NH OUTLOOK, Wednesday, 2/13/2002
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script iconAdequate Edu intro script iconBode Miller
script iconTag Adequate Ed script iconwebsite
script iconEducation Audit script iconTomorrow
script iconHousing script iconGoodnight
script iconTag Housing script iconfounders
script iconCampaign Finance script iconTonight 10:00
script iconBusiness Outlook script iconthurs. day
script iconWall Street Stocks script iconWEB PROMO
script iconTyco Stock script iconDrought Mgt
script iconNH Stocks script iconComCast
script iconUnemployment script iconkey: business
script iconIntro Mt. Washington script iconkey: government
script iconMt. Washington script iconkey: education
script iconIntro Mtn View script iconMcLaughlin-Priests


script iconPreshow
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Next on New Hampshire Outlook.
From Washington. the great debate over campaign finance reform. We'll look at who stands to gain.and lose.
From Concord, continued debate over the definition of an "adequate education".
and from the north country. the re-birth of a Grand Hotel.
script iconHeadlines
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Welcome to New Hampshire Outlook. I'm Allison McNair.
script iconAdequate Edu intro
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Almost ten years ago , the state Supreme Court gave legislators the duty of providing an adequate education to every student in the state. Wednesday that issue was on the docket of the Senate Education Committee. In particular- republican Senator Ned Gordon's plan to change the way the state defines adequacy to what he calls, 'a market basket approach'. That approach would pay for teacher salaries, facilities and supplies.
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Gordon says his plan would lower state education adequacy funding up to eighty Million dollars.
For more information on Senate Bill 424 you can log onto our website at nhptv.org and find a link to the text of the bill.
script iconEducation Audit
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New Hampshire schools should have received 32-million-dollars more from the state over the last two years. That's according to a financial audit of the Education Department released Wednesday. The audit says the department understated the base per pupil adequacy amount in calculating aid amounts for 2000 and 2001. Education Commissioner Nick Donohue says that many improvements have been made since then to address problems highlighted by the audit.
script iconHousing
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There's little doubt that New Hampshire is experiencing a housing crunch. But legislators find little agreement on how the problem should be solved. One bill being considered would make five million dollars available for affordable housing.
At a news conference Wednesday housing advocates, and political leaders from both parties gathered to call on the House Finance Committee to pass Senate Bill 102. but some say bonding millions of dollars for affordable housing won't necessarily solve the housing crisis.
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Senate Bill 102 is expected to be voted on by the House Finance Committee next week.
script iconCampaign Finance
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With campaign finance reform the hot topicon capitol hill both sides of the issue spent the day making speeches on the House floor. Legislators are debating the Shays-Meehan bill, the House counterpart to the McCain-Feingold bill passed in the Senate. For analysis of the political effects of campaign finance reform, I spoke with U-N-H Political Science Professor Clark Hubbard.We asked him to define Soft Money.
script iconBusiness Outlook
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Wall Street had its third rally in four trading sessions as some better-than-expected economic news revived the market's faith in a recovery.
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The Dow ended up nearly 126 points. The Nasdaq gained 25 points.The S and P 500 rose eleven points to eleven-18.
Dow Jones\9989.67 \+125.93\NYSE\576.09\+4.61\AMEX\847.96\+9.33\Nasdaq\1859.16\+24.95\S&P 500\1118.51\+11.01\\
script iconTyco Stock
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Tyco International's top two executives have made more than $500 million in profits by exercising options and selling Tyco shares over the past 30 months. According to the Fosters Daily Democrat the $500 million was in addition to the almost $22 million salaries and bonuses that the two men were paid over the past three years. The Exeter-headquartered company's market value has decreased by about 40 percent since July of 99. Last week Tycom - a subsidiary of Tyco laid off hundreds of New Hampshire employees.
script iconNH Stocks
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Shares of Tyco fell a dollar and sixty cents. Chubb was up two dollars and forty-nine cents. MBNA grew a dollar thirty five, while Teradyne rose two dollars and forty-two cents. And Texas Instruments was up a dollar nine.
