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| Hello Return to index of stories... |
Hello. I'm Richard Ager sitting in tonight for Allison McNair. Welcome to NH Outlook. |
| Intro Year Ender Return to index of stories... |
What will you remember about the past year? Will it be a personal memory or something in the news? We posed that question to some of the journalists who've appeared on our Friday week in review program. We traveled around the state to talk to print, radio and television journalists. We started with the most important story of 2002. |
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IMPORTANT STORY TITLE 1:30:29 I believe everything stems from the budget in this state. You could make a case for other issues not, other bills not, but if you pass a law that makes something a crime, there's a cost attached to that. Or lengthens the sentence. I think the budget is set to priorities. The governor comes in and says okay these are what my priorities, these are what should continue and probably add some things that are the special priorities of that particular governor. And then it goes to the legislature and the house says well these aren't our priorities, these are our priorities. Then it goes to the senate and the same thing. But underneath all that is the people. I'm mean, all of it is people. And it's something that we need to do as best a job as we can letting people know when there are choices being made that effect them because they don't always know until it's too late. **DIP TO BLACK** 1:02:57 For me personally, it would have to be the story of the Catholic Church and the scandal of priest abuse of youngsters. That story was over thirty years old and had never been told and keeping the secret was causing a great deal of pain to thousands of individuals in this country and some in the state of NH and telling the story caused even greater pain for those associated with the church, for priests who had been wonderful to their congregations their entire lives and suddenly they were being looked at in a different light. For Catholics and non-Catholics it was just a huge story but it had to be told, but I believe that the Catholic Church will continue to be a big story next year, but it will be one more of healing than uncovering the unending stories of abuse that just unfolded throughout the year. **DIP TO BLACK** 1:04:01 Well, if you're talking about important stories for the Berlin, you're looking at it right behind me here. When Frasier Papers of CT bought the pulp mill and the paper mill that had shut down, a lot of people around here heaved a very big sigh of relief. One of the big questions for the next year is when is the pulp mill going to re-open. That re-opening got delayed recently and is still a little bit of an open question. And the pulp mill really is an economic engine for the whole region. Loggers, truckers, people who sell logging equipment and so forth, they're all bound up in that economy of delivering wood to the pulp mill. That's not the case with the paper mill which is already up and running. So a big success for paper mill, pulp mill still a little bit in question, and I think for Berlin, that is definitely story of the year. **NATS BREAK MILL SOUND:20** 1:07:25 I think the story of the mills is very important because of the raw product. It's really one of the last vestiges of a past of NH in which natural products were actually made into something. And when it comes to the woods, it really is one of the defining parts of NH, is those vast tracks of woodland. And if it just becomes a place to snowmobile or it just becomes a place to hike, I think we'll have lost a tremendous legacy for the past, so I think it is very important to NH's soul, just the way keeping the old man in the mountain repaired so it doesn't fall into the valley is very important to the state. **DIP TO BLACK** 9:06:19 From the New Hampshire perspective, there's no doubt in my mind that it was the election, the whole campaign, especially the gubernatorial campaign. Starting with the amount of money that was spent in the Republican primary. It was almost like, in a strange way, New Hampshire's coming of age, their rite of passage. There's no turning back now when it comes to money now. We're talking about many, many millions of dollars that have never before been spent in the state. It's not, it wasn't a pretty thing to see. It was kind of a.It should raise alarm bells, it really should that people should start saying what's going on in our political system that it's going to be just like any, all these other big states or like these national elections where I understand they spent over a billion dollars in 2002 altogether. Now that's just, that kind of money, when you think about it, is just wacky and NH, you know, helped contribute to that. **NATS BREAK I-93 SOUND:20** 1:19:33 I think the divide between the southern part of the state and the northern part of the state has really been highlighted by the whole discussion on the widening of I-93. And the emphasis has been on whether it's good or bad for the southern part of the state. Up here in the north country people believe that the enormous dollars that are being sucked down to I-93 will hurt the improvement of transportation corridors here in the north country and they're really rather resentful of the fact that everyone believes that a growth in population is all plus. Not