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A year in New Hampshire news: The top stories of 2021

The year began with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations and renewed hopes for an end to the pandemic. It’s ending with some of the highest coronavirus numbers since the virus' first patient in New Hampshire was identified in March of 2020.

Patience. Frustration. Resiliency. Perseverance.

So long, 2021.

NHPR provided comprehensive coverage of the pandemic while the newsroom invested in reporting on climate, education, housing, politics, and the natural world with the Outside/In podcast.

And, in a renewed commitment to reach audiences previously underserved by NHPR, we expanded ‘Que Hay de Nuevo, New Hampshire?’, our Spanish language news initiative.

Document, NHPR’s narrative reporting podcast team, released two new seasons: Supervision and Death Resulting. The Civics 101 podcast continued its popular “Ask Civics” series.

And, in an end of an era, Laura Knoy announced she was moving on as host of NHPR’s The Exchange. The daily call-in program ended production in June, after 25 years on the air.

And we got a new website (you're actually on it right now) to make it easier for you to read and interact with our coverage, wherever you are.

2021, it’s been quite a ride.

Scroll down to read some of the most-popular and most-engaged stories at NHPR in 2021.

Do you have a favorite that didn’t make the list? Email us at voices@nhpr.org.

JANUARY

N.H. House meets at Bedford sports complex Feb. 24, 2021.
Dan Tuohy
/
NHPR
New Hampshire's famously large House of Representatives met in February at the Bedford Sportsplex.

FEBRUARY

N.H. Motor Speedway mass vaccination clinic, March 6, 2021.
Dan Tuohy
/
NHPR
The state vaccinated several thousand people at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on March 6, 2021.

MARCH

Dolon Dutta, a teacher in Dover, receives a COVID-19 vaccine dose March 12, 2021.
Sarah Gibson
/
NHPR
Dolon Dutta, a teacher in Dover, receives a COVID-19 vaccine dose March 12, 2021.

APRIL

Anti-racism rally at Greeley Park  in Nashua, N.H. on May 2, 2021
Gaby Lozada
/
NHPR
Several rallies were held around New Hampshire for racial and social justice, including an anti-racism event at Greeley Park in Nashua, N.H.

MAY

Vaccination clinic at La Fama, a Latinx barbershop in Nashua, N.H., in June 2021
Gaby Lozada
/
NHPR
N.H. health officials expanded COVID-19 vaccine access at a variety of events, like this one at La Fama, barbershop in Nashua.

JUNE

Gorham help wanted sign
Alli Fam
/
NHPR
Help wanted: Many N.H. businesses had hiring signs posted in 2021, which sometimes resulted in hours of operation being adjusted, like this Gorham shop.

JULY

Mask sign in a Portsmouth, N.H. shop in 2021.
Dan Tuohy
/
NHPR
Shop window of Bull Moose in Portsmouth, N.H.

AUGUST

Manny Ramirez of Nashua street art
Peter Biello
/
NHPR
Manny Ramirez, artist-in-resident at Positive Street Art in Nashua. For the latest installment of “The Show Goes On," All Things Considered host Peter Biello explores the colorful streetscape of Nashua.

SEPTEMBER

Vaccine protesters removed from an Executive Council meeting N.H.
Alli Fam
/
NHPR
State police removed anti-vaccine protesters from a N.H. Executive Council meeting in October.

OCTOBER

Elizabeth Rollo, 9, of Hopkinton, N.H. gets first COVID-19 vaccine dose Nov. 8, 2021.
Alli Fam
/
NHPR
When health officials opened up COVID-19 vaccines for children under 12, 9-year-old Elizabeth Rollo of Hopkinton, N.H., lined up with her mother to get a first doze of the Pfizer vaccine Nov. 8, 2021.

NOVEMBER

Catholic Medical Center frontlines of COVID pandemic in N.H.
Todd Bookman
/
NHPR
NHPR's Todd Bookman was invited inside Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H., to observe how one of the state's hospitals is dealing with the winter surge in COVID-19.

DECEMBER

Dan is a long-time New Hampshire journalist who has written for outlets including Foster's Daily Democrat, The Citizen of Laconia, The Boston Globe, and The Eagle-Tribune. He comes to NHPR from the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he reported on state, local, and national politics.

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