POLL: What Should New Exeter Property Become?

Town officials have a plan for it.

An old downtown eyesore will soon get new life. Town officials recently completed the $49,000 purchase of an old Getty gas station in between the Police and Fire Departments at the corner of Court Street and Bow Street. Officials plan to turn the property into a parking lot soon and possibly use it to expand the police/fire departements later. What do you think of the plan? Let us know in the poll below!

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Olympic Dreams for Phillips Exeter Academy Rower

Deaglan McEachern is hoping to qualify for the Summer Olympics.

Deaglan McEachern said it takes 10,000 hours before someone can get really good at something and he has spent at least that much time rowing since he first took up the sport as a sophomore at Phillips Exeter Academy in 2000. Twelve years later, the 28-year-old Portsmouth native hopes to qualify for the men's pair event at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London and it will all come down to how well he and his teammate on the U.S. National Rowing Team perform in the qualifying race on June 12 in Princeton, N.J., where the U.S. National Rowing Team trains. McEachern is confident he can achieve a time of 6:24 or less in the 2,000-meter rowing event. There will be as many as 12 two-man teams from across the country who always want to compete …

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Exeter Biz Spotlight

NHSPCA Energy Upgrades to Save $50K Annually

The upgrades were made possible by the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.

The New Hampshire SPCA recently announced that the energy upgrade project that will save approximately $50,000 each year is now complete and operational. The renewable energy project, which began more than a year ago, was funded in part with a loan package from the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund (Community Loan Fund), using ARRA funds from the U.S. Department of Energy and the NH Office of Energy and Planning, State of New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission and the Energy Efficiency Program through the Retail Merchants Association of NH.  The NHSPCA has gone green, converting from oil to a unique combination of insulation improvements, wood pellet boilers and solar thermal collectors. The annual cost to operate the Adoption and …

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Mitt Romney Returns to NH

He's expected to be here on Friday.

Mitt Romney will be back in the Granite State on Friday, a campaign staffer confirmed this morning. Romney will make an appearance in the town of Hillsborough, holding an event at the Sawyer Bridge at 16 Antrim Road at 1:30 p.m. Hillsborough is about 30 miles west of Manchester. Romney was in New Hampshire twice in one week last month, making stops in Manchester and Portsmouth. New Hampshire is seen as a key swing state in the 2012 presidential election, and both Republicans and Democrats have been focusing a lot of energy here of late. Vice President Joe Biden will visit New Hampshire for the fourth time this year on Tuesday in Keene.

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Exeter-Inspired Redhook Beer to be Tapped Tonight

'American Independence Ale' was inspired by an Exeter museum.

Cheers! Redhook's new beer honoring the American Independence Museum will be tapped in Exeter tonight. The beer – the fourth in Redhook's "Brewery Backyard" series – will poured at Exeter's Folsom Tavern during a special "Independence Ale Trail" tonight. It will be the first time beer is poured at the tavern in more than 100 years. Check back to Exeter Patch tonight for photos of the new beer. The event coincides with the museum's season opening, which was held Wednesday. Redhook said it was inspired to create the beer based on colonial history. Leading up to the American Revolution, colonists were frustrated over the high taxes placed on imported ale, so they began brewing beer in their homes. "American Independence Ale" will be served at…

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Jason Claffey

11:15 am on Thursday, May 17, 2012

Thanks for the info!   more ›

Help Exeter Congregational Church's Garden

It's collecting plant donations at today's Exeter Farmers Market.

Officials from the Exeter Congregational Church will be at the Exeter Farmers Market today collecting plant donations for their community garden. Food grown in the garden goes to the church's food pantry, which helps out needy families. The garden is in need of tomato, cucumber, and basil plants. The farmers market will be held today from 2:15 to 6 p.m. at Swasey Parkway.

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Daily Briefing

Five Things You Need to Know Today: May 17

Sun. Finally.

1. HELLO, SUN. It will be gorgeous out today, with temps in the 70s and few clouds. This weekend looks to be the same. 2. BLOG ON PATCH. Have an opinion? Then blog on Patch! Currently we have several bloggers who write about everything from green business to politics to the effort to revive Exeter's Ioka theater. E-mail jason.claffey@patch.com to get started! 3. HIGHLIGHTING EXETER BUSINESS. Today we'll continue our ongoing series highlighting local businesses. 4. THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On this day in 2004, same-sex couples got married in Massachusetts for the first time in the United States. 5. DID YOU KNOW? Exeter is currently looking for members to join a committee charged with organizing a celebration for the town's 375th anniversary.

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Joe Biden Coming to NH Next Week

It's one of several trips the vice president has made to the Granite State.

Vice President Joe Biden will return to New Hampshire next week, a campaign official confirmed this afternoon. Biden is scheduled to speak at a political event on Tuesday, May 22 in Keene. No further details have been released. Biden has made three visits to New Hampshire already this year, most recently on April 12, when he gave a speech on the Buffett Rule in Exeter and made a retail stop at The Works Bakery Cafe in Portsmouth. The Republican National Committee was quick to issue a statement once word of Biden's visit was made public. "Vice President Biden should use this trip to explain Obama's hypocrisy on the deficit and the $5 trillion debt facing the people of New Hampshire," said Allie Brandenburger, an RNC spokesperson. The RNC …

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