In his "State of the State" address, Gov. John Lynch discussed the pressing need to balance the budget, and proposed New Hampshire Working, a three-part initiative aimed at giving companies new tools to help them recover from the economic downturn

Phase II of the Sustainable Portsmouth five-year plan kicked off on Jan. 20 when more than 50 people gathered for a meeting and discussion at the Portsmouth High School cafeteria. The meeting resulted in the formation of nine action circles that will meet over the next four weeks to prepare and present their plans.

Back before she recorded her first album in 2005 and was simply playing gigs in Ravensdale, having  a residency at a local restaurant was enough to make her feel successful. Now on her latest CD, she shares a duet with Elton John on “Caroline,” splits vocals with The Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray on “Looking Out,” and works with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith on several tracks. Carlile is still touring behind “Give Up the Ghost,” and she’ll return to The Music Hall with a full band on Sunday, Jan. 31, as part of the Portsmouth theater’s Intimately Yours concert series. The show is already sold out.

Led by Carly Barrett and vocalist Elan Atias, The Wailers pull songs from Bob Marley’s vast repertoire of hits and play them with a level of authenticity few other reggae acts can achieve. Their show in Portsmouth on February 3 will open with Green Lion Crew, a locally based collection of reggae DJs, producers and sound system selectors.

For the fifth consecutive winter, folk duo Susie Burke and David Surette are hosting their Cabin Fever collaborative concert series. Burke and Surette will split the bill on January 30 with siblings Ari and Mia Friedman, a fiddle and cello duo from Boston.

Dance music will resonate through The Hall during a WSCA fundraiser on Saturday, Jan. 30. The Jeannie Daniels Band and the Los Border Coyotes will aim to get feet moving on the Portsmouth venue’s dance floor to benefit the non-profit, independent, volunteer-operated Seacoast radio station.

Where should be treated to what the film’s title promises—a legion of angels smashing their way through buildings and bashing humans—instead, we get old ladies and ice cream men with bad teeth and gangly limbs scrabbling up the walls of a dirty diner. With such cool visual possibilities, why stop there? Are all the angels on a coffee break?

MGM, 1984

Since we did end up with a sequel to “2001,” we should be grateful that it’s “2010,” a smart, engaging bit of sci-fi that focuses more on concrete human needs (namely, survival, but also the need for answers in the face of big questions, both moral and scientific) than questions about the evolution of the mind.

documentary film series begins with 'King Corn'

So, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis have just graduated from college—Yale, no less—and are heading out on the quintessential cross-country road trip. What could possibly break their youthful sense of invincibility and limitless potential? Reversing the motto “if you can’t beat them, join them,” Cheney and Ellis move from Boston to Iowa to grow an acre of subsidized corn from genetically modified seeds and attempt to trace it in the American diet. Their findings, as documented in “King Corn,” showing in Exeter on Friday, raise troubling questions about farming and feeding in America.

The Muddy River Smokehouse is leaving its restaurant location in Eliot, Maine, after eight years, to become the Roundabout Diner and Lounge in the former Bickfords building off the Portsmouth traffic circle. Their barbeque and catering will continue to be offered at the 1950s style retro diner featuring American classics.

Seacoast residents can learn more about purchasing CSA shares while picking out some local food at the winter farmers’ market on February 27, at the Wentworth Greenhouses in Dover.

comedian Bob Marley discusses Maine accents, his new plow, ice fishing and more as he prepares for a gig in Salisbury

Marley estimates this show will be PG-13, but he does feel obligated to shield his young children from the “Boondock” films, which are replete with violence and vulgar language. His eldest daughter, especially, has become curious to see her dad on the big screen. “She says, ‘You were in movies? I wanna see it!’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no.’”

Invented and installed in 1908, the Rochester Opera House’s auditorium floor raising and leveling mechanism is believed to be the last of its kind remaining in the world. And now the 100-year-old device is working like new. “It was a miserable pleasure to work on,” said repair team member Jay Jordan, who had to slide into a tiny crawlspace under the floor on a skateboard to access a damaged gear, among an array of broken gears, twisted rods and compromised bearings.

Those interested in producing a show at The Players’ Ring are invited to attend an annual Producers’ Meeting at the Portsmouth theater venue on Monday, Feb. 8, where area playwrights are encouraged to pitch their scripts and be a part of The Ring’s 2010-2011 season.

collage collection at the Portland Museum of Art

While collage work takes a certain amount of playfulness, invention and improvisation, it also requires control, order and a vision. The full range is on view in “Collage: Piecing It Together.” It includes approximately 25 works from the Portland Museum of Art's own collection and other selected loans from contemporary Maine artists, tracing the history of collage from its introduction in Europe in the early 20th century by artists such as Kurt Schwitters to present day works by Maine artists such as Tom Hall.