CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -New Hampshire residents are making a name for themselves with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The agency asked for volunteers late Tuesday to help clean up after hurricanes. Prospective volunteers then jammed phone lines.

A state coordinator said FEMA reported Thursday that New Hampshire residents make up 40 percent of the responders nationwide headed south to help.

request. Some already have left. Others were to leave Thursday and Friday.

About 200 New Hampshire residents will get travel orders, Pacheco said.

The council is part of a federal program to help states find people to respond to local emergencies. Pacheco said New Hampshire’s response was so rapid and strong because the council was up and running and because of quick media reports on the call for help.

The council is not looking for any more people. It is still taking information from those who may be able to help later.

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Chapel Vandalized

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MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) – Police are investigating the vandalism of the historic Saint John’s Chapel on Bear Island in Lake Winnipesaukee.

Two leaded glass windows, dating back to when the chapel was built in 1927, were smashed from the inside, police said.

The chapel’s summer services ended in August, and it had not yet been secured for the winter. The small church usually is left open for hikers and visitors, but is now is locked.

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Elizabeth Edwards

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – The Kerry-Edwards campaign is sending one of its top campaigners to New Hampshire next week.

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of the vice presidential candidate, is scheduled to visit the state on Monday. The campaign hasn’t yet released other details of her schedule.

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Sunapee Expansion

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LEBANON, N.H. (AP) – A regional planning group has declared its opposition to a Mount Sunapee Ski area expansion.

The Upper Valley-Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission voted to oppose the plan Wednesday.

Commissioners said unanswered questions and incorrect information led them to decide it doesn’t fit their regional plan.

The resort’s operators want to expand the area by 175 acres. They also hope to connect it to land in neighboring Goshen, where they’d build up to 250 condos.

Commissioners said most of their questions concern the housing development. They also said the fiscal analysis the resort supplied with its new five-year plan is incorrect, and the expansion’s impact on local schools is unrealistic.

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Salt Marsh

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AP-ES-09-16-04 1617EDT