everyone feels that way and they see the state becoming more and more out of balance. **DIP TO BLACK** 2:05:27 The continuing participation of the Air National Guard in the war on terrorism. We're reminded of that almost every day here on the Seacoast because we have the 157th Air National Guard wing out of Pease and we've done an awful lot of stories on them both going to some undisclosed location to help the war on terror and also coming home from their duties and that's a continual and sober reminder of what's going on in the world for us and we cover these events because they're not only our friends and neighbors, but also because it tells the story that this is an incredibly important, dangerous and serious time in which we live. And so far, one of the things we've been happy to report is that everybody that leaves comes home and that's an incredibly important story to stay with. **NATS BREAK FISHING COOP SOUND:20** 2:19:57 The fishing industry is in absolute chaos in the Seacoast region. You've had two closures of fishing cooperatives over the summer. Restrictions that have kept fishermen out of the water for the prime fishing times of the year. Fishermen losing their living, losing their boats. You know, how would you like to be trained for something and pursue a lifelong career in something that they don't allow you to do anymore because of federal regulations and restrictions. And again, it's a story that's not resolved. There are some modifications to the restrictions, yet these fishermen are still uncertain as to what they can and cannot do. **DIP TO BLACK** 2:02:26 For me personally, there was the death of a man by the name of Jay Smith here in Portsmouth, who not only was a friend of mine, but was a great philanthropist in this area to not only in saving buildings of some note here in town, but also the Music Hall, which is a great not only local attraction but statewide regional attraction and the thing that I recognized out of Jay's death was the fact that, and you need to be reminded of this once in a while, that one person can do an awful lot and sometimes they do more if they don't ask for any fanfare or any recognition about what they are doing at all. MEMORABLE STORY TITLE 3:06 The most memorable story of 2002 I would have to say, would be the election cycle. Election night, primary night. On the whole, the election cycle of 2002 was memorable for many different reasons. You have a business man who's never been in politics before taking over the corner office, Craig Benson as our Governor. You've got John Sununu who not only knocked out Bob Smith in a bitter primary, but then beat Jeanne Shaheen pretty soundly in the General Election, making him a very high profile Republican in the state taking over in the Senate. 3:40 Jeanne Shaheen's departure after a very high profile run as our state's first elected woman Governor and then of course after eighteen years in office Bob Smith sent home in a very unceremonious type of fashion. I think the election cycle was very interesting mainly because it was so intense. **DIP TO BLACK** 1:02:25 During the whole court battle over bike week this year it was very entertaining to watch members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club go through the metal detectors at the Supreme Court which they set off loudly and repeatedly. **DIP TO BLACK** 1:13:00 You know, I have to say this because I'm a, uh, sports fan and if you're looking for heroes in 2002, it very well may be the New England Patriots because they won the Super Bowl and the Patriots have never won the Super Bowl. A lot of people said it was even more sweet, the victory, because they were the underdogs. Nobody actually gave them credit throughout the season for the accomplishments that they achieved and yet they ended up winning the Super Bowl. **DIP TO BLACK** 1:02:18 I got to ride a helicopter up to see them repair the Old Man in the Mountain, although in the end I didn't have the courage to actually walk down to his forehead. To go up in the helicopter and then hover off the rocks was really a thrill. I've been in a helicopter a couple of times before, but never in such a dramatic icon for the state. So that was just a lot of fun and these are the fun parts of being a local reporter. MEMORABLE PEOPLE TITLE 28:38 John E. Sununu is one of the most memorable people to me, for 2002. And not because he gives us the best quotes. And it's not because he's the best dresser. It's not because he gives the best speeches. It's not because he's the best politician person to person. I'll always remember someone who beats an incumbent Senator in one primary and an incumbent Governor in another primary. I haven't been able to find that in NH, and something tells me, I'm sure it's happened somewhere, but something tells me that where it's happened, that person has a portrait on a wall like the portraits in this chamber. **DIP TO BLACK** Fahey I looking right 1:02:02 Dennis Koslowski. According to indictments, he's a really bad guy. I mean a $6,000 shower curtain was the symbol for what was wrong with this guy, never mind the apartments in New York and all the rest. But he was seen as some kind of accounting genius. He was a hero. He was the guy that could put the deals together. He kept acquiring, use the stock value, acquire more companies. Everything was going great for Tyco. Others were stumbling. Tyco kept making it work. What was