Alliance Report

If the ruddy duck were school bus yellow, its posture in water would remind you of a rubber bathtub toy. This is a "prairie pothole" duck, and an odd duck in itself, in terms of breeding plumage and behavior. New Hampshire bird watchers are seeing an increasing number of these ducks on state lakes.

Justin Marks, son of the Alliance's Susan Marks, grew up spending summers on Berry Bay. Now a screenwriter, with Disney's hit "The Jungle Book" among his credits, he'll be speaking at Freedom Public Library on Wednesday, December 28, at 1 p.m.

Freedom's Select Board has authorized the Conservation Commission to establish a legal fund to support the town's contention that Ossipee violated zoning laws by approving the campground's plan to double in size from 258 sites to 519. Officials say more than $8,500 has already been committed to the fund.

No bidders met the reserve price this month for Donald Lee's shorefront property, which the state ordered the Sheriff to sell after the Massachusetts resident repeatedly failed to comply with a court order to pay for the environmental damage he caused to Bradford Cove. A second auction date will be set, but in the interim the Ossipee Bluffs Association will have to cover the $500,00 to $600,000 remediation cost.