Seacoast community helped us tell the stories that mattered most in 2022

The foundation of everything we do in local news is the trust of the people in the communities we serve.

It’s why our team of journalists can tell important stories. It’s why people allow us to share their stories. It’s why Seacoastonline.com and Fosters.com continue to be two of the fastest-growing local news sites in the nation.

We work to earn your trust by covering the stories in Seacoast New Hampshire and York County, Maine, that matter most. Here are some prime examples of the stories and issues we covered in 2022 that will influence Seacoast-area news in 2023 and beyond:

Housing issues at all levels

We were pleased to share the story of Chelsea Chase, the first tenant of the Ruth Lewin Griffin Place affordable apartments in downtown Portsmouth, thanks to a big assist from Craig Welch, executive director of the Portsmouth Housing Authority. The project was celebrated for bringing 64 new below-market-rate housing units to the city, helping people like Chase, who sought a new home because her previous apartment's rent had doubled.

We also sought out helpful information for people seeking homes, covering the local real estate markets along the New Hampshire Seacoast, in Strafford County and York County. This included a story on 12 Seacoast towns where you can find a home for under $380,000, a price too steep for many but relatively affordable for the high-priced Seacoast.

Turning to the homeless population, a year after we visited the woods near Willand Pond in Somersworth to talk to local people living in tents, the issue persists. We have followed with coverage of the Willand warming center and the expansion of operations at Cross Roads House in Portsmouth.

And thanks to you, our readers, we have again raised tens of thousands of dollars to help local people heat their homes this winter, through our Gift of Warmth campaign.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

We began an ongoing project in 2022 to increase our coverage of the local shipyard, with its 6,000-plus civilian employees and reported $1.3 billion impact on the region's economy. A story on how to seek employment at the shipyard as it seeks to hire 1,200 people in two years was especially well received, as were stories on the loss of child care for workers' families and the parking crunch at the shipyard and around Kittery.

Mental health crisis

Seacoast teenagers told us their truth about social media and mental health in 2022, one of a 12-part monthly series of stories that is carrying into 2023. We took on this project in partnership with the New Hampshire Union Leader and Dartmouth Health. The project was inspired by former New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice John Broderick, whose openness about his family's story and his activism make him a champion for more access to mental health care.

Important stories in times of tragedy

The community was heartbroken about the death of Portsmouth 8-year-old Quarius Dunham, who was struck by gunfire while riding in a car with his family in South Carolina on Memorial Day weekend. With heavy hearts, we were honored Matthew and Tecali Dunham, the child's grieving parents, granted us an interview to talk about Quarius weeks after the deadly incident, which also left Matthew wounded by gunfire. “A big portion of my heart is gone, damaged and can’t be replaced,” Tecali said.

Another incomprehensible tragedy came Labor Day weekend with a crash on Route 4 in Rollinsford. Three of the people who died were all from the same South Berwick, Maine, household. Gavin Sorge Sr., who lost his son, his son's partner and his father-in-law, bravely shared his family's pain, saying, "Half of my family are gone." We also investigated and reported a detailed timeline of events leading up to the fatal Labor Day weekend crash: The 33-year-old driver who allegedly crossed the roadway's center line to cause the collision, police say, was reported for alleged assaults in Somersworth and Dover minutes earlier. He died as a result of the crash.

There were many more sad stories in 2022. Each time, caring readers responded with donations and shows of support.

Development and restaurants

Our readers constantly make it very clear to us they care about new building developments and new restaurants across our coverage area. A lot. We work hard to deliver this coverage. Just a few highlights include 100 apartments proposed in downtown Hampton, 10 projects coming to Exeter, a huge waterfront project headlining big Dover developments, a three-building Portsmouth project in the parking lot area by the Sheraton, the plan for apartments, a cinema, restaurants and breweries at the Ridge in Rochester, the future of an old armory in Somersworth, an affordable housing project in York, Maine and the on-again-off-again Barnard Tavern project in Kennebunk,

Restaurant owners clearly see the Seacoast as a great place to operate and we had stories about them all year. For readers trying to keep track of it all, we compiled a story highlighting Seacoast restaurants that opened and closed in 2022.

Education and children

Thanks to our partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative and a talented University of New Hampshire student reporter, we published an in-depth story: Young NH teachers leaving the profession. The 'heartbreaking, infuriating' reasons why. This story shared insights on the challenges teachers face, with voices from across the state's schools and colleges, including the Seacoast, and explained the impact of New Hampshire's so-called "divisive concepts" law.

We also took an in-depth look at child care and the long waitlists facing parents, as well as lighter but amazing stories like the Rye students whose boat was found in Norway

Health care in our communities

Thanks to the cooperation and trust of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital's staff, in January 2022 we published an inside look at the Dover hospital's critical care COVID-19 unit. A patient who had been intubated shared his experience, and we talked with healthcare professionals on the job at a time when hospitals were overwhelmed. They shared their struggles, made calls for vaccinations and allowed us the access needed to show their reality to the community.

Readers reached out to us with alarm when 12 of 14 primary care doctors left Frisbie Memorial Hospital of Rochester in 2021. We followed up on this story in 2022, reporting how the state attorney general is reviewing a plan by Frisbie to stop delivering babies, instead sending expectant mothers to deliver at Portsmouth Regional Hospital. Frisbie CEO Tim Jones, recently granted us an interview, offering candid answers about these topics and more, acknowledging the hospital is working to "repair our reputation."

High school sports

The 2022 Seacoast All-Star Sports Awards show in June at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, featuring Boston Bruin Charlie Coyle, was the culmination of the 2021-22 high school sports season. We were proud to honor the student-athletes' accomplishments, and we're equally proud to provide exhaustive coverage of high school sports. Each fall, winter and spring season, we bring you players to watch in multiple sports, detailed previews of the teams and follow up with coverage throughout the season all the way to the state championships.

Arts on the Seacoast

A project showcasing Seacoast drag queens perhaps best exemplifies our coverage of the arts in 2022. We featured a new generation of performers who are becoming more and more a part of the mainstream in a community that has shown it values love and and inclusion over hate.

Accountabilty and what you want to know

We know earning trust from our readers is a never-ending process. We also know it helps when we can tell stories powerful people would rather not see published.

This means bringing you stories like the Dover police officer who "lied by omission" about the pursuit of a vehicle on the night of St. Patrick's Day in 2021. He was fired weeks after the incident, information that was not shared with the public. However, in January 2022, we got a tip about a New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council's hearing. This is where the former Dover officer's certification to work as an officer was permanently revoked. The hearing brought out details of the incident and helped lead to the families of the two men killed in the crash suing the former officer and the city of Dover. The day of the hearing, Dover Police Chief William Breault granted our reporter an interview, giving his first extensive explanation for why the officer was fired.

In York, Maine, a lawsuit and our public records request led to the 2022 release of a video showing a York police dog attacking a 63-year-old pediatrician who had been pulled over by an officer two years earlier. This story sparked an impassioned community debate.

We rely on the support of the community, bringing us news tips and sharing stories with us so we can share them with readers. If you have a news tip or story idea, please email us at news@seacoastonline.com and news@fosters.com.

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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoastonline and Fosters: The stories that mattered most in 2022