Municipal Complex Still Eyed for 2014 After Charrette Gives Direction

A master plan for the large project was solidified after an intensive two-day public event.

North Hampton's municipal complex plan received some strong guidance and direction over the weekend during a two-day design event that featured residents and consultants helping generate and shape ideas for a sizable project slated for inclusion on the 2014 town meeting warrant. The Plan New Hampshire-run design event, known as a charrette, featured roughly 100 residents on the first day, which Town Administrator Paul Apple said is an "amazing" turnout for a sunny weekend day in June. He said residents' involvement contributed heavily to the numerous well-developed ideas and suggestions received for the town's emergency and non-emergency buildings, located along an area of Atlantic Avenue that officials hope to turn into a community center…

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Five Things You Need to Know Today

Plans for New Library to Be Vetted Tonight

The group spearheading the multimillion-dollar work will select its favorite ideas and narrow its options tonight.

Good morning, Hampton and North Hampton. Here are five things you need to know for Wednesday, April 17:   1. New Library Project Moving Along: The group charged with overseeing the work to design a new North Hampton Public Library is currently evaluating five different proposals, and those evaluations will be reviewed and discussed during a session at 7 p.m. 2. Today’s Winnacunnet High School Sports Matchups (information via Winnacunnet.org): Baseball vs. Salem – Varsity/JV at 4:00 Boys Tennis @Spaulding at 4:00 Girls Tennis vs. Spaulding at 4:00 Softball @Salem – Varsity/JV at 4:00 3. What Else Is Happening Today? The Winnacunnet School Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Also, The North Hampton Town Clerk/Tax Collectors Office will be …

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Library to Soon Select New Building's Design

Five proposals are in and fundraising is progressing for a new multimillion-dollar public library.

The group charged with overseeing the work to design a new North Hampton Public Library is currently evaluating five different proposals, and will soon select its favorite design. In an e-mail to the North Hampton Select Board, Kelly Parrot, the chair of the library trustees, said five proposals have been collected from architecture firms and that the library evaluation committee will review the plans between now and April 16. The library's building committee will then meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, to "go over their evaluations" before selecting two finalists on Friday, April 19, according to Parrot's e-mail. Interviews with the finalists will be conducted between April 25 and April 30, and Parrot said she hopes to notify the firm…

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NH Celebrates National Library Week April 14-20

Special programs will be held at libraries across the state.

Libraries across New Hampshire will be holding special programs as part of National Library Week, April 14-20. This year’s theme, “Communities Matter @ Your Library,” highlights the important role New Hampshire’s libraries play in communities throughout the state. New Hampshire libraries provide a wide variety of services to their patrons. Internet access, downloadable audio books and eBooks, genealogy information, newspaper and magazine databases, displays by local artists, lectures, children’s programs, discounted passed to museums and public meeting spaces are just some of the ways that New Hampshire’s libraries serve the needs of our communities. “New Hampshire has known since its earliest days what important resources libraries are as…

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Budget Watch

Library Article Halved to Reduce Tax Impact

A previously-recommended appropriation has been significantly changed to offset a new addition to the town meeting warrant.

The North Hampton Select Board has reportedly chopped a library warrant article in half in order to minimize the tax increases created by the addition of the Governor Dale Farm conservation easement article to an already-crowded 2013 town meeting warrant and budget. The Hampton Union has reported that the board recently voted unanimously to reduce the $100,000 North Hampton Public Library appropriation to $50,000 — a decision Selectman Phil Wilson said probably won't make the library "too happy" because the article would've been used to help fund a new multimillion-dollar library. Library Director Susan Grant reportedly said she "understand[s] what's going on with the budget," although she admitted the trustees and staff hoped to get $100,…

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Banned Books Week: What You Need to Know

Censorship is alive and well, as highlighted by Banned Books Week — and you might be surprised by who the most vocal challengers of books are.

