12/31/04 - It is human nature that as each year draws to a close, people reflect on the events of the past 12 months and ponder the impending future. With that in mind, it seems appropriate to reminisce about some of the more notable local events.

12/31/04 - "Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said countless times over the next few weeks. The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. First observed in ancient Babylon about 4,000 years ago, the holiday evolved to become a celebration to honor Janus.

12/31/04 - The first meeting and rehearsal for the Dover Irish Show will be held in the Saint Mary Academy gymnasium, at 22 Central Ave., Dover, on Sunday, Jan. 9, at 4 p.m.

12/31/04 - In the months since the voters approved the question of a Charter Commission, rumors have been circulating that candidates for the Charter Commission were in favor of changing the City's form of government, reducing the power of the city manager, or putting some type of tax controls in the charter.

12/31/04 - The HUB Family Resource Center, located at 23 Atkinson St. in Dover, is pleased to announce the appointment of Gregory Burdwood as executive director. Burdwood, a longtime Dover resident, assumed leadership of the 10-year-old organization in November.

12/31/04 - The Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce will announce the Dover Citizen of the Year and Chamber Volunteer of the Year at the Chamber's Volunteer Reception on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Newick's Seafood Restaurant in Dover. The Volunteer Reception is sponsored by Holy Rosary Credit Union.

12/31/04 - The Seacoast Chapter of the University of New Hampshire Alumni Association announces this year's scholarship fund-raiser will be held on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005, at Stillings Dining Hall on the UNH campus in Durham, starting at 4:30 p.m., followed by the UNH men's ice hockey game against Providence in the Whittemore Center at 7 p.m.

12/31/04 - As consumer reliance on electricity has increased, tolerance for power outages has declined. To combat the havoc wreaked by ice storms, thunderstorms, high winds and hurricanes, many homeowners turn to portable electric generators.

12/31/04 - EPA analysis of air quality indicates that New Hampshire has ambient concentrations of fine particles that meet current health standards.

12/31/04 - I can't believe Christmas is only a few days away. It seems like only yesterday I was walking down the beach with my trusted old dilapidated chair hung from my back, looking forward to the warm ocean breezes that makes our community so wonderful to live in.

12/31/04 - I'm watching a peaceful winter scene outside the window right now, as a small flock of juncoes and White-throated Sparrows scratch and peck at seed I've scattered on the ground near the bird bath.

12/31/04 - Join New Hampshire Theatre Project for an evening of delicious tunes, soulful poetry and poignant theatre in their second annual Midwinter Showcase, held Fridays and Saturdays, Jan. 7-8 and 14-15, at 8 p.m., and Sundays, Jan. 9 and 16, at 2 p.m.

12/31/04 - Durham's Mill Pond Center for the Arts new roster of enrichment courses is scheduled to begin in January. More than 100 enrichment class and workshop offerings include:

12/31/04 - Openings are available for the winter term in all of the vocal ensembles and choral groups at the Concord Community Music School, including Songweavers, the Men's Chorus and children's and teen choruses.

12/31/04 - If you thought you knew film, TV and pop music star Hilary Duff before, think again. Her new, self-titled Hollywood Records album, the follow-up to the 3-1/2 million-selling (5 million worldwide) "Metamorphosis," shows the remarkable creative growth spurt she has undergone.

12/31/04 - A musical phenomenon, Yanni's music defies borders and boundaries and speaks to people of all races and nations. Yanni will be performing some of his most moving and loved compositions as well as music from his album "Ethnicity," with his band and a full symphony orchestra, at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2005, at 8 p.m.

12/31/04 - The mandolin music and compositions of Bill Monroe and David Grisman will be the focus of a lunch-hour lecture and concert the first two Thursdays of January at the Concord Community Music School.

12/31/04 - The Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce welcomes new member TruSolace, a Dover business that offers a variety of therapeutic massage and skin care services.

12/31/04 - Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce members and guests recently made new business contacts and enjoyed a productive networking experience during the Chamber's December Business Open House at Unicel, located at 550 Central Ave.

