in a former woolen mill on the banks of the Sugar River in Newport, NH. To get there, I drove past The Dollar Store and strip malls, the spray-painted signs advertising cord wood and coal, and onto South Main Street, where space for rent signs fade in store front windows.

Newport is one of the American towns where Sturm, Ruger and Co. has been manufacturing guns since 1949. Firearms magnate William Ruger, Jr., meticulously restored the old mill to house his extensive collection of antique cars. Bill Ruger then turned over an entire floor - 20,000 square feet – of the mill bulding to H20: Film on Water. It’s a collection of films, video, photographs and contemporary installations linked to the Connecticut River waterways.

The Newport Mill is the main exhibition space. I visited the grand brick building on a sparkling fall afternoon. The windows were blackened. Muffled sounds of buoy bells, sparse lighting, and the movement of projected films created a sense of dark immersion.

Cynthia Reeves runs the contemporary art gallery Cynthia Reeves in New York City, and Spheris Gallery in Hanover. A decade ago, she started Great River Arts based in Bellows Falls, Vt. To mark its ten-year anniversary, Cynthia opened up a juried competition centered on water. Her team pared more than 200 submissions down to 75 works of video, photography and site-specific works to create H20: Film on Water.

There’s a great variety of work. One film evokes Hurricane Katrina, another, the effect of oil on water. Some are direct, others more subtle. On Saturday, the top three juried H20: Film on Water videos will be awarded at the mill in Newport. The exhibition, and Saturday’s awards event are free and open to the public.

Boston Globe: Shimmering downriver: Exhibition’s four venues celebrate sight, sound of water

Keene State College's Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery is also hosting an exhibition on water titled Downstream: Current Works on Water By Six Artists.

We’ve heard a lot about efforts to boost our sagging economy and revive the manufacturing sector with green-collar jobs. But if sustainable and energy efficient systems are going to get built properly, it’s blue-collar workers who need to be on board.

A green-collar job is a lot like a blue-collar job, except that workers incorporate the principles of sustainability and environmental stewardship. Take the union stronghold of construction. The EPA ranks construction as the nation’s most wasteful industry by far, which makes eco-friendly development sound like a contradiction, or a massive undertaking. Raising a green building in the working-class neighborhood of south boston introduces other challenges. The documentary The Greening of Southie chronicles Boston’s first residential green building – the Macallen – and the workforce that set out to construct the “city of tomorrow.” "The Greening of Southie" is coming to Red River Theatres in Concord tomorrow night and runs through next week. I spoke with the director, Ian Cheney, when the film was first released, and asked him how he came across this unusual project.

The Greening of Southie at Red River Theatres in Concord

(Photo by Taylor Gentry)