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Report: Without more housing and child care, employers won’t find workers
When adjusted for inflation, the average hourly wage in New Hampshire over the last 12 months is lower than it was in 2021. For every unemployed person, there are more than three unfilled jobs, due in part to limited affordable housing and child care. Workers 55 and older are increasingly saying they no longer want […]
Child advocate has lawmakers rethinking abuse, neglect placements
It looks certain that New Hampshire lawmakers will introduce legislation next week that would tighten the state’s ability to place neglected and abused children in institutional settings when their own homes are unsafe. The inspiration? A pair of reports from the state’s child advocate detailing her concerns about Bledsoe Youth Academy, a Gallatin, Tennessee, facility […]
Some kids get dental care in school. Advocates aim to make that universal.
Nearly 30 years ago, a group of hygienists, school nurses, and dentists in greater Derry grew concerned that students were coming to school with such painful tooth decay they were missing class. If kids weren’t getting to the dentist, they asked, could dental care come to kids? With help from a local funder and some […]
Laurie Sanborn no longer heads House casino study commission
A day after she was named in an investigation of her husband’s alleged illegal use of $844,000 in pandemic assistance, Rep. Laurie Sanborn has resigned as chairwoman of a legislative commission charged with studying the impact of new charitable gaming laws. Her appointment as head of the commission had been controversial because she operates a […]
AG: Former state senator used pandemic aid to enrich himself, buy wife a Ferrari
Former state Sen. Andy Sanborn and his wife, Rep. Laurie Sanborn, of Bedford, could face criminal charges in connection with $844,000 in federal pandemic aid that state officials say Andy Sanborn fraudulently obtained and spent on at least three high-end race cars, car parts, and 27 years of prepaid rent for another business he owns. […]
Housing, clean energy, recreation projects and more get $11 million
Federal awards worth $11 million will help two dozen New Hampshire towns, organizations, and community groups expand housing, invest in green energy, and increase recreation opportunities. The Northern Border Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership for economic and community development in New Hampshire, northern Maine, Vermont, and New York, distributed $43.6 million in awards across those […]
Coming soon to state buildings: Trauma kits and tourniquets
Unintentional injury and the uncontrolled bleeding that often follows are one of the top causes of death in New Hampshire among people 1 to 45. Sen. Suzanne Prentiss wants more people to know that and be able to intervene. A new law inspired by legislation she sponsored will require trauma kits containing tourniquets to be […]
New law eliminates insurance pre-approval for crisis mental health, substance use care
Insurance companies in New Hampshire can no longer require their members to get prior authorization before getting coverage for emergency mental health or substance use care when it is provided by a mobile crisis team, outside a licensed hospital. The new law, Senate Bill 85, is intended to make it easier for people to get […]
Child advocates: Damning report on Tennessee youth facility is one worry of many
Child Advocate Cassandra Sanchez was intentionally detailed and unsparing in describing what she saw and heard while checking on two boys the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services had sent to a Tennessee treatment facility. Children said staff offered them incentives to assault other children, Sanchez wrote in a 17-page report after visiting […]
Granite VNA monitors patients’ vital signs daily via telehealth
Since it launched a new telemonitoring program, the Granite VNA has helped nearly 50 patients with serious health issues send the organization daily updates on their vital signs, allowing providers to offer more immediate guidance or intervene if health concerns arise. The program is available to patients who are receiving skilled nursing care or physical […]
As cases increase, AG doubles effort to combat elder abuse, financial exploitation
A significant increase in elder abuse and financial exploitation of Granite Staters has prompted the Attorney General’s Office to expand its efforts to combat those crimes. Part of that is to educate people over 60 and those who care for them. “Law enforcement can catch people. Law enforcement can prosecute people,” Attorney General John Formella […]
What connects smoking, obesity, and social isolation? Each can kill you.
For nearly 30 years, a group of women from Laconia High School’s class of 1952 has met monthly for dinner or lunch. They’ve seen one another through the deaths of husbands, swapped pictures of grandchildren, and reminisced about raiding their mother’s cabinets in the 1940s, in search of metal and tin to support the war […]