Posts by Rick Green
Businesses would get a tax credit for money spent on advertising in New Hampshire-based media outlets under a bill being drafted for the state Legislature to consider next year.
Despite objections from civil libertarians, educators and librarians, the N.H. Senate has passed a Republican-backed bill aimed at prohibiting “obscene or harmful sexual material” from being disseminated at public schools.
After voters slashed the Jaffrey-Rindge school board’s budget at the polls last week, the board approved $3 million in spending cuts Monday for next school year, eliminating about two dozen jobs, cutting competitive sports and reducing the pre-kindergarten program.
The Attorney General’s Office was non-committal this past Tuesday in response to questions on whether it is investigating potential violations of the statute or whether it has ever done so.
Several bills pending in the NH Legislature this session would expand a state program that uses millions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize private education expenses for about 4,500 students across the state.
Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, a Concord Democrat and gubernatorial candidate whose district takes in much of the Monadnock Region, has supported such requests. But the other four councilors, all Republicans, have rejected them because these organizations also provide abortions.
State Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, who finished a close second to Chris Sununu in the 2016 Republican primary for governor, says he’s not interested in running in next year’s gubernatorial election.
The number of state senators in favor of legalizing marijuana for recreational use may have grown enough to flip the script from the last time the Senate considered such a measure.
A bipartisan marijuana legalization bill would yield millions of dollars in state revenue and satisfy a strong public desire to end the prohibition on recreational use, supporters of the legislation said Wednesday.
Adults would be permitted to possess up to four ounces of marijuana, and state-licensed stores would be allowed to sell the drug under a proposal backed by Republican and Democratic leaders in the NH House.
Major changes would be required in the way New Hampshire conducts elections under bills proposed by Republican state legislators, many of whom have questioned the integrity of the last statewide vote.
A sun-filled sky today with highs in the lower 70s. A cold front later tonight will bring cooler weather for the weekend along with dry conditions.
While the decision of whether or not to vaccinate is often characterized in partisan political terms, there’s a group of people who are hesitant to get the shot for reasons entirely unrelated to politics.
Only 3 percent of more than 50,000 COVID-19 cases reported in New Hampshire over the last eight months involve people who have been vaccinated, but that doesn’t stop a large percentage of Granite State residents from doubting that the vaccine works.
The twin problems are national in scope, but lack of labor is a particular issue in New Hampshire, which has an aging workforce and an unemployment rate of just 2.9 percent, the third-lowest in the nation. Child care operations, where wages are relatively low, find themselves in competition with other employers who may be able to pay higher wages.
Public health officials and advocates worry low vaccination rates in several New Hampshire towns could cause a fall surge in COVID-19 cases, as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads and the school year nears.
State health officials are urging people to follow health precautions even once they are vaccinated.
Business owners are also joining in the debate over raising the minimum wage.
New Hampshire lottery sales, particularly from online games, are surging during the pandemic, and with that increase comes a jump in another statistic — the number of problem gamblers who seek assistance for a disorder that can destroy lives.
New Hampshire does not have the kind of diversity and multiculturalism of some areas of the country, but Jose Diaz said he couldn’t have asked for a better reception. “We’ve received nothing but love,” he said. “We’ve not had a single issue to be honest with you. The people are inherently nice.”