12/24/04 - FREMONT - Sam, a 3-year-old golden retriever, is a survivor. Sam has been lost in Rockingham County since May 17 when he got away from his owner while on a walk in Candia. He has been spotted most recently in Fremont and Raymond walking along the road or grabbing a bite to eat in a farmer’s barn.

12/24/04 - PLAISTOW - Safety concerns, which surfaced following last week’s incident involving a gun in Timberlane High School and the discovery of a threatening note the next day, were the topic of conversation Tuesday night as more than 100 parents, students and administrators gathered at the Performing Arts Center (PAC).

12/24/04 - As area residents decorate their Christmas tree or cozy up to their fireplace this winter, they should remember a few safety tips.

12/24/04 - NEWTON - Memorial School will not qualify for Title I, federal funding based on students’ economic status, next year. The money has provided additional reading programs for students for the past several years.

12/24/04 - BRENTWOOD - It is remarkable to celebrate one’s 110th birthday. It is extraordinary to do so in good health, with all of one’s faculties intact.

12/24/04 - KINGSTON - Santa will be in town early on Christmas Eve to sit for photos at the Central Fire Station from 3:30 to 4 p.m.

12/24/04 - PLAISTOW - The Timberlane Regional School District last week reviewed several proposed warrant articles, which include a fifth attempt to get kindergarten in the district.

12/24/04 - RAYMOND - Students in Chris Aylward’s fourth-grade class at Lamprey River Elementary School spent last Tuesday learning about energy and touring the school to identify where energy can be saved.

12/24/04 - KINGSTON - The Nichols Memorial Library board of trustees is working on a petition warrant article requesting $40,000 to put into a capital reserve account toward renovation or construction of a new library.

12/24/04 - KINGSTON - Lara Rose Kikosicki, a fifth-grade teacher at the D.J. Bakie School, is one of three teachers in New Hampshire recently honored as a National Board Certified Teacher.

12/24/04 - PLAISTOW - Timberlane Regional School District administrators still don’t know who wrote a threatening note found outside the high school library last Friday, but at this point they believe it was a hoax.

12/24/04 - KINGSTON - Not a creature is stirring ... not even a rat. Local authorities are still investigating several recent reports of large rats in the area of Little River Road, but all has been quiet this past week.

12/24/04 - RAYMOND - Voters will not see a $300,000 request on the March ballot for the purchase of the state highway shed on Route 27 and the parcel of land it sits on. Selectmen tabled the proposed purchase because they said the price is too high.

12/24/04 - RAYMOND - After four months of negotiations, town officials and the police union, Teamsters Local 633 of New Hampshire, have reached a three-year agreement that offers $136,746 toward improving police benefits over the next few years.

12/24/04 - RAYMOND - Superintendent James Turbeville presented the proposed school district warrant articles, including a bond for $13.8 million to replace the middle school, to the Budget Committee on Tuesday night.

12/24/04 - Claire Gagnon, co-owner of Mobil on the Run in Stratham, said in a phone interview that she is "thrilled" with the current low gas prices, and so are her customers.

12/24/04 - RAYMOND - Town Planner Craig Wheeler presented zoning amendments proposed for the March ballot to the Planning Board and the public last week during a hearing.

12/24/04 - FREMONT - A pink-slip-casualty, Brad Shattuck is in his fifth month of unemployment. Broke and in debt up to his ears, he is finding it harder and harder to feed and clothe his injured wife and their four children.

12/24/04 - RAYMOND - Charlene Burke, owner of Salon 27 in Raymond, says hairdressing is a talent that runs in her family.

12/24/04 - RAYMOND - It’s about 3 p.m. on Dec. 20, and J.R. Jacobs of Yankee Food Market in Raymond is expecting to wrap Christmas presents the next day. Something muddles her plans - more than 300 holiday orders to fill. When she and her husband, Tom Jacobs, bought the business three years ago, they made a pact to continue the tradition of supplying fresh turkeys, prime rib, and other holiday staples to local customers.

12/24/04 - ATKINSON - The Atkinson Resort & Country Club, open to the public seven days a week, is offering cross country skiing and ice skating on its grounds throughout the winter, weather permitting. On Friday and Saturday evenings, skaters can warm up around a bonfire on the resort premises, weather permitting.

12/24/04 - CONCORD - As the temperature starts to drop outside, thoughts turn to keeping warm and winter fuel bills. The New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning already indicates significantly higher fuel costs this year compared to last year. Still, you don’t have to live in an icebox! You can cut your energy bills, help the environment and still stay warm by taking a few simple steps to maximize your home’s energy efficiency.

12/24/04 - PLAISTOW - Bids for the renovation of Town Hall came in this week and are much higher than town officials anticipated.

12/24/04 - HAMPSTEAD - The Hampstead School Board announced the proposed budget for 2005 will total $18,992,673, a 2.7 percent increase over last year.

12/24/04 - BRENTWOOD - A Rockingham County superior court judge has granted temporary piece of mind to 65 families living in a local campground this the winter.

12/24/04 - DANVILLE - Two first-graders have already filled their library cards, reading 30 books each and making them the first two recipients of the Eager Reader award at Danville Elementary School this year.

12/24/04 - EPPING - The Board of Selectmen expects to approve the final budget numbers after the first of the year, with preliminary numbers slightly down from last year. With only the water and sewer budget left to present to the board, 2005’s budget is at $3,829,325, down from 2004’s $4,116,394, a decrease of about 7 percent.

12/24/04 - SANDOWN - In an effort to improve public transportation in the Greater Derry-Salem area, a member of the Rockingham Planning Commission made a presentation to selectmen on Dec. 13 in an attempt to gain the town’s support.

12/24/04 - DANVILLE - ‘Tis the season for giving, and giving of themselves is just what the staff and students at Danville Elementary School have been doing for more than a month this holiday season.

12/24/04 - Christmas. What comes to mind when one sees that word? Millions of things to millions of people. For Christians, the day marks the birth of Jesus Christ, and it is observed in many countries in many ways.

12/24/04 - The following people passed away recently. . .

12/24/04 - Area police made the following arrests and conducted the following business recently...

12/24/04 - The Timberlane Regional High School varsity hockey program has opened the season with two straight wins, earning a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over perennial power Kingswood, followed by a 7-1 victory over Winnacunnet.

12/24/04 - The Raymond High School girls basketball team is off to a 2-2 start, but even in defeat the Rams have given indication that this will be a season where Raymond should challenge for a playoff berth and make things difficult for teams up and down the Class M schedule.

12/24/04 - BOSTON - "It's an emergency! You need a chopper! You need a chopper out!" With those urgent words, fishing boat captain Tony Alvernaz set off a futile Coast Guard search for five New Bedford scallopers, lost in the rolling seas off Nantucket.

12/24/04 - BOSTON - Investigators reviewing the construction of wall panels in the Big Dig's Interstate 93 tunnel planned to wrap up the first phase of their inspections early Friday morning by looking at two panels along one section of the tunnel.

12/24/04 - FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marine infantrymen fought with insurgents in Fallujah on Thursday as warplanes and tanks bombarded guerrilla positions in the heaviest fighting here in weeks. The clashes raged as nearly 1,000 residents returned to the devastated city for the first time since U.S. troops drove out most of the militants last month.

12/24/04 - PORTLAND, Maine - A Maine Army National Guard medic’s "mass casualty plan" is credited with saving lives following an explosion in a mess tent in Iraq that killed 22 people including two soldiers from the 133rd Engineer Battalion.

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.

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