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. residents 65 and older can register for COVID-19 vaccine next week
- With one third of available vaccines given so far, N.H. plans next phase
- State lays out COVID vaccine timeline with phases stretching into summer
- As climate change drives migration to N.H. towns face tension and opportunity
- Troy police chief says he attended Trump rally but doesn’t condone Capitol violence
- First shots to 65+ others in Phase 1B administered at locations around N.H.
- Some N.H. frontline health workers unable to register for 2nd COVID vaccine shot
- ‘You don’t need a vaccine’ to reopen schools, says Sununu
- After months of lax COVID protocols, Valley Street Jail struggles with outbreak
- Court upholds N.H. Lottery’s online ticket sales, rejects federal challenge
FEBRUARY
- ‘This is on them’: Residents express frustration with second dose appointments
- Keene State College Faces Public Reckoning After Arrests of Two Black Students
- N.H. Circuit Judge Arrested on Felony Evidence Tampering Charges
- Amid school funding anxiety, some N.H. communities fear return of ‘donor towns’
- Pandemic sparks innovation at N.H.’s influential Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest
- New Hampshire’s Chris Viaud to appear on Top Chef
- Local lady, stranded in New Zealand during pandemic, lands herself a lockdown fellow
- Lawmaker’s vulgarity highlights tensions of remote N.H. State House
- In Nashua, ensuring equitable access to COVID-10 vaccine is a team effort
- With more N.H. students absent during pandemic, some schools turn to child protection services
- Hanley Lopez on critical race theory and ‘dog whistle’ politics around one N.H. bill
- Judge: N.H. Democratic lawmakers can’t sue Speaker for banning remote attendance during COVID
MARCH
- ‘VINI,’ New Hampshire’s new vaccine scheduling system, off to strong start
- N.H. to Administer Johnson & Johnson Vaccine This Weekend At Mass Vaccination Site
- N.H. Teachers To Start Getting COVID-19 Vaccines on March 12
- Libertarian activists, including ‘Nobody,” arrested in N.H. crpytocurrency related crimes
- Historic Home in Chesterfield On Market for $1 Goes Viral
- UNH niche syrup research aims to tap trees besides maples for new markets
- Sununu weighs in on pandemic policies, legislative debates, possible Senate run
- State consent decree gives Saint Gobain more time for PFAS upgrades at Merrimack factory
- After years behind the scenes, Formella hopes for bigger stage as N.H.’s Attorney General

APRIL
- No end in sight for pandemic housing frenzy, N.H. realtors say
- Unemployment Insurance Update: New Extensions, Application Confusion & Bills for 'Over Payment'
- The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest
- Listen up, New Hampshire: Good Will Doesn’t Want Your Trash
- Her nomination under fire, Conway withdraws bid to become N.H. judge
- Bill aims to ban teaching about systemic racism; Doctor calls it ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’
- As New Hampshire warms, UNH studies effects of more freeze-thaw cycles
- ‘The Old Lady of Kensington,’ a record-holding tree, comes down
- How risk from climate change will reshape flood insurance in N.H. and New England
- As COVID alarm bells went off at Valley Street Jail, county officials gave it high marks
- ‘It’s my generation’: A new generation of young climate activists takes the helm in New Hampshire

MAY
- What we learned on opening day of Windam election audit
- N.H. restaurants struggle to hire, some in industry see chance for change
- New chapter for NHPR’s Laura Knoy
- Justice Department Sides With Massachusetts In Cross-Border Tax Fight With N.H.
- More N.H. school superintendents leaving or changing jobs during pandemic
- First In The Nation, Little Indonesia Launches In Somersworth, N.H.
- New summit cat, Nimbus, finds home ate Mount Washington Observatory
- N.H. court rules ‘ER boarding’ of people with mental health crises violates law
- Auditor Says Ballot Fold Lines Could Account For Windham's Vote Total Discrepancies
- Amid cheating allegations, many Dartmouth medical students deny charges, question fairness of the probe
- Closed to visitors during COVID-19, Star Island prepares to reopen for summer season

JUNE
- Water Restrictions Spread in Southern N.H., As North Country Re-enters Drought
- Majority of Gov. Sununu’s diversity and inclusion council resigns
- N.H. Looked Like A Leader On COVID-19 Vaccines, But 'Data Errors' Might Have Inflated Its Progress
- How abortion access will change in N.H. if lawmakers pass restrictions
- Ballot folds, not fraud, likely culprit at center of Windham’s election audit. Now what?
- Sununu says he wouldn’t veto budget over abortion restriction
- NHPR’s Exchange to end production
- The Shot and A Shave: Inside a vaccination clinic at a Nashua barbershop
- Daring or Bold? N.H.’s new state spider tends to hide from humans
- Cleaning crew attempts to clear encampment of homeless people in Manchester
- For the first time, again: Laconia Bike Week behind the scenes

