Fewer students in New Hampshire are attending their neighborhood public school this year, according to new data from the state Department of Education.

The state typically sees a one percent drop in public school enrollment each year, due to aging demographics, but this fall’s decline is far more significant: about four percent statewide.

In some cities, like Manchester and Nashua, that decline was slightly higher.  

New Hampshire identified its first case of COVID-19 on March 2. NHPR has been tracking new developments since then, as the number of confirmed cases and testing capacity — at public and private labs — has expanded.

NHPR is continuing to cover the developing story around coronavirus in New Hampshire. Bookmark this page for the latest updates, including case numbers and other important news of the day. Click here for all of our COVID-19 coverage.

Permits are now available to harvest Christmas trees from the public lands of the White Mountain National Forest.

The permits are being sold online for the first time this year, and can also be picked up at forest offices in Campton, Conway and Gorham.

Massachusetts health officials have added New Hampshire and Maine to its list of states where travelers must quarantine or provide a negative coronavirus test.

The two join 46 other states to be designated high risk for COVID-19 by the state's Department of Health.

Merrimack State Rep. Dick Hinch is a step closer to becoming the next Speaker of the New Hampshire House, after the incoming GOP caucus unanimously backed him to be their leader during a meeting in Manchester.  

Hinch has led House Republicans for six years as Majority leader when the House was last under GOP control, and as Minority Leader when Democrats reclaimed the majority in 2018.

Evictions in New Hampshire have been steady and relatively low since the state and federal moratorium on evictions ended this summer.

In the past month, there’s been a weekly average of about 50 evictions. That’s about a third lower than the weekly number of evictions happening prior to the pandemic, according to Elliott Berry, an attorney with New Hampshire Legal Assistance.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared a drought disaster across all 10 New Hampshire counties.

It comes as the drought worsens again in the Southeastern area of the state, surrounding Strafford County.