Based on a 13-percent net gain of new residents, New Hampshire was the sixth most moved-into state last year, a recent HireAHelper migration report found. According to a press release, the report analyzed 75,000 moves across the country and found each state’s net growth, which takes the number of new residents moving in and divides it by the number of individuals moving out. Topping the list was Idaho, with a net growth of 103 percent, followed by our neighbors, Vermont, which had 62 percent new growth, and Maine, which saw its net population grow by 48 percent.
Score: +1
Comment:According to the release, results of a HireAHelper survey showed that about 25 percent of the moves in the last year were related to Covid-19.
And they’re choosing the Granite State because…
New Hampshire has been ranked the fourth best state to live in, according to the recently released 2021 rankings from U.S. News & World Report. The publication analyzed data in each state from government and private sources, as well as a survey of nearly 70,000 U.S. residents, measuring things like health care, education, economy, crime and more, according to the report. New Hampshire ranked No. 1 for being low crime, No. 2 in natural environment and No. 3 in opportunity, which considers the opportunities that a state offers its residents in terms of economy, housing and equality.
Score: +1
Comment:Washington, Minnesota and Utah were ranked as the Top 3 states to live in, while in New England, Massachusetts ranked ninth, Vermont ranked 11th, Connecticut came in at No. 20, Maine was 27th and Rhode Island was 34th.
Seriously?
The residents of the nonprofit Evergreen Place Supported Assisted Living in Manchester had been looking forward to taking a scenic ride on the facility’s 15-passenger wheelchair bus, which hadn’t been used at all in the past year as residents quarantined. But according to a message on Hippo’s website from Evergreen Place President and CEO Linette D. Handschumaker, on Saturday, when the facilities manager started the bus, it was louder than it should have been, and he thought there might be rust in the exhaust. “He then shimmied under the bus only to discover that someone had CUT OUT the catalytic converter!!!” Handschumaker wrote. After a year of waiting for that scenic ride, the residents now have to keep waiting.
Score: -2
Comment: As Handschumaker wrote to the Hippo, “Just when you think you’ve seen it all….”
A week of hope and appreciation
Throughout this entire week, Catholic Medical Center will honor its workforce with “Hope Week 2021.” It was on March 14 last year that the Manchester hospital suspended its visitor policy, canceled classes and closed its Wellness Center, followed two days later by the cancellation of elective procedures, according to a press release. One year later, Hope Week kicked off Monday with the installation of more than 700 mirrored butterflies on the hospital sky bridge. The butterflies represent the Covid-19 patients who were cared for by CMC in the last year, including the 87 who were lost, the release said. Hope Week will also feature multiple drawings for gifts donated by CMC management and area companies like Millennium Running and Luxe Salon and Spa, and a donor recognition wall is now on display, thanking the hundreds of people and organizations that have supported CMC through the last year.
Score: +1
Comment: The press release said that the public is invited to send messages of appreciation and download a custom Hope Week profile frame on CMC’s social media, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
QOL score: 62
Net change: +1
QOL this week: 63
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].
This is going to sound hypocritical, especially coming from me. But everyone is a critic.
Even for wildly popular things like the recently passed stimulus bill national polls say was supported by 75 percent of the country. Still, the entire GOP voted it down, as the so-called progressives on the other side loudly say it doesn’t go far enough. Economists? They’re whining it will cause inflation. Meanwhile struggling folks everywhere gratefully say thanks.
As honest Abe once said, you can’t please all the people all of the time.
Joining the chorus this week were those who didn’t like (or hated) Bill Belichick bringing back Cam Newton as Patriots’ QB for 2021. After a 7-9 season, when Cam threw an anemic eight TD passes, it’s fair to question the decision. Particularly at first glance, but if you dive deeper into what’s going on as they renovate the roster, there are legit reasons to do it. Though admittedly they carry risk of failure and don’t inspire confidence throughout Patriot Nation.
