Author: The Hippo Press

Covid-19 news

During the state’s weekly public health update on Jan. 12, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported that, on average, New Hampshire reported 2,500 new infections of Covid-19 per day over the previous week. That same day, the number of active infections in the state exceeded 20,000, a new all-time high during the pandemic. “Compared to one to two weeks ago, we are now seeing double the number of new infections identified each day … and we believe that this is likely due to the omicron surge now hitting New Hampshire,” Chan said. When asked later on about how long he expects the current winter surge to last in the state, Chan said that the answer remains unclear. “There’s data coming from other countries that have entered this surge even earlier than we have that are showing … potentially even a more rapid drop-off than what we’ve seen in other surges of the pandemic, but that’s not a sure thing,” he said. “We’re going to know on the backside of this curve, as we’re coming down from it.”

Also on Jan. 12, the New Hampshire Insurance Department issued a statement in response to the Biden administration’s announcement that private insurers will soon have to cover the cost of eight at-home Covid tests per member per month. “We have been proactive in contacting New Hampshire’s health insurers to discuss the implementation of the new mandate,” Commissioner Christopher Nicolopoulos said in the statement. “We encourage consumers to contact their insurance provider to understand any testing arrangements that their provider has put into effect … [and] we urge the federal government to consider how this can be rolled out in a manner which ensures there is a sufficient supply of Covid-19 tests available.” Anyone with questions or concerns regarding their insurance coverage can contact the New Hampshire Insurance Department at 1-800-852-3416 or 271-2261, or via email at consumerservices@ins.nh.gov.

On Jan. 13, Gov. Chris Sununu responded to the news earlier that day of the Supreme Court’s vote to block the Biden administration from implementing a vaccine mandate for companies with 100 or more employees. “I am as pro-vaccine as they come, but today’s decision … is good news for employees and the businesses that keep our supply chains running and economy open,” a statement in part reads on Sununu’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

10-year TIP

Recommendations for the 2023-2032 Ten Year Transportation Improvement Plan were presented to the legislature last week by Gov. Chris Sununu. According to the letter that Sununu sent to Rep. John Graham, chairman of the House Public Works and Highways Committee, the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Intermodal Transportation held 21 in-person public hearings and one virtual hearing in the fall, and an online survey was also available. More than 400 comments were made through the hearing process, and more than 750 surveys were completed, according to the letter. Much of the feedback centered around the need to expand travel options (transit, bicycle, pedestrian, etc.) and the need to address infrastructure conditions. “Also, many attending the public hearings advocated for advancing projects or increasing project funding,” the letter read. The new plan expedites and advances 29 municipal bridge projects; it also puts a hold on the statewide exit sign renumbering project. Sununu said in his letter that this plan will fully fund prior Ten Year Plan commitments such as corridor improvements on Route 101, but that “it is important to continue focusing on preservation, maintenance and safety of the existing pavement and bridge infrastructure throughout the state.”

Farm to school

Last week, the New Hampshire Farm to School Reimbursement Policy Bill was presented to the House Education Committee. According to a press release, the bipartisan group of legislators sponsoring the bill is aiming to bring more healthy local food options to New Hampshire schools. “With this policy, … the Department of Education’s Office of Nutrition Programs and Services would provide a monetary incentive to schools who choose to direct more of their ‘per meal’ USDA cash reimbursement funds toward purchases from New Hampshire and New England farmers. The state would encourage this channeling of federal funds into the local economy by awarding schools $1 for every $3 spent on food from New Hampshire and $1 for every $6 spent on food from the New England region,” the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Alexis Simpson (D-Exeter), said in a statement.

All bets are on

Slightly more than two years after the inception of sports betting in New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Lottery and DraftKings — the state’s exclusive sports betting provider — surpassed the $1 billion mark in total sports wagering. According to a press release, during the first week of January, New Hampshire players had placed more than 23 million bets since sports betting launched in the Granite State on Dec. 30, 2019. “We are pleased with what we have accomplished and we are excited to continue growing sports betting as a revenue driver supporting our schools,” Charlie McIntyre, executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery, said in the release. Over the past two years, the top five sports betting drivers have been the NFL, NBA, college basketball, college football and table tennis, the release said.

