New Hampshire Public Radio: North County

The Balsams Resort in Dixville Notch is one of New Hampshire's historic grand hotels. The expansive property sits on about 11,000 acres which include a downhill ski area, an 18-hole golf course and miles of Nordic trails. In 2011 the struggling, outdated hotel finally closed and was sold to two businessmen from the North Country. Their efforts to revive it failed and in 2014 Les Otten, former head of the American Skiing Company, stepped in to take over the remote resort's redevelopment...

This month the Coos Planning Board is expected to continue reviewing developer Les Otten’s plan to greatly expand the ski area. And, that's likely to include how close skiers can get to the wind turbines on some of those mountains. The issue arises because Otten wants to give skiers the maximum vertical drop by getting them to the top of the mountains. But in 2009 when the Site Evaluation Committee was considering approving that wind farm it worried about people getting too close to the...

About 100 people gathered at the All Saints' Episcopal Church in Littleton to grieve and hear some members of the LGBT community share stories of the fear, hurt and sadness of the past, while expressing hope for a better, more compassionate and safer future.

The area around Berlin will get an economic boost in September as it hosts its first national ATV event at Jericho Mountain State Park. And one of the...

A bill that would allow landowners to sue for treble damages and legal fees for damage caused by off-road vehicles or dumping is heading to Governor Hassan’s desk. The New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association asked for the legislation, saying illegal dumping or damage from off-highway vehicles has become a serious problem, says executive director Jasen Stock. “The way the laws are written much of the duty for cleanup and restoration point to an agency of one type or another," he said....

Two of the four schools statewide being honored by a private group for excellence in education are in Coos County. The schools are the Lancaster Elementary, which covers grades K-8, and the White Mountain Regional High School in Whitefield. They were selected by the nonprofit New Hampshire Excellence In Education, which is not affiliated with the New Hampshire Department of Education. The awards are not based on test schools. Instead, the group says, it considers issues such as how well...

For decades an abandoned paper mill sat in the center of Lincoln and Butch Burbank says it has been depressing driving past it. It was a reminder of a prosperous past and challenging future. But now there’s a new building there. It’s called RiverWalk at Loon Mountain and it opens in June, the latest addition to a town that now lives on tourism. “For someone who has lived in this area all my life and remembers the old mill and what was there and what is going up now, it is pretty exciting,”...

After almost three years of study, Monday night fish and game officials from New Hampshire and Vermont said they will not go ahead with a controversial...

After an evening of auditions at Jean’s Playhouse, Clark’s Trading Post has found their new Wolfman. As NHPR’s Sean Hurley reports, actor, teacher,...

About seven percent of New Hampshire’s residents don’t have access to broadband. But in Coos County that jumps to about 31 percent. That's the worst - by a narrow margin - in the state, according to a new study by the University of New Hampshire. And much of Coos – which has about 33,000 residents – has no broadband access because the technology is typically offered in the southernmost and most populated part of the county. “There was a clear pattern of having all of the served parts of...

The plan to spend about $2.8 million to fix 1.8 miles of Golf Links Road, which connects the now-closed hotel with the golf course, got mixed reactions at a public meeting Monday in Colebrook. Supporters said it is important to help the Balsams because if it reopens it would be a huge boost to the economy of the North Country. Opponents said there are many roads in the North Country that need to be fixed. Those include roads that are in terrible shape and ambulances – sometimes carrying...

The department of transportation is holding a meeting this afternoon in Colebrook to discuss one of two projects that will significantly benefit the Balsams resort, even though businessman Les Otten doesn’t yet have the money he needs to resurrect the closed resort. The state will spend about $3.6 million this summer, with about $2.8 million of that going to fix 1.8 miles of Golf Links Road. It goes from the shuttered hotel to the golf course, but it belongs to the state. The 2 p.m....

This summer the state plans to help the developers of the Balsams by spending almost $3 million to fix a 1.8 mile road at the resort. The seasonal Golf Links Road connects the now-closed Balsams hotel and the golf course. The road, which belongs to the state, is in bad shape. Erosion, steep slopes and wetlands will make repairs along its 1.8 miles tricky, according to the minutes of a DOT meeting in January. Edit The price: $2.8 million. That compares to the $1.7 million to $2.1 million...

This past winter four New Hampshire friends set out for a 12 day thru hike of the Cohos Trail - 170 miles from Crawford Notch to the Canadian Border. When they began their hike in early February they had no idea that if they finished they'd become the first hikers to ever complete the trail in winter. NHPR's Sean Hurley has more. It was mid January, Gator Miller remembers, as he and his three friends, the Hart brothers - Ian, Ryan and Collin - set up their tents for a cold winter night on...

Voters in Groveton – which has been struggling since the paper mill there closed in 2007 and devastated its economy - took a fiscal leap of faith Saturday. They voted to borrow up to $400,000 to put sewage and water on privately owned land in the hope that businesses will locate there – and bring tax money and jobs. The $400,000 allows Groveton to seek another $600,000 in federal funds. If that federal grant comes through the total of $1 million would be used to install water and sewage on...

A $340,000 program opens Friday in the North Country to introduce high school students and adults to a job they probably never knew existed: computer-controlled machining. “There’s a dire need of CNC operators above the notch,” says Mike Currier, the manager of the Rotobec plant in Littleton. Its products include machinery for the forestry industry. CNC stands for computer numerical control and a CNC machinist uses a computer to control a sophisticated machine tool. Wages for such workers...

Town meetings are being held throughout the state and this year the most important – and unusual - in the North Country is in Groveton. Saturday, Groveton taxpayers will decide whether to spend money to help provide sewage and water for a privately owned industrial development in the hope of bringing jobs to the hard-luck town. “This is probably the best chance the town’s got to get something going,” says Selectman Jim Tierney, Jr. When he says “get something going” he’s talking about...

The Ride the Wilds ATV network covers about 1,000 miles in the North Country and now a new ATV group in Jefferson is looking at getting in on the economic action. At a meeting last week, members of the Jefferson ATV club said a link to Ride the Wilds might draw tourists to local businesses. But club president Roy Parkhurst said the first step was seeing how residents feel about the prospect. “It is a proposal. There is nothing written in stone here. You people are going to decide whether we...

Officials in the North Country are fighting a bill that would take a tax break designed to encourage business to locate in economically troubled Coos County and offer it statewide. In 2008, as Coos staggered from the closing of paper plants, the state approved a bill proposed by Rep. Fred King of Colebrook that would provide a tax break for business-related construction – assuming the local jurisdiction approved. But now Rep. Frank McCarthy of Conway says other areas, including his own...

Plymouth State University is reorganizing its Center for Rural Partnerships to provide more resources to help communities and businesses. And it gets a name change: now it will be the Center for Business and Community Partnerships. But the big difference is that resources from throughout the university will be available, says Donald Birx, who took over last year as president. That help ranges from arts and technology to health and human enrichment, tourism, environment and sustainable...