going on? Then we find out that he was making it work in maybe ways that it wasn't supposed to work. You know, we'll let the courts decide. **DIP TO BLACK** Love looking left 1:23:27 Sheryl McGuinness, I really respect her as a person who is not a politician, is not anything but an everyday person who was raising two children when she was thrust into a position of being the widow of someone killed on September 11th. She took that, took her faith, raised herself up, never had been much of a speaker before, went to her church and gave a speech and someone in the audience heard her and said would you be willing to come and talk about your experiences at my event. And she did and she started doing that around the country by word of mouth, not for money, but certainly for her expenses. And what's she's telling people is you don't have to give up when something like this happens. Whether it be a tragedy like mine or a divorce or somebody in the family dies and I think that showed me a real class that more people should emulate. **DIP TO BLACK** 14:25:25 Another interesting person I thought was, and really got to look at this again in the end of the year as he resigned was Attorney General Phillip McLaughlin. Here's a guy that for many years presided over the most important criminal and civil cases in the state in a long time. Not just the Claremont lawsuit that everyone thinks about, but also the impeachment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Important criminal cases. Not just the sensational, like the Dartmouth murders, but the really brutal like the Colebrook shootout. Although there was no criminal case there it prompted him to support an expansion of the Death Penalty. There was the death of officer Jeremy Sharon in Epsom. There were incredibly important civil cases like the break up of Optima Health in Manchester and this is a guy that if you know him, very thoughtful, not prone to emotion, emotional outbursts, very interesting character. You know, the kind of person that I think you'd enjoy talking to at a cocktail party. He has his detractors, but I find him to be a very fascinating man. **DIP TO BLACK** 10:12:20 I think the most memorable character of 2002 has to be Bob Smith. You know, he's always been quite an interesting guy. He's a politician who has been really, throughout his career, unable to pretend he was something he wasn't. Whatever you thought of his positions on issues, and heaven knows I didn't think very much of them, you knew that this was what he really believed. This guy was telling you what he thought. Whether he was defending the elephants or whatever. And near the end of his career he was making some environmental points that were pretty strong. When he lost the primary election to John E. Sununu he was unable to do what most politicians are so good at, which is lie, you know. Put his arm around the guy and hey, I'm for him now, and let's bury the hatchet, it doesn't matter to me. He couldn't do it, because he's just not very good at faking it. So he went back to Washington, his family was terribly distressed over his loss and he was distressed both over the loss and because his family was upset and he told people, he told people in his entourage, I can't do it, I can't go up there and campaign, how am I going to do that? You know, the guy made it personal and now they want me to go up and campaign for him and pretend it didn't happen. He couldn't do it. I think it's to his credit, I don't mean this in a political sense. This is a human interest story now, he lost the election. And Sununu won without much help, in fact, without any help truth be told, from Bob Smith. But Smith true to the end couldn't fake it. He was the same old Bob Smith that he always was and if he's not going to be able to get out there and tell you what he thinks, well then he's just going to stay home. And he did. FRUSTRATING STORY TITLE 2:01:18 I think everyday is a frustrating day in the news business because one, you never know what's going to happen and two, things in NH seem to be kind of exciting in a way right now with all the changes that we're going through because NH and this is not necessarily frustrating, but it's a continuing challenge to figure out just what NH is turning into and what's going to be happening not only tomorrow, but next month and next year. **DIP TO BLACK** 1:14:01 I think the most frustrating story that I covered was redistricting. 55:33 Every ten years we re-divide the state into all these legislative districts and all. I didn't want to know about it, I didn't want to hear about it, I didn't want to go to any hearings. Still, you know, you dutifully show up, peak in, find out what's happening. And it didn't really get to be much until the end of the process when we got into this legislative chamber and people were yelling at one another while speaking, Democrats end up walking out, we've got frustration at all levels where the governor has vetoed something and the legislature passes basically the same thing and tries to throw it back at her and again it doesn't go and they can't override a veto. 17:10 At times it looked as if, in reading the tea leaves over from the Supreme Court as to what they would do, some suggested and really believed that the Supreme Court would reject as unconstitutional the plans that the legislature had approved. Others read the same language and were convinced that the plans would