North Country

Funding was approved today for the new federal prison in Berlin and soon it will be open season on several hundred new jobs. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

With President Obama signing a bill that includes funding for the new federal prison in Berlin hiring can finally begin.

The prison will have about 300 employees. That will include about 200 new hires.

The jobs have good pay and benefits.

But the application process is complicated.

The Boston Globe is reporting there was a small earthquake Wednesday morning near Conway.

The Globe said it was "A tiny, 1.6-magnitude earthquake" that was "small enough that it may have gone unnoticed."

The newspaper said: "The earthquake, with a depth of 15 miles, was recorded just before 11 a.m. by the Weston Observatory at Boston College. The epicenter was 8 miles southeast of Conway, N.H., at the coordinates 43.885 degrees north, 71.040 degrees west. "

The new federal prison in Berlin – which has been sitting empty – could finally be funded this week, providing a huge economic boost to the North Country.  NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Funding for the federal prison in Berlin is likely to be approved this week, according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

“We’re very excited because there has been an agreement reached between the House and Senate on the bill that includes funding for the Berlin prison.”

Shaheen sees it as a done deal.

The Northern Pass hydro-electric project is interested in buying a section of land associated with The Balsams Resort. If such a sale went through it’s likely to create a furor in the North Country. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

One of the companies interested in purchasing a slice of the Balsams resort in Dixville Notch is Northern Pass.

“They have identified land that they would like.”

That’s Tom Deans.

He’s the president of the Tillotson Corporation. It has been hoping to stem financial losses by selling the resort.

On Saturday, December 3rdat 3 p.m. there will be a performance of the Nutcracker Ballet at the Berlin Junior High Auditorium.

The classic holiday tale will be performed by the Robinson Ballet Company (http://www.robinsonballet.org/index.html) of Bangor, Maine, according to a news release from the St. Kieran Community Center for the Arts (http://www.stkieranarts.org/).

The tickets are $12 for adults and $6 and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Executive Councilor Ray Burton of Bath says he tried unsuccessfully to keep Meredith Hatfield as the state’s consumer advocate on public utility matters because she has been “independent minded” and helped consumers.

But last week the Republican controlled Executive Council voted 3 – 2 against re-appointing Hatfield who represents consumer interests before the Public Utilities Commission.

The Union Leader says Coos County Administrator Suzanne Collins has the 35thhighest pension benefit in the state and her $93,281 represents “the highest benefit for a state, county or local public employee who is not an educator. “

For the full article and list go here: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20111109/NEWS06/711099991

A group of North Country leaders has sent Sen. Kelly Ayotte a letter expressing their unhappiness over her voting against a bill that - among many other things - included funding for the federal prison in Berlin.

Last week Sen. Kelly Ayotte voted against a wide-ranging bill that included about $28 million in funding to open the new federal prison in Berlin.

The prison would bring about 330 jobs to the area.

A 31-year-old man killed in a hunting accident in Lisbon this morning was shot by a hunter in another party, according to a news release from New Hampshire Fish and Game.

The victim, Kenneth Brunelle of Marlboro, Mass. was hunting with his father and brother off Mt. Eustis Road in Lisbon when the accident occurred about 8 a.m.

Early reports said Brunelle was shot in the neck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The name of the alleged shooter was not released.

The accident is being investigated by Fish and Game and the New Hampshire State Police.

A Massachusetts man who injured his ankle spent Saturday night alone on Mount Eisenhower in freezing temperatures before being rescued late Sunday afternoon.

According to a news release from Fish and Game Sergio Mori, 41, of Brookline, was coming down the Edmands’s Path when he hurt his ankle.

He couldn’t walk and didn’t have cell phone coverage so wound up spending the night on the mountain. While temperatures were below freezing Mori was “very well prepared for his hike,” according to Fish and Game.