RYEGATE—With the future of the Ryegate biomass plant up in the air, a state study has found that its closure would negatively impact the regional economy and electricity production.
According to the study, published in March, the plant’s closure could devastate the area’s logging industry, eliminate some $14 million of economic activity from the region and take 160,000 megawatts hours of electricity off the market.
It would also affect the tax base of the small town of Ryegate, causing a tax increase.

WOODSVILLE—The New Hampshire Department of Justice has found no wrongdoing after conducting two additional inquiries into the ill-fated 2021 town meeting election in Haverhill.
Two earlier investigations cited local officials for electioneering. One, completed in 2021, found unlawful electioneering by Woodsville Fire District Administrator Kevin Shelton after he sent a letter before the election asking Woodsville residents to support Michael Graham’s candidacy for selectboard and to vote “No” on Article 2 of Haverhill’s town meeting warrant.

NORTH HAVERHILL—Nine months after her death, Brooke Goodrich’s alleged killer has been indicted.
Lance Goodrich of Lyme has been accused of killing his 25-year-old cousin, who was found dead at her Route 10 home in Orford on Nov. 20, 2021. He allegedly shot her in the head. He was arrested later that day in Newport, New Hampshire.

HAVERHILL—The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration has rejected a request by Woodsville Precinct to reconsider its decision to invalidate two articles approved by voters at town meeting in Haverhill in March.
On March 16, voters narrowly approved two petitioned articles—27 and 28—that provided funding for Woodsville Precinct. The former provided $298,630 for the precinct highway department and the latter provided $146,974 for the precinct’s fire department.

PIERMONT—A large barn on Dartmouth College Highway in Piermont was destroyed in a fire on Sunday night.
Several area fire departments responded to the scene at 321 Route 10 north of the village at approximately 10 p.m. after a neighbor spotted the blaze.
Piermont Fire Chief Bruce Henry estimated the barn was 150 feet in length.