Author: The Hippo Press

Covid-19 news

During a Dec. 8 press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu announced that the state will be deploying 70 members of the National Guard in the coming weeks to assist hospitals in managing their current Covid surge, helping out with everything from food service to clerical tasks. Hospitals in New Hampshire are continuing to see record numbers of Covid patients since the start of the pandemic — a total of 479 were reported on Dec. 9, an all-time high.

About 12,000 Granite Staters received their booster doses on Dec. 11 as part of the state’s “Booster Blitz” initiative, according to a report from WMUR. Shots were administered at 15 locations statewide, the largest of which was in Stratham. According to the report, officials are planning to host a similar event in January, on a date to be determined.

On Dec. 13, state health officials identified the first known detection of the omicron variant in a New Hampshire resident. According to a press release, the infection is in an adult from Cheshire County who traveled out of state and was exposed to another person with the variant. The resident, who was considered fully vaccinated but was not yet boosted, had a mild illness and has since recovered during home isolation. No public or occupational exposures to the variant have been identified. Since it was first reported in South Africa on Nov. 24, the omicron variant has spread to several dozen U.S. states and more than 70 countries worldwide. Ninety-nine percent of Covid infections in the state are currently due to the delta variant, but according to the release, the omicron variant is likely more infectious and may become the dominant strain.

Affordable housing

The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen has approved $2.3 million to develop affordable housing units in the Queen City using funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME program. According to a press release, three organizations will use the funds to build or upgrade 152 affordable housing units. Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Authority will construct 48 one-, two- and three-bedroom units in two 24-unit buildings on the Kelley Falls apartment campus. Neighborworks Southern New Hampshire will rehabilitate and upgrade 101 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units of existing affordable housing units in the Elm Street brownstones and the Straw Mansion apartments. And Waypoint was approved to renovate the former Employment Security building to create three studio apartments for at-risk adults ages 18 to 25. “With these projects, we’re focusing on addressing homelessness and making sure families, seniors on a fixed income, and those with disabilities have access to safe, affordable housing,” Mayor Joyce Craig said in the release.

Cancer in Merrimack

An analysis of data from the New Hampshire State Cancer Registry has found “a higher than expected number of people with kidney and renal cancers in Merrimack between 2009 and 2018 than would typically be observed in a town of similar size in New Hampshire,” according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The analysis is an update to the 2018 DHHS Report on Cancer in Merrimack that was conducted in response to concerns following detection of PFOA in the Merrimack Village District Public Water System. According to the release, the new data does not provide sufficient information at this time to “draw any conclusions about the individuals who have kidney and renal cancer in Merrimack and any specific exposure.” The analysis is part of a multi-step process with the residents of Merrimack and the state Department of Environmental Services to better understand cancers in their community. An upcoming meeting (details TBA) will allow community members to share further information. “While this preliminary data does not necessarily indicate the presence of a cancer cluster, any data that points to the possibility of increased illness in our communities warrants closer examination,” Division of Public Health Director Patricia Tilley said in the release. “We will be seeking input from individuals affected by these cancers, community leaders and members of the Commission on the Environmental and Public Health Impacts of Perfluorinated Chemicals as we continue with our investigation.”

House meeting

The New Hampshire House of Representatives will meet off-site for their constitutionally required meeting in early January, according to a press release. The meeting, which starts Jan. 5 and is expected to last three days, will be in the exposition center in the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown. The 30,000-square-foot space will allow legislators to be seated in a socially distanced floor plan, with sections for those who want to wear masks and sections where masks are optional. The space is bigger than the UNH location where the legislators met in 2020; the NH Sportsplex in Bedford, which served as the legislature’s temporary session location in 2021, is not available for the January meeting.“With hospitalizations at record levels and community transmission still high, the responsible thing to do is to maintain health and safety protocols for our legislators and hold off on returning to the House chamber, at least for now,” Speaker of the House Sherman Packard said in the release.

Build Back Better

Manchester has been named as a finalist for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration Build Back Better Regional Challenge, which was created to help communities throughout the country “build back better by accelerating the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building local economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks,” according to a press release. Manchester’s application takes advantage of the region’s investments in the life sciences and aerospace industries by securing two job tracks, Tissue Engineering and Advanced Aerial Mobility, which have the potential to create 7,500 to 15,000 jobs and increase the rate of GDP growth by more than 30 percent, the release said. The city would be working in partnership with the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, Southern New Hampshire University, the University of New Hampshire Manchester, the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and the Manchester Transit Authority. It is one of 60 projects that made it into the final round out of 529 projects that were submitted, the release said. Each finalist will get approximately $500,000 to further develop their projects and will then compete in Phase 2, which will award 20 to 30 regional coalitions up to $100 million each to implement anywhere from three to eight projects that support a specific industry.

The Manchester Health Department is now holding free walk-in Covid-19 vaccination and booster clinics. According to a press release, all three vaccines will be available during the clinics, which are Mondays from 9 to 11 a.m. and Wednesdays from 2 to 4 p.m. No appointments are necessary. The department is also bringing mobile clinics to priority populations most days this month, and there is free drive-up or walk-up Covid testing at Hunt Pool (297 Maple St.), seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the release said.

A Tri-State Megabucks ticket sold at the Circle K on 185 First NH Turnpike in Northwood was a $1.825 million winner in the Dec. 8 drawing. According to a press release, the winner will get either a one-time cash payout of $1,320,068 or graduated annuity payments over 30 years, and Circle K will get $18,250 for selling the winning ticket.

A man from Michigan is dead after the turboprop plane he was piloting crashed along the Merrimack River in Bedford around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 10. According to a press release from the Bedford Police Department, the plane was transporting medical supplies from New Jersey and was headed to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, and the pilot, who was flying alone, reported engine trouble just before the crash.