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 Preshow Return to index of stories... |
Next on New Hampshire Outlook tonight. New Hampshire observes Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights day. We'll look at the legacy of Doctor King and profile a couple whose community service work has earned them a prestigious award. Also, we'll hear from the police chief whose working to improve relations and understanding between immigrants and locals. And we'll have the conclusion of our conversation with Ken Burns. |
| Headlines Return to index of stories... |
Good Evening. I'm Allison McNair. Welcome to New Hampshire Outlook. We begin tonight with a summary of today's state news. |
| MLK Day Return to index of stories... |
All over the state - from holiday breakfasts to religious services - to the ringing of the freedom bell downtown Concord, New Hampshire residents observed Martin Luther King Junior Civil Rights Day. This is the second year the state has recognized the holiday marking the life of the murdered civil rights leader. Banks post offices, federal, state and most municipal offices were closed. This year - all but eleven of the state's 163 public school districts were closed for the holiday. Students in the Exeter school district spent the day in class. but the entire day's curriculum was focused on issues of diversity. In just a few minutes, we'll show you how the legacy of Dr. King has inspired activists and communities throughout the state. |
| bullying laws Return to index of stories... |
School bullies are being taken to task in New Hampshire schools. A new state law requires school boards to adopt student safety and violence policies. Portsmouth officials have adopted a policy and in Newmarket, the school board plans to add bullying to its harassment policy sometime next month. The National Association of School Psychologists says 160-thousand children skip school every day out of fear of being bullied. |
| School Shortfall Return to index of stories... |
The Monadnock Regional School District is facing a budgeting nightmare - a shortfall of about one-and-a-half million dollars. An audit discovered over 500 -thousand dollars in revenue for a school addition had been entered twice. Then, officials learned the budget had not been properly balanced since the 1998-99 school year. Ordinarily, the capital reserve fund could be used to cover the deficit, but that also had problems dating to 1995. It's not known how the district will make up the difference. |
| Pembroke Award Return to index of stories... |
School officials in Pembroke are pinching themselves to make sure they're not dreaming when it comes to the huge federal grant awarded to Pembroke Academy. The school has received two-point-one million dollars to turn the school into a community learning center for all ages. The academy headmaster says he sees the academy open seven days a week and late into the night for adults to study foreign language, exercise, work with computers or participate in parenting workshops. |
| Intro Mt. Washington Return to index of stories... |
Most of us saw some snow today but no one got any hefty accumulations. I spoke with Brian Post of the Mount Washington Observatory just a short time ago to find out what's happening there right now as well as what's in store for us tonight and tomorrow. |
| Intro MLK Award Return to index of stories... |
On this day of ceremonies honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King, a coaltion of civil rights groups got together in Manchester for the 19th year of celebrations. The seventeen member organizations that make up the coalition honor individuals who have contributed to the cause of peace and non-violent social change. This year, there were two presentations. Lydia Mann, a well known gospel singer from Manchester won the posthumous award. The other was received by Lois and Don Booth. Between them, Lois and Don have been involved in more than a century of peacekeeping activities. |
| MLK AWARD Return to index of stories... |
You can find them in front of the State House any Wednesday afternoon. They've been arrested for picketing companies that produce weapons systems. Lois and Don Booth from Canterbury have spent the last 50 years working tirelessly for peace and social change. "I feel fortunate that we found mates that share the same ideals. We have been working together since college to promote non-violent change." Don is a retired builder - he specialized in passive solar designs. He was a conscientious objector in the 1940's - a time when it was frowned upon. Lois too was an objector. In 1975, she helped found American Friends Service Committee's New Hampshire Program. "American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker based." Since 1946, they have spent their lives together raising a family and the awareness of social injustice in their community. "We live in a wonderful world. We need to make small changes from domination to working together - what's good for you is good for me - a respect for each other." Arnie Alpert works with the New Hampshire branch of the American Friends Service Committee. He presented the award today. "Martin Luther King was certainly known for his work with the civil rights movement. He also worked for the rights of all oppressed whether that be economic or political and brought about social change in a non-violent way. The Booths have followed that way and that is why they have been chosen has this year's recipient of the MLK Jr. award." Don was in Washington in 1963 when Dr. King made his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Don, who has troubles speaking recalled how impatient he felt by King's message that progress would not be quick. "I heard King's speech about he mentioned about a dream in 8 years. I was not impressed about that at the time. Twenty years later, I realized how wise he was in knowing that change like this takes time." "I am so grateful, in fact we should all be grateful that King was the leader he was. It could have been a violent revolution. His beliefs of love were basic." |
| Intro discussion Return to index of stories... |
