It’s your money: budgeting while costs keep rising

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

With grocery and gas prices fluctuating all the time, it’s hard to know how to budget right now. Maureen Milliken, who writes the “It’s Your Money” column for Ink Link, shares some financial insights and some tips for navigating this tricky time, and hopefully padding your wallet.

Rosemary Ford:

A few months ago, when you were last here, we discussed your tracking of grocery prices and their connection to the tariffs and other economic factors. How's that going, and what's been happening with the tracking lately?

 Maureen Milliken:

It started last April 2025, prompted by the tariffs. We tracked grocery prices for a year to see what happened, and obviously, a lot has happened. We learn something new every month. I just want to kind of disclaim that it's called the “grocery snapshot,” because it's kind of a snapshot of a variety of things that I normally buy. It's not like some big scientific study of grocery prices in general, but more kind of a relatable look, and I use what's happening with my items as kind of a springboard to talk about why prices go up and down and what's happening in general with things like produce or coffee. 

Rosemary Ford:

What have you seen steep rises in?

Maureen Milliken:

The biggest price rise in the year has been a 12-ounce bag of coffee. Whole bean, because I use a French press — I’m kind of picky — has gone up from $10.49 last April, and it is now $12.49, so it's gone up $2 which, percentage-wise, is a pretty big increase. I naively thought November, when the tariffs for coffee beans were lifted, that the price was going to go down. But first of all, prices have a tendency to go up and not go down. Second of all, it's not only tariffs that are affecting coffee beans. They have to be grown in a certain climate. and unfortunately, the places they're grown are the most susceptible to climate change and plant diseases that come with it. So it's a very challenging product right now. 

Another item is chocolate. I think last time I was on was right after Hershey had proactively announced that the prices were going to go up. That was a little bit before Halloween, but they already had all their Halloween candy made, so that was all set. But the things that affect coffee are the same things that affect chocolate, where the cocoa bean can be grown. 

Nothing has really declined in price, and in a year, produce has a tendency to go up and down. Last month, when I looked at the yearly arc, there were maybe three produce products — bananas, cucumbers and oranges — that had all gone down from what they were the April before. But all those have, except for bananas, seen big spikes, and I just was looking at my shopping list today on my grocery stores app, and cucumbers are now $1.29 apiece when they were 79 cents apiece two weeks ago. But produce is very susceptible to so many things that have nothing to do with tariffs that the prices just go crazy.

Rosemary Ford:

Is the war with Iran having an impact on prices?

Maureen Milliken:

It is. The biggest impact is to energy prices. There's a long chain of effects that ends up affecting your pocketbook, and the energy costs of transporting produce, of making fertilizer and all those other things, affects the cost. The first and biggest cost is to beef. Beef prices are affected because of energy prices, because of transportation costs, supply chain costs, the cost of fertilizer to grow the feed that the beef eat, and the USDA says that beef has already gone up 6.4%. The USDA just released its price prediction a few days ago, and it's predicted that it's going to go up another 6.3% this year.

I personally don't eat a lot of red meat. I'm not a vegetarian, but I just live by myself, and it's just never been cost-effective to buy it and use it. It's not on the tracker, but it would have, I think, have had a big impact. I track 26 things, and it’s gone up 6.5% in the past year, as opposed to the 2.7% that the USDA says grocery prices have gone up. But I think if beef was on there, that would be a much higher number. 

Even if the war ended an hour from now, and anything keeping energy from moving around the world was resolved immediately, you would still see it affecting prices for the rest of this year. When something has an impact on prices, the domino effect and the chain of events is such that there are just long-term impacts that are very difficult to solve. 

Rosemary Ford:

Are there other factors playing into the rise of prices?

Maureen Milliken:

When I first started this I was thinking of the tariffs and not thinking in more general terms, but so many things affect prices, including politics. Pasta, which I guess the federal government has had a bee in its bonnet for the last 20 or 30 years. They claimed that Italian imports were being dumped at lower prices than they should be into the market, which was affecting the price of pasta made in the U.S. There's been this like a 30-year investigation of it, which came to a head at the end of last year, and they were going to put this super tariff on pasta, which would be kind of ironic, since they were claiming that it was affecting U.S. made pasta prices. But if the price of imported pasta goes up, then the price of pasta made in the U.S. will go up. 

Rosemary Ford:

What do you plan to do to navigate this time?