script iconUnemployment
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Out of work New Hampshire residents could see larger unemployment checks. The Senate moved forward on a bill today that seeks to increase the maximum amount of weekly benefits an unemployed person can receive. Supporters of the bill say it would help laid-off workers pay the bills and also pump money back in to the economy.
script iconIntro Mt. Washington
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It finally feels like February with the low temps we've been experiencing. We checked in with meteorologist Chris Perruzi at the Mount Washington Observatory to see what we can expect in the days ahead.
script iconMt. Washington
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Mt. Washington Observatory\Wednesday on the Summit\Fog\Visibility: 200 feet \High: 11 \Peak Gust: W 108 mph
Overnight\North\Mostly clear skies \Lows: -10 to 5 \Winds: W around 10 m ph \
Overnight\Central and South\Mostly clear skies \Lows: 0 to 10 above \Winds: W around 10 mph \becoming light and variable
Thursday\North\Partly sunny skies \Chance of flurries \Highs: Upper teens to mid 20's \Winds: W 5 to 10 mph becoming South
Thursday\Central and South\Partly sunny skies \Highs: Upper 20's to mid 30's \Winds: West 5 to 10 mph\becoming South
script iconIntro Mtn View
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The town of Whitefield experienced a major blow to its economy when the Mountain View House, its largest employer, closed its doors in 1986.
The hotel was purchased in 1998 and is scheduled to reopen at the end of May.
That is good news for a region where job loss has been significant during the last few years. Theresa Kennett profiles the man behind the rebirth of the Mountain View Grand Hotel.
script iconMt View Hotel
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Lead:
The town of Whitefield experienced a major blow to its economy when the Mountain View House, its largest employer, was forced to close its doors in 1986, However, the hotel was purchased in 1998 and is scheduled to reopen at the end of May. That is good news for a region where job loss has been significant during the last few years. Theresa Kennett takes a look.
There is not a lot of activity in the town of Whitefield.
Open with shot of Whitefield at 3:00:30 - car goes by
Main Street is very quiet.
dissolve to empty Main St. at 3:00:19
But off in the distance, you can hear the sound of one man's vision and the possibilities it could bring to this small northern community.
Dissolve to distant shots of the hotel at 2:09:11
Go to shot of view and then split edit to Kevin at 18:53 - 19:00
I looked at the actual view that this property affords and its spectacular. I just got the feeling that I was in a postcard.
This postcard scene cost Kevin Craffey, a general contractor from Massachusetts, 1.3 million dollars. The purchase price included 360 acres of land, an operating golf course, several out buildings,
and a long neglected 200-room hote1.
Kevin at 19:08
In my mind, I was just going to tear down the hotel; the land was just so beautiful.
Just a few weeks after purchasing the property, Kevin had the opportunity to turn it around for a $50,000 dollar profit. But instead, he commissioned a study to determine the feasibility of restoring the hotel back to full operation.
Go to Kevin at 25:47 - 25:51
That was a decision in itself, I could have just made $50,000 and now I am going to spend $40,000 on a report.
The report indicated that an investment of 11 million dollars would fully restore the hotel and produce enough income to support the debt.
An optimistic Craffey went to the bank.
Go to Kevin at 26:45 - 27:00
They said to me Kevin, if you had $10,999,999, I would not lend you one dollar for that hotel. And I was upset.
Kevin turned his upset into a personal crusade. And in January of 1999,
he lobbied town and state officials to help him save this historic treasure.
Go to Theresa at 1:34:23 to 1:34:32
And when you spoke to the governor for the first time or met with the BFA for the first time were they a little taken aback that you were such a young man approaching such a big project?
Go to Kevin at 1:34:33 to 1:34:42
Ya, I am used to it, it's been a constant thing people get over the initial, wow he's young. The other thing is I am getting older
The next 15 months were filled with countless meetings, endless hurdles,
and more sleepless nights than Kevin cares to recall, but his perseverance generated community support and government assistance.
Go to Ray Burton at 29:14 - 29:24
…we are very blessed in NH, particularly n the northern part of NH to find someone who fell in love with this vacant run down hotel.