Choose Love

Sixteen residents at the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women recently graduated from the Corrections Choose Love 12-week pilot program, which teaches adults how to respond with kindness in any situation by using courage, gratitude, forgiveness and compassion-in-action, according to a press release. The program teaches skills like handling adversity and responding with love while promoting self-empowerment, resilience, connection and optimism. “By acknowledging that adults in our state prisons have experienced adverse childhood experiences and have had long-term negative effects on their conduct, the Choose Love program has the power to assist people in adopting lifelong skills focusing on self-regulation and social and emotional learning by creating a common language across our facilities,” New Hampshire Department of Corrections Commissioner Helen Hanks said in the release.

iPlatform

On Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 6 p.m. the New Hampshire Department of Education will host a webinar for the general public to teach people how to use the New Hampshire Department of Education’s iPlatform data portal, which was launched a few years ago but was enhanced and expanded last year. “This tool uses modern technology that allows individuals to easily access key indicators across all school districts in New Hampshire, including enrollment demographics, achievement trends, graduation rates, educator salaries and more,” Frank Edelblut, commissioner of education, said in a press release. “We have harnessed all of the various data and made it transparent in an effort to start real, informed conversations about the state’s education system.” The webinar is free; register at education.nh.gov.

Manchester’s newest solar array at the former Dunbarton Road landfill is up and running after more than two years of preparation and planning. According to a press release, it is the largest municipal solar array in the state, with more than 8,000 panels that will supply 3.8 million kilowatt-hours of clean energy to the power grid annually, enough to power hundreds of homes annually across the city.

Aviation pioneer Bernice Blake Perry has been honored with a historical marker that was recently installed near Milford Rotary Centennial Park on Route 101A in Milford. The marker reads, in part: “In 1929, Manchester native Bernice Blake Perry became the first woman in New Hampshire to pilot a plane and the first female commercial pilot in New England. She spent her adult life in Milford and was a charter member of the Ninety-Nines, a pioneering group of female pilots led by Amelia Earhart,” according to a press release.

The New Hampshire Housing Board of Directors has approved financing for four affordable multi-family rental housing developments, to help meet the needs of the state’s workforce and other residents, in Nashua, Manchester and Conway, according to a press release. Locally, Nashua will see the addition of 43 general occupancy units in the Apartments at 249 Main St., while Manchester’s Kelley Falls project will add two new 24-unit buildings, and its Renew II project will rehabilitate three properties for a total of 101 general occupancy units, the release said.

Covid-19 news

During the state’s weekly public health update on Jan. 6, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported that New Hampshire averaged about 1,500 new infections of Covid-19 per day over the previous week. Just two days prior, the total number of deaths attributed to the virus crossed the 2,000 mark. “In the last week, we have been averaging about nine to 10 new people dying from Covid-19 each day in our state,” Chan said, adding that the majority of the deaths have been occurring in the community rather than in long-term care facilities.

Chan also announced new updated isolation and quarantine guidance, which includes recommendations adapted from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. The guidance breaks down details of recommended action for anyone who may have been exposed to Covid, either in the community or from another person in their shared household. According to Chan, the guidance applies to the general public, including workplaces and K-through-12 schools. It does not apply to health care settings, correctional institutions or homeless shelters. Go to covid19.nh.gov to view the guidance documents.

Gov. Chris Sununu also announced during the press conference that the state will be deploying an additional 100 members of its National Guard — about 30 of them will be deployed to long-term care facilities, while the other 70 will be helping out at local hospitals. Sununu had previously announced the deployment of 70 National Guard members back on Dec. 8.

On Jan. 7, Sununu visited Elliot Hospital in Manchester to welcome a team of active-duty service members from the federal Department of Defense. According to a press release, the team is composed of medics, nurses, administrative support and a physician and is expected to remain at Elliot Hospital until the beginning of February.