pass constitutional muster. That's all ancient history now, as you know, the court decided on both counts, the State Senate and the State House, couldn't come to an agreement on a constitutional plan that had Governor Shaheen's support. So they drew up their own maps and sent everybody scurrying, including reporters, all over the place to get acquainted with these 88 new house districts rather than the 195 House districts we'd had before redistricting. @1:30 I would have to say that the justices brought justice to the redistricting debate to those of us on the sidelines praying that it would end at some point because they finally drew different lines that made everybody upset. **DIP TO BLACK** 2:17:32 I think it was the statewide education tax. Not because of the lack of response from people, but just getting a handle on what it's all about really. You have a group of communities that's fighting the education tax. They've been frustrated. Explaining it for radio has been very difficult because there are so many numbers involved, so many facets of the story, I'm not sure it's very easy to get it right in a thirty or forty second story either and at the end of the process what do you have? You have a story that's really stalemated and yet goes on and on and on in the process, so, you know from the perspective of making something clear, that was definitely the most difficult one of the year for me. **DIP TO BLACK** 9:23:04 As a news person, someone who's been in news for 26 years , this has been a very frustrating year to write about all kinds of things which we write about in the Business Review, which is mostly business, but a lot about politics because that effects business very much. I think that it's been a difficult economically. It's been a difficult year politically. It's been a difficult year financially for businesses, and for people, individuals. And there really wasn't much that you could think of on a grand scale that was very positive about it. For months now in 2002 there's been a, this talk of war. There's a lot of fears for our own security. People still aren't exactly feeling as safe as they used to in the United States. I don't know if that's going to change anytime soon, but it's not pleasant. I'm just hoping that 2003 is a better year and that things work themselves out in a peaceful manner and that maybe we could start getting back on track to where we were before September 11th. THEME/2003 PREVIEW TITLE 1:14:31 Making a living up here is still the big story whether it's in mills, low cost wood burning electric plants, all of those things have to do with jobs and I think that will continue to be the key issue. **DIP TO BLACK** 14:28:47 I think 2002 was sort of a year of disappointments. Disappointment in the church. Disappointment in corporate America. Disappointment for some political observers in the way their party performed. I think that we are generally a country of discontented people for all our riches, but I think 2002 there was a lot of great expectations that went unmet. **DIP TO BLACK** No, I didn't laugh much in 2002. I hope to laugh more next year. |
| Tomorrow Return to index of stories... |
On the next New Hampshire Outlook - Taking stock of the year ahead with the new legislature. We'll hear from Republican and Democratic leaders. |
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That's it for this edition of our program. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, I'm Richard Ager. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time on New Hampshire Outlook. Happy New Year! |
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Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Public Service of New Hampshire Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust Putnam Foundation Stratford Foundation |
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Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. Taking stock of the year ahead with the new legislature. We'll hear from Republican and Democratic leaders. Tonight at 10pm on New Hampshire Public Television. |
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Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. We go one-on-one with Governor Jeanne Shaheen as she finishs her third consecutive term and heads for the private sector. Tonight at 10pm on New Hampshire Public Television. |
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NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 12/30/02 22:00 HOST: Allison McNair Length: 25:46 minutes In this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, it's the year ender. What will you remember about the past year? Will it be a personal memory or something in the news? We posed that question to some of the journalists who've appeared on our Friday week in review program. We traveled around the state to talk to print, radio and television journalists. We started with the most important story of 2002. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Tai Freligh NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Norma Love\The Associated Press Theresa Kennett\NH Outlook Trish Anderton\NH Public Radio Edith Tucker\Coos County Democrat Jeff Feingold\NH Business Review Lars Trodson\Portsmouth Herald Roger Wood\Clear Channel Communications Scott Spradling\WMUR-TV Kevin Landrigan\The Telegraph Tom Fahey\The Union Leader Kevin Flynn\WMUR-TV Guy MacMillin\The Keene Sentinel |