Author: The Hippo Press

Covid-19 news

New positive infection rates of Covid-19 continue to be on the decline in New Hampshire. According to state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan, the Granite State saw an average of 150 new cases per day in the week leading up to May 18. State health officials reported just 79 new cases of Covid-19 on May 23 — that’s the first time since Oct. 26 of last year that DHHS reported fewer than 100 new infections in a single day, public health update documents show.

As of last week, walk-ins are now accepted at all of New Hampshire’s state-run vaccination sites between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. every day except Sunday.

During a May 18 press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu announced that New Hampshire would be terminating its participation in all pandemic-related federal unemployment compensation programs, including the $300 weekly unemployment benefits, on June 19. He also announced that the state will begin offering “summer stipends” totalling $10 million as an incentive to encourage people to find jobs. Effective May 18, anyone filing for unemployment in New Hampshire who returns to work for at least eight consecutive weeks will be eligible for a payment bonus — $1,000 for full-time workers and $500 for part-time workers. Payments are on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited to people earning $25 per hour or less.

Ed funding lawsuit

New Hampshire school districts had until May 22 to join ConVal School District’s lawsuit against the state over equitable education funding, and now a total of 16 districts are co-plaintiffs in the suit. According to a press release, the plaintiffs argue that the State does not meet its constitutional obligation to provide adequate funding for all students, saying that base adequacy — which provided $3,636 per student in all districts in 2019 — is not sufficient. In March, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire rejected the State’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. The case now goes back to Superior Court Judge David Ruoff, who will hold hearings allowing the plaintiffs to present evidence that the State underfunds education; an evidentiary hearing isn’t expected until the summer of 2022, according to the release. The school districts involved in the lawsuit are ConVal, Claremont, Derry, Fall Mountain, Grantham, Hillsboro-Deering, Hopkinton, Lebanon, Manchester, Mascenic, Mascoma, Monadnock, Nashua, Newport, Oyster River and Winchester. “We all value public education because it uniquely serves our community honorably to make sure each and every student has an equal opportunity, no matter what circumstances, to lead educated, productive and engaged lives,” James Donchess, Mayor of the City of Nashua, said in a press release that was sent out following the Nashua Board of Education’s May 17 vote to join the lawsuit.

Covid Care Corps

The Covid Care Corps, piloted last summer as part of AmeriCorps, is looking for summer associates to serve in New Hampshire and Maine, building infrastructure and helping communities recover from the effects of the pandemic. According to a press release, the Covid Care Corps was so successful in New Hampshire that it was expanded into a year-round program. The summer positions are a 10-week, full-time commitment; members receive a biweekly living stipend and either scholarship money or a cash stipend upon completion of the service term. Members must begin by June 28. The application deadline is Thursday, June 4; contact Steve Niles at Steve.Niles@goodwillnne.org or 207-370-3918.

Lowest unemployment

New Hampshire is tied with Nebraska, South Dakota and Utah for having the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 2.8 percent, according to April’s unemployment numbers from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Following the release of those numbers on May 21, Gov. Chris Sununu issued a press release saying the state should expect a “booming summer” that will build on its economic success. According to a press release, before the pandemic New Hampshire had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 2.6 percent. It has steadily dropped following a peak of 16 percent in April 2020, and the numbers in April 2021 show a return to pre-pandemic unemployment level, the release said.

New England College in Henniker announced last week that the Covid-19 vaccination will be added to the school’s list of required vaccinations. With limited exceptions, all students and staff who are attending classes or working on campus must be fully vaccinated prior to the start of the fall semester.

Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig will host community office hours throughout the city this summer, starting Thursday, May 27, from noon to 1 p.m. at Rock Rimmon Park, according to a press release. Next up, Craig will be at the Sheehan-Basquil Splash Pad on Monday, June 21, from 9 to 10 a.m.

Deb Chabot and Peter Georgantas have been named the first recipients of the Goffstown Citizen of the Year award. According to a press release, during the height of the pandemic the two helped raise more than $5,800 for a local food pantry and started a campaign to encourage residents to support local restaurants.

