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Weekly N.H. News Roundup: July 28, 2017

New Hampshire's Congressional delegation reacts to President Trump’s announcement via Twitter that transgender people would no longer be able to serve in the U.S. military.  Dozens of veterans show up at a town hall event to hear how VA officials are addressing allegations of unsanitary conditions and insufficient care at the Manchester VA Medical Center.  And Manchester officials post signs designed to discourage people from giving money to panhandlers.

 
GUESTS:

  • Kevin Landrigan - Senior Reporter at the New Hampshire Union Leader
  • Garry Rayno - author of Distant Dome, a Manchester Ink link and indepthnh.org series that explores stories from the NH statehouse. He formerly worked as a reporter for the Union Leader.
  • Dean Spiliotes - guest host and civic scholar in the School of Arts and Sciences at SNHU and author of the website NH Political Capital

SOME OF THE STORIES WE COVERED

The Manchester VA Medical Center continues to address allegations of substandard care, first reported by The Boston Globe.  Veterans expressed their concerns at a recent Town Hall with interim director Al Montoya. (http://www.unionleader.com/article/20170725/NEWS12/170729607/1009/NEWS12

Next week,  U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin is expected to visit the Manchester VA Medical Center: (http://www.wmur.com/article/veterans-secretary-to-meet-with-manchester-va-whistleblowers/10362820)

Senators narrowly defeated the “skinny repeal" of Obamacare in a 51 to 49 vote: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/us/politics/senate-health-care.html?_r=0. The deciding Republican vote came from Senator John McCain, who has recently been diagnosed with brain cancer:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/us/politics/mccain-health-care-brain-cancer.html.

President Trump tweets that transgender individuals will be banned from serving in the United States military. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/26/us/politics/trump-transgender-military.html.  Trump’s tweet catches many off guard, including U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen. (http://nhpr.org/post/nh-reacts-trump-reinstating-transgender-military-ban#stream/0)

In what was described as a political upset, Democratic candidate Kevin Cavanaugh won the special election for the state Senate seat in District 16. http://www.wmur.com/article/nh-primary-source-republicans-try-to-make-sense-of-surprising-nh-senate-special-election-loss/10367241.

Manchester Police Chief Nick Willard urges residents to resist giving money to panhandlers, arguing the donations are feeding the drug addition problem. http://www.unionleader.com/social-issues/Manchester-signs-discouraging-panhandling-installed-07262017.  

The opening of Concord’s new women’s prison is expected to be pushed back to 2018 due to a staffing shortage http://www.unionleader.com/crime/New-womens-prison-will-sit-idle-until-staffed-07252017.

Video of the officer related shooting on I-89 was publicly released this week.  http://www.concordmonitor.com/Attorney-General-s-office-releases-video-related-to-police-involved-shooting-in-Hopkinton-11486699.

And, last but not least: Goats have been hired from a local farm to trim the grass on top of the Keene landfill http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/meet-keene-s-newest-hires-goats/article_b6d6736b-8e43-5ab6-ae6f-ff3763ee9117.html.

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