News

A handful of potential and declared 2020 presidential candidates are spending Presidents Day Weekend criss-crossing New Hampshire.

NHPR's reporters are on the trail, and filed these reports.

Note: Bookmark this page for more news from candidate events through the weekend  

Massachussetts-based company Altaeros says it has successfully tested an aerial cell tower in southern New Hampshire.

It's called the Super Tower and it kind of looks like a blimp, attached to tethers on the ground.

Authorities in New Hampshire say a juvenile has been arrested and charged with the death of a 42-year-old woman.

Police say they responded to a 911 call on Friday night in Madison and discovered the body of Melissa Hatch, a resident of the town. They say the juvenile has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Police aren't releasing the identity of the person who was arrested, which is consistent with state laws. They say an autopsy is tentatively scheduled for Sunday.

The Environmental Protection Agency has settled with General Electric to pay for a completed clean-up at a Milford toxic waste site.

The Fletchers Paint Works site became a Superfund in the 1980s, after it was found to have contaminated local drinking water with toxic chemicals known as PCBs.

The EPA named GE as responsible for the pollution, and they worked together to remove and secure contaminated soil at the site. That work wrapped up in 2017.

Now, the EPA says GE has agreed to pay back $3.2 million to cover the government's clean-up costs.

Federal scientists are watching for potential flooding near a mile-long ice jam on a river outside Manchester.

Ice jams form when chunks of a frozen river get caught up in a choke point, blocking the flow of water from upstream.

The Piscataquog River in New Boston and Goffstown had a big ice jam just last year. Now, it's clogged again - but officials say this jam is a big problem.

The New Hampshire Lottery Commission is suing the Trump Administration over its ability to sell lottery tickets online.

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an opion clearing  the way for online sale of tickets.

Since then, eight states have launched online sales, including New Hampshire, which did so last September. The Lottery Commission says it expects to sell as much as $6 million worth of scratch off and “draw games” such as Mega Millions during the current fiscal year over the internet.

The state senate yesterday unanimously passed two bills aimed at boosting mental health services and protecting vulnerable children.

The votes came on the same day Governor Chris Sununu was outlining his budget which looks to tackle some of the same issues.

One bill, passed Thursday, would add 77 positions to the Department for Children, Youth, and Families over the next two years. That's 15 more positions than Sununu called for in his speech.

On Thursday, February 21, The Exchange interviews Congresswoman Annie Kuster. The following Monday, February 25, we interview Senator Jeanne Shaheen. Submit your questions, and tune in live at 9 a.m. and again at 7 p.m.

The State Board of Education is getting public feedback on proposed Learn Everywhere rules that would make it easier for students to get high school credit for extracurricular activities.

Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut helped develop Learn Everywhere in response to legislation passed in Spring 2018. 

Democrats in the New Hampshire Senate passed one of their  key priorities on Thursday, as a paid family medical leave insurance program cleared the chamber on a party line vote.

The measure, symbolically titled Senate Bill 1, creates a mandatory program that would let workers take up to 12 weeks of paid time off to take care of a loved one, or after the birth or adoption of a child. 

Former Colorado Governor -- and possible Democratic presidential candidate -- John Hickenlooper made a stop at New England College Thursday for a town hall session with students and local voters.

The former geologist touted what he sees as his accomplishments in Colorado, including stricter gun laws, and regulations that reduce methane emissions.

When it comes to the Green New Deal, progressives' plan to combat climate change,  Hickenlooper said he doesn't know all the details, but likes the notion.

New England activists and lawmakers say the Environmental Protection Agency's new plan to manage harmful PFAS chemicals isn't aggressive enough.

The EPA says this plan is a broad roadmap of goals for protecting people from exposure to the huge class of likely toxic PFAS chemicals.

These industrial chemicals were used for decades to make non-stick, waterproof and stain-resistant coatings, as well as firefighting foams and other industrial products.

Federal regulators still appear poised to re-license Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, despite requests to delay.

A Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearing on the issue Wednesday night was packed with industry workers and residents from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Lawmakers heard public testimony Wednesday on two bills which would regulate firearms in New Hampshire schools.

One bill would prohibit carrying a gun in so-called school safe zones. A separate bill would allow individual school districts to regulate firearms and knives.

House Education Committee members heard hours of testimony on the two bills, with opponents contending the measures would render parents or educators defenseless in the event of a school shooting.

In her State of the City address, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig says her office will focus this year on tackling education and homelessness and encouraging economic develpment.

"In the last 10 years, cuts in state aid have cost Manchester more than $50 million," she said Wednesday. "And with a state surplus of over $128 million for this year alone, it’s unacceptable for the state to not restore state aid for education."

Eleven states have reported measles outbreaks, including a large one in Washington state, which allows for philosophical exemptions for families who disagree with the mandate to vaccinate.  Although all 50 states allow for medical exemptions — religious and philosophical exemptions are also allowed in many states. New Hampshire allows for religious exemptions — and according to recent immunization reports that number has risen to 4,234 from about 3,700. 

A controversial New Hampshire voting law set to take effect in July is now facing a legal challenge from the ACLU.

In a complaint filed Wednesday in federal district court, the ACLU claims the law, House Bill 1264, unconstitutionally limits the student vote. (Read the suit here.)