Maureen Milliken

My plans are the same that I advocate — not only in the grocery snapshot, but in my money column. This goes beyond grocery prices, which is you have to be your best advocate for saving money. The grocery prices aren't going to magically come down because you're upset that they're high. If people say they don't have the time to plan meals or to cook or to research prices, you have to make the time. Time is money, and the more it becomes a habit, the more you'll be able to do that. Some quick tips are, if you're able shop at a large chain of which there are many, use the rewards. Use their apps which have rewards, coupons, savings and recipes. Figure out substitutions. Buy cheaper things. I know it sounds like it's a simplification. Eat more bananas, fewer $6 packages of cookies. One thing I've actually done is my mom cooked for six kids and liked to make healthy meals, but we didn't have a lot of money growing up, and I've revived some of my mom's recipes. They're fairly easy to make and they're nutritious, and they're not things I normally think of eating. I would also say that people with kids, until they reach around teenage age, can be the biggest advocates for change in your house. If you get them involved in thinking of ways to cut food costs and plan meals and plan grocery lists. Also track what you're wasting, track what's going in the trash. Start buying something else you're going to eat versus whatever's going into the garbage. 

Rosemary Ford:

When you’re writing your column, what do you hope people take away as a lesson or learn from what they’re reading?

Maureen Milliken:

My biggest hope that people take away — not only with grocery prices, but with anything — is that you're the biggest advocate, and you're the one who has the power to change whatever is going on financially with your life. You may not be able to change everything. I know people have a lot of challenges, but you have to be proactive. You have to do the research and use your money from a place of knowledge. Figure out where your money's going and what you're doing with it and why you're buying what you're buying. It's hard work, and it's hard to break habits, but knowledge is power, and people need to be informed and have insight into their lives and what they're doing with their money, instead of feeling that it's this thing that's just kind of washing them away that they have no control over.

Rosemary Ford:

Thank you, Maureen.

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

Housing isn’t just a number, so why are people being treated like one?

Credit scores and income limits are locking families out of safe housing

By Shamecca Brown-Granite State News Collaborative 

I’ve sat across from families who are doing everything right – working, showing up, trying – and still can’t get approved for housing. Not because they don’t care, but because a number on paper says they’re not good enough.

The truth is, I’m writing this because my eyes are open now in a different way. When you actually see what people are going through, when you’re right there with them, it hits differently. Because no matter how much you care, you realize you can’t fix everything. All you can do is try to be more hands-on, show up, and help where you can.

Housing isn’t just hard to get right now, it feels almost impossible – especially for people who are doing everything they can just to stay afloat.

Lately, I’ve been seeing firsthand how credit scores and rigid housing requirements are blocking families from getting a place to live.The truth is, that system doesn’t always reflect reality. People go through things –  job loss, medical issues, domestic violence, unexpected emergencies – and their credit takes a hit. That doesn’t mean they’re irresponsible. That means they’re human.

At the same time, even people with good credit are struggling. Rent is high, wages aren’t keeping up, and the expectations to qualify for housing are unrealistic. You can have decent credit and still fall short when rent is more than half your income.

What makes it worse is that there’s often no room for explanation. No space to tell your story. No opportunity to say, “This is what happened, and this is how I’m trying to fix it.” The system is built on numbers, not people.

Then there’s the waiting lists for housing assistance. They’re long, sometimes years long. Families who need help now are told to wait, while trying to survive day-to-day. And if someone makes “too much” on paper, they may not qualify for help, even if they still can’t realistically afford rent. That leaves people stuck in the middle – no assistance, but no real access either.

As someone who advocates for families, this is one of the hardest parts of the work. You see people trying. You see the effort. But the barriers are so high that it feels like you’re fighting a system that wasn’t designed to give second chances.

Housing shouldn’t only be about numbers, it should be about stability, safety, and giving people a fair opportunity. There needs to be more flexibility, more understanding, and more pathways for people to explain their situation and still be considered. Because, at the end of the day, people shouldn’t have to lose everything just to be seen. The truth is, even when they are seen, help still isn’t guaranteed.

That’s why so many people are still homeless. Not because they didn’t try. Not because they didn’t care. But because the system meant to catch them is overwhelmed, restrictive, and often out of reach.

We shouldn’t have to wait until people hit rock bottom to respond – and even then, response shouldn’t be uncertain.

We need to do better. Earlier. Smarter. And with more humanity, before more families fall through the cracks.

Shamecca Brown is a New Hampshire-based columnist who is family-oriented and passionate about serving underserved communities. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visitcollaborativenh.org.

How are N.H. businesses and individuals adapting to AI?

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

Embracing and understanding AI is becoming essential for businesses that want to continue to prosper and innovate in this new era of technology. While many fear AI will lead to widespread job loss, others say its use in business settings can transform jobs and allow for workers to be more efficient. So what does this look like? How are businesses adapting? Philip Magnuszewski, founder of the think tank D!srupt AI and the nonprofit  AI in NH as well as co-chair of the NH AI Task Force. 

Melanie Plenda:

For people who are unfamiliar, what is AI and how might it be used in a business setting?

Philip Magnuszewski:

AI has been around for well over 70 years now. It's gotten kind of a recent plug on the marketing front over the past half a decade or so, but artificial intelligence has just kind of always been a way to kind of replicate how the brain works in a programmatic way, leveraging software. What it does, in essence, is enhance our capabilities. It allows us to potentially look at larger amounts of information, more quickly synthesize those things, and better understand our world or our businesses that we're involved in.

