Commentary
Commentary: Fair school funding must be part of state budget
It’s spring again in New Hampshire, a time for blooming daffodils, filling potholes, and passing laws. As the weather has warmed, there has been a lot of discussion about the $90 million state education funding hole our public schools face in the coming year. That hole represents a loss of state aid to districts and […]
Editor’s Notebook: A way forward for ‘The Sum of Us’
I once exchanged emails with a newspaper reader who had submitted a letter to the editor that I rejected for some reason. Maybe he had made unverified claims or perhaps he was responding to someone else’s letter in a way that violated our policy – I can’t remember exactly. What I do recall is that […]
Commentary: It’s time revoke law enforcement’s status as a ‘super constituent’
The most powerful player in electoral politics is the constituent, or so we are led to believe by every elected official ever. Ask a state senator or a state representative and they’ll tell you that the people they want to hear from most are their constituents. They do not specify a particular type of constituent. […]
Commentary: Declaring racism a public health crisis brings more attention to solving long-ignored racial gaps in health
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has joined hundreds of cities and counties across the country in declaring racism a public health threat. On April 8, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky called racism an epidemic that affects “the entire health of our nation.” Declaring racism a public health threat will create a sharper […]
Commentary: I’m a pediatrician who cares for transgender kids
When Charlie, a 10-year-old boy, came in for his first visit, he didn’t look at me or my colleague. Angry and crying, he insisted to us that he was cisgender – that he was a boy and had been born male. A few months before Charlie came into our office, he handed a note to […]
Editor’s Notebook: Life in 100 canvases
For her senior project, my daughter poured out her generation’s childhood onto 100 5-by-5 canvases, which were then organized in a 10-by-10 grid and mounted on sturdy Elmer’s foam board. Some panels are instantly recognizable to parents of my generation, like the classic McDonald’s Happy Meal box, the PBS Kids logo, and a waving Dora […]
Commentary: Celebrating Earth Day with a gender justice lens
As we look toward Earth Day 2021, we’re paying special attention to the intersection of climate and gender justice. We believe there is no gender justice without climate justice, and there is no climate justice without gender justice — yet not all feminists and environmentalists are aware of how interconnected our fights for justice are. […]
Commentary: State shouldn’t silence conversation on race and gender equity
We’ve seen it across the country, and now we’re seeing it here in New Hampshire: an attempt to silence important conversations about race and gender equity. Nearly identical in language to an executive order issued by former president Donald Trump in September 2020, the language from House Bill 544 was passed this month as part […]
Commentary: Let’s normalize court reform
Government is not a stagnant entity. Over time, our government has evolved to meet history’s challenges. Today, there is a movement to make the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico states and to end the Senate filibuster. Books and a plethora of articles are being written about reforming the presidency in light of lessons learned […]
Commentary: Denial doesn’t change the truth about racism in New Hampshire
“I don’t see race.” How many times have you heard this phrase from well-meaning white people? It sounds ideal, doesn’t it? A person saying this generally means that when meeting and getting to know people, she ascribes no racial stereotypes to their characters. She takes only their personalities into account when forming friendships, assesses only […]
Editor’s Notebook: Welcome to the New Hampshire Bulletin
Mike Pride, the longtime editor of the Concord Monitor, took a chance in the fall of 1995. He hired a recent college graduate with no worthwhile journalism experience but loads of unwarranted confidence to be . . . the news clerk. What were the responsibilities of a mid-1990s Monitor news clerk? He typed up obituaries […]