Open enrollment

New Hampshire Navigator, a nonprofit that offers assistance for accessing health coverage, is reminding people that Saturday, Jan. 15, is the deadline for residents to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace. According to a press release, anyone who misses the open enrollment period may not be able to get coverage until 2023. It is available to anyone who is not eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or employer-based insurance. The American Rescue Plan has made it easier for New Hampshire residents to get affordable coverage, the release said, and the number of consumers getting coverage for $10 or less per month after tax credits has nearly doubled. “Most people will be able to qualify for substantially lower costs this year if they get their insurance on the Marketplace,” said Jeremy Smith, program director for New Hampshire Navigator. “We are really urging people to look at the new plans and prices that are being released this year. In a lot of cases, the plans are more affordable than we have ever seen.” Anyone who needs help learning about their options or signing up can reach New Hampshire Navigator at 931-3858 or acanavigator.com.

Activists arrested

Four activists were arrested by Bow police on Jan. 8 after they entered the property of Merrimack Generating Station, the last coal-fired power plant in New England, around 4 p.m., while it was operating, and remained there for more than six hours. According to a press release, two of the activists locked themselves to the base of the inactive smokestack while the other two scaled the smokestack and dropped a banner that read, “Shut It Down.” They called on the owners of the plant to file a delist bid at an upcoming auction, the outcome of which will determine which power plants will be granted ratepayer funding to be on standby for New England’s electric grid. The owners did not agree to the demands, and the activists were arrested around 10:30 p.m., then released around midnight, with a court date to follow. No Coal, No Gas, a campaign launched in 2019 to end the burning of fossil fuels in New England, has claimed responsibility for organizing the activism. “We are determined to do what must be done to prevent this plant from running, even if that means we have to shut it down ourselves,” campaign coordinator Leif Taranta said in a public statement. “By our actions today, we sent a clear message that we are going to do everything we can to shut this coal plant down and pave the way for a better, more just future.”

Eviction extension

A proposal up for consideration at the Statehouse this year would, if passed, require New Hampshire landlords who are planning to repair, renovate or sell their properties, to give their current tenants more time to find new places to live before evicting them, NHPR reported. The New Hampshire law as it is currently written does not clearly regulate such evictions, leading many landlords to file the evictions under the catchall category of “other good cause,” giving tenants 30 days to vacate. The proposed bill would create new, more specific categories for eviction filings, with regulations for how landlords can proceed with those evictions. In the case of evictions related to non-emergency repairs, renovations or selling of the property, the length of time tenants are given to vacate would be increased from 30 to 90 days.

Teacher negotiations

The Nashua Board of Education Negotiating Team and the Nashua Teachers Union were unable to reach an agreement regarding the Union’s request for salary increases for its teachers, the former group reported. The contract proposed by the BoE Negotiating Team offered to increase each teacher’s salary by more than $3,300, with a minimum salary increase of $8,400 for top step teachers, effective immediately; increase compensation for school nurses; and adjust how starting pays are calculated according to prior work experience; while requesting that the NTU fully cover the NTU president’s salary, health insurance and other compensations without financial assistance from the Nashua School District, of which the NTU president is not an employee. According to the BoE Negotiating Team, the NTU did not agree to the terms, and the BoE Negotiating Team stated its intention to continue pursuing a successfully negotiated contract.

Student ID cards

On Jan. 11, Gov. Chris Sununu sent a letter to the Education Committee in support of Senate Bill 234, which would require schools that issue student identification cards to include the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or their own mental health support helpline on the cards. According to the letter, the requirement would also apply to institutions of higher learning within the state but will not require grades six through 12 public schools to issue student identification cards if they do not already do so.

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness will soon run mainly on solar power; according to a press release, a 139kW solar photovoltaic array is being built in two phases, and when it’s complete it will generate enough power to offset nearly all the Science Center’s electric needs. The solar array could save about $26,000 in electricity costs annually and more than 250,000 pounds of CO2 emissions, the release said.

Atticus, a 10-year-old certified pet therapy dog, spent time with staff and patients at Concord Hospital – Laconia last week. The visit was to introduce the Laconia branch to Concord Hospital’s Pets Uplift People program, according to a press release.

The Plains Cemetery in Kingston, established circa 1725, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to a press release, Josiah Bartlett (1729-1795), the first constitutional governor of New Hampshire and second signer of the Declaration of Independence, is buried there. The cemetery’s most elaborate pedestal monument belongs to Major Edward S. Sanborn, a Kingston native who funded the Sanborn Seminary and donated to several local churches and public improvements in the 1880s — and who earned his fortune as the proprietor of several prostitution houses in Boston.