Also on today’s menu:
Federal Money Funds 10-Year Highway Plan
Tax Deception
Music and art are very much alive in the Lakes Region, as two stories in the Laconia Daily Sun attest. This weekend, a theatrical rock opera, “Man on the Hill,” will debut at Franklin Opera House before moving to the Inter-Lakes Community Auditorium; and the Laconia Zoning Board of Adjustment has granted the variance and special exception that will allow a local businessman to establish a studio for performing artists in Lakeport.
Laconia resident John Stanley Shelley, who recently released a CD called “Eight Singles,” is bringing “Man on the Hill to Franklin and Meredith, telling a story that is interwoven with live performances of the songs on his debut album. After that, he plans to take the show to Derry, Littleton, Claremont, and Rochester.
Shelley, now 61, actually wrote the title song, “The Man on the Hill,” when he was 19. He describes the show as part intimate living room chat and part rock show. He will be joined on stage by keyboardist Doug Sally, drummer Stephen Austin, and bass player Shawn Chase.
Scott Everett, who restored the Lakeport Opera House, is the man behind the plans to build a studio on Clinton Street. Everett has said the studio will be available to performing artists in a workshop-type setting.
To create the studio space, Everett plans to tear down the house currently at 59 Clinton Street and replace it with a smaller two-story structure, with nine parking spaces.
Federal Money Funds 10-Year Highway Plan
State transportation officials expect to receive $545 million in federal funds for highway and bridge work and other infrastructure relating to transportation, such as airports and bus service. They expect the money will help the state work on “red-listed” bridges that are due for replacement without the customary local match, reports Garry Rayno in InDepthNH.org.
State money will be freed up for work on other bridges, with a 20 percent local match.
Going forward, the state Department of Transportation can expect lower revenues as fuel efficiency improves and more electric vehicles are put into service, which will reduce what is collected through the gas tax.
Tax Deception
The Federal Trade Commission has asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to stop Intuit from advertising its tax preparation software TurboTax as providing “free” filing when, in fact, it is free only to users completing certain tax forms. For many others, after gathering and inputting their personal financial information, they find they cannot file the forms until they upgrade to a paid TurboTax service.
The FTC is seeking a temporary restraining order “to put an immediate stop to Intuit’s deception well before this year’s April 18 tax filing deadline.”
ProPublica originally reported on the problem, but after the federal suit was filed, Intuit’s attorneys defended the accuracy of the ads. However, the company has agreed to pull down its “free” TV ads.
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Anyone have a trail camera they can mount at the Old Town Hall to see if we can get a glimpse of the woodpecker who has been visiting the tree?