A Black Lives Matter protest more accessible to those in the disabled community is being organized for next Friday in Portsmouth.
A year ago, most working parents — particularly mothers — would have said that it was difficult to balance the demands of home life and work. That’s before the coronavirus hit, shutting down schools and daycares, disrupting routines, and forcing more than 1 million people from the workforce in September alone. Most of the people who left the workforce were women, who were twice as likely as men to blame their departure on lack of childcare.
NH Gives takes place 5 p.m. to 5 p.m. June 8-9. Registration for the event is now open and will be until May 17. Over 325 nonprofits have already signed up. The platform is a place where donors can learn more about participating nonprofits and watch them compete for additional cash goals on leaderboards.
Medical malpractice lawsuits are expensive to pursue and could be difficult to prove in the context of a worldwide disease that has been especially hard on elderly and ailing nursing home residents.
Also, an opinion issued nearly a year ago from then-New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon MacDonald, which was requested by Health Commissioner Lori Shibinette, has had a chilling effect on pandemic-related litigation, said personal injury attorney Anthony Carr.
Even as New Hampshire’s COVID-19 vaccination program shifts into high gear, a highly contagious variant of the virus is spreading, overall case numbers are increasing and a significant segment of the population doesn’t want to be inoculated.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 72 people in New Hampshire and more than 11,000 across the country have contracted the so-called U.K. variant, which was first documented in the state in February. Two members of the University of New Hampshire Durham community are among those who have contracted it.
New Hampshire has long grappled with a shortage of qualified nursing professionals, an issue that has been laid bare by the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the health crisis, Gov. Chris Sununu has issued several orders aimed at helping shore up the gap, including one that made some nursing students eligible for temporary licenses to aid with the state's COVID-19 response, and another that provided $300 per week stipends to health care workers.
Now, the governor is trying to provide another incentive to bring health care professionals to the state and encourage local graduates to stay: Expanded student loan repayment.
Last month Evan Mallett, owner and chef at Black Trumpet restaurant in Portsmouth, received an email that made him teary-eyed. It was from a local, who had picked up a free meal that Mallett and his staff had made for people who are experiencing food insecurity during the pandemic.
“With my current employment status, buying food from a restaurant is not an option...I am a foodie, former server, laid off retail manager now,” wrote the person, who asked that Mallett keep them anonymous. “I really cannot explain how… happy my mouth and tummy are right now. So again, THANK YOU for satiating my foodie taste buds and warming my soul.”
For Mallett, the email summed up what he describes as a “calling” to help feed the hungry during the pandemic.
There has been strong tourist trade in the 1,600-person White Mountains town, near Loon Mountain Resort and not far from Cannon Mountain, Waterville Valley Resort and other attractions. Lincoln has approved plans for four new hotels and building permits for 20 new houses.
The only potential bump in the road, as Burbank sees it, is a shortage of workers to wait tables, tend bar and clean rooms. He wonders whether federal supplemental unemployment benefits dissuade people from joining the workforce.
Like most everyone else in the Granite State, the McBees need to get out of their house every once in a while. But the Merrimack residents tended to follow the safe practices suggested by the state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and were hesitant to venture to an indoor option, even though wineries are operating at half-capacity, per state guidelines.
Despite teachers asking to be moved up in the vaccination cue, it will be seniors and a few others with April appointments for first shots invited to a mass vaccination event at NH Motorspeedway in Loudon this weekend, said Gov. Chris Sununu.
Sununu explained his reasoning on this and a variety of other issues-- including a controversial bill aiming to ban “divisive” training on sex and race and division at the statehouse-- during a recent interview on NH PBS’ digital public affairs show, The State We’re In.
Victoria Austin and her husband Brent were on their screened-in porch, having a nightmare conversation. Their son, Clyde, died unexpectedly at home at just 16-months. Because of the pandemic, they couldn’t talk about arrangements in the warmth of their Derry home, so to keep everyone safe they were meeting with a funeral home director in the cool October breeze.
The majority of clients who had committed to projects opted to back out due to uncertainty about having someone else in their house. But unlike many other professions -- most anything indoors comes to mind -- the lull for contractors was only a blip in the grand scheme of things.
Greg Baier, owner of Knollstone Contracting in Concord, saw business plummet early on during the pandemic, but it quickly sprang back.
Overnight camps that serve thousands of young people and generate millions of dollars for the New Hampshire economy are expected to resume operations this summer, a year after the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered many of them for the first time in decades.
Guidelines approved by the New Hampshire Economic Re-Opening Task Force and awaiting Gov. Chris Sununu’s approval set out precautionary steps the camps must take, including testing, health screening, use of face masks and social distancing.
New Hampshire lottery sales, particularly from online games, are surging during the pandemic, and with that increase comes a jump in another statistic — the number of problem gamblers who seek assistance for a disorder that can destroy lives.
The National Council on Problem Gambling received 443 calls to its 24-hour helpline (800-522-4700) from New Hampshire last year, compared to 337 in 2019. That’s an increase of 24 percent.
It’s been a slow year for bankruptcy lawyers in NH, but Blackwood predicts that will soon end. “We’re in the middle of a tough nine to 15 months, then there’s going to be a giant wave.”
It is an assessment shared by other lawyers and analysts who crunch the numbers.
The infusion of government money into personal and business bank accounts; a federal moratorium on foreclosures and evictions that continues to Dec. 31; limited access to the courts; and what Blackwood describes as a general atmosphere of “forbearance” have all combined to keep the cork on a potential flood of foreclosures and bankruptcies.
Despite the economic uncertainty wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic and already low interest rates driven down further by the public health crisis, local banking leaders say 2020 wasn’t all bad.
“Still, we’ve had a record year for the bank in terms of growth, in terms of lending, in terms of earnings,” says Mark Bodin, president of Savings Bank of Walpole.
The COVID-19 pandemic created a surge in buyer demand, most of it from out of the immediate area. Without a corresponding increase in available properties, selling prices jumped as buyers competed to be the winning bid.
COVID also ushered in a new way of doing business with virtual showings, Zoom discussions and a host of safety protocols that would have seemed unimaginable when the year began.
Across sectors, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted businesses large and small, even forcing some local favorites to shutter for good. But for the green energy economy in the Monadnock Region and beyond, there could be a bright spot on the horizon.
According to a report published in December by the Solar Energy Industries Association, solar energy accounted for 43% of new U.S. power capacity additions through the third quarter of 2020. And the industry expects to install more than 19 gigawatts of solar this year, which is enough to power more than 3.6 million homes — a 43% increase compared to the previous year.
