|
|
|
|
 Pre-ShowReturn to index of stories... |
Next on New Hampshire Outlook. Journalists from around the state debate the week's top stories. gamblings winners and losers. and some thoughts on patriot games. |
| Roundtable Return to index of stories... |
The Gambling bills that went down to defeat this week The IP lands purchase was approved Latest on the Berlin mills - Edith spoke with Commissioner George Bald this morning The state of the union Prediction for the Patriots in the Super Bowl Pete Foley commentary on the Super Bowl |
| Intro Patriots Return to index of stories... |
The super bowl. It's definitely appointment television for many New England football fans this weekend. Only thing is, lots of people haven't paid much attention to the team before now. Pete Foley teaches sports law at Franklin Pierce Law center and provides sports commentary for NHPR. This is his first for television |
| Patriots Commentary Return to index of stories... |
So you suddenly have a Super Bowl party to go to and you don't know Drew Bledsoe from Drew Barrymore. Don't worry, as a public service to the pigskin impaired, here's your Super Bowl Thirty-Six, Patriots Primer! For starters, meet Tom Brady, the younger and more popular, half of the notorious "Brady or Bledsoe" Quarterback Controversy. It's been clear, from Brady's first NFL start, that he's not your typical NFL player. The guy is smart, handsome, articulate -- and doesn't even have a criminal record! About the only bad thing you can say about Brady is that, for reasons known only to him and his haberdasher, he insists on wearing weird wool caps to post game press conferences -- the type of hat that should be worn only by men over the age of 70 and solely within the borders of the Republic of Ireland. See what I mean? And then there's the Patriots coach, Mr. Deadpan, Bill Belichick. Close your eyes during Belichick's pre-game interview, his voice bears a remarkable resemblance to Charles Grodin - on tranquilizers. Close your eyes during Belichick's post-game interview and you may not wake up until Super Bowl Thirty-Seven. Fortunately for the Pats, defensive geniuses need not also be A-list, cocktail party guests. The Pat's first playoff win, was the now-legendary, Saturday night - Snow Bowl game against the Raiders -- Disbelieving New England fans were pinching themselves through their parkas, when referee Walt Coleman reversed himself and decades of Patriots, bad-call karma , miraculously turning a season-ending Brady fumble into a harmless incomplete pass. If it weren't for, "Coleman's Call" -- well we'd all be sitting around trying to decide whether to watch an ice fishing tournament or sled dog racing this weekend! Now, you can't talk NFL football for long without a point spread prediction. On Sunday, your, fourteen-point underdog, New England Patriots will shock the football world! When a St. Louis field goal attempt hits a Superdome roof speaker and caroms back through the opposite goalpost, the Pat's beat the Rams twenty-seven to twenty-four, in overtime! |
| Tag Patriots Return to index of stories... |
One more thing. Pete plans to shave that beard AFTER the Patriots win on Sunday. I'm keeping mine no matter what. |
| Intro Mt Washington Return to index of stories... |
The first serious winter storm hit the state Thursday and Friday. Meteorgologist Nicole Plette has the view from the Mt. Washington Observatory. |
| Mount Washington Return to index of stories... |
Mt. Washington Observatory\Friday on the Summit\Foggy, ice pellets and freezing rain\Visibility: zero to 1/16 mile\Low: 9 degrees\Winds: 40-100 mph Overnight\North\Snow showers\Accumulation: 2"\Lows: 5-10 \Wind: NW 20-30\ Overnight\South\Mostly cloudy\Scattered snow showers\Lows: low teens\Winds: NW 20-30 Saturday\North\Partly sunny and windy\Highs: upper teens\Winds: NW 20-30\ Saturday\South\Mostly sunny and windy\Highs: low 20s\Wind: NW 20-30\ Saturday Night\Statewide\Clear \Lows: -5 to zero\Winds: 5-15 mph\ Sunday\Statewide\Increasing clouds\Chance of snow showers or flurries\Highs: Around 20\ |
| Intro Comm. calendar Return to index of stories... |
If you're not a football fan, here's a look at a few of the other weekend activities happening around the state. |
| community calendar Return to index of stories... |
CLASS\First Aid for Pets\Concord\February 2\603-225-6697 OUTDOORS\Hike\Jaffrey\February 3\603-532-6347 HISTORY\Chesterfield Story Circle\Chesterfield\February 3\603-363-8018 LECTURE\Grand Hotel\Concord\February 3\603-228-6688 WORKSHOP\Natural Healing for your child\Concord\February 5\603-228-7240 LECTURE\Mammals on the Move\Hanover\February 7\802-649-2200 OUTDOORS\Tracker's Delight\Laconia\February 9\603-366-5695 |
| Next OutlookTease Return to index of stories... |
On the next New Hampshire Outlook. Meet the man whose passion is invention. One on One with Dean Kamen |
| Goodnight Return to index of stories... |
That's all for this edition of Outlook. Thanks for joining us. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, I'm Richard Ager. Allison McNair will be back Monday at 10. |
| Founders Return to index of stories... |
Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundadtion Public Service of New Hampshire Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust Putnam Foundation Stratford Foundation |
| redistricting Return to index of stories... |
hmravbsthofls -- Republicans pushed through a plan to make senatorial districts better reflect population growth, but it faces a promised veto from Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen. The state Constitution requires the Legislature to bring districts in line with the latest Census numbers -- this year, that means creating districts with populations as close to 51-thousand 491 as possible. Yesterday's debate was largely one-sided, with Democrats using words and phrases such as ugly, voter fraud and gerrymandering against a plan they view as a deliberate attempt to stack the deck for Republicans. Judy Reardon, Shaheen's legal counsel, said the governor will veto the bill if it reaches her desk. |
| Enron notes Return to index of stories... |
