News
Alexandra Eckersley reunited with her son after giving birth in woods in 2022
By KATHY McCORMACK
CONCORD, N.H. — The daughter of MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersely has been reunited with her son as she awaits trial on reckless conduct and other charges after giving birth more than a year ago in a tent in subfreezing temperatures, her...
Laconia votes to move forward with antique center purchase, splitting building with restaurateur
By GABRIEL PERRY
Laconia city council approved the purchase of 601 Main St., current site of the Laconia Antique Center, in a 4-2 vote following hours of discussion at their regular meeting Monday night.The city will purchase the back two thirds of the building for...
Pembroke School Board mulls major cuts to next year’s budget
By JEREMY MARGOLIS
In Kadyn Dean’s favorite class at the Pembroke Hill School, she works with robots, builds cardboard houses, and helps maintain a local hiking trail. In the past week, the third grader learned the class – called ILAB – is not expected to continue next...
Ossipee Main Street blindsided by parking lot plan
By DAYMOND STEER
The Main Street Program’s president says she was blindsided by the Ossipee selectmen’s plan to tear down the Main Street building, which the board discussed in public last week.The Main Street Program, according to its Facebook page, is a non-profit...
Bow power plant to add solar and batteries; coal use to end by 2028
By DAVID BROOKS
The region’s last coal-fired power plants, located in Bow and Portsmouth, are expected to switch to large-scale solar power and battery-storage under plans put forward by their owner, Granite Shore Power, marking New Hampshire’s first big transition...
NH House panel recommends against bill to make more kids eligible for free lunch
By RICK GREEN
The N.H. House Finance Committee on Tuesday recommended, 13-11, that the full House reject a bill that would expand eligibility for free lunches for children in public schools.It was a party-line vote with Republicans against House Bill 1212 and...
NH lawmakers are reviewing a new GOP school funding plan
By JOSH ROGERS
A top Republican budget writer in the New Hampshire House has proposed boosting state aid to public schools by $400 million a year and requiring any future education spending increase made at the local level to be approved by a supermajority...
New Hampshire Hospital increases bed capacity
By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN
New Hampshire Hospital has expanded its bed capacity in an effort to stop boarding patients in hospital emergency rooms.The “E” unit at the inpatient psychiatric facility in Concord, originally designed for children, has undergone renovations to...
Lawmakers try again to stop ticket scalping and phony sales
Reselling tickets to, say, a Taylor Swift show at five times the true cost would become illegal under a Senate bill that caps the asking price to face value. The legislation would also prohibit the sale of “speculative tickets” that resellers claim to...
The Economic Status of NH and its Residents
By PHIL SLETTEN
The U.S. and N.H. economies appear to be escaping high inflation without suffering through a recession. Despite substantially rising prices in the first half of 2022, prompting about a third of N.H. adults to report that it was somewhat or very...
Bill banning products made with PFAS moves forward
By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN
Mattresses, feminine hygiene products, food packaging and several other everyday items with added forever chemicals, may face a potential ban as a bill prohibiting their sale and distribution in New Hampshire progresses forward to the House of...
Dartmouth student uses art to shift perceptions of addiction
By NICOLA SMITH
LEBANON — In 2013, Alastair Huntley was struggling with depression and an overreliance on medication after being prescribed opioids after surgery for a knee injury, which left him in pain. Then a student at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt.,...
Concord School Board to finalize budget Wednesday
By CATHERINE McLAUGHLIN
Eliminating elementary teaching positions and a proposed middle school resource officer, while including a new math interventionist and world language teachers at Rundlett, the Concord School Board made a balance of cuts and additions to its draft...
In Concord address, Sununu rules out future presidential run, calls for marijuana legalization
By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI
Chris Sununu will celebrate his 50th birthday by turning over his seat in New Hampshire’s corner office. For a while, he thought the best birthday present would be going from a four-term state leader to President of the United States.Instead, he’ll...
Work on prison wall is part of maintenance of perimeter security
Workers have been replacing bricks and repairing the wall of the New Hampshire State Prison for Men on North State Street in Concord as part of an ongoing perimeter security project.The prison, parts of which date back to 1878, has a number of...
Concord woman arrested after man reportedly found on I-93NB suffering from BB-gunshot wounds
By ARIANNA MACNEILL
A Concord woman is facing felony charges after police say she shot a man with a BB gun at a homeless camp earlier this month.Kaitlin Cook, 34, is being charged with first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree assault with a deadly weapon,...
‘Extreme filth’ shutters Keene Dunkin’ for one day
By HUNTER OBERST
The Dunkin' Donuts at 410 West St. in Keene temporarily closed "due to extreme filth and lack of cleaning," after the city conducted a routine food inspection Monday and ordered the closure.Ryan Lawliss, a housing inspector with the city, told a...
Outage update: Power back on in Webster; Hopkinton, Henniker and Weare expected to be fully restored Tuesday night
By JEREMY MARGOLIS
Power was expected to be restored by Tuesday evening to the remaining customers in the Concord area who had remained in the dark for nearly three days following a Saturday snow and ice storm.Dozens of broken utility poles led to delays in restoring...
Hassan discusses child tax credit 'lifeline' amid efforts to expand it
By CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT
Local and state leaders involved in nonprofit and advocacy work spoke to U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan in Keene Monday about residents' struggles to afford housing and child care, adding that a proposed child tax credit expansion would help the problem.U.S....
Extra porta-potties? Check. Eclipse prep well under way in Coos County
By KATE DARIO
If you’re still looking to rent a room in the slice of New Hampshire that will experience a total solar eclipse on April 8, you may be out of luck.Brooke Kenney, manager of the Northern Comfort Motel in Colebrook, said she’s been totally booked on...