🌱 Portsmouth Daily: Weekend Fun; Music; Lawmakers Eye Bills

Happy Friday, neighbors! It's Tony Schinella. Here's everything you need to know about what's happening locally today.

First, today's weather:

Occasional morning rain. High: 58 Low: 19.

Here are the top stories in Portsmouth today:

1. Record highs in New Hampshire before heavy rain, high winds hit state (WMUR Manchester)
2. Sununu On State Of The State; Good News, More To Do: PM Patch NH
3. New Jersey Child Sexual Assault Suspect Arrested In New Hampshire
4. Weekly Covid Roundup: Cases, hospitalizations continue steep drop in NH (New Hampshire Business Review)
5. Energy efficiency, vaccines, dental benefits: NH lawmakers take up many bills (Seacoastonline.com)
6. Sununu touts success, calls for rejection of extremism. Democrats say he has embraced it (Seacoastonline.com)
7. NH teachers fear 'Freedom from Discrimination' law worsens decline in social studies education (New Hampshire Business Review)
8. Remember the Old Man of the Mountain, NH's Iconic State Emblem? (wokq.com)
9. Bird Watch: Sightings in Greater Newburyport and beyond (The Daily News of Newburyport)
10. NH Chronicle: The Flavors of India and Nepal (WMUR Manchester)
11. Green Mountain Communications awarded I-95 Bridge project: Seacoast business news (Seacoastonline.com)
12. Portsmouth Public Library: Now Available Through Hoopla! Bonus Borrows & Binge Passes (Press Release Desk)
13. This Weekend's Portsmouth Area Events (Portsmouth Patch)
14. Portsmouth Weather Forecast For The Weekend Ahead (Portsmouth Patch)
15. 10 things to do in N.H. this weekend: 'Drive My Car,' Dream Jobs, Winter Dance (New Hampshire Public Radio)
16. Sports Briefs: DeNiro secures hold on second with win over Homecare (Seacoastonline.com)
17. City Of Portsmouth: Portsmouth Recreation Department Opens Registration For Spring/Summer Programs/Camp (Press Release Desk)
18. Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club Features GRAMMY® Award-Winning & 9x-GRAMMY® Award Nominated Saxophonist & Composer CHRIS POTTER on Wednesday March 2 at 7:30 P.M. (WFMZ Allentown)
19. Psychologist: Do not reduce youth mental health struggles to a single cause: Letters (Seacoastonline.com)
20. Portsmouth is emerging as a global supply chain hub. What we know about future plans (Seacoastonline.com)

Today's Portsmouth Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Verizon. They're building the fastest 5G network in the country. To learn how 5G is going to change life for you and your community — and to get access to this amazing technology — click here. And thank you Verizon for sponsoring this community resource in Portsmouth!

Today in Portsmouth:

• Mike McDonald's Comedy Extravaganza (7:30 PM)

From my notebook:

• Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation: "LITTER ALERT! Have you found a piece of yellow plastic like this on the beach? It is called "explosive shock tubing." This one was found along the Piscataqua River this morning and is likely from rock blasting during dredging of the Pisc..." (Facebook)
• Leadership Seacoast: "The LS Class of 2022 experienced their first IN PERSON program day yesterday! Thank you to Exeter Hospital for your generous sponsorship!" (Facebook)
• Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation: "Like you all, I have been watching the Olympics lately. I am memorized by the perfect unison in which the ice-dancing pairs have been skating. It reminds me of several moments I have witnessed our whales and dolphins perform in unison, t..." (Facebook)
• Portsmouth Public Library (NH): "Have you noticed our newest feature on the second floor? Why yes! It’s (yet another) little free library! The items in the blue box, as well as those on and in the racks are not library books and are free for anyone to take! Have questio..." (Facebook)
• Portsmouth Professional Firefighters Local 1313: "Thank you to all the NH House reps and members of the public that have supported this bipartisan bill so far! We look forward to the continued support as it moves through the process!" (Facebook)
• Seacoast Eat Local: "Join us at Wentworth Greenhouses, Inc. in Rollinsford this Saturday, February 19th from 10:00-2:00 for our next Winter Farmers' Market! With over 35 local food vendors attending and live music played by Andrew Polakow all market long, yo..." (Facebook)
• Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival: "Hi Folks! We’re building a strong crew to help keep this festival afloat in 2022, and we’re looking for new members. That could be you! If you love this music, you love this festival, and you want to help them both continue to thrive, ju..." (Facebook)
• Strawbery Banke Museum: "Exeter Hospital has been supporting Labrie Family Skate at Puddle Dock Pond since 2015. This #ThankYouThursday, Strawbery Banke thanks the more than 2,200 clinical and professional staff at Exeter Hospital whose mission is to improve the..." (Facebook)
• HAVEN NH: "Abusers may use many different tactics to control you, including telling you what to do, extreme jealousy or insecurity, physically hurting you in any way and explosive outbursts. No one deserves abuse. HAVEN can help. Call our free 24/7..." (Facebook)
• The Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth: "‘Connecting Threads’ Fiber art invitational exhibit at the Levy Gallery includes a workshop and 'yarn bomb' cc: New Hampshire Art Association READ: https://portsmouthchamber.org/news/details/connecting-threads-02-16-2022" (Facebook)
• PPMtv - Portsmouth Public Media: "So many people who work with us become local legends in their own right. You’d be surprised at what we have in our building named after people from our past.🧐🎥🪜🖥" (Facebook)
• Seacoast Outright: "Today is #RandomActsOfKindnessDay. Be kind to each other. What will you come up with to be kind to someone today? #YouBeYou" (Facebook)
• The Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth: "Join the Chamber (and all the other area chambers) for a ski day on Mount Sunapee on March 8. Register by Feb. 25.⛷ LINK: https://portsmouthchamber.org/... QUESTIONS: Email Michel..." (Facebook)
• New Franklin School PTO: "Reminder! Taco Tuesday to Support the PTO this Tuesday 2/22/2022! And bonus cookies for dessert!!" (Facebook)
• Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire: "The Myth of The Model Minority, the third event of our 2022 Elinor Williams Hooker Tea Talks Series, will be this Sunday at 2pm. Our panel will address how the perceived success of Asian Americans has led to their portrayal as a monolith..." (Facebook)
• The Clipper Foundation: "It is grant season. Last night the board met to learn about all the wonderful grant applications this year!! It is incredibly inspiring and motivating to witness how our teachers continue to be so committed to our students. Not only are ..." (Facebook)
• The Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth: "New Hampshire Art Association new member jurying in April https://portsmouthchamber.org/news/details/spring-jurying-02-16-2022" (Facebook)
• Portsmouth Music and Arts Center: "Don't forget to get your tickets! This Sunday, Feb 20 at 3PM at PMAC! Join us for this popular series from Portsmouth Public Library (NH) and PMAC, produced and curated by Mitch Shuldman. This Sunday William Ghezzin will be performing! G..." (Facebook)
• Portsmouth Public Library (NH): "Guitar Sundays is a long-running collaboration with Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, and they're hosting the next concert in the series this Sunday! Don't miss guitarist William Ghezzi! Free and open to all, but registration is required..." (Facebook)
• The Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth: "Northeast Credit Union recently appointed Sean McNair senior vice president, chief member experience and digital officer (CXO). As CXO, McNair oversees the credit union’s digital strategy including digital banking and works to further de..." (Facebook)
• Joseph from Nextdoor's Community Team, Nextdoor New Hampshire: "Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day in the neighborhood this Thursday - Neighbors, did you know performing small, random acts of kindness for neighbors can reduce loneliness? 

 Nextdoor’s global study examining how acts of kindness i..." (Nextdoor)

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Events:

• Comedian Jim McCue (February 19)
• Learn How To Reduce Your Risk For Heart Disease During American Heart Month (February 28)
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You're officially in the loop for today! I'll see you soon.

— Tony Schinella

About me: Award-winning journalist and broadcaster for Patch.com in NH (off and on) since June 2011. Community coverage includes Concord, Hampton-North Hampton, Merrimack, Nashua, Portsmouth, and Salem. Reachable at tony.schinella@patch.com. Career highlights available on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/an...