Executive Councilor Ray Burton says that if Kevin Craffey hadn't come along, the fate of the Mountain View and the 2 HUNDRED and FIFTY jobs that its opening will create would have been a long time in coming.
30:02 - 30:21 - Bath Tape
I worked along with our state officials, Governor Shaheen, George Bald from DRED to help Kevin Craffey put together the public part of the financial package which is unfolding on Mountain View Road at the Mountain View resort.
By April of 2000, Kevin had 2 million dollars of equity in the hotel
and a commitment for additional financing from three small NH banks.
The financing was contingent upon the sale of 2 million dollars in tax credits, which are tax shelters sold to private enterprise for the purpose of funding economic development in the State of New Hampshire. But just days before the deadline, only 300,000 dollars in tax credits had been sold.
Go to Kevin at 52:02 to 52:16
I decided to have a little local press conference and I just didn't want it to be "Craffey Drops the Ball" you know and I said "the fate is in the State". But in the local newspaper it was "Craffey drops the Ball and Bails Out"
Jump cut to 52:21to 52:25
I gave up and said I'm leaving. So I went back home…
Go to stand up at 1:52:26 - 1:52:36
We are entering the Felicia Rose Ballroom which Kevin Craffey named after the person who was pivotal in helping him bring his dream to a reality.
Go to Kevin at 53:00
My daughter literally got up, came over and punched me in the stomach and said, "You told me that winners don't quite, you still got a week left."
The next day Kevin was on a commercial flight to California but his daughter's words kept haunting him. He decided he needed some independent guidance.
55:57 - 56:10
Finally, I just stood up and turned around in that plane and said, "I'll buy the drinks, I need five volunteers". And these people are looking at me and they are looking at me saying "Is this guy out of his mind?"
At 35,000 feet, Kevin's newly established focus group
debated the merits of his making one last attempt to save the Mountain View and then - they took a vote.
Kevin 57:06 - 57:09
It was 3 to 2, go for it.
Craffey immediately returned to Whitefield and just 2 hours before the deadline, he made a deal with a company called National Gypsum for 1.7 million dollars in tax credits. The first person he called, was his daughter, Felicia.
1:04:26 - 1:04:33
I can't even tell you of the jubilation that was through our household.
This happy ending was really just the beginning of another big challenge for for Kevin Craffey. He now had 12.6 million dollars to fix his hotel, but he had a lot of hotel to fix.
NATS of construction
The Mountain View had been vacant since 1986. Its 937 windows, nailed shut, now sheltered several years of dust and debris.
Nats of stuff pouring out of the window.
In order to do the job right, Craffey knew that, once again, he needed to recruit believers and ask for help.
Kevin at 1:22:20 - 1:22:32
We asked them, I asked them. I got the people from Kohler here. I gave them a tour hoping to sprinkle them with the magic Mountain View dust or whatever happens to people when they get here.
Jump cut to
41:31 to 41:49
Once they were here they were hooked. They wanted to be part of it.
Kohler donated the fixtures for 150 bathrooms. William Zinsser & Co., donated enough product and equipment to strip wallpaper off every wall.
The paint was compliments of Benjamin Moore. And the list goes on.
Go to Kevin at 1:23:47 - 1:24:01
There is going to be a coffee table book that is going to talk about this whole story. Its also going to say, if you like the bathroom, this is what Kohler did, if you like what you see, visit Kholer….com
Craffey's original investment of 12.6 million has resulted in a project that was recently assessed at just over 20 million dollars.
Kevin at 1:31:17 - 1:31:41
We could not have done it without the help, every person has helped us. It's been a lot of work and a lot of challenge of trying to ask for help, ya know, and if this happens again, we probably will just write the check cause its just so hard.
If Kevin Craffey's hard work pays off, the Mountain View Grand will regain its century old reputation as one of the finest hotels in the northeast and play an important role in the North Country's economic recovery.
Use impressive shot of the old hotel dissolving into impressive shots of the new hotel and then dissolve into a shot of down town.
From Whitefield, I'm Theresa Kennett for NH Outlook.
