Author: The Hippo Press

Covid-19 news

State residents between the ages of 40 and 49 became eligible to register for the Covid-19 vaccine on March 29, through the state-run Vaccine & Immunizations Network Interface website at vaccines.nh.gov. On March 31, those between the ages of 30 and 39 became eligible. Starting on April 2, everyone between the ages of 16 and 29 will be able to register. “We feel fairly confident that everyone should be able to get their first shot by Memorial Day,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a March 25 press conference.

On March 26, Sununu issued Emergency Orders No. 87 and No. 88. Emergency Order No. 87 extends the statewide mask mandate for another three weeks through at least April 16. Emergency Order No. 88 extends the stay-at-home advisory, also through at least April 16.

Also on March 26, Sununu issued Executive Order 2021-5, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the pandemic for another three weeks through at least April 16. It’s the 18th extension he has issued since declaring a state of emergency in March 2020.

New NH AG

John Formella was confirmed on March 24 as New Hampshire’s next Attorney General after a 4-1 Executive Council vote. “John’s work ethic is unmatched, and I have no doubt he will make an exceptional Attorney General and advance the best interests of Granite Staters,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement.

State budget

The NH Fiscal Policy Institute is hosting a free webinar on Monday, April 5, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. to provide a closer look at the House Finance Committee’s budget proposal for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, according to a press release. Examining the State Budget: The House Finance Committee’s Proposal will be held virtually via Zoom and will include a discussion of key changes from the governor’s budget proposal and the current operating budget, and the potential impact of federal aid that’s expected from the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as a question and answer session. Pre-registration is required. Visit NHFPI’s online at nhfpi.org,

At 57, Barb Higgins of Concord is the oldest woman to give birth in New Hampshire, according to a report from the Concord Monitor. Higgins gave birth March 27 to a healthy boy, whom she and her husband, Ken Banzhoff, named Jack Kearsley Banzhoff, according to the report.

A new resale shop has opened in Contoocook, according to a press release. On March 26, the Contoocook Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Granny Chic Boutique, which offers clothing and home items from a variety of eras and genres. Owner Elizabeth Catalena said in the release that she has spent many hours looking for unique items that express individualism.

Spark Academy of Advanced Technologies in Manchester is sending four two-member robotics teams to compete in the NH SKILLS USA Mobile Robotics Competition on April 2, according to a press release. The Spark Robotics teams will have their robots perform tasks both under driver control and autonomously, based on their programming. The winner will compete at the national level in June, according to the release.

Covid-19 news

On March 15, the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services issued a notice of potential community exposures connected to positive Covid-19 cases associated with the King of the Mat wrestling tournament, which was held on March 6 at The Rim Sports Complex in Hampton. Anyone who attended the tournament between 5 and 10 p.m. that day, according to health officials, should be monitoring symptoms and should seek testing.

The state launched its new Vaccine & Immunizations Network Interface website on March 17, at 8 a.m., according to a press release, just in time for Phases 2A and 2B vaccine appointment scheduling to begin. The new VINI platform is a state-run site, transitioning New Hampshire away from the federally run VAMS portal. During the state’s public health update in a March 18 press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu said the system was loaded with about 200,000 first-dose appointments through the month of April. He said the state is on pace to expand vaccine access to all adults over the age of 16 in New Hampshire within weeks. “We don’t have a firm date on that yet,” he said, “but it really is just weeks away that any adult citizen in the state of New Hampshire will be able to go to VINI and sign up for their vaccine as well.” As of March 18, about 12 percent of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, according to Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services. “To date, 31 regional clinics have been held with 6,500 people in Phase 2A vaccinated,” Daly said later during the press conference. “An additional 36 regional clinics are scheduled through the end of March, with plans to vaccinate another 20,000 people.”

Registration for Phase 2B, which includes people between the ages of 50 and 64, opened on March 22, with the first appointments beginning on March 25. Hundreds of thousands of newly eligible registrants encountered problems on the site as soon as they were able to log in at 8 a.m., according to a report from WMUR, with many others who called 211 not being able to get through on the phone. “An unprecedented volume of web traffic was experienced this morning, a good sign that Granite Staters are ready and eager to receive their vaccine,” Sununu said in the March 22 report. “Registrations have been accepted and continue to be processed at an increasing pace, with over 35,000 having scheduled an appointment within the first three hours.”

Funding input

The office of Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig issued a press release last week asking Queen City residents to share ideas on how to spend the federal funds that the city will be getting from the American Rescue Plan Act. According to the press release, Manchester will receive approximately $44 million over two years. Though it’s waiting for more guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury on how exactly the funds can be used, the idea is to help with local economic recovery, which includes things like assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, assistance to hard-hit industries like tourism, travel, and hospitality, premium pay for essential workers and infrastructure investment. Craig is asking residents to share their Covid-19 stories, specifically how it’s impacted them and how they’d like to see the funds used. “For over a year, our community has felt the widespread negative impacts of Covid-19. This is the first time the City of Manchester is receiving direct funding, and we want to ensure it’s used to best meet the needs of our community,” Craig said in the release. Contact the mayor’s office or fill out a form at bit.ly/ARP4MHT.

Homeless Assessment

Last week the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 and, according to a press release, the report found that 1,675 people experienced homelessness in New Hampshire on a single night in 2020, which is an increase of 20 percent from 2019. HUD releases its report in two parts; Part 1 is a snapshot of homelessness on a single night, conducted during the last 10 days of January each year, so these numbers are pre-Covid. Other key findings in New Hampshire: Unsheltered homelessness increased 133 percent, with 199 people counted in 2019 compared to 348 in 2020. Also seeing increases were family homelessness, veteran homelessness and chronic homelessness. Youth homelessness is down 22.6 percent, according to the press release.

Rachel Budd from Bow High School has been selected as the alternate winner of the 2021 New Hampshire Poetry Out Loud High School Championship, according to a press release from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Budd will fill in for winner Lilla Bozek from Newmarket High School if Bozek can’t participate in the national finals. Bozek received $200 and Newmarket High School got a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry books, while Budd received $100, plus a $200 stipend for Bow High School’s poetry book collection.

Detective Justin Breton has been named 2020 Officer of the Year for the Manchester Police Department, where he’s served since 2010, according to a press release. He has been a patrol officer, a juvenile detective, a detective with the Investigative Division and a SWAT negotiator, he is the director of the Manchester Police Critical Incident Stress Management Team, and he’s the primary handler of Manchester’s comfort dog, Patch.

Beth Greenwood of Amherst is the first American-born female catcher of an NCAA baseball team. According to a report from WMUR, Greenwood is a junior at the University of Rochester in New York, and she has earned a spot on the roster of her school’s baseball team. She has never played softball; she was on the baseball team at Souhegan High School, according to the report.

The CHaD NH East-West High School All-Star Football Game, which will feature more than 80 of New Hampshire’s best football players taking the field to raise money for Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, will also be a tribute to Londonderry High School football captain Jacob Naar, who was killed in a car accident on March 12. According to a press release, his family has chosen to fulfill his wishes of fundraising for the game, and his team will not replace Naar on the roster; instead his teammates will honor his memory at the game, which is scheduled for July.