News

(This story was updated on Friday at 12:30 p.m. and will be updated as new information becomes available.)

Colleges and preparatory schools throughout New Hampshire are taking steps to limit exposure to the coronavirus, including cancelling study abroad programs in countries most affected by the illness.

Advocates in the Upper Valley say the region's housing shortage is impacting vulnerable populations there. The region is seeing rental prices rise while availability stays low. 

House lawmakers heard sharply divided testimony Thursday on plans to limit the development of private landfills in the state.

A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association says there were roughly 6,590 pedestrian fatalities in the United States last year, the highest number in 30 years. 

State regulators are monitoring how this winter’s low snowpack could affect water supplies in the dry summer months.

The state has between 60 and 75 percent less snow on the ground than average right now. State water division director Tom O’Donovan says that's just one source of the state’s drinking water and other water supplies – in reservoirs, lakes and wells.

The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative has taken the rare step of adjusting its winter electric rate mid-season, due to warm temperatures and low prices. 

The U.S. Census Bureau is struggling to hire enough people in New Hampshire to help with the once-in-a-decade population count later this year.

A winter storm warning is in effect for northern New Hampshire, with a weather pattern that will begin affecting the Granite State Wednesday night.

The National Weather Service also issued a winter weather advisory for central New Hampshire into Thursday afternoon, and Thursday night. The forecast calls for heavy, wet snow in parts of Carroll, Coos, and Grafton counties.

State officials say too much salt is being applied to New Hampshire roads this winter, and they worry that warmer, wetter winters could make the problem worse in future.

State officials are using federal money to look at how rising seas will threaten major highways and connecting routes on the Seacoast.

The project, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will build a "vulnerability assessment" for the I-95, Route 1 and Route 1A corridors, and local connector roads, including Routes 101 and 286.

Animal advocates filled a legislative hearing room on Tuesday as a House Committee took public testimony on four separate pet-related bills. 

Lawmakers spent the morning working on a measure that would add a definition for animal hoarding into the state’s animal cruelty statute.

The Capuchin friars at the St. Anne-St. Augustin church in Manchester have announced they will be leaving the parish in mid-July.

The Rev. Sam Fuller says the parish has lost five pastors and associate pastors due to illness and other personal reasons since 2017. This staffing shortage is, in part, what drove their decision to leave.

St. Anne-St. Augustin is known for serving Manchester's refugee and immigrant populations, offering special services in Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Swahili, in addition to English.

Organizers are canceling a long-standing sled dog race in the North Country due to poor weather conditions.

Kit Morgan is on the board of the Tamworth Outing Club, which holds the annual race on Lake Chocorua.

He says there's too much water and thin ice on top of the lake for mushers to get through safely.

A federal judge in New York says a portion of the case against the Monroe, New Hampshire-based company Pete and Gerry's Organics can proceed. 

The animal rights group PETA sued the egg company last year on behalf of a group of customers, alleging that Pete and Gerry's was misleading customers about conditions on its farms.

New Hampshire has joined a coalition of 39 states to look into the marketing and sales of vaping products by Juul Labs, including whether the company targeted youths and made misleading claims about nicotine content in its devices.

The attorney general's Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau will participate in the investigation.

Gov. Chris Sununu says a priority of his administration is keeping vapes out of the hands of high-schoolers.

Lawyers for SIG Sauer told a federal court judge in Concord Monday that a proposed class action lawsuit concerning the company’s popular P320 pistol should be dismissed because the plaintiff wasn’t harmed by the weapon.

State lawmakers worked on a bill Monday to make condominium and homeowners associations allow the installation of solar arrays.

The bill comes from Brentwood Democratic Rep. Liz McConnell, with bipartisan co-sponsors and backing from Senate Democrats.

It says HOAs must treat requests to install solar as they would any other architectural change, and can't restrict them for aesthetic reasons.  

House lawmakers worked on a bill Monday that would require more insurance coverage for tick-borne disease testing – focusing on more than just Lyme disease.

The bill comes from Rep. Megan Murray, a first-term Democrat from Amherst. 

State officials say statistics released for 2018 show that heart disease was the leading cause of death in New Hampshire.

That's the first time in over a decade that it surpassed cancer.

More than 2,600 New Hampshire residents died from heart disease that year.Nationally, heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women.

About 647,000 Americans die from heart disease each year, accounting for one in every four deaths.

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking are major risk factors for heart disease.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is calling for sanctions against Lebanese officials stemming from that country’s arrest and continued detention of a Dover resident. 

The Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Commission will hold a public forum Monday as it begins its study of eight main transportation corridors in the region.

The commission's goal is to identify what issues exist on these roads, from drainage issues to pedestrian and bicycle safety.