Dartmouth’s men’s ice hockey team is making headlines—not just for their play on the ice, but for a celebrity fan in the stands.

Tate McRae, the Canadian singer and songwriter, was spotted at senior night on March 1 to cheer on her older brother, Tucker McRae. That night, Dartmouth’s Thompson Arena saw a record-breaking crowd of 5,195 fans as the Big Green battled Princeton to a 2-2 tie and secured the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Hockey postseason. 

Fans at the Dartmouth game couldn’t miss Tate cheering on her brother.

Tucker, 24, captains the team while studying economics. When he was a freshman, Dartmouth struggled on the ice, ranking among collegiate hockey’s weakest teams. Fast forward to 2024–25, and the Big Green captured the Ivy League Championship for the first time since the 2006–07 season. The team is looking to repeat that this season. Tucker has said in interviews that he plans to pursue a career in business after graduation.

Meanwhile, Tate, 22, rose to fame as a 13-year-old finalist on “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2016, becoming the first Canadian to reach the finals. Tate has since turned to singing and songwriting, releasing three albums.

The siblings are clearly close. In a 2022 interview with Uproxx about her album “Think Later,” Tate said:

“My brother is a hockey player, and having grown up in Calgary, hockey has always been a part of my life. In creating the ‘Think Later’ era, hockey just became a great way to pay homage to my roots and highlight the athleticism in my fashion, style, and approach to live performances.”

Tate has also honored her brother in her music. She released a song, “Dear Brother,” written out of fear that she and Tucker might drift apart as they got older. She also writes about him on her 2023 song “Calgary,” where she sings, “Same fears, same dreams / Still trying to get my brother to like me.”

👉 Check out the rest of Dartmouth’s men’s hockey schedule

Here’s what else we’re covering today:

🎵 Music Hall gets $3M donation from Martha Fuller Clark

📢 Question of the week: How are you evaluating Trump?

🌞 The bright side: Your local good news roundup

💪 Nominate a local hero, and we’ll feature them in this newsletter

P.S. It’s the (Lunar) New Year—spread knowledge, not clutter. This newsletter is free and easy to share.

The Music Hall in Portsmouth. (USA Today Network)

If you didn’t know, Martha Fuller Clark is basically a New Hampshire powerhouse when it comes to historic preservation and scenic conservation. She spent 30 years in the state Legislature—first in the House and then the Senate—championing causes that protect the character of towns, cities, and landscapes.

But even before politics, she was deeply involved in preserving historic buildings and communities, especially in Portsmouth, where she helped set up the city’s historic district commission and a local preservation group. You can read up on her at Scenic America, the organization her mom, Marion Fuller Brown, co-founded as she famously pushed to ban billboards in Maine.

She recently announced she’s donating $3 million to Music Hall in Portsmouth—the most in the organization’s history. The money will go toward capital investments.

🎵 Read the full story: Clark’s $3M gift to Music Hall

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump ordered a strike on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation’s supreme leader. Trump has often called himself a “president of peace” and, during his campaign, promised to end wars.

The military action comes as his overall approval rating is slipping. Multiple polls show it hovering around 40%, and most voters believe Trump is overstepping his authority.

What does this mean for the midterms?

Republican pollster Whit Ayres, speaking to Politico, said presidential approval ratings have historically been strong indicators of midterm results:

“When it’s above 50 percent, the party loses seats but not that many. When the president’s job approval is below, the average loss of seats is 32,” Ayres told Politico. 

So, this week’s question is…

Which issue matters most to you in evaluating Trump:
military action, the Epstein files, immigration enforcement, or something else?

Here’s what you’re saying…

“His blatant lies, disregard for the law and disregard for science are the most troubling to me.” — Carol Staugaard

“The elimination of Ali Khamenei was not necessarily a bad thing for the Iranian people. However, removing a leader is easy; it is far more difficult to rebuild a democratic and favorable leadership afterward — and I don’t see the Trump administration taking any steps to do so. A power vacuum is a dangerous thing. Like every other aspect of his “leadership,” Trump has been abjectly apathetic toward the potential loss of American lives in this conflict. Not to mention, he completely circumvented Congress in making this decision. In my opinion, he acted without forethought about how to help the people of Iran or the country afterward. And, as with nearly everything else he has done, Trump’s motives in this conflict appear rooted in selfish purposes: pacifying Israel, drawing attention away from the Epstein files, maintaining control over fuel — whatever they may be. Nothing he has done has ever benefited the country unless it also aligned with his personal agenda. The hypocrisy of boasting about removing a “bad leader” while simultaneously considering ways to ignore the Constitution and stay in power beyond his term — despite over 60% of the country calling for his removal — is beyond belief.” — Denise C.

Granite Goodness Live is coming to 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on March 27 for a night celebrating New Hampshire’s growing podcast scene.

Hosted by Andy DeMeo, the event features two live conversations with creators from NH Uncharted, Creative Guts, Seacoast Stories, New Hampshire Has Issues, One Quick Thing, and Telltalks Northeast, plus an opening performance by indie-folk favorite Sneaky Miles.

Buy tickets here.

The following briefs are presented in partnership with Granite Goodness. Subscribe today.

🌲 Big news from Maine: the Penobscot Nation is getting back 1,700 acres of ancestral forest. It’s more than just land—it means stronger stewardship of wildlife, water, and forests, and it’s part of a bigger push to return tens of thousands of acres across the state. Tribal Business News

🌎  Speaking of big moves, Connecticut is digging deep—New Haven just launched the state’s first networked geothermal system, bringing clean heating and cooling to Union Station and nearly 1,000 public housing units. Decarbonizing city buildings by 2030? Looks like they’re serious. Canary Media

🏘️ And down in Massachusetts, zoning reforms are making housing happen. A recent report found nearly 7,000 new units could now be built across 34 communities, especially near transit and in multi-family developments. The housing crunch might finally get a little breathing room. WBUR

💙 Know someone in New Hampshire who’s doing something worth celebrating? Whether it’s a neighbor, volunteer, small business owner, artist, or community leader, we want to hear about it!

Send us their name, what they’re doing, and why it matters to you at info@granitepostnews.com.

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Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Katy Savage with stories from USA Today via Reuters Connect and Granite Goodness. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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