The importance of the First Amendment and the concept of "intellectual freedom" might not always be readily apparent to most kids, but Banned Books Week is a great opportunity to make those lessons come alive for children—and adults. Banned Books Week is held annually during the last week of Sept. (Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2012). The week is an occasion for public libraries and bookstores across the U.S. to help folks realize just how real and ongoing a problem censorship is.  More than 11,000 books have been challenged (though not necessarily successfully censored) since 1982, the inaugural year of Banned Books Week. According to the American Library Association (ALA), the vast majority of challenges to books are initiated locally by parents, …

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Debra Woodward

7:34 am on Monday, September 17, 2012

The perfect time to support your local independent bookstores, and we are lucky to have some good ones! Water Street Bookstore in Exeter http://www.waterstreetbooks.com/ and RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth http://www.riverrunbookstore.com/ They have some great events and author readings. For used books check out The Book Outlet in North Hampton and Crackskull’s in Newmarket--where they also have…   more ›

Five Things You Need to Know Today

Five Things You Need to Know Today: Aug. 21

There's an important session about North Hampton Public Library's future, a felony jury selection hearing, a free concert and a mandatory WHS meeting today.

Good morning, Hampton and North Hampton. Here are five things you need to know for Tuesday, Aug. 21:   1. Share Your Ideas About the Future of North Hampton Public Library: The library has contracted Thomas Ladd to produce a program for the new library plans, and there's a special forum — with refreshments — from 6 to 8 p.m. for the public to give Ladd ideas, suggestions and concerns about the project and its timeline. 2. Important Time Change: The Aug. 28 party for retiring Hampton Falls Town Administrator Eric Small has been changed to 1 to 5:30 p.m. 3. What Else Is Happening Today? There's a notable felony jury selection hearing today, a North Hampton Planning Board meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, the Jessica Prouty Band is playing a…

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New School Program to End Hunger One Backpack At a Time

A new local nonprofit will aid about 50 students every weekend of the upcoming school year.

Over the course of the past school year, local school district social workers and employees began to notice some alarming trends, particularly in regard to the number of students stockpiling food on Fridays and eating multiple breakfasts on Monday mornings. Rough estimates in Hampton put the count around 50 elementary students engaging in this type of behavior because they didn't have any or enough food to last them through the weekend. That number was alarming to Seacoast residents Michele Peckham and Margaret Schoenberger — enough for the duo to take action this fall through a new nonprofit, "End 68 Hours of Hunger," aimed at the heart of the problem. "People don’t understand that there really is a hunger issue in our community," said …

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Chris

7:24 pm on Friday, August 17, 2012

You are so right Mary Ellen, it is heartbreaking and it does take a village. Hopefully, this backpack program will shine a light on an area that has been in the shadows and the children affected will get the services they need. This is a great community - one that rises to many challenges, especially those that impact children. Thank you for caring enough to speak out! : )   more ›

Free Kids Concert Tonight on Bandstand

The pirate-themed show is encouraging children to also wear costumes.

Julie and Brownie will perform “A Pirate’s Life for Me!” — a pirate-themed show — at the North Hampton Bandstand at 6:30 p.m. The duo will sing family-friendly original and traditional sea songs while taking locals for an imaginative voyage on an 1850s Clipper Ship down the East Coast, around Cape Horn and up to San Francisco with a "cargo of fun," to the show program. Julie and Brownie, a local performing duo, will be dressed in full pirate costumes, and Keating said children are invited to also wear pirate costumes to the show, which is co-sponsored by The Friends of the North Hampton Bandstand and the North Hampton Public Library. More information about Julie and Brownie is available at www.juliebrownie.com.

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Last Chance

Memorial Day Parades, Services Today

Here's information about the annual remembrances, the keynote speaker and office closures.

Mike Farinola, a Bronze Star recipient and a first lieutenant armor officer in lead command of a M1A1 Army tank platoon during the Gulf War, will be the featured speaker during the annual American Legion Post 35-sponsored Memorial Day celebrations on Monday, May 28. Farinola, a Hampton Falls resident whose Bronze Star has a "V" device for valor, will give a keynote address during the local veterans organization's daylong tribute to the men and women who have died while serving the United States. The tributes begin at 8 a.m. Monday at the Hampton Beach War Memorial, which is also referred to as the Lady By the Sea, across from the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and A Street. Post 35 and local veterans, color guards, buglers and military …

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