Harvard Pilgrim is now offering Narcan trainings for businesses using their health insurance. Their first ever training was in Concord on Friday at Riverbend Community Mental Health.
Eleven employees attended the training on how to use Narcan, the nasal spray that helps reverse an opioid overdose.
The training also touched on how opioid use affects the brain and the history of the opioid crisis.
Lionel Grassi works at Riverbend's addiction recovery services, and this was his first Narcan training. He says he's going to pass on what he's learned to clients.
People driving through downtown Berlin, New Hampshire on Friday might hit an unusual "toll,” and a reminder that winter is coming.
Along Route 16, near Veteran's Memorial Park, Nansen Ski Club volunteers will stand on one side of the road behind traffic barricades, banner unfurled, and buckets open for some change or a dollar.
Researchers at the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth's Tiltfactor Laboratory have piloted two video games aimed at teaching bystander intervention skills to college students.
Bystander intervention means diffusing a situation that could become dangerous or lead to sexual assault.
In the games, students can practice intervening: in one game, called Ship Happens, players navigate scenarios in a faraway galaxy. The second game is Mindflock, a competitive team-based trivia game about college life.
It’s a cloudy Friday, and Safiya Wazir is walking through her Concord Heights neighborhood.
This neighborhood is a mix of older people, young, working families, new immigrants and long-time residents. She’s knocking on doors and leaving behind fliers that say she’ll help bring a new generation to the New Hampshire State House.
A federal grant of $119,000 will allow New Hampshire's National Alliance on Mental Illness to train first responders in how to handle incidents where someone is having a mental health crisis.
This type of training is known as crisis intervention. It'll be the first time there's a statewide effort to train state police on this, as well as fire and EMS responders.
On a warm, muggy Friday morning in the middle school’s library, 22 chairs are set around tables, in a u-shape.
Barbara Slayton is making sure the projector’s running. She’s the coordinator of school wellness at the Franklin School District, and she requested this training, after attending one herself a few months ago.
The State Board of Education is considering changing the credentialing requirements to be a sign language interpreter in New Hampshire schools.
The proposed rule change would require sign language interpreters to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree. As of now, they just need an associate's degree.
Nationally, there's a shortage of ASL interpreters. The Manchester School District has told the state Board of Education that the proposed change would make it harder to fill those positions.
Congresswoman Annie Kuster will face state Representative Steve Negron this November in the race for New Hampshire's second Congressional district. Kuster spoke to a crowd of about 20 at Concord Photo Service Wednesday about her priorities for the general election.
Kuster focused on what she called her efforts to reach across the aisle on issues like veteran healthcare, the opioid crisis and supporting small businesses.
It's a tone she wants to carry into the general election.
Plymouth State University has received a grant from the federal government to train its clinical mental health students in treating substance abuse.
The $400,000 will go towards two things: paying students a $10,000 stipend when they intern at a partner health center, and providing training and conference funding for students and faculty.
Robin Hausheer is an assistant professor at Plymouth State. She says there's a shortage of mental health care workers across the state. And those folks are key in meeting the needs of people struggling with substance abuse.
After Durham's decision to adopt the holiday, community members asked Oyster River superintendent Jim Morse if adopting Indigenous People's Day is something he would consider.
Morse says this is part of the district's efforts to be inclusive of all people.
"Our history, collective history goes back beyond Columbus. Goes back well thousands of years, roughly 13, 000 years, and to recognize the influence that our indigenous people have on our current culture," he said.
The New Hampshire Young Farmers have spent the last week donating milk to food pantries across the state. It's a way to show support for dairy farmers as they face low prices for milk.
The group was inspired by a farm broadcaster in Ohio who challenged people to purchase 10 gallons of milk and donate it.
Schouler Park sits in the middle of North Conway, right along the main strip of shops and restaurants. There's the scenic railroad station. Families throw baseballs and couples sit and chat on benches.
On this field, Will Krug and Nick Sanderson have made lots of memories playing flag football.
The Portsmouth City Council has withdrawn its support of a conference on climate policy.
The conference, titled "Climate Policy Choices: Payoffs and Trade-offs" once had the backing of the Portsmouth City Council.
But several residents raised concerns about the conference speakers, some of whom challenge policies that prioritize climate mitigation efforts, saying they're a big cost to the economy.
A UNH study looks at how the costs of childcare are pushing some families out of the middle class.
The study found that 9 percent of families with kids under 6 fell into low-middle class or low class because of childcare costs.
Beth Mattingly is the director of the Vulnerable Families Research Program at UNH. She said once kids reach school age, some families do find more economic stability.
The University of New Hampshire and the state's community college system have signed an agreement that will help transfer students interested in studying science transfer their community college credits.
As part of this agreement, community colleges took a look at the depth of what they taught in their introductory science courses, and made sure the content matched up with introductory classes at UNH.
The idea is that way, students start at the right level when they transfer, and not have to take extra time to catch up.
Churches across New Hampshire will say prayers on Sunday for those who are struggling with addiction. It's one way they're observing Overdose Awareness Day later in the week.
Richard Davenport is the priest and pastor at the Trinity Episcopal Church & Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Claremont.
His congregation isn't a stranger to the opioid crisis that's hit New Hampshire hard. Some have lost loved ones, and others struggle with addiction.
Food, music and dance from Latino, Caribbean and African traditions will fill Manchester's Veterans Park this Saturday. But there’s also a focus on engaging young people to get involved with their communities
One of Diego Cataño’s favorite parts of the We Are One festival is when the music starts, and different people are dancing to beats from around the world. Cataño's been organizing these festivals for 18 years and besides bringing people from all backgrounds together he's also talking with younger Latinos about leading community events like this one.
More than 120 people attended a forum on education funding in Newport on Tuesday night.
This is the second forum on education funding this year that Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky and attorney John Tobin have put on. Both were lawyers in the original cases that sued the state for adequate funding.
During their presentation, which drew attendees from nearly two dozen towns, they broke down differences in property taxes across the state and the percentages towns pay for education versus the state.
A new UNH study looked at how well college personnel understand sexual assault and rape reporting regulations.
Researchers called Title IX offices, which oversee gender equality issues, and campus police at more than one hundred and fifty colleges around the country.
The New Hampshire state Board of Education has adopted new computer science academic standards.
David Benedetto is the STEM and Computer science administrator at the New Hampshire Department of Education.
These new standards will focus more on technical skills, like coding and data analysis.
"[It's] sort of bringing in these things to modernize our technology education, and hopefully relate that to other areas of study as well,” Benedetto said.
Schools across the state would have a few years to make plans to incorporate the new standards.
The State Board of Education has released a statement regarding recent Facebook comments made by a Department of Education employee.
Last week, Anthony Schinella, the department's communications director, made posts criticizing a gathering of state business leaders focused on diversity in the workforce.
He wrote that increased diversity could bring more crime and create a "cesspool."
The Board said it's "deeply disappointed" by the comments and that "our public schools are and ought to be welcoming to everyone."
Photo by Aerrin99, courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons
Southern New Hampshire University is launching a competitive E-sports program this fall. It'll be the first of its kind in the state.
E-sports are a team-based, competitive form of video gaming.
There's been a club team at SNHU for a few years.
But, now that the sport is officially backed by the university, players will have more resources available—a dedicated computer lab where they can practice, scholarships, and even housing for gamers.