In recent years, more and more people from around the world have come to New Hampshire and now call the Granite State home. In Laconia there's a growing populations of Asians, Africans and European immigrants.That's why a group there is looking at ways to improve relations among all people in the city. Already in the planning - a special day for refugee and immigrant families who have recently moved to the area. Laconia Police Chief Bill Baker recently joined me to talk about why he's working on The Human Relations Committee. |
| civil rights bump Return to index of stories... |
Illinois was the first state to adopt Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a state holiday in In 1973. New Hampshire was the last state to adopt it in 1999. Source: Infobeat |
| Intro Ken Burns Return to index of stories... |
Tonight at 9 on New Hampshire Public Television, you can see part four of Ken Burn's film, "Jazz". Last week we were introduced to some of the pioneers of Jazz music. Jazz filmmaker Ken Burns and I recently sat down at his home studios in Walpole, New Hampshire, where we talked about filmmaking and the stories about race that are at the heart of american history. and Jazz. |
| KEN BURNS Return to index of stories... |
Ally: Was it difficult to decide what music you would put out there to stand alone, vs. what might be under narration; was it tough to make that decision? Ken: Very much so. I knew going in that this is not a performance film, so I didn't want to mislead people that this was going to be like an arts performance, its not. And there are 498 separate pieces of music that we play in this film. But I'd say fewer than 20 that we play either in its entirety or most of the song free and clear of narration. I still want to be in control as a storyteller. But I'm most satisfied with this film, compared to all the other films I've made, because of the precision with which we had to edit to allow this music to come up. Normally music is background in a film, here its background, its middle ground and its foreground its the subject of the film and in some moments, its a kind of hyper ground when our participants joyously take apart, joyously part.parse a piece of music and make it come alive and its so great to share it with audiences as they feel that they're almost in at the act of creation. So I've got a new role, and I've gotta adjust as a filmmaker. I have to open up a 24th of a second, one frame, or 3 frames, an 8th of a second to allow a note to come through. Or, hold a photograph an extra couple of beats to allow the phrase of music to finish. So, this is a film in which biography is still the constituent building blocks, but the subject is still central and the subject is this wonderful toe-tapping music that accompanies us through good and bad for the last 100 years. Ally: Can you site maybe one story that stayed with you that shows how jazz has changed us? Ken: Yeah, there's an amazing story that it.just is seared into my soul. Louis Armstrong, in 1931, goes to Austin Texas. He's got a three-day engagement at the Hotel Driscoll. One night, this sixteen-year-old southern boy, white, named Charlie Black, shows up. He knows nothing of Jazz. Has never even heard of Armstrong, he just knows there's going to be some girls and he wants to dance with them. And then Armstrong starts to play this tune called "Stardust". And he suddenly realizes that he is watching genius before his very eyes. And it in the person of a black person, which all of his life he's been told had their place. That they were better as servants. But he said, 'What is the place of such a man and of the people from which he came if this kind of music could be created?' It changed his life. He went on to become a distinguished professor of constitutional law at Yale. And then he volunteered for the team of lawyers, black and white, that helped persuade the Supreme Court in the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954 that segregating schoolchildren on the basis of race and color is unconstitutional. Now he didn't do it by himself, as it takes with all of our lives, in the collaborative nature of filmmaking, in the community that we all yearn in this beautiful state, for. He changed lives, he was changed by this music and that's a story that is repeated throughout this film, in which human beings have their own molecules rearranged by coming in contact with it. Just a simple song.by Hoagy Carmichael , which Armstrong completely rearranged, and we started our film with "Stardust" and we play it a few times during the course of the film, but no time more poignantly than in the story of Charlie Black. He's still alive on the upper west side of New York City and is a testament to the fact that our history isn't always wars and generals and presidents. That quite often, how we run the bases and how we pick up a trumpet and improvise our own understanding of the world could be as powerful and instrument as a speech like the Gettysburg address. And so you see in "Stardust" by Louis Armstrong a kind of liberating Gettysburg Address for Charlie Black it freed him from his misconceptions and I'll never forget that as long as I live. Ally: Did he ever tell Louis Armstrong? Ken: I don't know. But, you know what I know about Louis Armstrong, is that he knows. Everybody we interviewed said he's a gift from God or an Angel. And my own anxieties about mortality are now tempered by the fact that some day, if I live a good life, I'll get to hear Louis Armstrong blowing "Gabriel" out of the clouds someday and that makes it a little bit easier to go foreword. |
| Tonight Return to index of stories... |
You can see Episode four tonight at 9 o'clock here on New Hampshire Public Television. |
| goodnight Return to index of stories... |
That's it for this edition of New Hampshire Outlook. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, thanks for joining us. Stay tuned for Granite State Challenge. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30. Good night. |
| 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 |
| Business Outlook Return to index of stories... |
In business today, the stock market was closed in honor of the Doctor King Holiday. Here's a look at some of the stories making headlines in New Hampshire business. |
| Forest worries Return to index of stories... |
