David Brooks
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Past articles by David:
Concord library archivist moves up to that job at the state level, heading the ‘arsenal of accountability’
If you want to preserve historical items, sometimes you need to look straight down.“We had a carpeted area in the Concord Room,” said Ashley Miller, the brand-new state archivist who formerly had the role for Concord Public Library, looking back at... → Read More
On the third anniversary of COVID in NH, hospitals say their struggles have in some ways gotten worse
From a shortage of wheelchair vans to a looming shortage of nursing-school faculty, from weak Medicare reimbursements to soaring cost of part-time medical staff, from burned-out nurses who quit to patients who get sicker while waiting to be seen, it... → Read More
Granite Geek: Using your own industrial waste is a no-brainer; why isn’t it done more often?
It’s hard to think of an environmental action that makes more sense than a business using its own waste product to replace something it otherwise has to buy. It makes sense even when it has a goofy name like “spunding.”That’s the term brewers use when... → Read More
To help keep workers, company builds a tiny-home development
A New Hampshire company that kept losing staffers because they couldn’t afford to live nearby is tackling the problem in an unusual way – using a special zoning program in Dover to build 44 tiny homes on less than 4 acres.The project, a modern twist... → Read More
How much water should the Warner River have? Answer’s not as simple as you think
As the Warner River gets closer to protected status with a public hearing set for Thursday, here are two numbers to consider: 2,225 and 6. Those figures are the maximum and minimum possible river flows, measured in cubic feet per second, given in... → Read More
Granite Geek: Can you find the math inside that schuss?
Have you ever thought “I’m just not a math person”? If so, how are you at fixing snowmobiles?The connection between backwood winter transportation and the quadratic equation may not be obvious to you, but some people would like to change... → Read More
Road fatalities continued surge in New Hampshire in 2022 – the year-end numbers
More motorcyclists died on New Hampshire roads in 2022 than in any year in recent memory as overall fatal traffic accidents rose sharply, but the state bucked national trends by seeing no rise in pedestrian and bicyclist deaths.According to the New... → Read More
It’s official: Mud season is here and it may be the earliest ever
You’re not imagining it: Mud season has arrived and it’s early, maybe the earliest ever.On Friday the state began posting weight limits on roads to keep heavy vehicles from damaging pavement as it thaws and buckles. The N.H. Department of... → Read More
After decades of neglect of Franklin Opera House, fire chief has had enough
Decades of “kicking the can down the road” have caught up with one of Franklin’s most iconic buildings.Spurred by last year’s ultimatum from Fire Chief Michael Foss, the city council on Monday unanimously voted to spend up to $60,000 to start the... → Read More
Granite Geek: New England’s solar farms have tripled output over five years, are still pretty small
Solar and wind accounted for about 7% of the electricity produced by generators within New England in 2022, according to the group that oversees the power grid, with solar growing much faster than wind power in recent years.Solar farms made about 3.4%... → Read More
In Henniker, town concerts draw debate about value of community and role of government
There’s a town meeting truism that the smallest items can generate the most discussion. That proved accurate Tuesday in Henniker, where almost all the debate concerned summer concerts that would cost 1/10th of 1 percent of the operating budget.By the... → Read More
Granite Geek: Concord library asks, why buy if you can borrow? And not just books
In the latest twist of the borrow-things-rather-than-own-them movement, Concord Public Library has unveiled a novel program in which they’re lending out stuff as varied as ukuleles, soil analyzers and paper shredders.At least, I thought it was novel.... → Read More
Long dormant Tenney Mountain Ski Area in Plymouth set to reopen
After several false starts in past winters, Tenney Mountain Ski Resort in Plymouth is expected to finally reopen this coming week, more than a dozen years after it last operated fully, although a complete rebirth is still years away.The resort, which... → Read More
‘You’re like a teenager with a credit card’ – spending pushback leads to cuts in Boscawen budget
Following three hours of public comment that an 11% hike in the operating budget is way too much, especially when combined with some expensive warrant articles, Boscawen voters will see a smaller proposed increase when town meeting happens in... → Read More
This Arctic blast may not be a record but it can still kill you quickly
The Arctic blast coming through the region on Friday and Saturday may not produce record cold but temperatures will fall far below zero and, combined with high winds, will be very dangerous.In what is becoming a more common winter occurrence, air... → Read More
Boscawen budget hearing to consider proposed 11% hike
A proposed 11% increase in the operating budget for the town of Boscawen, fueled by increases in personnel and police department costs, will be the subject of a public hearing on Thursday evening.The proposal calls for spending $473,000 more than last... → Read More
Granite Geek: Can art help teach science to scientists?
Pardon me for sounding cynical but over the years I have become dubious about claims that art can bring science to the masses. It seems to me that translating the quantitative into the qualitative usually creates little insight for the general... → Read More
Free public access to law library material being offered
Free online access is being offered to Westlaw, a database for legal reference materials that is widely used by attorneys to research state and federal laws, regulations and court cases. The New Hampshire Law Library is participating in a pilot... → Read More
Difficulty getting volunteers and the pandemic shut Laconia Hospital auxiliary after 129 years
Difficulty getting volunteers and the pandemic shutdown have delivered a one-two punch to Laconia Hospital’s auxiliary, closing a group that was founded in 1893.“It was a hard, hard decision to make,” said Paulette Adams, president of the auxiliary,... → Read More
Canterbury hopes to ‘community power’ towns that buy their own electricity
The town of Canterbury hopes to join dozens of others in New Hampshire that will be buying their own electricity, showing that size is no obstacle for what seems a dauntingly complex move.“It was not hard to find a group of eight volunteers that were... → Read More