12/14/04 - STRATHAM - Chris Avery of Stratham said there’s one question people always ask when they find out he performs in an annual production of "The Nutcracker" ballet suite. He has an answer at the ready. "No, we don’t wear tights."

12/14/04 - EXETER - While the Search Committee for the next Exeter High School principal is moving forward, several EHS teachers expressed concern that they are not having a voice in who will be their next leader.

12/14/04 - EXETER - The Board of Selectmen began the process of winnowing out unwanted warrant articles at Monday’s meeting, deciding whether they should remain as articles or be added to the town’s operating budget.

12/14/04 - STRATHAM - Many area towns may be experiencing explosive growth. But Stratham isn’t one of them - at least among families with school-age children.

12/14/04 - PLAISTOW - He was praised for his "fairness and dignity," for his "ministry and service to the Lord," and for being "too compassionate." And he was told over and over that he will be missed.

12/14/04 - EXETER - It’s part construction site, part archaeological dig. "It’s fascinating," said Charlie Traverse. "I love this stuff." Traverse and his wife, Julie, recently bought the building at 183 Water St., that is the former home of Wheelpower Bicycles and, before that, Louise’s Sport Shop.

12/14/04 - CMS giving back There are many groups in the schools doing many wonderful things for the community. The list below is only a sample.

12/14/04 - EXETER - The joint school boards of SAU 16 will consider a proposal for adding seat belts to school buses when the group meets next Monday night.

12/14/04 - EXETER - The whistle of a ghostly wind sounded through the darkened Phillips Exeter Academy Class of 1945 Library on Sunday afternoon, setting the mood for a dramatic reading of the Charles Dickens’ classic "A Christmas Carol."

12/14/04 - EXETER - The Lincoln Street Elementary School gymnasium crackled with seasonal high spirits Monday morning as the fifth-grade chorus and band and a newly formed string ensemble presented a festive holiday concert to their school community.

12/14/04 - EPPING - Of the 30 people who attended the annual Christmas tree lighting last week, the only expected guest not present was the baby Jesus, which had been stolen from the manger scene during the week.

12/14/04 - EPPING - Lisa Madison never expected any recognition for working with worms, but the Rockingham County Woodland Owner’s Association thought otherwise.

12/14/04 - NEWMARKET - The process to decide who will permanently replace Newmarket Police Chief Rodney Collins, who served his official last day on Nov. 30, will begin early next year, according to Town Council Chairman Brian Hart.

12/14/04 - NEWFIELDS - Newfields resident Alison Watts has been awarded a National Science Foundation fellowship for her graduate work at the University of New Hampshire’s College of Engineering and Physical Science.

12/14/04 - BRENTWOOD - Visitors to the Grace Ministries International Church on Sunday night witnessed an unusual sight. This past weekend was the third annual Bethlehem in Brentwood" event, in which members of the church staged a vivid re-creation of what the streets of Bethlehem might have looked like about 2,000 years ago.

12/14/04 - KENSINGTON - At this time of giving, three Kensington land owners banded together recently to give the town a gift of 100 acres in conservation easements.

12/14/04 - SEABROOK - Seabrook police arrested a man and a woman on Thursday on drug charges after the man admitted to police he had just smoked a marijuana cigarette.

12/14/04 - HAMPTON - Two parents of 11 students scheduled to be inducted into the National Honor Society at Winnacunnet High School - after Principal Ruth Leveille overturned a decision by a faculty selection council - said the process is flawed.

12/14/04 - HAMPTON - Mary-Louise Kurey, Miss Wisconsin 1999, paid a visit to the Seacoast area last week and spoke to more than 1,200 students from local schools about sexual abstinence, according to a press release from Sacred Heart School.

12/14/04 - CONCORD - The former New England chairman of President Bush’s re-election campaign pleaded innocent in federal court Monday to charges he helped jam Democrats’ get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002.

12/14/04 - CONCORD - Blame talking on cell phones, not wearing seat belts and increasing road rage on a growth in New Hampshire road deaths this year.

12/14/04 - EXETER - If the Red Sox can win a World Series, anything can happen. Just ask Richard Sorrentino, an Exeter resident who last week won two Red Sox collectible items from Dover radio station WTSN.

12/14/04 - SEABROOK - Seabrook’s drug coalition has turned regional as it joins others interested in combating drug and alcohol abuse. "The Seabrook coalition has morphed into the Seacoast coalition," said retired Seabrook police Sgt. Mike Frost.

12/14/04 - If you visit your friendly local post office this holiday season, you will be greeted by a new question beyond the typical pleasantries and holiday greetings. Unless you are mailing a simple postcard, you will be asked "Is there anything in your mail that is liquid, fragile, perishable or potentially hazardous?"

12/14/04 - About the time I began navigating around the holiday-baking displays at the grocery store this fall, a friend shared the story of a holiday dinner she’ll certainly never forget.

12/14/04 - In a year where sickening abuse of inmates at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison has grabbed news headlines, the humane treatment of prisoners in our own Rockingham County Jail stands out in stark contrast.

12/14/04 - The following people passed away recently. . .

12/14/04 - Area police made the following arrests and conducted the following business recently...

12/14/04 - EXETER — The Exeter High School girls basketball team showed why it is one of the teams to beat in Class L this year. The young Nashua North girls, too, showed a bright future.

12/14/04 - HAMPTON - Not long after their wrestling match, Winnacunnet’s Ryan Boover conversed with Exeter’s Andrew Dawkins. "We were just going over how the season’s going and being nice," said Boover, the Warriors’ senior co-captain. "Saying hi, and just talking."

12/14/04 - Phillips Exeter Academy has released its list of Most Valuable Players from the fall season. Coaches Award Senior midfielder and co-captain Kiele F. Raymond (Rye) has been honored with the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy Coaches’ Trophy for her efforts with the girls soccer program in 2004.

12/14/04 - PEA boys unbeaten EXETER — Believe it. The Big Red are back. The Phillips Exeter Academy boys hockey team improved its record to 6-0 with a win over one of its top rivals in a battle of unbeatens. Goalie Chris Mannix made 29 saves to lead the way.

12/14/04 - BOSTON - The number of cars using MBTA parking lots has increased by 2.1 million in the past six years, yet the MBTA’s share of share of revenue from those parking lots has dropped substantially, according to a state audit released Monday.

12/14/04 - BOSTON - Volunteers took to the streets to count the city's homeless population in an annual census that helps measure progress in finding homes and shelter for all.

12/14/04 - REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Spurred by Scott Peterson’s seeming lack of sorrow and remorse, a jury decided Monday that he deserves the death penalty for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, almost two years ago to the date.

12/14/04 - BAGHDAD, Iraq - An al-Qaida-linked suicide bomber blew up his vehicle Monday near cars waiting to enter the Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy and Iraq’s interim government, killing 13 Iraqis on the anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s capture.

12/17/04 - BURLINGTON, Vt. - A Milton man who crashed a car at high speed and then wandered into a house and kissed a sleeping couple is facing a variety of charges.

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