As you might expect, it caused media blowback as well, where people like Gary Tanguay and Dan Shaughnessy acted like Bill did something personally to them. For Tanguay, it was his usual harangue (on WEEI) about Bill’s “arrogance to not care what we think,” while Big Dan actually said this in the Boston Globe: “As ever, stubborn Bill knows more than we do. And he’s going to show you how smart he is again.” I had to re-read that about 10 times to make sure he actually meant it the way it seemed. He did and thus it’s hard to contemplate how idiotic that statement is.
Trust me, neither of those two is a deep thinker. They’re reactionaries, who are ready, fire, aim guys thanks to being overly emotional (Tanguay) or taking any opportunity to land a blow in a feud with the Kraft family dating back to the Bill Parcells border war departure (Big Dan). It leads to really dumb predictions like saying (I’m paraphrasing) it’s a big mistake that will come back to haunt them, after Coach B traded sulking Randy Moss (over his contract) four games into 2010. It was such a huge mistake they only won 11 of 12 after that to finish 14-2. There’s also the old standby, “they think they’re smarter than everyone else.” Sorry, having the highest NFL winning percentage over 20 years says they are. So why would anyone listen to them?
One person I will listen to is Rodney Harrison, who has no axe to grind and actually knows something about football. He said long ago he didn’t believe Cam could play at a level needed for NFL success any more. Not sure if I agree or disagree. I mean Baltimore won a SB with Trent Dilfer at QB and Cam’s better than him. But I’m OK with the signing if it’s the first move in a two-step process.
Here’s what I think about why he did what he did:
Biggest Need:It’s notjust finding a QB, but finding along-term solution at quarterback. The best way to get that is to draft one and hit on the pick. Most rookies, even ones that play in Year 1, usually learn behind a veteran for up to a full season. Then when ready they take over and the vet becomes the backup. That’s what I think Newton likely is for 2021.
Why Draft One Over Sign One: Two reasons.You’ve got him for five seasons and thus you can shape him into what you want him to be, as Charlie Weis did by starting Tom Brady off with mostly low-risk slants and quick outs to the sideline until Brady showed he could be trusted with more. Second, they get a QB on a low-cost rookie contract (about $5 million) for five years, over spending the $40 million per Dak Prescott will cost Dallas over the same time. That saving can be invested team wide, instead of the salary cap casualties they’ll see in Dallas. The Pats’ first three SB wins had that advantage.
Why Not Jimmy G: At $25 million per the people’s choice is not as onerous as Dak. But that still cuts into their free agent cash in a year they have a major spending advantage over almost every team. A lot of pot holes can be filled during what will be a tight, bargain-filled job market featuring more talent than usual. Here’s the math: After signing Newton and last week’s Trent Brown and Marcus Cannon trades they had $69 million to spend. With a Round 1 trade up to get the QB, $13 million-ish goes to rookie salaries, taking it down to $56 million. It will take around $25 million or so to keep must-signs (Andrews, Guy, Jackson, Jason McCourty and a third down back) to leave $31 million. Twenty-five more for Jimmy G leaves $6 million to sign two wideouts, a tight end, run-stopping d-lineman, edge rusher and a kicker. What will they get for that? Not much, making the question if Brady couldn’t win with his receivers in 2019 what makes anyone think Garoppolo can with a similar bunch they’ll be able to afford for 2021?
Why Cam Newton: Two reasons. He’s a cheap option with a chance for a higher upside. Second, while they could have gone with a Ryan Fitzpatrick, they probably preferred continuity and are betting with a real training camp, better command of the offense and more talent around him he’ll play better in 2021. And when the rook Is ready, he could evolve into a complementary Wildcat QB, who can actually pass and be the strong short-yardage runner on third down and around the goal line he was in 2020. Fitzpatrick can’t do that.
Only time will tell if Cam is the best choice. In the meantime, the media noise brings to mind the Bill Parcells adage, “if you listen to people in the cheap seats, sooner or later you’ll be up there with them.”
