North Country

A snow-machine crash has claimed the life of a Sunapee man. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

A 36-year-old Sunapee man died Saturday morning in a snow machine crash near Stewartstown.

Fish and Game said the victim was Jason Montambeault who had been riding about 1:30 in the morning with two friends near Piper Hill.

The friends last saw him crossing a field near his camp.

When he didn’t arrive a few hours later they thought he had gone to visit friends.

But shortly after dawn they were worried and a search began.

About 9 a.m. a cousin found his body and overturned snow machine.

For NHPR News this is Chris Jensen

Seven North Country legislators were among those voting to pass HB 1666, a bill that gives lawmakers the final say on collective bargaining agreements with the State.

Five were opposed and four were excused from voting.  

As reported by NHPR:

The legislation is just the latest effort by Republicans in Concord to rein in the costs of public employee contracts.

"This gives the legislature the ability to look at an entire contract and say whether it is fair, and whether we should fund it," says Republican Neil Kurk of Weare.

The North Country’s Senator John Gallus, a Republican from Berlin, was among the 17 senators voting Wednesday in favor of a constitutional school funding amendment.

There were seven “no” votes.

As reported by NHPR’s Josh Rogers:

“The amendment would make it easier for lawmakers to target money to poorer communities but not explicitly undue the Claremont rulings that require the state to fund an adequate education for every child. After the vote Governor Lynch described the proposal as “a significant milestone.”

Typically winter hikers try to balance what they need with not turning themselves into recreational beasts of burden. But when searchers from New Hampshire Fish and Game head into the mountains they don’t have the luxury of light weight.

They have to be ready for almost any contingency including uncooperative if not perverse weather.  And, that translates into pounds.

“I’d say my ruck weighs approximately fifty-five pounds,” says Conservation Officer Brad Morse, who often heads into The White Mountains looking for a lost or injured hiker.

Earlier this month he and fellow conservation officer Heidi Murphy climbed up to the Franconia Ridge on a Friday night in high winds to help a 24-year-old Maine hiker who bit off more than he could chew and called for help.

New Hampshire Business Review is reporting that a potential buyer for the Isaacson Structural Steel in Berlin has fallen through.

The review reports Heico, a construction conglomerate, was seriously considering buying the company but has since backed out.

An auction is currently set for February 29th, raising a question about the future of the company’s roughly 150 employees.

Presby Environmental, a Whitefield company, recently bought a smaller part of the business that sells steel.

Coos County residents receive far more help in federal funds than the national average, according StateImpact NH, a project between NHPR and NPR.

StateImpact’s Amanda Loder examined a recent story in The New York Times that investigated how much help various counties nationwide get from the federal government.

Loder found in New Hampshire Coos County stands out, with residents receiving an average of $10,896 per capita in benefits, compared to $6,583 nationally. 

A pilot project in Berlin is helping homeowners get sophisticated boilers that are automatically fed wood pellets.

The idea is to persuade people throughout the region that they can save money and say goodbye to oil while bolstering the region’s forest economy.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Peter Canning is in basement of his home on a hillside overlooking Berlin.

He’s showing off his new wood-pellet boiler.

“You can open up down in the bottom here. I can show you how the pellets come in if you want to kneel down here and take a peek.”

But this is no ordinary pellet boiler, it’s self-feeding, and even the ash automatically collects in a bin so it can be easily emptied.

Congressman Charlie Bass will hold a town meeting in Berlin Saturday, February 11th, from 11 a.m. to noon in Berlin’s City Hall.

“Constituents with questions, comments, or those in need of assistance on a federal matter are welcome to attend,” according to a news release from Bass’ office.

Town meetings begin next month.

One issue some towns are looking at is a radical new tactic ultimately designed to challenge the legal power of corporations.

Opponents of the Northern Pass hydroelectric project are at the forefront of the move.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Northern Pass opponents have won what they see they see as a victory in their fight against the huge hydro-electric project.

The legislature has now passed a bill that makes it hard if not impossible for Northern Pass to use eminent domain to take the land it needs for its transmission towers.

But some opponents aren’t stopping there.

A 51-year-old Massachusetts man died in a snow machine accident in Milan Wednesday night, according to a news release from new Hampshire Fish and Game.

The victim was identified as Kenneth Smalley Jr. 51 of North Billerica.

Smalley was the last rider in a group of four when he lost control of his snow machine on a corner and hit several trees, according to the release. He died at the scene from what were described as “extensive injuries.”

Ayesha Khan says her documentary – Made in Pakistan – being shown late this week in Plymouth, Bethlehem and Concord tries to show Americans a different perspective on Pakistan than the one they typically get from watching the news.

That perspective comes from a look at the lives of four professionals, two men and two women.

They are described as an aspiring politician; a young mother, teacher and magazine editor; an event manager working in the fashion industry; and a lawyer and devout Muslim.