Hopkinton

Paint cans marked "warm mahogany" circling his drop cloth, Glenn Bostic takes a moment to reflect on the nature of his work on the oldest surviving covered railroad bridge in the United States. Built in 1889, this covered bridge spans the Contoocook River and served rail traffic until 1960. 

Bostic has painted his share of historic structures, including the Mount Washington Hotel. For this bridge project, he's using a 120-foot lift to get out toward the middle span.

Watch and listen as he discusses the job:

An ongoing struggle with a beaver dam in Hopkinton will land in the state legislature this session.

Hopkinton select board chair Jim O'Brien says the town has been trying for more than a year to stop a beaver dam from flooding a local back road.

The town of Milford is considering leasing 120 acres of town property to a Manchester-based solar energy company.

The company, Granite Apollo, has signed a letter of intent to build a solar farm on the Brox property, a former industrial site near Route 101 that used to produce gravel.

Librarians in Hopkinton are finding new ways to encourage reading after a fire damaged the town library in August.

With the library building undergoing significant repairs, Hopkinton has set up a small, makeshift library of about 3,000 books in a community center.

But it doesn't have the vast array of puzzles, books and reading nooks that families are used to.

So this week, librarian Leigh Maynard opened four "Story Stops" in town.

The Hopkinton Town Library caught fire Friday evening after it was struck by lightning. No one was hurt, but Hopkinton Fire Chief Jeff Yale says damage to the building is severe.

"The water and the smoke do a tremendous amount of damage to the sensitive books that they have in the library."

Insurance assessors and a book restoration expert were at the library Monday examining damage to the building and collections.

A 27-year-old Hopkinton woman was shot by a hunter in Elm Brook park, according to N.H. Fish and Game officials.

The shooting happened at approximately 4:20 pm Tuesday while the woman was mountain biking on an Army Corps of Engineers access road in a wooded area of the park.

The victim received non-life threatening injuries and was treated and released from Concord Hospital.

Scroll down to read the full statement from N.H. Fish and Game.

Cyanobacteria advisories are in place at Elm Brook Park beach in Hopkinton and Silver Lake State Park Beach in Hollis. 

State officials are urging visitors to stay out of the water if they observe blue-green scum or clumps suspended in the water column. Cyanobacteria can be toxic to both humans and dogs. 

We live in an age where Donald Sterlings and Lance Armstrongs often cloud the benefits of sports in the public eye. Alleged abuser and former Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice gets ample coverage, while the dedicated, supportive coach usually goes unnoticed.