Weekly N.H. News Roundup

DHHS Commissioner Jeffrey Meyers announces he's stepping down in December after a four-year term overseeing the state's largest agency.  DCYF releases new data highlighting the increasing demands on the agency, with reports of child abuse and neglect reaching a record high during the last fiscal year. And the state Supreme Court considers a case involving a controversial bail-reform statute. 

  Air date: Friday, Oct. 18, 2019.

After mass shootings in El Paso, Texas,  and Dayton, Ohio, New Hampshire's Congressional delegation calls for federal action on gun control. And activists in New Hampshire urge Governor Sununu to sign three gun-related bills.  The N.H. Attorney General concludes that racism did not motivate a 2017 attack on a biracial boy in Claremont. And Dartmouth College reaches a $14 million settlement with seven current and former students who alleged Dartmouth adminstrators failed to protect them from harassment by three former neuroscience faculty members. 

The Executive Council shoots down the nomination of Attorney General Gordon McDonald to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Two-thirds of Medicaid recipients in New Hampshire failed to comply with the new work requirement, prompting a delay of the penalties; the Concord School Board examines how it handles allegations of sexual abuse. 

GUESTS:

• Ethan DeWitt - Concord Monitor statehouse reporter.
• Sarah Gibson - NHPR Reporter.
• Jason Moon - NHPR Reporter.
• James Pindell – Political reporter for The Boston Globe.
• Dean Spiliotes - Civic scholar in the School of Arts and Sciences at SNHU.

A hearing on proposed red-flag legislation gained national attention after several male lawmakers wore pearl necklaces during testimony on gun violence. The move drew widespread criticism. Rep. David Welch, one of the lawmakers wearing pearls,  said they'd been handed out by members of the Women's Defense League of New Hampshire and he'd worn them in solidarity with their opposition to red-flag laws. In other news, town meeting season is in full swing, and public hearings on PFAs regulations for drinking water began this week. We discuss all of this, and other big stories in New Hampshire this week. 

New Hampshire House lawmakers fail to pass a challenge to the Internet sales tax, an apparent rebuke to Governor Chris Sununu and the Senate, which had unanimously approved the original bill. In a tense meeting with EPA officials, Nashua residents demand more cleanup at a toxic site tapped for redevelopment. And state officials hold a public hearing on how best to use $23 million in federal funds to fight the opioid crisis.

GUESTS:

Dean Spiliotes - Civic scholar in the School of Arts and Sciences at SNHU and author of the website NH Political Capital.

Governor Sununu issues several vetoes, including a long-promised veto of the death penalty repeal that passed this spring. An immigration checkpoint on I 93 results in five arrests -- and more controversy.

And data released by the federal government suggests chemicals known as PFAS may be risky at lower levels than regulated by New Hampshire.

This week's Roundup is hosted by Lauren Chooljian, politics and policy reporter for NHPR's State of Democracy project.

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Legislators find the state may be on the hook to pay a lot more money to hospitals for people with no insurance or for those on Medicaid.  A proposed constitutional amendment that would give crime victims more rights gets hung up in a House committee.  And the state emphasizes cost and competition in its new energy plan. 

There's been lots of talk about voter fraud in New Hampshire elections - we take a look at the reality found in the data behind the rhetoric.  Massachusetts drops the Northern Pass bid in favor of a Maine transmission line for a major energy project.  We get reaction from local veterans organizations on the firing of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin. And, hope springs eternal as the the Red Sox open the 2018 baseball season.

A  New Hampshire woman won $560 million in the Powerball lottery, and now she is fighting in court to stay anonymous.  Governor Sununu nominates Robert J. Lynn for Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court.  The wife of the state education commissioner urges lawmakers to oppose a bill that would ban gay conversion therapy. F or the first time in nearly a decade, New Hampshire legislators are debating seat belt requirements.  And we'll see plenty of Olympic hopefuls from New Hampshire as the Winter Olympics get underway in South Korea. 

Massachusetts picks Northern Pass for major energy contract.  A financially troubled addiction treatment center in Manchester shuts its doors, and sends its services to other local health providers. The N.H.  legislature considers lowering the state's drinking age.  And a massive ice jam on the Piscataquog River causes concerns about Spring flooding.

The Weekly N.H. News Roundup on The Exchange hit the road this week and recorded before a live audience at The Barley House in Concord. The show airs at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m Friday.

Click here to see photos from the event

Host Peter Biello also fielded questions from the audience, including two about marijuana legislation.