JULY
- New Hampshire’s tough housing market has been ‘long time coming’
- The Housing Crunch has hit N.H. hard. Three stories show just how bad things are
- Surf’s up! N.H.’s first whitewater park beings construction in Franklin
- N.H. Supreme Court strikes down voting law as unconstitutional
- Keene State, former students, reach settlement more than a year after arrest
- Land stewards encourage ‘Leave No Trace’ principles after 2020’s ‘summer of poop’
- Education Activists: N.H. Students Share Frustration That They Received 'Incomplete Story'
- The Flavors of Our Neighbors: At Lalo’s in Lebanon, the taco is king
- The hottest item in N.H.’s North Country? ATVs
AUGUST
- Peterborough, N.H., loses $2.3 million to cyber criminals
- As Infrastructure Deal Looms in D.C., N.H. Eyes Long-Discussed Commuter Rail Expansion
- Manchester Police List Qualified Immunity As Benefit In Now-Deleted Facebook Recruitment Post
- As COVID cases rise, N.H. officials recalibrate approach
- No N.H. populations of invasive Lanternfly, but state officials say keep an eye out
- For Some Immunocompromised Granite Staters, Third Shots Are Here
- On 'Super 603' Days, Sununu Takes The Leading Role In His Own Online Productions
- Code White Is Back: North Conway's Hospital Returns To Emergency Operations Mode
- Amherst man pleads guilty to threatening members of Congress
- N.H. lifts COVID-19 ban on evictions. Here’s what you need to know
- Sharp Drop In Black and Asian American COVID-19 Vaccination Rates In Updated N.H. Data
- Springfield Sisters Make Splash in Open Water Long-Distance Swimming

SEPTEMBER
- Clocking now ticking for N.H. police officers on ‘Laurie List’ to challenge their placement
- Sununu Anticipates Winter COVID Surge, 'Absolutely' Plans To Revisit Ultrasound Mandate Law
- N.H. Executive Council meeting postponed due to safety concerns
- Demand for COVID tests overwhelms N.H. parents, schools, health care workers
- Portsmouth Photographer Shows Women Embracing Their Grey Roots in New Exhibit
- Republican-controlled Executive Council rejects awarding contracts to Reproductive Health clinics
- Vaccine Protesters Jeer Biden, House Republicans at N.H. State House
- N.H. Seeing Sharp Uptick in COVID-19 Cases Among Children
- Top N.H. Republican’s claims show reach of COVID misinformation among GOP ranks
- Sununu Criticizes 'Unruly And Aggressive' COVID Protesters; Four New COVID-19 Testing Sites To Open in N.H.
- Keene International Market offers what many Granite Staters were looking for but couldn’t find

OCTOBER
- Police: Body of missing Merrimack, N.H. boy found in Massachusetts
- N.H. Executive Council rejects $27 million in federal contracts related to COVID vaccination efforts
- No compromises in sight for New Hampshire’s school mask policies
- Rep. Ken Weyler steps down from Finance Committee after distributing COVID misinformation
- Why some N.H. parents are homeschooling their kids for a second year
- State identifies close to 100 COVID-19 clusters tied to N.H. schools
- N.H. House committee rejects bills to legalize marijuana
- Stalled N.H. energy program leaves businesses, homeowners hanging in limbo
- Gathering outside home of UNH president, protesters call for stronger response to campus rape allegations
- Hundreds gather in Concord as part of nationwide abortion justice rally

NOVEMBER
- N.H. election day results: 7 mayors win re-election; Nashua backs sports book gambling
- Afghan evacuees begin arriving from U.S. military bases to New Hampshire
- State set to provide free at-home COVID tests
- UNH president says apology needed before meeting with student activists about campus sexual misconduct
- N.H. Education Dept. launches system for parents to lodge discrimination complaints against teachers
- Sununu issues new executive order, free home testing program to stop the surge of COVID-19
- In N.H., Biden calls infrastructure law ‘bluecollar blueprint to rebuild America’
- Remembering Funspot founder Bob Lawton, the ‘Walt Diseny of the North Country’
- Passing on Senate run, Sununu announces bid for fourth term in governor’s office
- In reversal, N.H. Executive Council approves millions in federal vaccine aid
- N.H. kids line up at the pharmacy for some of the first COVID-19 shots
- Visibles: Renata Olze survived a surgery gone wrong. She says being alive is a miracle.

DECEMBER
- ‘A constant tsunami’: N.H.’s health care workers at the epicenter of COVID surge
- The complicated path for N.H. coparents who disagree on the COVID vaccine
- Unerasing Abenaki history in what is now called New Hampshire
- Some N.H. towns are making more money on recycling than they have in years. What's changed?
- Teachers' union and parents sue N.H. officials over law restricting teachings on racism, oppression
- NH COVID cases are at an all-time high. A Dartmouth researcher says it’s time for mask mandates
- Something Wild: The many benefits of antlers
- In N.H., which industry has more COVID outbreaks: retail and services or hospitals? The answer might surprise you
- The Luckiest Lady in New Hampshire
- As COVID surges, New Hampshire’s health care system is left shaken
- What could put New Hampshire’s electricity grid at risk this winter?