Covid-19 news

On Sept. 16, Gov. Chris Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 69, authorizing the commissioner of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to appoint new members of the state’s health ethics committee.

On Sept. 18, Sununu issued Executive Order 2020-18, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the Covid-19 pandemic for another three weeks through at least Oct. 9. It’s the ninth extension he has issued since originally declaring a state of emergency on March 13.

On Sept. 21, Sununu issued Exhibit R to Emergency Order No. 29, which had been issued on April 9. Emergency Order No. 29 requires state agencies, boards and commissions to submit recommendations to Sununu if any regulatory deadlines should be adjusted in response to the state of emergency. Per Exhibit R, the expiration of any child day care agencies and licenses in New Hampshire are stayed during the state of emergency. Renewal application deadlines for child care agencies have also been deferred until 90 days after the end of the state of emergency.

Details of Sununu’s Emergency Orders, Executive Orders and other announcements can be found at governor.nh.gov.

House upholds vetoes

On Sept. 17, the New Hampshire House of Representatives sustained every veto from Gov. Chris Sununu, including paid family and medical leave and a minimum hourly wage, prompting divisive responses from House and Senate leaders. “Over the past two years, Governor Sununu has vetoed a record-breaking 79 pieces of legislation, 65 of which had bipartisan support,” Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes (D-Concord) said in a statement. “This year, in the middle of a global pandemic, Sununu vetoed over one-third of the bills sent to his desk, many helping working families, frontline workers, and small businesses.” “This year’s session has been filled with Washington style political stunts from Democrats,” House Republican Leader Dick Hinch (R-Merrimack) said in a statement following the votes. “They want to raise taxes so badly that they have clearly abandoned professional protocol throughout the pandemic and pushed through their radical partisan agenda. Today Republicans stood united together to push back against these stunts on behalf of the citizens of New Hampshire.”

LEACT

New Hampshire can begin to implement all recommendations from the New Hampshire Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community and Transparency, after Gov. Chris Sununu issued a roadmap on Sept. 17 for how to move forward, according to a press release. LEACT was established through an executive order in June after the murder of George Floyd, and it recently released a report that focused on reforms to training, reporting and investigation of police misconduct, and community relations. “Today I am endorsing every single recommendation from all three parts of the LEACT report,” Sununu said. “Their charge was difficult — to come up with recommendations on how to improve law enforcement here in New Hampshire.” The release said that Sununu will issue an Executive Order to take immediate action on many of the reforms within the next two weeks, while the Attorney General will lead the effort to craft legislation for any of the reforms that require passage through the legislature.

Mental Health Plan

A report highlighting the progress that the state has made on the New Hampshire 10-Year Mental Health Plan of 2019 was released last week, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The department published the plan in January 2019, and it prioritized 14 recommendations to advance the mental health system within the first two years of implementation. The new report highlights several improvements since then, including an increase in permanent housing for individuals with mental illness, new transitional housing program beds, increased the state’s Housing Bridge Subsidy Program, established more integrated primary and behavioral health care programs at community mental centers, increased the number of children served by the Care Management Entity, and expanded Assertive Community Treatment to increase accessibility throughout the state. “The 10-Year Mental Health Plan provides the pathway to a mental health system that makes services and programs available to patients when they need them,” DHHS Commissioner Lori Shibinette said in the release. “We are committed to realizing this goal, and while our work continues, this report highlights the important progress that is being made.”

First Lady Melania Trump visited Concord Hospital on Sept. 17 as part of her efforts to combat opioid use, according to a report from WMUR. She was there to learn about the hospital’s “Eat, Sleep, Console” protocol, the goal of which is to wean babies from addictive drugs with minimal or no medication.

Middle-school student Kaylin Emerson of New Boston recently won the Walter A. Felker Memorial Award from the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association for a paper she wrote about maple chemistry, according to a press release. Emerson took part in the annual statewide contest, which is open to kids 16 and younger.

Livingston and Bronstein parks in Manchester have been chosen as two of 14 sites nationwide to transition to organic grounds management as part of Stonyfield Organic’s #playfree initiative, according to a press release. Stonyfield is donating $5,000 and access to experts from Osborne Organics, and Hannaford is matching the monetary donation.

The construction of Exit 4A on Interstate 93 in Derry and Londonderry has been put on hold after price proposals for the design-build project exceeded the New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s cost estimate by more than $30 million, according to a press release. The department will work with both towns and affected property owners to figure out its next steps and will work toward a more cost-effective design.