President Clinton's order to exempt millions of national forest acres from logging or road building has logging companies and their work force worried about their economic well-being. Some New Hampshire lumber mills say up to 25 percent of their logs come off the 780-thousand national forest in a given year. The rule takes about 45-thousand acres from the region's timber base. State Forester Phil Bryce says every acre lost - costs the region's economy about 200 dollars. Multiply that by 45- thousand acres and the total is nine million dollars. Bryce says timber from private land will help replace some timber in the national forest - but he adds that logs from the national forest are the best around and can't easily be replaced. |
| Meredith Weddings Return to index of stories... |
If you're planning a wedding - The Meredith Area Chamber of Commerce says the Lakes Region might provide the perfect setting. The chamber is developing a special wedding guide that offers everything from information on limousine service and flowers to caterers and hotels. The chamber is banking on people who vacationed in the area as children and have fond memories, will want to return to have their wedding there. |
| Loeb Filmmaker Return to index of stories... |
People who are going to learn the most are those who hate him. That's what New Hampshire film maker, John Gfroerer says about the man at the center of his latest production, "Powerful as Truth." It's the story of the late Union Leader publisher William Loeb. Gfroerer who once counted himself among Loeb's critics promises a balanced view which may reveal some things about the late publisher that might surprise some critics. The documentary premiers in March at the Capital Center for Arts in Concord. |
| Asthma treatment Return to index of stories... |
The most common cause of hospitalization and emergency room visits for children in New Hampshire is asthma. Nearly 65,000 adults and children in New Hampshire have asthma. Recently a consortium of New Hampshire managed care companies called Foundation for Healthy Communities developed a common set of guidelines for the treatment of asthma. Chip Neal explains. Dr. Mahar - There are probably between 15 & 20 million people in country now with asthma that's about three times what it was back in the 1980's 20 years from now it will rise to about 30 million. So some think it is an epidemic. DOCTOR PETER MAHAR IS THE MEDICAL DIRECTOR FOR CIGNA HEALTHCARE, ONE OF THE MANAGED CARE COMPANIES TRYING TO GET A HANDLE ON THE ASTHMA EPIDEMIC. THEY WANT TO ARM PATIENTS AND DOCTORS WITH UP TO DATE KNOWLEDGE. Mahar VO video animation of bronchial tube - It's an illness where the bronchial tubes are narrowed and we used to think that was due to muscle spasm, that's the old concept, But the idea now is that there is swelling or inflammation and it lasts over a period of time and that you need to treat and prevent the inflammation. Mahar OC - The symptoms are basically shortness of breath with exertion, cough, wheezing. But there are some people who have a tickle in their throat or a cough and that's it, Typically it's shortness of breath and wheezing. There are people who can't work can't go to school. Literally wake up every night short of breath. It has made a major impact on their quality of life. Mahar OC - Many people have grown up with the idea that they should limit their activity with asthma when in fact, when it's well controlled, they should be able to work, they should be able to go to school, they should be able to go to sleep at night. And there are those who can't work can't sleep can't go to school because their asthma is out of control Mahar VO video patients using inhalers and animation of bronchial tube - the treatment has changed because in the old days we thought that it was muscle spasm and they would use medicines that would quickly relax those muscles. And now we know that there is this inflammation or swelling. And that takes time to build up and time to go away. So there are now different kinds of medicines usually inhalers some are called treaters and some are called preventors. Mahar OC - the idea now is that the patient should take charge, Who better than the patient knows their own body knows how they respond to the environmental changes and things like that. Mahar Clearly if you can avoid what sets your asthma off your in the best possible situation.. It could be wood smoke especially in NH. It could be cat dander, dog dander, the work place environment, a whole host of things. BESIDES AVOIDING ENVIRONMENTAL TRIGGERS. PATIENTS NEED TO KNOW HOW TO MONITOR THEIR ASTHMA. Mahar VO shots of patient using peak flow meter and keeping diary - . And we measure that with a simple breathing test called a peak flow Many of the managed care companies do give them to their patients free of charge and they are available commercially at a low cost. They can keep a diary that's an important thing. THE DIARY IS ALSO AN EARLY WARNING SYSTEM. Mahar VO shot of diary graph -. You will see it drop before you start to get tight in the chest and wheezy. You need to respond quickly. When something starts to turn for the worst you need to get right on top of it. Mahar OC video of kids playing game together - People should be able to work, play, sleep at night, they should not have a lot of side affects from the medications Mahar VO shot of kids playing -. So ideally they should have a pretty normal life and that is the goal. Foundation for Healthy Communities is distributing a poster with treatment guidelines and and a copy of their video "Take Control of Your Asthma" to doctors and nurse practioners all across the state. The video and a peak flow meter are also available free to asthma sufferers upon request by calling 1-800-LUNG USA |
| website Return to index of stories... |
For information on tonight's program, and links to our guests and interviews, visit our web site at nhptv.o-r-g. You can see and hear streaming video of our broadcasts and participate in our daily poll. If you've got a story idea or comment on our program you can call us at 800-639-2721. |
| Tomorrow Return to index of stories... |
Tomorrow on New Hampshire Outlook - New Rules for Roadless areas have been adopted by the US Forest Service. The rules prohibit logging and new road construction on National Forest System lands. We look further into this story to find out how it will affect New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest |
| PROMO Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. We take a closer look at how President Clinton and the US Forest service have restricted use of the White Mountains. Join us tonight at 7:30 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |