Category: NHPR

Or Tonight…

If you were listening to NHPR last night and didn’t hear my PSNH/CPD piece, it isn’t because you weren’t listening intently.

I had a computer meltdown and then a server issue that nearly caused me to throw my computer out the window. The large audio files I was using (new recorder) overwhelmed my editing program, and the final mix had large gaps in the sound. I raced to patch it together in time for All Things Considered last night, but it wasn’t happening.

So it’ll be on tonight. Luckily the only time reference in the story is to Friday, so one day late doesn’t matter.

It’s a shame though—with the limited time I had to tell the story I wasn’t able to get into the meat as much as I would like. It’s the same issue as the paper: stories are money, and companies and organizations only have so much money.

I have the sound, however, to tell the story a little more completely, although it may come out a little closer to 10 minutes (for NHPR it was three). I am thinking about mixing it together and throwing it up here, with more depth.

Anyway, it will be on tonight around 5:45, and then again tomorrow morning. I hope I didn’t mess anyone up by giving them the information a day early. But believe me, no one was more distraught than I.

Budgeting Berlin

The council passed a budget last night that laid off six city employees, all of them teachers. The police department, fire department and public works department all avoided layoffs.

It was a close finish to the most important part of the council’s year. If the council’s goals are the same next year they will face an even more challenging scenario, but they pulled it off this year.

A representative from one of the city employee’s unions told me last night they could have found an additional $300,000 in savings, but after the council rejected the teachers’ proposal no one else wanted to be next. That might be ingredient that enables the city to keep the tax rate flat next year.

$200,000 made it in to take down dilapidated properties the city got through tax deeding, and $200,000 more for street repair. While those are minuscule amounts compared to what the city needs the council is clearly committed to upgrading the city’s aging infrastructure, though it has limited resources.

So if you live in Berlin, your taxes shouldn’t go up and your services shouldn’t go way down. The battles may have left some bad blood (a firefighter spoke last night with some strong words for the council) and class sizes are going to go up, but the fire department isn’t getting any smaller.

Now the city just has to expand its tax base. Easier said than done.

On another note, if you’re looking for an update on the CPD/PSNH dispute listen to NHPR tonight. My story about how some people feel PSNH is deciding Berlin’s future through its control of the energy markets should air around 5:45 p.m. It will have the latest on the easement issue. I talked to a number of councilors about this, but I tried to restrict the voices to those of people in the middle, instead of ardent CPD supporters or opponents. I only had four minutes to explain years, but I think it came out well. Let me know what you think.

A PPA and more

It’s official: PSNH has reached an agreement with Laidlaw Berlin Biopower to buy their power. The PUC still has to approve the PPA to ensure it is in the best interests of the rate payers, but this is a big step toward getting financing for a major generation project for any private developer.

At the same time there are some new roadblocks to CPD’s project, which will be in next week’s paper (Tuesday night meetings vs. weekly paper schedule). Again it involves PSNH. Energy, it again seems, will be a big part of the coming Reporter.

I’m also seeing if I can do an NHPR story on CPD and Laidlaw.

At the end of Wednesday night’s meeting there was a short debate about the mayor’s position on the two plants, as well as those of several other councilors, which didn’t make it into my council story last week. I had to follow up on a major story I’d done two weeks before, and by the end of it I didn’t have room for a new version of on an old argument. Not that the argument is unimportant, but I simply didn’t have room.

In fact, a lot happened on Monday night that didn’t make it into either paper. That’s how it always happens. There just isn’t enough space dedicated to news to capture all that goes on at those meetings. Those decisions are made by publishers, but reporters, editors and citizens have to live with it.

It makes me wonder about all mediated messages. It’s impossible to follow all that’s going on, but it is imperative residents stay informed. The media doesn’t have room for all of it, but unfortunately in Berlin there is seldom any other account of events. When Mayor Grenier asked for public comment on Monday night at the start and end of the meeting the only person in the audience was Bobby Haggart. There funny looks from councilors who recognized the absurdity of the moment.

Thus my version of what happened, and that of the daily’s reporter (both inevitably incomplete), make up the story of Monday night’s meeting. The councilors also have their opinions of the discussion, but their views reflect their politics. Residents don’t have access to a complete, unbiased view of the meeting. A few more first hand accounts would be phenomenal.

(Some people would say the meeting minutes provide this, but I assure you they are incomplete; not in content, perhaps, but in emotion. The debates often involve backstory and personnel interactions that the secretary doesn’t write down. It’s like reading a script versus watching a movie—one doesn’t compare to the other.)

People come out for issues, but not to ensure their city is run to their liking. For day to day decisions, often only the reporters (and Mr. Haggart) are watching. And there just isn’t enough newsprint available to capture it all.

Do you ever notice the daily has three stories on Wednesday about what happened on Monday? They could do more, too, if they had a bigger news hole. It’s amazing how much goes on in the evenings at city hall, and how few residents are engaged.

But then again, maybe the silence is approval. The budget hearing last month was much quieter than I’d expected, considering teachers, cops, public works employees and firefighters are all getting laid off. Maybe Berlin is OK with that. Maybe even thought the papers can’t get the word out people are confident the politicians are doing a fine job. Aside from the occasional street name change perhaps everyone is happy.

That seems like a stretch. I’ve talked to many people who don’t like what’s going on there, but then I never see them at public comment times. Everyone who cares about the city must know the papers do not have the space to answer all the pressing questions, and residents have to take a keen interest if they want to see Berlin thrive. The best stories develop largely through interactions with residents and seeing what people care, often at these meetings. Media doesn’t act alone. It takes engaged citizens to generate engaging reporting. And it isn’t enough to just read the stories. People need to show up.

Sweet Sound

I took a break from Reporter work this morning to get a little NHPR work done. I spoke to the guy who runs the music store in North Conway about the blossoming classical and jazz scene in the area. Brian is a oboe, bassoon and didgeridoo player, and in the back of his shop is an instrument repair station and a reed manufacturing desk. I got to watch him put together a few double reeds (different than the single reeds for saxophones, have to be handmade). He sells them to oboe and bassoon players around the country. It’s surprising what you find in the back of little stores around here.

Hopefully it all comes together for this NHPR piece I’m working on. I’ll be sure to keep the updates coming. I liked the reed photo though and thought it was worth sharing.

More Projects…

I’ve been a little quiet recently, because in addition to my Reporter work I’ve been working on two NHPR pieces and two other side projects. All of them have connections to or roots in the North Country (well, not one of the NHPR pieces) and I’m am super excited about them. It is interesting the possibilities available around here to people with the right set of skills and the right level of enthusiasm. I’m hoping they all come to fruition, because every one of them will tell a little part of the story of the North Country.

Also, I’m heading to the Coös Symposium in a couple weeks. It’s right at the wrong time, in some respects, as I have to figure out if I want to miss the budget hearing in Berlin or if I’ll be commuting. But I’m excited to hear what people in Coös have to say and what sort of solutions come out of the event. What do people think of it, I wonder? Do you look at it as a worthwhile exercise? I don’t really know what to expect, but I’d love to hear people’s opinions, both from people who have gone and those who have watched it happen for the past few years.

Berlin in the News

And no, it has nothing to do with fires. Or the election, Laidlaw, CPD or anything else particularly controversial.

Here’s the ATV story I did for NHPR. I put it to some photos I had, though only one of them is actually from reporting the story. Blogger doesn’t just let me upload MP3s to the site, so I had to make it a movie. Enjoy!

Update: Here’s a link to the story on NHPR. The transcript mixes up east and west, but I caught it while recording it and got it right for the story.

Update: Here’s the video organizers shot of taking the trail through town. It’s about four and a half miles, and it takes about 15 minutes. It will open Saturday.

NHPR News

I got my script approved for my Berlin ATV story. Going to record it tomorrow and send it to them. It should play sometime near the end of the week. Working to fill the rest of the state in on what’s going down up in Berlin.

So donate to NHPR—maybe a small part of that donation will come back to me.

Update: Just finished mixing the final audio and uploading to NHPR’s server. I’ll try to keep people posted as to when it airs, but often I get a call half an hour before hand telling me to listen in. Usually they play around 5:45 p.m. and then 7:15 a.m the next day. I would expect it either today, tomorrow or Friday, so make sure to listen.

After it plays I’ll be sure to include a link here for anyone who misses it.