View Shots for the close.
script iconTag Hotel
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The Mountain View Grand is scheduled to open on May 20th. If you would like more information, visit them online at www-dot-mountain view grand-dot-com
script iconBode Miller
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And finally - congratulations to New Hampshire skier Bode Miller. He'll be bringing a silver Olympic medal home to Franconia. Wednesday, Miller placed second in the men's Alpine combined event. Norway took the gold and Austria the bronze medal.

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For information on our program, and links to our guests and interviews,
visit our web site at nhptv.org.
You can also see and hear streaming video of our broadcasts.
If you've got a story idea or comment on our program you can call us at 800-639-2721.
script iconTomorrow
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On the next New Hampshire Outlook -
The legend of St. Valentine. Or why February is the most romantic month of the year.
script iconGoodnight
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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 Ally McNair. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time on New Hampshire Outlook.
script iconfounders
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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
script iconTonight 10:00
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Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. the man behind the rebirth of the Mountain View Grand Hotel. Tonight at 10 only on New Hampshire Outlook.
script iconthurs. day
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Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. The legend of St. Valentine. Or why February is the most romantic month of the year. Tonight at 10 only on New Hampshire Outlook.
script iconWEB PROMO
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OnCam:Ally
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. The legend of St. Valentine. Or why February is the most romantic month of the year. Tonight at 10 only on New Hampshire Outlook.
script iconDrought Mgt
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hmrho

-- State officials are warning
residents with wells to conserve water.
Employees from several state agencies belong to a Drought
Management Team that analyzes information on rainfall and lake and
groundwater levels.
The team says rainfall from September through December was off
by 50 percent for much of the state, leaving many wells in danger
of going dry.
Members are urging residents to cut down on unnecessary use of
water now to avoid future problems.

script iconComCast
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-- Comcast, the nation's third largest cable
company, is pledging to stop recording the web browsing activities
of each of its high speed Internet subscribers.
Comcast says in a statement that it will stop storing the
information "in order to completely reassure our customers that
the privacy of their information is secure."
The Associated Press reported the company had begun recording
each customer's visit to a Web page as part of a technology
overhaul.
In response to the story, Congressman Ed Markey, an aggressive
privacy advocate, pressed Comcast President Brian Roberts in a
letter about the recording.
Markey, of Massachusetts, said the company's action could be in
violation of federal law. He is the ranking Democrat on the House
subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.
script iconkey: business
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+NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time:2/13/02 / 2200
HOST: Allison McNair Length: 7:55 minutes
In addition to a summary of the day's top New Hampshire stories, this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, included a report on the town of Whitefield, which experienced a major blow to its economy when the Mountain View House, its largest employer, closed its doors in 1986.
The hotel was purchased in 1998 and is scheduled to reopen at the end of May.
That is good news for a region where job loss has been significant during the last few years.
PRODUCER/REPORTER: Theresa Kennett
NAME OF PARTICIPANTS
script iconkey: government
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+NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time:2/13/02 / 2200
HOST: Allison McNair Length: 9:21 minutes
In addition to a summary of the day's top New Hampshire stories, this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, included a discussion on campaign finance reform.
NAME OF PARTICIPANT
script iconkey: education
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+NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time:2/13/02 / 2200
HOST: Allison McNair Length::44 seconds
In addition to a summary of the day's top New Hampshire stories, this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, included a report on the education funding debate in New Hampshire.
NAME OF PARTICIPANTS
script iconMcLaughlin-Priests
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AP-NH--Priest Abuse
hmrdewhoman
A.G. says he know of no current priest abuse cases in N.H.
-- Attorney General Philip McLaughlin and state law
enforcement officials say they know of no priests being
investigated in New Hampshire for molesting children.
McLaughlin consulted with the state's ten county attorneys
yesterday and said they told him they know of no investigations, no
indictments and no pending indictments against a priest.
He commented as the Diocese of Manchester sent a representative
to meet with him in light of the uproar in Massachusetts, where
accusations of many sexual assaults by priests have come to light.
Reverend Edward Arsenault says New Hampshire's Roman Catholic
leaders have complied and continue to comply with the state's child
protection and mandatory reporting laws.
Three New Hampshire priests were convicted of sexually abusing
minors in the 1990s.




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