Mark Threlfall of Merrimack will be a judge at the 145th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in Tarrytown, New York, on Sunday, June 13. According to a press release, Threlfall will be judging German Shorthaired Pointers, German Wirehaired Pointers, Gordon Setters, Irish Setters, and Irish Red and White Setters. He has worked with dogs his whole life, including as a professional handler, winning best in show numerous times, the release said.

Covid-19 news

During the state’s weekly public health update on May 13, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported that positive case numbers of Covid-19 in New Hampshire continue to be on the decline, averaging between 150 and 200 new infections per day over the previous week, while the test positivity rate was at roughly 3 percent. As of May 13, there have been 178 confirmed “breakthrough” infections of the virus, meaning those that occurred despite individuals being fully vaccinated. “We are going to see vaccine breakthrough cases, but it’s a very low number when you consider the number of people that have been fully vaccinated,” said Chan, noting that it’s less than 0.1 percent of these cases relative to overall vaccinations.

Later during the press conference, when asked about the CDC’s new guidance released earlier that day saying fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors in most cases, Chan said he was “a little bit unhappy” with how it was rolled out. “The difficult choices have always been around what the correct timing is,” he said. “Anytime the CDC puts out this type of guidance, we never just simply adopt it because the CDC has put it out. We’ve always, throughout this pandemic, taken the time to review it, understand it, look at our own numbers, look at our own situation [and] make decisions based on our own local context, and we will do that in this situation as well.”

As of last week, children and teens ages 12 to 15 are now eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine. “We have already had 6,000 12- to 15-year-olds register out of the 60,000 people in this age group,” Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, said during the press conference. “We have seen even young, otherwise healthy people get hospitalized or have weeks or months of breathing problems that impacted their ability to play sports or exercise, so we do encourage all parents to make that choice to get their child vaccinated.”

Gov. Chris Sununu also announced during the press conference that beginning this week New Hampshire is opening up each of its state-run vaccination sites to walk-ins, with no appointments needed, between 3 and 6 p.m. Both Pfizer and Moderna are available at these sites. Second-dose appointments will still be scheduled at the time of the first vaccination.

Downtown development

Last week, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig submitted proposals to transform two large city-owned downtown parking lots — the Pearl Street Lot and Hartnett Lot — into mixed-use, mixed-income housing developments in an effort to address the city’s housing shortage. According to a press release, Craig’s Requests for Proposals drafts, which were sent to the city’s Lands and Buildings Aldermanic Committee for approval, require that some units be affordable, based on Housing and Urban Development’s definition of affordable housing, and the number of affordable units will be the biggest factor in the evaluation criteria. Further, the proposals must not reduce any existing public parking spaces, and they must be architecturally pleasing and pedestrian-friendly. “Manchester has been named the hottest real estate market in the country for the second year in a row, and in order to keep up with demand, there is a desperate need for not only more affordable housing but more housing in general,” Craig said in the release. The Queen City’s Affordable Housing Taskforce, which was established in March 2020, released its final report last month, with the first recommendation being to “prioritize the development of affordable housing on City-owned parking lots and vacant City-owned land,” the release said. On May 18, Craig also announced a proposal to create a Housing Commission, which was another recommendation made by the Affordable Housing Task Force. “Through this commission, the City of Manchester will continue to engage members of our community in finding innovative solutions to the rising cost of housing,” Craig said in the release. The commission would be responsible for following up on the many recommendations made by the Affordable Housing Task Force. The proposal was scheduled to go before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Committee on Administration on the evening of May 18.

Free class for grads

All 2021 high school graduates are being offered a free class of their choice at any of New Hampshire’s community colleges in the fall. According to a press release, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the Foundation for New Hampshire Community Colleges have committed more than $1 million, plus advising and other services from the community colleges, to help students on their future educational and career paths. Any student graduating from a New Hampshire high school in 2021 can take any three-credit course at any of the seven colleges in the Community College System of NH, including courses that are part of certificate programs for skilled trades. The gift covers tuition and associated fees, and the colleges will work with students to help with course selection. Eligible students can contact the admissions office at their local community college.

