Thomas W. Grannemann was unanimously chosen by his colleagues as vice chair of the Haverhill School Committee at the board’s reorganization meeting Thursday. Delighted with the changeup is Barry Davis, president of the Haverhill Education Association—the union that represents most educators. Davis spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting and alluded to several years of difficult negotiations with prior board members.

About 65 people across the region, carrying flame and electric candles as well as flashlights, gathered in the center of Haverhill’s Grand Army Park Thursday night to grieve the loss of Renee Nicole Good and express outrage at the conditions which caused her death on a street in her Minneapolis, Minn., neighborhood. Good, 37, was shot and killed by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officers while behind the wheel of her SUV.

Haverhill’s Griffin LaMarre has qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Paralympic Winter Games. The Paralympic Games take place March 6 to 15 in the Arena di Verona. The games mark the 50th anniversary of the first Paralympic Winter Games and return to Italy for the second time, 20 years after Torino 2006. LaMarre, son of Donna and John LaMarre, was born with spasptic paraplegia, a hereditary condition that affects the strength of his legs and his balance.

Northern Essex Community College was awarded $180,000 Thursday from the state to continue its support of students with disabilities participating in Massachusetts Inclusive Postsecondary Education, MAIPSE for short, programs. These enable certain students with severe disabilities to take part in undergraduate academic courses, extracurricular activities, internships, work experiences and on-campus student life activities. Officials explain this includes students with intellectual disabilities, severe autism spectrum disorder and severe developmental disabilities.

Rock Voices Haverhill is performing a concert of modern and classic pop music as a fundraiser for Opportunity Works. The performance, led by conductor Peg DiGrazia, is Saturday, Jan. 10, 7 p.m. at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Haverhill, 15 Kenoza St., Haverhill. The program includes songs by the Beach Boys, Ozzy Osbourne, Supertramp, Sly & the Family Stone, Cyndi Lauper, James Taylor, The Bangles and Earth Wind & Fire.

The Phoenix Essex County Community Reentry Project, operated by the Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger’s office, could receive $750,000 in federal help for its Supporting Transition and Reentry—or STAR—program in Lawrence. Congresswoman Lori Trahan said Thursday she secured House passage of $5.1 million in federal funding for five community projects across Massachusetts’ Third District including the re-entry program. Other investments she championed support major infrastructure upgrades in Lowell, Littleton, Groton and Westford.

A community candlelight vigil is planned tonight in Haverhilll to mourn a 37-year-old woman shot and killed yesterday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, Minn. Merrimack Valley Project, Greater Haverhill Indivisible and LUCE Immigrant Justice Network are sponsoring the vigil tonight, Thursday, at 6, at Grand Army Park, across the street from the Haverhill Public Library. “Community members, faith leaders and organizers will gather to mourn the loss of life, stand in solidarity with impacted families and call for an end to violence and fear targeting immigrant communities,” read a joint statement.

(Additional photograph gallery below.) Eric Tarpy officially became Haverhill’s first assistant fire chief and Richard Shellene rose to deputy fire chief Wednesday as five more of their colleagues also moved up the ranks. The audience for the swearing-in ceremony swelled so greatly by well-wishers that it moved from City Council Chambers to Haverhill City Hall auditorium. There, Mayor Melinda E. Barrett and soon-to-retire Fire Chief Robert M.

Free parking along Haverhill’s principal downtown thoroughfare could be a thing of the past, and paid parking elsewhere could increase, if a plan by Haverhill’s Central Business District Parking Commission advances. Haverhill Parking Administrator Nicholas Aylward, hired in 2023, told WHAV that commissioners adopted a plan to install meters along Merrimack Street from Washington Square to Main Street at White’s Corner.

Haverhill and Methuen were among 58 school systems sharing in state grants Wednesday to create or expand behavioral and mental health services and support for students. Each school department received $69,910 and will also be able to take part in related professional development for school staff, sponsored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. “Our educators are working to create safe and healthy learning environments that are joyful, engaging and equitable for every child,” Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez said.

A man, said to be part of a Methuen-based drug trafficking group dealing in fentanyl and methamphetamine in New Hampshire’s Seacoast area, was sentenced Wednesday to 28 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. Forty-four-year-old Eddy Mendez Carmona was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Court Judge Samantha Elliott. “Fentanyl and methamphetamine are a scourge on our communities,” said New Hampshire U.S.

Low-interest federal disaster loans are now available to small businesses and private nonprofit organizations harmed by prolonged cold last May in New Hampshire’s Rockingham County, among other places. The U.S. Small Business Administration said Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and nonprofits with financial losses directly related to this disaster. The agency said it is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises.