Catholic Charities New Hampshire recently announced the launch of Pathways, a career development and advancement program for New Hampshire residents working or interested in working in the health care field. Darlene Underhill, CCNH director of clinical services, discussed the program and how it hopes to address the shortage of health care workers, at CCNH’s facilities and throughout the state.
What’s happening with the number of health care workers in New Hampshire?
There’s been a health care staffing crisis and a critical shortage of both Licensed Nursing Assistants and nurses in New Hampshire and, in fact, in the whole country, for years. … Hospitals, nursing homes, home health [services] — all of us are competing for the same small pool of nurses and Licensed Nursing Assistants in the state.
What’s causing the shortage?
The number of people going into health care careers has been steadily declining. The average age of nurses in the state is almost 50 right now. … Covid certainly hasn’t helped things; Covid has made it much worse, because [it led to] a lot of health care workers deciding to get out of the health care field altogether, or to take an early retirement.
Why are fewer people pursuing careers in health care?
I think there are a lot more opportunities for a variety of [other careers] that people are choosing to do. … [Pursuing a career in] health care is very expensive and takes a lot of time. The state will typically reimburse a Nursing Assistant [for education costs] once they get their license, but having to pay up front to enter the program makes it cost-prohibitive for many individuals.
How does the Pathways program work?
People [pursuing a career in health care] are trying to work, trying to go school and trying to pay for it all, and what we’re doing is paying for the [licensing] program up front so that they can continue to work and go to school without having to worry about that financial burden. We also give them some time off [from their job] to study while they’re in school, and we pay them for that. … Last year, we started offering scholarships for some of our own Licensed Nursing Assistants, partnering with Harmony [Health Care Institute in Merrimack] for them to go into an LPN program. We graduated nine of our LNAs as LPNs, and they’re now working in our facilities. We had so many people from our facilities apply to go into the program that we decided we really needed to do this as an ongoing, formal program, not just a one-time thing. … This year, we just awarded 10 more scholarships for LNAs who work in our facilities to go into the program. … We’ve also just started doing the same thing for entry-level people who don’t have a career or background in health care yet but are looking to get into a new career in health care. We’re paying for the program and any expenses related to it — we’re working with LNA Health Careers [in Manchester] — for them to become Licensed Nursing Assistants. While they’re going to school, we hire them into our facilities as unit aides where they’ll be making beds and assisting with dining and activities and things like that. Then, once they get certified and licensed, we will offer them a position in one of our facilities as a Licensed Nursing Assistant.
What are you looking to accomplish with the program, short-term and long-term?
It’s helping people grow, develop into who they want to be and achieve what they want for their life by moving forward in their careers, and helping people get out of poverty. … For us, the benefit is that we would hire them as employees. We have been living with this critical [health care] staffing shortage, especially since Covid, every day in our skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facility. This is a way for us to grow our staff. … In the long run, we hope it contributes to easing the nursing [staffing] crisis in the state. We do ask [program graduates] for a commitment of time [of employment with CCNH], but we know that not all of them are going to stay with us forever; some of them will want to move on to other [health care facilities], and that’s fine, because overall, the more nurses who are added to the state pool, the better off everybody is going to be.
Any plans to expand the program in the future?
We’re definitely going to keep growing and expanding in terms of servicing more students, and we’re talking about branching into an RN program next year so that [the LNP program graduates] can keep going straight into an RN program, or maybe putting LNA [program students] all the way through to RN.
Featured photo: Darlene Underhill. Courtesy photo.
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Covid-19 news
During the state’s weekly public health update on March 11, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported that there continue to be about 200 to 250 new infections of Covid-19 on average per day in New Hampshire, numbers that have been “relatively stable over the last couple of weeks.” Hospitalizations and deaths from the virus, meanwhile, are still trending downward. “We’re seeing the number of people dying from Covid-19 in long-term care facilities continue to decrease, as we roll out vaccines to those settings, and as we have a higher proportion of our long-term care facility residents vaccinated,” Chan said.
Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, said later during the same March 11 press conference that 10 percent of the state’s population (about 132,000 people) have now been fully vaccinated. Phase 2A of the state’s vaccine administration plan, which includes K through 12 teachers, school staff and child care workers, began March 12. “Our regional public health networks have scheduled 39 regional clinics through the end of the month, with plans to vaccine 17,000 school, child care and youth camp staff,” Daly said. “Phase 2A people who are not invited to one of these regional clinics will be able to register to get vaccinated at a state- or hospital-run site beginning March 17 on vaccines.nh.gov.” She went on to say that registration for Phase 2B, which includes people between the ages of 50 and 64, will open on March 22.
Gov. Chris Sununu also announced that, effective immediately, restrictions and guidelines for several sectors in New Hampshire are being relaxed, including quarantining requirements for all out-of-state travel. “We still recommend folks to quarantine … but it is no longer a requirement going forward,” he said. “Likewise, residents from outside of New England no longer have to quarantine prior to arrival in New Hampshire. … This change applies only to domestic travel, not to international travel.” Capacity at retail stores has also returned to 100 percent, and barbershops and salons are now allowed to have walk-in customers without reservations. Restaurants and bars are also now allowed to resume karaoke, pool, darts and other games, as well as small live bands of three members or less.
Applications for the state’s emergency rental assistance program opened on March 15, according to a press release. The program, which was established through the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery, is providing financial aid to Granite Staters who have experienced difficulty paying their rent, utilities and heating costs due to the pandemic. To be eligible, at least one person per household must qualify for unemployment benefits, have had their income reduced or have had some other financial hardship due to the pandemic. The household must be at risk for homelessness, be paying more than 30 percent of its income for rent and utilities, or be in an unsafe or unhealthy environment. Payments are processed through the state’s five regional Community Action Partnership agencies. Visit capnh.com to submit an application.
Details of Sununu’s emergency and executive orders, as well as the state’s reopening guidance documents, can be found at governor.nh.gov.
Political climate
According to a March poll by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, President Joe Biden’s job approval among registered New Hampshire voters has narrowed since February. In the February poll, 53 percent of respondents said they “approve” and 45 percent said “disapprove.” In March that narrowed to 50 percent and 49 percent, respectively. The poll also showed that Democrats hold a 48-40 percent advantage on the generic congressional ballot. New Hampshire’s senators’ job approval numbers have slipped in the last month: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s approval-disapproval margin is now 51-43 percent, down from 54-38 percent, and Sen. Maggie Hassan has gone down to 47-44 percent from February’s 49-40 percent. Meanwhile, Congressman Chris Pappas and Congresswoman Annie Kuster both saw slight improvements in their approval ratings. “While Democrats still enjoy a numerical advantage among voters, the independent nature of our state tends to be suspicious of a unified federal government, and this may be contributing to the relatively short duration of President Biden’s honeymoon period,” New Hampshire Institute of Politics Executive Director Neil Levesque said in a press release. The survey also looked at a hypothetical matchup between Hassan and Gov. Chris Sununu, with Sununu being the preferred candidate by a margin of 47 to 41 percent. Sununu’s job approval has fallen somewhat since the last poll but still sits at 67-31 percent, with approval from virtually every demographic group, but Hassan would benefit from her party’s strength, according to the press release. “This sets the stage for what may become one of the most closely watched races in the nation this cycle as Gov. Chris Sununu has signaled the possibility of challenging incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan,” Levesque said in the release.
Access to CTE
The New Hampshire Department of Education has released a report called “Increasing Equitable Access to Career and Technical Education,” a comprehensive review of the state’s career and tech ed programs, as part of an ongoing effort to make those programs more accessible to students, according to a press release. The programs give students hands-on learning experience in high-demand employment fields and can be used to earn college credit, and the report outlines some of the current barriers that might be preventing students from taking advantage of CTE programs. For example, 71 percent of students enrolled in programs have a CTE center co-located in their high school, while 29 percent but must be provided transportation to participate. According to the press release, the report suggests ideas to help overcome this accessibility concern, including better coordination of scheduling and transportation, as well as calendars, between districts. “This research confirmed many of the important issues CTE leaders and other educators have been aware of for many years,” Eric Frauwirth, director of the Bureau of Career Development, said in the release. “Now we have a set of strategies to explore, and will continue to engage with stakeholders and local communities to determine the best options for the students and families they serve.”
