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Saco Valley Land Trust Gets Holiday Gift Of 77 Acres In Madison

A part of Forest Brook that is now protected as a part of the newly acquired 77 acres of land in Madison ~ Photo courtesy of The Upper Saco Valley Land Trust

MADISON, NH – The Upper Saco Valley Land Trust got the gift of 77 acres in Madison this holiday season. The property is located on Glines Hill and Bickford Roads, both designated as scenic roads by the Town of Madison, and includes thousands of feet of natural, undeveloped road frontage for the scenic enjoyment of anyone traveling these roads.

At the headwaters of Forest Brook and within the town’s Groundwater Protection District, the property is now permanently protected from development, which might otherwise downgrade the water quality of the Forest Brook watershed.

Bob and Priscilla Dannies are no strangers to the Land Trust or land conservation. They have previously donated conservation easements to the Land Trust protecting over 100 nearby acres on Glines Hill Road in Madison and Eaton.

“We have enjoyed hiking in NH for many, many years and are happy to do our part to protect the scenic beauty of this area” said Bob and Priscilla. “We truly appreciate all that the Land Trust has done over the years to protect this area as well.”

“We are extremely grateful to the landowners for working with the Land Trust once again to protect this important natural resource” said the Land Trust’s president, Doug Burnell.  “We hope this donation serves as a catalyst for additional land conservation in the watershed of Forest Brook.”

The Upper Saco Valley Land Trust is a non-profit organization that works with  local landowners to permanently protect the lands and waters in the upper Saco Valley area.  Founded as a grassroots initiative in September 2000, the Land Trust preserves land for community benefit in the watershed of the upper Saco River in the towns of Bartlett, Hart’s Location, Jackson, Conway, Albany, Madison, Chatham, and Eaton in New Hampshire and Fryeburg, Brownfield, and Denmark in Maine.

The Land Trust’s goal is to promote a healthy, sustainable balance between developed lands, natural lands and productive rural landscapes. Together with partnership projects, the Land Trust has completed 62 land conservation projects and protected over 11,400 acres throughout its service area. For more information about the organization, visit www.usvlt.org or call (603) 356-9683.

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Obamacare Coverage In New Hampshire Passes 50,000

 

CONCORD (AP) — An organization that helps people understand the Obama-era health care law and connects them with resources says more than 50,000 New Hampshire residents enrolled in a plan for 2018 during the shortened sign-up period that ended Dec. 15.

Covering New Hampshire says the total of 50,275 includes people who renewed coverage from 2017 or got coverage for the first time.

About 20,000 customers of Minuteman Health, which isn’t offering plans for 2018, have until March 1 to select a new plan.

The next open enrollment period is Nov. 1-Dec. 15 for 2019 health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act if it isn’t repealed.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says more than 8.8 million people enrolled in the 39 states served by the federal HealthCare.gov website, 96 percent of the total last year. That exceeds what experts thought was possible after another year of political battles, rising premiums and insurer exits.

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Lincoln Ice Castles Getting Ready To Open

Photo courtesy of icecastles.com

LINCOLN, NH (AP) – Hand-crafted ice castle sculptures are nearly ready for viewing in Lincoln, New Hampshire. The target opening date is early January and it will be the fourth year that the town has had the sculptures, complete with tunnels, slides, thrones and cool lighting.

It’s one of five ice sculptures being built by the Ice Castles company. The others are in Utah; Colorado; Minnesota; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Alberta.

Thousands of icicles are placed onto existing ice formations before getting sprayed with water. The castles also include art that is made up of 25 million pounds of ice spiraling to heights around 40 feet. The ice is embedded with color-changing LED lights set to a musical soundtrack. The castles usually melt in March.

For more information and to purchase tickets go to Icecastles.com/lincoln

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Cancellations & Delays for Friday, December 22

school-closings2

Early Release

 

Schools

SAU 9, Conway – High School at 11:30am, Elementary School 12:30pm

SAU 13, Freedom, Madison, Tamworth – High School at 11:30am, Elementary School 12:30pm

SAU 49, Wolfeboro, Ossipee – High School at noon, Elementary School 1pm

Robert Frost Charter School – 1pm

Businesses & Organizations

Carroll County Adult Education –  12:30pm and No Evening Classes

 

 Cancellations & Delays are brought to you by these local businesses

 

Granite State Glass

 

VALLADARES TRANSPORTATION

& DIESEL REPAIR

 

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Governor Sununu Kills Toll Increase Proposal

CONCORD, NH – There will not be an increase in toll prices in New Hampshire. Governor Chris Sununu announced that he will not allow the toll increase that the Department of Transportation had proposed.

In New Hampshire the governor controls what items appear on the agenda of Executive Council meetings, and he also has the power to negate a council vote.

The proposal would have raised an estimated $37 million annually by increasing toll amounts statewide.

It was originally set to be voted on by the Executive council earlier this month. However at the request of the DOT the vote was postponed till January to allow for public comments on the issue.

The Governor said in a statement “After hearing from citizens across the state, reviewing feedback from the public comment sessions, and conferring with members of the Executive Council following yesterday’s final GACIT hearing, my position has not changed. Had the Council ultimately voted in favor of toll increases, I would have negated their vote. Dragging this process out is not productive. As such, I will not allow this toll increase to move forward. I was sent to Concord to fight for the working men and women of New Hampshire, and that is what I am doing. Merry Christmas”

The Governor also created the hashtag nocoalnotolls on his facebook page.

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Wolfeboro Woman Convicted Of Animal Cruelty Will Not Be Serving Jail Time

The Humane Society of the United States works with the Wolfeboro Police Dept. to rescue approximately 70 Great Danes from a suspected puppy mill on Friday, June 16, 2017, in Wolfeboro, N.H. ~ Photo Courtesy of Meredith Lee/The HSUS

 
OSSIPEE, NH – The woman convicted of the animal cruelty of dozens of Great Danes in Wolfeboro will not serve any jail time. Thursday morning a judge sentenced Christina Fay to 12 months suspended and pay $800,000 in restitutions.

The Judge also ordered that she would be able to keep only one spayed or neutered dog of her choosing and that she can only own one animal at a time for the rest of her life.

Fay’s lawyers said earlier this week that she plans to appeal the ruling. The judge ruled that is Fay does appeal she will have to post a bond of $2,000 per dog.

In June 75 Great Danes were seized from Fay’s Wolfeboro mansion and 9 were seized from her property in Bartlett. Wolfeboro Police said the animals were suffering from health problems and living in their own waste.

Wolfeboro Police Chief Dean Rondeau said in a press release “The Wolfeboro Police Department is delighted with the sentence ordered by Honorable Judge Greenhalgh, which is consistence with the Rule of Law, fairness and equability. We hope the Defendant accepts the court rulings and moves on from here.”