12/31/04 - The Meat House co-owners Justin Rosberg and Jason Parent announce the launch of its new Web site, www.themeathouse.com.

12/31/04 - The Women's Business Center announces their January Roundtable Schedule:

12/31/04 - Resumes are the first contact between employers and potential new hires, and students at the University of New Hampshire are eager to put their best foot forward.

04/09/04 - The following are local births at Wentworth-Douglas Hospital...

12/31/04 - The state of New Hampshire has recently taken an irresponsible step in teacher certification. In one of his last acts, state education commissioner Nicholas Donohue has approved, reluctantly, a national certification procedure that requires no prior supervised work with students.

12/31/04 - To the Editor: As resident taxpayers in the city of Dover for 41 years, our property tax bill has risen from $7,741 in 2004, to $17,980 in 2005, an increase of 148 percent. Did our retirement or Social Security income increase 148 percent? I think not.

12/31/04 - The following people passed away recently. . .

12/31/04 - "Another year over and what have we done?" It's New Year's Eve, and people everywhere will reminisce about the past year and wonder about the New Year.

Every time my father celebrated a birthday, he would say something that would make my mother so angry at him. If the birthday was his 60th, he would say he was in his 61st year. And he was right.

Improving the status and living conditions of Granite State senior citizens is the focus of a unique community outreach project recently launched by New Hampshire Public Television and Easter Seals NH/Seniors Count.

The annual Christmas party was held at the Moose hall on Dec. 15. A good time was had by all. Thanks to Culinary Classic Catering for helping to make this special day a success.

12/31/04 - The University of New Hampshire's Whittemore Center Arena in Durham will be the site of the first annual "War at the Whitt" sled hockey tournament on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005.

12/31/04 - Dover Arena staff and skaters wish to pass on a warm thank you to Michael and Tyler Stebbins. Michael Stebbins of Dryden, Maine recently attended his son Tyler's hockey game at Dover Arena and kindly donated $100 toward the Dover Arena Rental Skate Fund.

12/31/04 - Dover Recreation announces that new sessions have been added to the Twenty Minute Workout program held at the McConnell Center. These sessions will run on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m.

12/31/04 - Shooting Stars Girls A.A.U. Basketball Club, one of the most established girls A.A.U. basketball programs in New England, is holding try-outs on Saturday, Jan. 22 and Sunday, Jan. 23, at the SportsZone Complex in Derry. Teams will be divided into girls aged 10 and under, 11 and under, 12 and under, and 13 and under.

12/31/04 - Would you like a newspaper with your morning cup of coffee? Now New Hampshire residents who cannot read conventional newspaper print have access to all of NFB-Newsline newspapers.

12/30/04 - BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - As the world scrambled to the rescue, survivors fought over packs of noodles in quake-stricken Indonesian streets Wednesday while relief supplies piled up at the airport for lack of cars, gas or passable roads to move them.

12/30/04 - BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces launched a new offensive Wednesday against insurgents in an area south of the capital dubbed the "triangle of death," while militants ambushed an elite Iraqi police unit in a Baghdad neighborhood known for its loyalty to ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, killing 29 people, most of them civilians.

12/30/04 - BOSTON - Attorney General Tom Reilly lobbied for control of the Big Dig’s cost recovery effort Wednesday, defending his decision not to push for control earlier despite years of spiraling cost overruns.

12/30/04 - BOSTON - There’s an unwritten code of urban etiquette on Boston’s narrow neighborhood streets: You shovel a parking space and it’s yours until enough of the snow has melted away to unclog the streets.

12/29/04 - KENMORE, Ohio -- A northeast Ohio family hoping to see choirs perform holiday music on Christmas morning instead saw adult programming on the local public access television station.

Get behind the lens with our award winning photographers. Check out their photos, read their bios, and see why Portsmouth Herald Photographers are consistently judged as some of the best and most talented in the New England area.

Read the work of many of your favorite Seacoast Newspaper columnists. Whether it be the cerebral slapstick humor of John Breneman or the witty humor of baby-boomer columnist Paul Briand you'll enjoy getting behind the stories with enlightened and often humorous takes on current news.