a guide to the Seacoast’s top snowshoeing spots

Snowshoeing is the least expensive, most accessible winter activity and burns more calories than running, hiking or biking. It requires just one pair of special equipment: snowshoes. You can buy a pair for about $100, the same as a cheap pair of skis or a snowboard, minus all the extra gear. Or, rent a pair at the University of New Hampshire—the nice folks at Campus Recreation will let you keep them for $11 a day or $41 a week (even less for students).

A growing number of prominent Republicans have joined the leadership team of Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, a bipartisan group that opposes efforts to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law. The organization is co-chaired by Lew Feldstein, former president of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and Craig Stowell, a Republican businessman and former marine. Its main spokesperson is Christine Baratta, who previously served as communications director for the state GOP under former chair Jack Kimball.

New Hampshire will receive another $6.5 million in home heating aid from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It’s the last payment the state will receive this winter for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

Over the course of his prolific career, the subjects of Antonio Frasconi’s illustrations have ranged from the playful animals in his first book, “Twelve Fables of Aesop,” to a dictatorship’s torture victims in his magnum opus, “The Disappeared.” The collection currently on display at Phillips Exeter Academy’s Lamont Art Gallery reveals the magic particular to his children’s illustrations, which came directly out of a devotion to his own sons.

Two upcoming events will benefit Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization whose No Kid Hungry campaign strives to end childhood hunger in the United States by 2015. The Winter Wine Festival returns to Wentworth by the Sea, and a national cheese expert will lead Great Bay Community College's wine and cheese tasting.

Greenland will hold its town elections in March, and a number of positions are up for grabs. The filing period for municipal candidates opened on Jan. 25 and will remain open through Friday, Feb. 3.

As we walked onto the frozen Connecticut River near Hanover, we saw our friend and trophy angler Brandon Zeoli waving at us. Just then, a flag on a fishing trap popped up and waved right along with him. He had a fish! We ran to the hole in the ice, peered down, and saw nothing but a thin line trailing off under the ice. Brandon explained the drama that was going on at the other end of the line.

Rated R: Though she exudes a definite animal charisma and solidly commanding presence, surrounding Carano with such a high-power boys club (there is not one other female character in the whole show) only serves to crisply define the emptiness of the space she’s supposed to inhabit. She delivers her few perfunctory lines like she’s pounding a sandbag, and, just as she repeatedly makes human ThighMasters out of her costars, she squeezes every bit of life out of their performances, as well.

Durham activated three new “Pay and Display” parking kiosks on Pettee Brook Lane on Jan. 17, and town officials are seeking feedback about how they work.

Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment, 1988: Moral crusaders of the ’80s hated horror and heavy metal in equal measure, and you’d think producers of the time would have seized on this notion with aplomb, but the combination of metal and horror is remarkably rare. It’s rarer still to find these films on modern video formats.

The popularity of tea is gaining momentum on the Seacoast, as local businesses like White Heron Tea in Rollinsford and the new Teatotaller Tea House in Somersworth have made a wide variety of high quality teas more accessible to consumers.

If you’re looking for immediate evidence of the benefits of New Hampshire’s Percent for Art Program, look no further than the new conference center at Hampton Beach State Park. The recently completed facility includes a large mural by Eliot, Maine-based artist Gordon Carlisle, titled “A Delicate Balance.”

Legislation currently before the N.H. House of Representatives threatens to get rid of the Arts Council, which could have a devastating ripple effect on dozens of valued organizations and communities across the state. House Bill 1274 would abolish the Department of Cultural Resources and eliminate the Council on the Arts.

See also: http://www.wirenh.com/features-mainmenu-18/cover-stories-mainmenu-53/4886-in-defense-of-the-arts.html

Sure, their two-word name references both booze and murder, and their songs regularly address topics like drinking and fighting, pistols and switchblades, prison and Hell, but it’s all in a spirit of fun. On their debut album, “Pissed Off Betty,” self-described “dirty country band” Whiskey Kill executes a vintage rockabilly sound that explores the roots of Americana.

Part of a series profiling the region’s newly elected municipal leaders and their communities

Dean Trefethen hopes to lead a divided constituency through a time of significant
development. Trefethen said he plans to invite citizens to a “mayor’s forum” within the next month or so. Among other things, he hopes to gather feedback about how much or how little change the citizenry would like to see in Dover.