This is exciting! Online stuff for you Says our venerable city manager, Tom Aspell: “In an ongoing effort to increase public access, the Community Development Department is pleased to announce that building permit/certificate of occupancy status information can now be tracked online.” Cue up the dramatic music. To access this free service, says Aspell, visit onconcord.com and go to the Building and Code Services page under the “Departments” pull-down menu. The “Building Permit Information” link can be found in the left-hand column. Customers will be able to follow the progress of their…

We all have a pair. Call them sneakers, tennis shoes or athletic shoes. We wouldn’t wear them outside our own fenced yards. They’re caked with mud or glowing green with many a summer’s worth of yard clippings. At some point, though, they become so curled and stiff we can’t face them anymore. They get pushed back further and further into the cobwebbed corners of the garage, certain victims of the next big…

Are you looking for your next sweetheart? Join Bark Now, 237 S. Main St., for its Valentine's Day fundraiser for the Concord Merrimack County SPCA on Saturday, Feb. 14, from 1 to 4 p.m. It is going to be a very special Valentine's Day here at Bark Now! There will be shelter animals joining the fun for three hours of playtime. There will be both cats and dogs who are available for adoption from the Concord Merrimack County SPCA. Bark Now will be collecting cash donations to help raise money to build the new shelter. If you are unable to make it on Valentine's Day, you can make a donation online…

I actually did misquote LeBron James last week by typing "You good good, you play good" instead of "You look good, you play good." Well, having turned 65 this month, I am entitled to a senior moment once in a while. The only other error that jumped out in the lip balm issue was the failure, again, to italicize a title, in this case South Pacific in Mr. Trottier's piece on "the new 65." That, as those of a certain age immediately recognize, is the musical drama adapted from James Michener's volume of short stories entitled Tales of the South Pacific. I mention this again because that sidebar on…

We welcome new volunteers in a wide variety of areas: outside with gardening and property help, inside with the museum store, with the public at special events, guiding tours or demonstrating crafts and behind the scenes in research or administrative help. Come experience being a part of Canterbury Shaker Village by volunteering in these pristine and beautiful surroundings. Craft demonstrators need to be facile in a craft or be willing to learn as an apprentice. Tour guides must attend spring training prior to season opening. Property volunteers should be familiar with basic power tools and machinery.…

Tuesday, Jan. 27 Toddler Tales, Concord Public Library, 45 Green St. Program is designed for 2- to 3½-year-olds and their caregivers. 225-8670, onconcord.com/library. 10 a.m. “A Roll of the Dice: Expanded Gambling in New Hampshire,” Holiday Inn, 172 N. Main St. The Business and Industry Association examines what expanded gambling means to the state. $30 members and state legislators, $45 nonmembers. 11:30 a.m. Downtown Parking Committee Meeting, City Hall, 41 Green St. Held in the second-floor conference room. onconcord.com. 4:30 p.m. Buyer Seminar, The Masiello Group, 4 Park St. Free. 228-0151.…