Durham Town Council candidates set to debate

Five candidates running for seats on the Durham Town Council will debate during a forum on Monday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall. Spectators are invited to attend, but no questions will be taken from the audience. If you can't make it to Town Hall, the forum will be broadcast on Channel 22, the town's community access station, and rerun at various times prior to the election. Durham Marketplace and Houghton Hardware are sponsoring the event. For more information, call 603-868-5571.

site chosen for African burial ground memorial

Portsmouth has moved one step closer to finalizing plans for a memorial honoring the 13 historic graves uncovered last year.

The Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee on the African Burial Ground approved last week a plan that would place a yet-to-be designed memorial on the south and west ends of Chestnut Street. The street would become a two-way dead end, accessible only from State Street. The City Council must approve the plan before work can begin. If approved, the committee must still decide on what kind of memorial will be constructed, as well as on financing for the project. Crews repairing a sewer line on Chestnut Street discovered the graves in 2003. Eight of the bodies were removed for testing and will be re-interred once the memorial is completed.

healthcare forums scheduled in Portsmouth, Rochester

The Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce will host a healthcare summit on Friday, March 4 at the Sheraton Harborside Portsmouth Hotel from 8 a.m. to noon. State Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care CEO Charles Baker will speak at the summit. The forum is open to the public; cost is $20 for Chamber members and $25 for nonmembers. To RSVP, call 603-436-3988. Changes in the state's Medicaid program and the proposed Granite Care plan from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human services will be discussed at a Legislator's Forum in Rochester on Thursday, March 10 at 6 p.m. The forum will be hosted by Rochester Community Partners at the group's Rochester office, located at 25 Old Dover Road. Doug Hall, co-executive director of the New Hampshire Center of Public Policy Studies, will be the guest speaker. To RSVP, call 603-749-4015.