Update: The story aired tonight at 5:45-ish. Let me know if you heard it. I caught it, and a friend who owns a house in Berlin gave me a call about it. It will also be on tomorrow morning. I’ll do a fresh post with the story shortly and a link, but I don’t want to try to overshadow the debate video with good press about Berlin. I pitched it with a Berlin versus it’s past perspective, so there isn’t a lot of controversy about the trail in the story. The fact is at all the public hearings and discussions about the trail I only heard one person opposed to it. So I think it’s a pretty accurate reflection of the situation. I hope you get to hear it.

Local, Local, Local

On the ride to Berlin this morning I was listening to NHPR, and I heard an story on the success of local newspapers. It gave me hope that the Berlin Reporter, and even the local daily, can survive and thrive. I have received a fair bit of positive feedback (and a little negative as well) about the Reporter’s coverage of the area. Like Berlin, the paper has to provide a quality product to attract people. In our case it’s advertisers, the basis of the newspaper business model. The stories I’ve been covering hopefully are the kind of local coverage people are looking for, the kind the NPR story was talking about communities celebrating. Is the Reporter thriving financially? I have no idea. There is supposed to be a firewall between the editorial side of the paper and the advertising side of the paper; at the Reporter, it’s more of an ocean than a firewall. Because I basically work out on my own, with direction from my editor, I hear less than nothing from that side of the business. But I feel like the coverage has been well received and maybe a breath of fresh air in the city.
As far as I can tell, people are reading the paper. Some don’t like it, but more hopefully do. I trust all those who are reading it are buying it (come on, it’s only 50 cents!) and/or advertising in it. The local paper is invaluable to the development of a community, and its was good to hear they are at community papers are surviving. I feel I’m doing good work for Berlin, and I’d hate to see that work disappear.
So go down to the corner store and buy a Berlin Reporter. If you live out of town get a subscription. If you like this blog buy a paper, because if the Reporter were to close I’d have a lot less to write about. (I’d probably make it up to Berlin a lot less to, which would be a shame.) The paper fills a different niche than the daily, and both are valuable to the community. The NY Times wrote about how some major cities may soon lose all their daily papers. Berlin is lucky to have the strong newspapers it does.
Maybe there is a future for both the Reporter and Berlin in the 21st century. I hope so.

Disclaimer: I have probably screwed up a bunch as the Reporter’s reporter, misquoting and misrepresenting people in all sorts of ways. I said valuable, not infallible.

Our Town

My story on Our Town Biodiesel aired this evening on NHPR News. It profiles Forrest Letarte, the 25 year old founder and CEO of Our Town, which takes waste vegetable oil and turns it into home heating oil fuel. It’ll be on tomorrow morning as well, and you can listen to it on NHPR’s website. Check it out.

It isn’t a video at all — it isn’t possible to upload MP3s to Blogger, so I set it to photos. I only had two from this project, so they repeat. Listen anyway.

Our Town

This morning I interviewed the CEO of a Tamworth company, Our Town Biodiesel, for a piece I’m working on a piece for NHPR News. Our Town was started by a 25 year old in his dad’s garage. It turns waste vegetable oil from restaurants into biodiesel and sells it as home heating oil.

It makes me wonder what it takes to succeed. Forrest Letarte graduated from Plymouth State two years ago and works in Boston. He comes home every weekend to run the business. He runs it out of his dad’s garage with his dad Hank’s help. Hank fired up a tractor powered by biodiesel — it smells like barbecue chips and runs 70 percent cleaner than regular diesel.

Forrest and Hank sold 4,500 gallons last year and expect to double that this year. At $3 a gallon it’s a good weekend job; if the price goes up further it could become lucrative.

New Hampshire has such incredible diversity, between the southern, central and northern parts of the state, but I’m still waiting to happen upon this type of entrepreneurial venture in Berlin, but I’ve got hope. There is room for creative thinking up there. Between the low cost of property and the diesel powered industries (i.e. logging) being mostly off-road (you don’t have to pay IRS gas tax for offroad operation like a skidder) someone could be reasonably successful running a similar business. I don’t see anyone getting rich, but in a region looking for this type of investment and the low costs of launching such an operation, it seems it could make someone a living wage.

In Tamworth, Forrest comes home every weekend to make his business thrive while also making an environmental difference. Where are the entrepreneurs returning to Berlin to make a difference, ecologically or economically?