Haverhill hockey fans will take a moment Saturday to honor the city’s first responders prior to back-to-back hockey games. The Haverhill High School First Responders Night will be held Saturday, Jan. 10, beginning at 7 p.m., at Veterans Memorial Skating Rink, behind Haverhill High School, 137 Monument St. Before games get underway, a ceremony honors and recognizes the city’s first responders.

by Maya Mitchell, New Hampshire Bulletin January 6, 2026 Uncertainty surrounds federal child care subsidies for New Hampshire following a Trump administration announcement that has frozen funding nationwide. On Dec. 30, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill announced on X that the Administration of Children and Families will now “require a justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before it will send money to a state for child care purposes.

Haverhill Deputy Fire Chief Eric Tarpy is scheduled to be sworn in Wednesday as the city’s first assistant fire chief. Mayor Melinda E. Barrett hailed Tarpy’s promotion during her second inaugural speech Monday. The idea to hire an assistant fire chief, partly to address Fire Prevention Division staffing, was backed almost three years ago in a study by the Washington-based Center for Public Safety Management…

Haverhill residents who wish to send their natural Christmas trees for composting by the city should have them curbside by 6 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10. Trees should be stripped of tinsel, lights and any ornaments and not be placed in plastic bags. Any trees out of compliance or artificial trees will not be collected. Those who miss Saturday’s collection may bring their trees to the city’s recycling center, 95 Downing Ave., during regular hours—Wednesdays from 8 a.m.

Methuen and Lawrence schools were each awarded grants Tuesday by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to strengthen multilingual programming in school settings. Methuen was awarded a $23,710 Proficiency Outcomes in World Languages grant, while Lawrence received an $82,000 English Learner Education Support grant. “We know that schools need to give students multiple routes to multilingualism, and these grants provide districts with the funding and support they need to make that happen,” said Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler.

Shadi’s Restaurant hosts members and guests of the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce later this month for a Networking at Noon Luncheon. The lunch includes a choice of either Arabic Platter, baked haddock or chicken kabob and comes with salad, rice pilaf and French fries. A cash bar is available. Networking at Noon takes place Thursday, Jan. 22, from noon to 1:15 p.m., at Shadi’s Restaurant and Lounge, 585 Chickering Road, North Andover.

(Additional photographs below.) Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett started her second term with a review of recent successes and challenges as well as an upbeat assessment of the city’s future in her inaugural address Monday. Reflecting on challenges in the last year, Barrett said the city showed its true colors when 15,000 residents lost their federal food stamp benefits during last fall’s federal government shutdown.

(Additional photograph below.) Haverhill’s new City Council leaders connected economic development and education as each outlined their compatible visions for the future. Unanimously elected as Council president, as expected, Timothy J. Jordan first identified some of the many challenges facing the city. “Federal funding for many of our nonprofits and our Community Development Block Grants is expected to decrease significantly.

Deputy Maurice Pratt of the Essex County Sheriff’s Department explains the importance of emergency “Grab & Go Bags” and what to put into them when he addresses the Groveland Council on Aging this month. Pratt walks residents through why these bags matter, what essential items to include—such as medications, eyeglasses, important contacts and pet needs—and how to start assembling one with items already at home.

Pentucket Bank was named December’s Business of the Month by the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce. In making its selection, The Chamber cited the bank bringing world-class capabilities to the community bank level while preserving personalized service, trusted relationships and local investment. Construction of Pentucket Bank’s new White’s Corner location is underway as part of developer Salvatore N. Lupoli’s $160 million District Square project in downtown Haverhill.

Haverhill is moving forward with plans to replace, what the city calls, an “existing, failing culvert,” relaying East Meadow River under Brandy Brow Road. On Thursday, the Haverhill Conservation Commission is scheduled to hear details of the bridge replacement, for which—as WHAV reported more than two years ago—the city received an $87,000 state grant. Benefits are said to include improved access to the hiking and wilderness paths and improved environmental and flood resiliency.

Beth Skoglund of Haverhill is the winner of “A Year of Flowers by Steve,” a fundraiser for Cogswell ArtSpace with a prize of floral arrangements each month this year. The Creative Haverhill fundraiser, which raised $10,000 in support of installing an elevator in the former George S. Cogswell School in Bradford, was coordinated by Stephen Janavicus of Flowers by Steve in celebration of his 50 years in business.

“More Than a Murder: The Winter Crow Roost,” each year in Lawrence, is the topic of a free Haverhill talk by Craig Gibson for Essex County Greenbelt Association. Gibson founded and leads a group called the Crow Patrol that tracks and documents the roost each year. He speaks Thursday, Feb. 5, from 6-7:30 p.m., at Pinnacle, Harbor Place, third floor, 2 Merrimack St.