Wildlife funding
The New Hampshire delegation announced last week that the Granite State will get more than $8.75 million through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support the state’s wildlife and sport fish restoration and vulnerable species conservation. According to the announcement from U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas, the funding will help state wildlife agencies pursue conservation projects and programs like hunting and fishing education, fish and wildlife management, scientific research, and habitat restoration and protection. “New Hampshire is home to some of the most beautiful land in the country, and we have a responsibility to protect it,” Kuster said in the release.
On March 15, work began on Route 13 at Exit 2 off Interstate 89 in Concord, part of a project that includes painting structural steel on six bridges on and above I-89 between Exit 2 and Exit 5 in Concord and Hopkinton. According to a press release, the work will be done during the day and evening, and once the Concord bridge is complete, painting on the next bridge will begin, with work progressing north until the final bridge in Hopkinton is completed. The project is expected to be completed in December, the release said.
The Manchester Police Department has announced that it has a new training program for all sworn officers, stemming from Gov. John Sununu’s recent executive order calling for law enforcement reforms. According to a press release, the 40-hour week of training includes topics like use of force, implicit bias, cultural responsiveness and ethics.
On March 12, crews removed sections of the three waterslides at Cascade Waterslide at Hampton Beach, according to a report from NHPR. The landmark has been there for more than 35 years, the report said, and there is no word on what might take its place.
Boston Billiard Club & Casino in Nashua announced in a press release that it is the exclusive spot in the region where people can play 21STUD, a new two-card blackjack game that was created and recently patented by New Hampshire-based game designer Brandon Zyxnfryx of ZFX Gaming, also in Nashua.
In their book Scaling Leadership, Robert Anderson and William Adams note that “Leaders bring the weather.” They further note that the tone, mood, presence, focus and behavior of the leader is the weather in any organization — a force of nature. And everyone who works there can feel it, see it, experience it and describe how it impacts them and those around them.
All leaders bring the weather — organizational leaders or elected government leaders. In New Hampshire, we have a lot of elected state leaders. There are 400 leaders in the House of Representatives, 24 leaders in the Senate, five leaders on the Executive Council, and then of course, our governor. I wonder if these 430 leaders realize that they bring the “weather” to the state by their statements, actions and behavior?
I am a bit of a political junkie, and I will read just about any publication and any article written covering state and federal issues. Needless to say, I am frequently left scratching my head. As an example, US News & World Report recently picked up this headline, “New Hampshire Lawmaker Apologies for Anti-LGBTQ Language,” a story about Manchester Rep. Dick Marston’s apology after referring to LGBTQ people as having “deviant sexuality” in a Zoom House committee hearing. As InDepthNH and other sources reported, earlier in that same meeting, Manchester Rep. Nicole Klein-Knight appeared to take a gummy from her bottle of medical cannabis (“prescribed medication for arthritis,” she later tweeted), apparently trying to make a point during a discussion of two bills, including one related to fines for the possession of marijuana and therapeutic cannabis. WMUR reported on the House’s use of a University of New Hampshire facility for its sessions last year. House Speaker Steve Shurtleff had to apologize to UNH leadership this past September after some members were drinking beer in the hall and failed to wear masks outside the facility, violating UNH and town ordinances. Did I mention the head-scratching?
Let’s be clear. We have many outstanding, hard-working leaders in Concord who are essentially volunteering their time to serve the citizens of New Hampshire, and they deserve our respect and gratitude. Unfortunately, that behavior is not what typically makes the news. Instead of providing the attention-getting headlines described above, wouldn’t it be better if there were more to report on in terms of bipartisan work being pushed out of the House and Senate? Wouldn’t that be a better weather report from our elected leadership?
