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Study Names Maine #1 State To Be A Nurse In, NH #8

New Hampshire is one of the top 10 best states to be a nurse according to a new study.

In celebration of National Nurses Week the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2018’s Best & Worst States for Nurses. New Hampshire came is as Number 8 and Maine was ranked as number 1.

WalletHub compared the relative attractiveness of the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 21 key metrics including monthly average starting salary, health-care facilities per capita, and projected share of elderly population in 2030. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for nurses.

Maine tied for the most job opportunities and had the 2nd highest percentage of population over 65 by 2030.

The Nursing Market in New Hampshire (1=Best; 25=Avg.)

  • 27th – Nurses per Capita
  • 17th – Projected Share of Elderly Population by 2030
  • 8th – Nursing-Job Openings per Capita
  • 12th – Projected Competition by 2024
  • 2nd – Avg. Number of Work Hours

The Full study can be found at https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-nurses/4041/

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New Hampshire Electrical Coop Employees Go On Strike

 

CONCORD,NH – New Hampshire Electric Coop Employees went on strike today. According to the NHEC 83 employees represented by The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 1837 went on strike after negotiations failed.

The contract between the union and the NHEC expired on April 30th and despite meeting 18 times over the past several months workers and the company could not come to an agreement on a new contract.

The company has offered union members the same pension and 401k benefits that are currently offered to non-union employees, but the union rejected that offer last week because the company wanted to reserve the right to change the benefit in the future if it became necessary to change it for non-union employees.

NHEC said in a press release that they have a contingency plan that will provide for adequate coverage of power outages. The Coop said “Certified line crews have been engaged and will be accompanied on any outage calls by non-union NHEC employees who are familiar with the service territory.”

NHEC’s Control Center will still be staffed 24 hours a day and members should still report outages to the NHEC Outage line at 1-800-343-6432, or online at www.nhec.com.

The company said “The company remains committed to working with the union and has requested the involvement of a federal mediator to restart the contract talks. At this time there are no new negotiating sessions scheduled. ”

 

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Teens Stranded On Icy New Hampshire Trail Rescued

LINCOLN, N.H. (AP) — Two teenagers from Massachusetts have been rescued from an icy New Hampshire trail considered too dangerous for descending any time of year.

New Hampshire Fish and Game says the 17-year-old and 18-year-old hikers from Lynnfield, Massachusetts, had planned to ascend the Liberty Spring Trail in Lincoln on Saturday and come down the Flume Slide Trail. Officials say the pair weren’t prepared for the conditions, which included high flowing streams and ice. They also had neither traction devices nor sufficient overnight gear and were unaware that descending the steep trail is not recommended.

Members of the Pemi Valley Search and Rescue Team, who were doing a training hike nearby, joined Fish and Game in helping the teens to safety.

They reached the trailhead just after 1 a.m. Sunday.

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Negotiations Halt Plans For Electric Cooperative Strike

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Negotiations will resume Monday between between management and the union representing workers at the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, delaying for now plans for a strike.

New Hampshire Public Radio reports that union members had planned to strike after voting 79 to 1 to reject the company’s contract offer. But Dick Rogers, business manager for IBEW Local 1837, says the strike plan has been halted because the co-op agreed to continue negotiations on Monday.

One of the main sticking points was the utility’s provision to allow for changing pension and retirement plans for lineworkers without negotiation.

The utility, which has 84,000 customers in 115 communities, has a contingency plan to provide for adequate coverage of power outages and protect public safety in the event of a strike.

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State: Caretaker Attacked, Hurt By Seized Great Dane

Photo Courtesy of HSUS

OSSIPEE, N.H. (AP) — Lawyers for the state want one of the dozens of Great Danes seized from a New Hampshire woman euthanized, saying the 145-pound dog attacked and seriously injured a caretaker who needed surgery.

Court documents say the dog was removed from his kennel for exercise on April 9 when he growled and lunged at the caretaker, biting her forearm and pulling her to the ground. The woman suffered bite wounds, cuts, and tissue damage to her shoulder and forearm.

The dog had been taken from 60-year-old Christina Fay, who faces sentencing next week on 17 counts of animal cruelty. Judge Amy Ignatius said she’d address the matter afterward.

The Humane Society says the dog is dangerous. Fay’s lawyers say the state has failed to offer enough information about what happened.

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Stow Resident Attacked By Suspected Rabid Bobcat

 

A bobcat, that is believed to be rabid, attacked Justin Plowden of Stow Maine biting his face and scratching his back. ~ Photo Courtesy of Carolynn Plowden

STOW, ME – A young man in Maine was attacked by a bobcat last night. According to Carolynn Plowden She was driving home with her son at around 7pm Wednesday when they spotted a bobcat in the the road a slight distance from their Union Hill home in Stow Maine.

After passing the animal Plowden said that her son, Justin, told her that the animal appeared to be following them.

After a few minutes of being home the family was told by a neighbor that a bobcat was headed towards their home through the woods.

The bobcat pictured above is believed to be rabid and attacked a young man in Stow Wednesday. ~ Photo Courtesy of Carolynn Plowden

Plowden said that the animal was acting very unusually.  Saying “It  had no fear. In the driveway my son looked out his window and saw it find a folded up tarp and just attack it, and start biting it.” She added that the animal seemed to have no reaction to her three dogs who were all barking at it from inside their home.

She said the animal then made its way into their barn. Her husband, John, and Justin shut the back door of the barn leaving the animal with just one exit so they could keep an eye on it. They then called Maine Game Wardens in order to confirm that it was in fact a bobcat and not a Lynx.

Plowden said the animal then leapt onto Justin biting his face and scratching his back.

A bobcat, that is believed to be rabid, attacked Justin Plowden of Stow Maine causing these puncture wounds to Justin’s back. ~ Photo Courtesy of Carolynn Plowden

Luckily John was able to get the animal off of Justin, but not without getting scratched himself. They attempted to shoot the animal, but it unfortunately ran off into the woods.

As a precaution both John and Justin have been treated for rabies.

Anyone who spots a bobcat, or other animal, acting suspiciously in the Stow and Lovell area is urged to contact the Maine Game Wardens at 1-800-228-0857.