Enron Notes Quick Facts about Enron based on their website: Assets $47.3 billion Miles of pipeline 30,000 Miles of Fiber 15,000 Number of countries active 40+ Number of Employees 21,000 Background on Enron Enron was a fortune 500 company in the 90's with the price of stock peeking at 98$. The company's value started into a downward spiral at the end of the summer of 2000. The current price of a share of stock in Enron is around $0.51. Enron was a leading energy provider, based out of Houston, TX. Originally they started out by buying electricity from generators and then selling it to consumers. They were reporting $100+ revenues since 1997. WMUR reported that officials now acknowledge overestimating profits by more than 580$ million since 1997. The NH Sunday News reported that Enron had been expanding their interests into paper & pulp and broadband communications. This was considered part of their downfall. This view was contributed to the NH Sunday News by James Monahan, vice president of Dupont Group, a consulting and lobbying group in Concord. They had to increase financial resources into these new emerging areas. They filed for chapter 11 bankruptcies on Dec. 2, 2001. WMUR reported that Enron used "complex partnerships to keep some $500 million in debt off its books and mask its financial problems so it could continue to get cash and credit to run its trading business". WMUR reported that recently they have come under scrutiny by 11 congressional committees and investigations into their business practices, especially their accounting, are underway. They were reporting financial figures to the IRS that were resulting in Refunds of hundreds of millions of dollars. What has been controversial is their use of holding companies in foreign countries that don't require the money to be taxed back here in the United States. Also, their partnership with Anderson & associates as their auditor has been called into question. While not only being their auditor of their finances Anderson also were consulting about how to use revenues. This is being questioned as a conflict of interests. Recently, Andersen& assoc. have come under criticism due to paper shredding of records. -See article of NH accountants. They talk about how regulations of accounting practices are not the answer and will hurt the small businessman. Ron Thomashow, Bigelow & Company, 603-627-7659 and Ken Gelinas, Gelinas & Company, 603-625-8931. The New Hampshire Sunday News reported that Enron's CEO Kenneth Lay, was reported to be encouraging employees to increase their purchases and encouragement of others to purchase stock in Enron, right up until they filed for bankruptcy. He is being accused of misleading employees about the financial strength of the company and its' stock. Kenneth said he was heavily buying stock and encouraging others to do the same. What he was actually doing was buying company stock options for a significantly reduced rate, while at the same time he had started selling his original stock before the company's value had crashed. This was not uncommon for executives in the company. There was a ratio of 74-1 for executives selling company stock compared to executives buying company stock. An average company's ratio is 2.26-1. Top executives cashed out their stocks to a total of $1 billion when the stock peaked. Enron employees being heavily invested in the company stock has caused concern. Many of the employees' 401 retirement packages are heavy in Enron stock, which is now worth almost nothing. One employee, Janice Farmer, had $700,000 of retirement stock options at Enron's peak, has a current day value of about $26,000 now. 15,000 current and former employees have filed a lawsuit against the company and various executive members. They say they were convinced to buy more stock and then there was a "lockdown" of stock while the company said it was "finding a new carrier for the stock". In that time the employees lost time when they could cash out their stock as the prices plummeted. Another controversy surrounding Enron is that many high profile government officials or their families were into Enron stock. This could cause some kind of conflict of interest. Kenneth Lay had phoned Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil last fall to tell him he was concerned that Enron might not be able to meet all their obligations. Lay also called Commerce Secretary Don Evans to tell him Enron might have to default their obligations and inquired about the impact it might have on the energy sector. Enron and their employees had been the biggest group of contributors to Bush's campaigns. Enron in New Hampshire There is an online trading company, Houstonstreet that specializes in the trade of energy services. Enron allowed its service to be included with Houstonstreet. They have an office in Portsmouth, NH. 433-6875 or 433-6890. I plan of getting some background about the relationship between the two companies. Enron was involved with New Hampshire back in the later 90's. Because of the proposed deregulation of energy in the state, Enron was immediately interested in trying to build a potential customer base. In late 1997, Enron proposed a cogeneration plant with then the state's largest employer, Cabletron located in Rochester. It would have helped them to be taken off the electricity grid. Cabletron was to be a test case for the rest of the state. Craig Benson, the companies founder #. In 1998, Enron planned to help finance the then proposed Manchester Civic center by building a power plant it would first lease and then eventually sell back to the city. Most recently, officials from Enron were looking into running the Pulp and Paper of America mills in Berlin and Gorham, NH. That was if the town took possession of the mills due to failure to pay back taxes. All these plans never took place. In Peterborough, NH, the pilot program took place from 1996-1998. 14,000 NH residents got selected in a lottery to choose their own provider. 1,600 were from Peterborough, they decided that selectmen choose the provider. Enron was among 20 other electric companies competing for the spot. Enron accepted the requests to have an office in town, donate $25,000 to downtown redevelopment, plus they made a 20$ million commercial using people and scenes from Peterborough that ran during the Super bowl. Enron also sponsored Con-Val high school's entry in a solar car competition, donated $1,000 to the Miss New Hampshire scholarship. The relationship ended due to the stalling of deregulation in the state. The ads they ran were apparently deceiving however. They said you would save 20%; PSNH was subsidizing 10% already. They were eating the other 10% because they saw the increase exposure the great rate caused as an advertising campaign. It wouldn't remain that high in the long run. PSNH spokesman Martin Murray #. There was also an Amoco/Enron Solar and Advanced Energy Systems Inc. of Wilton, NH. |