Record lottery sales

On May 17, the New Hampshire Lottery announced that it has set an all-time annual sales record, with seven weeks still remaining in the fiscal year. Gross sales have exceeded $434 million, according to a press release, which is more than a 30-percent year-over-year increase. Net profit to date is approximately $107 million and is on pace to reach $130 million. The previous record net profit was $105.5 million, set in Fiscal Year 2019. That profit goes to the state’s public education system, which has received $2.2 billion since the lottery’s inception in 1964. “As we look ahead, the New Hampshire Lottery is well-positioned to continue building on this momentum to benefit the students and teachers of New Hampshire for years and years to come,” Charlie McIntyre, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Lottery, said in the release. Almost all of the state’s lottery games are ahead of last year’s sales pace, including Fast Play, which is up more than 200 percent; NH iLottery, which is up 136 percent; KENO 603, up nearly 52 percent; Gimme 5, up more than 37 percent; and scratch ticket sales, which are up more than 21 percent. Large Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots, which reached a combined $1.58 billion in January, also contributed to the sales record, the release said.

Ed funding lawsuit

Last week the Mascoma Valley Regional and Derry Cooperative school districts announced that they will join nine other school districts as co-plaintiffs in ConVal School District’s lawsuit against the state over equitable education funding. According to a press release, the plaintiffs argue that the state does not meet its constitutional obligation to provide adequate funding for all students, saying that base adequacy — which provided $3,636 per student in all districts in 2019 — is not sufficient. In March, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire rejected the state’s request to dismiss the lawsuit. The case now goes back to Superior Court Judge David Ruoff, who will hold hearings allowing the plaintiffs to present evidence that the state underfunds education; an evidentiary hearing isn’t expected until the summer of 2022, according to the release. The other school districts involved in the lawsuit so far are Oyster River, Grantham, Claremont, Fall Mountain, Hillsboro-Deering, Mascenic, Monadnock, Newport and Wincheste r. Ruoff has given New Hampshire districts until Friday, May 22, to decide whether to join the lawsuit. “As a regional school district, Mascoma Valley experiences the injustice of New Hampshire’s educational funding mechanism which pits community against community instead of uniting us in the common goal of education,” Tim Josephson, Vice Chair of the Mascoma School Board, said in the release. “The legislature’s lack of action since the Claremont lawsuits has deepened inequities, allowing the state to continue shrinking its constitutionally-mandated responsibility.”

Boscawen has been awarded a $500,000 Cleanup Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the former Allied Leather site on Commercial Street. According to a press release, the site, which has housed various mill operations and a leather tannery, has been vacant since 1987 and is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum, metals and other contaminants. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities. The Town of Jaffrey also received a grant: $300,000 to assess and develop cleanup plans for various sites in town.

Concord’s Giant Indoor Yard Sale returns on Saturday, May 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Everett Arena. There will be thousands of items, according to a press release, and admission is $5 for adults; kids 12 and under get in free.

High school students at Spark Academy of Advanced Technologies in Manchester helped Manchester Community College’s student senate for the second year with its Sleep In Heavenly Peace Build a Bed event, which brings together volunteers to build beds for local kids who are sleeping on the floor, according to a press release. Students from both schools built 15 bunk beds for local under-resourced families.

A team from Nashua Community College is one of 12 national finalists that has been selected to move on to the next phase in the 2021 Community College Innovation Challenge. According to a press release from the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Science Foundation, the team will attend a Virtual Boot Camp in June to interact with entrepreneurs and business experts, culminating in a Student Innovation Showcase with a pitch presentation to determine the winner. The Nashua group will present its EnviroMask project to develop an environmentally friendly, fully biodegradable face mask using cotton with bioplastic and non-woven bamboo fiber, the release said.