NORTH HAVERHILL—A local wood pellet company is mulling a possible manufacturing plant in the town-owned industrial park next to Dean Memorial Airport.
Morton Bailey of Lyme Green Heat told selectboard members on Jan. 4 that his company is still drawing up engineering plans, but that the business has identified the North Haverhill site for a possible $7 million facility that would convert wood chips into wood pellets for heating fuel. Haverhill Town Manager Brigitte Codling said Bailey first approached the town several months ago about the proposal.
The two lots are located on either side of Business Park Drive. Conceived decades ago, the business park was developed by the town, which funded a lengthy sewer system extension from the Grafton County complex to make the lots more marketable.

NEWBURY—Newbury residents have until Dec. 29 to vote on whether they want the town to withdraw from the Oxbow Unified Union School District.
On Dec. 21, nearly 75 people listened to an informational meeting held via Zoom to hear different perspectives on the single question on the ballot. Hosted by the Newbury Selectboard and facilitated by Monique Priestley, speakers presented their cases. A recording of the session can be found at https://youtu.be/pz5csclcifg.

“Whether great or small, a post office was the visible form of the Federal Government in every community and to every citizen. Its hand is the only one that touches the local life, the social interests, and business concerns of every neighborhood.”—John Wanamaker, Postmaster General, 1889-1893.
In 2019, the U.S. Postal Service delivered 143 billion pieces of mail to 160 million addresses, including 46 million rural destinations. Additionally, it operated 31,000 local post offices.
That year at least 1.3 billion of those pieces of mail were Christmas cards, and many of the packages held Christmas gifts. In 2020, about 64 million were ballots, representing a pivotal role in the recent General Election.
This column, the first of two on the subject, explores the development of the postal system, including its impact on local communities. The information comes from newspapers, books and online sources on the history of both the national postal system and those of our two states.

WOODSVILLE—The Haverhill Cooperative School Board reversed course on Monday night and voted to prohibit spectators from indoor winter sports.
In October, SAU-23 Superintendent Laurie Melanson told school board members that in light of an increase in COVID-19 cases throughout the region she was hesitant to permit fans at indoor sports, such as high school basketball at the Bagonzi Community Building, during the winter.
The next month, after some public input however, board members voted to allow two to three fans per home athlete as long as those fans could adhere to social distancing requirements, according to minutes of the Nov. 9 meeting.

NEWBURY—There will be an informational meeting next week ahead of a critical vote in Newbury that could have wide-ranging impacts.
A vote to withdraw Newbury from the Oxbow Unified Union School District will conclude on Dec. 29. The polls will be open that day, but voters can also participate via absentee ballot.
An informational hearing on the special meeting article, hosted by the Newbury Selectboard, will be held via Zoom on Dec. 21 at 6 p.m.