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State legislators hope to override vetoes of five bills they say are key to combating climate change and developing new sources of energy in New Hampshire.

One bipartisan measure advocates want to push through would expand net energy metering, letting towns and businesses save more on their energy costs by generating more of their own solar, wind and hydropower.

The U.S. Supreme Court has asked New Hampshire to respond to the appeal of three protesters from the “Free the Nipple” movement.

The women were arrested in Laconia after going topless at Weirs Beach. They argued that the city’s law banning the exposure of female nipples is unconstitutional.

 Next week, when lawmakers are expected to vote on whether to override Governor Sununu’s vetoes of dozens of bills, Forest Society President Jane Difley will be rooting for HB 183. 

 “This would help support the six biomass plants in New Hampshire for a period of time,” says Difley,  who is retiring in October after 23 years leading the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.  

(Difley recently joined The Exchange to discuss her tenure at the Society. You can hear the full conversation here.)

Seacoast towns are testing out a new state framework to help plan for rising seas, stronger storms and other coastal risks expected to increase with climate change.

A parent in Hampton wants the state attorney general to intervene after, she says, local school board officials restricted her right to free speech.

The school district is in turmoil as officials investigate a claim their middle school principal created a hostile environment.

Parents have taken to social media to call the investigation unfair, instead criticizing Hampton superintendent Kathleen Murphy’s handling of the situation.

The New Hampshire Attorney General's office is objecting to a proposed settlement offered by drug maker Purdue Pharma.

The maker of oxycontin is hoping to resolve thousands of lawsuits that allege the company played a major role in creating the opioid crisis.

The New Hampshire Department of Justice is defending its decision last week to take over criminal cases at the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office, citing what it calls longstanding "systemic problems” with leadership.

The number of people without health insurance in New Hampshire remained steady from 2017 to 2018. 

The new census data shows that in 2017 and 2018 about 77,000 New Hampshire residents, or 6% of the state's population, didn't have health insurance.

Nationally, the uninsured rate ticked up from 7.9% to 8.5% over the same period.

States without Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act saw higher increases in the uninsured rate in 2018.

Dartmouth College has a new policy that allows students to change their names, pronouns or gender identity in campus directories.

That includes changes to first, middle or last names, says Meredith H Braz, Dartmouth's Registrar. 

Since 2007, trans and nonbinary students have been able to request IDs and directory listings that reflected their preferred name.

Transit police officers in Philadelphia will no longer carry SIG Sauer pistols after a weapon allegedly fired without a trigger pull.

On Aug. 26, SEPTA officials say an officer’s SIG Sauer P320 pistol discharged while still in its holster during rush hour inside of a subway station. No one was injured in the incident, and an investigation remains ongoing. 

However, the agency is pulling its entire inventory of 350 P320 pistols out of service, and will replace them with Glock pistols. 

A new legal filing outlines how the terms of a class action lawsuit would play out on the Dartmouth campus.

Last month, nine plaintiffs and Dartmouth College reached a $14 million settlement.

The women in the lawsuit alleged that Dartmouth administrators failed to properly protect students from harassment and assault by three former members of the school’s neuroscience faculty.

New Hampshire state law now bans offshore drilling and exploration for oil and natural gas.

Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill into law Tuesday at Ragged Neck State Park — with the Atlantic Ocean and Isles of Shoals as a backdrop. The measure breezed through the state Legislature earlier this year, during a time when President Trump was calling for expanding offshore drilling.

Republican Bill Weld rolled out the steering committee for his primary challenge to President Trump Tuesday in Concord.

The former Massachussetts Governor has the backing of some old-line Republicans.

Documented opioid overdoses in Manchester and Nashua are on the decline, but in Manchester, overdose deaths are increasing.

New data from the emergency response group American Medical Response shows a mixture of progress and struggle for those coping with opioid use disorder and the agencies tasked with supporting them.

Hillsborough County Attorney Michael Conlon is still on the job, despite an announcement last Friday that the Attorney General was taking over Conlon's office.

Attorney General Gordon MacDonald sent a letter on Friday explaining that he was sending attorneys on Monday to oversee the Hillsborough County Attorney's office after "repeated failures" by Conlon to improve oversight of his staff and communication with local police departments.

Keene’s hub for addiction services, known as the Doorway, is moving from its current location to a new site downtown on Railroad Street.

Shawn LaFrance is director of the Doorway in Keene. He says the Doorway's current location on Route 101 wasn't meant to be permanent, and the downtown location is also closer to other services clients might use.

"We want to be downtown because, No. 1, there are sidewalks, for people to walk to it on 101 is not conducive to that. But also there are other transportation options,” he said.

The New Hampshire Liquor Commission is cancelling a $26 million contract with a private software firm, citing poor performance by the company. 

New York-based AlfaPeople, which won the 10-year contract in 2016 through a competitive bid, failed to meet its obligations, according to the state Liquor Commission. 

Visitors to New Hampshire are expected to spend more than $1.5 billion in the state this fall.

The New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development projects that more than 3 million out-of-state, overnight visitors will spend time in the state this fall season.

Fall is New Hampshire's second-largest travel season, behind summer.

The division's fall marketing campaign highlights activities such as hiking, leaf peeping, agritourism, dining and shopping.

New Hampshire Democrats – and nearly every candidate seeking their party’s nomination for president -- were in Manchester Saturday for the state Democratic convention.

Ruth Davis of Durham, who wore a button for Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, said seeing so many candidates up close would prompt many voters, even ones who think they’ve made up their minds, to reassess the field.

It's been a great summer for piping plovers in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire's Fish and Game Department says a record number of state-endangered and federally threatened piping plovers hatched this summer at Hampton and Seabrook beaches.

Five pairs nested on Hampton Beach fledged 10 chicks. On Seabrook Beach, six pairs of plovers fledged 10 chicks. Those numbers surpassed last year's record of nine pairs and 17 chicks fledged, respectively.

Almost all of the Democrats running for president will appear at the state party's convention in Manchester this weekend. But long before many of the candidates started showing up at conventions, cookouts and coffee shops, they’ve been steering money toward local Democratic committees and campaigns here in New Hampshire.

The Save A Lot grocery store in Gorham closed its doors earlier this week and Mac’s Whitefield Market will do the same on Sept. 27. While those in Gorham have other nearby options for groceries, NHPR’s Sean Hurley says the loss of Mac’s in Whitefield will hit the town hard.

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