Where we see it specifically helping businesses or employees that are working in businesses is in helping them get maybe better and more in-depth insights to what their customers are doing, helping them do market research and understand where their products might be tweaked in order to better address the market, and to make operations a little bit more efficient, leveraging the technology as well. I think the best way to think about it is really to look at it as a collaborator, a tool — a co-pilot, if you will — that you can use to be more efficient or to even think differently, or rethink things a little bit in terms of how the organization operates.

Melanie Plenda:

How could that impact the New Hampshire economy, or the economy at large?

Philip Magnuszewski:

We're going to see it impact the economy in a huge way from a productivity standpoint alone. We always hear the term “Do more with less,” and I think that's definitely the case with what we're seeing today.

I think New Hampshire is a very unique state. We have a lot of things going for us. The ecosystem is more collaborative across the board. It's easier to access individuals across the state, and we have an opportunity to look at the state as a living lab. These changes that we're seeing seem to be happening quickly. Obviously, the tool sets are changing quickly, but the actual impact requires us to experiment, to use the technology for those kinds of things. I'm seeing there's a desire to understand how it works, and how do I use it to impact either my community or my organization at large?

Melanie Plenda:

Tell us about D!srupt AI and AI in NH.

Philip Magnuszewski:

I do a number of different things. Most of my day is talking and working with organizations to leverage the technology in a way that helps them bring their business strategy or vision to life. I think this technology, artificial intelligence, gives us an opportunity to rethink and reimagine the world around us, and we can produce impacts. We can produce results that are 10 times or 100 times what we're seeing today. So it's an opportunity for me to engage with individuals and organizations that are looking to really have impact in areas that are of importance to us, either at a community or a societal level. 

Melanie Plenda:

What is the NH AI Task Force?

Philip Magnuszewski:

The NH AI Task Force is a group of individuals — we’re closing in on about 20 individuals — driven and hosted out of the N.H. Tech Alliance. We cover about eight different sectors across the state, and the whole intent is to really understand how the technology is being used today, where there are gaps in terms of understanding or resources, and then making recommendations to the state Legislature, to the governor's office, in terms of the things we need, and also being able to provide some of those resources to the state here as well. 

We're trying to understand how it's being used, specifically here in the state. What are some of the best practices, what are some of the recommendations that we can make going forward? 

Melanie Plenda:

Tell us about the NH AI Task Force Survey.

Philip Magnuszewski:

What we're trying to do is gather some empirical data points. We had surveys go out to eight sectors. We also have working group roundtable discussions, typically one or two a quarter for each of those sectors, where we're getting additional context. 

We'll have a full report coming out in October. The idea is that as we get that information we will share it with the public so they can understand how their organization rates against other organizations in a particular sector or industry. That will help us create those best practices, blueprints, those things that can help an organization accelerate the usage of artificial intelligence. 

Melanie Plenda:

Earlier this year at an AI in NH event, you introduced Granite Staters to Google’s NotebookLM, which you referred to as one of the most underrated AI tools. Could you describe what this tool does and why it is so powerful?

Philip Magnuszewski:

I would say it's underrated because I don't think it gets the hype or the marketing prowess that Open AI or Anthropic has, but it's a Google product, and it's available to most users for free at some level.

It allows you as an individual to aggregate information, which just means kind of pull information. So if you're interested in a specific topic, you can pull videos, you can pull documents, and store those in a way that allows you then to ask questions about it, to synthesize information. I encourage everyone to use it for personal purposes, but if you wanted to get a better understanding of what was historically happening over in Iran, for example, you could have it do research on a particular topic, which would say what has happened over the course of the last five or 10 years, and you can look at it from different perspectives. You can pull different types of sources — press releases, videos, etc. — but it allows you then to get it in a format where you can better understand, get a summary of what's going on.

I think one of the really awesome things about it is it will also put together output, which could be a presentation, an infographic, an explainer video — it could be a number of different things. It really helps accelerate the learning process for any subject that you're interested in, which is why I say it's incredibly powerful. For students in particular — if you're trying to get a better handle on a particular top topic or subject area, I think it's an incredible tool.

Melanie Plenda:

We’ve talked a lot about the helpfulness and possibilities for productivity with AI. Yet, when people mention AI, concerns always come up. One of them is about job loss. How would you address that?

Philip Magnuszewski:

I think it's a very real concern. I think it would be just disingenuous to say that there aren't going to be jobs that are lost as a result of this. I do think — and I use this term quite a bit — I think we have agency around it. I think, as business leaders, we can decide where, how and at what pace we're going to introduce the technology. I think on a personal level, we have agency in terms of just exposing ourselves and getting engaged with it as well.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. I think what we've seen historically with the introduction of any new technology is that while some jobs will go away, other jobs will replace those. I even think that some of the early examples of organizations who have let thousands of individuals go in specific departments because of AI are actually bringing people back now, because the technology doesn't exactly give them what a human can do, or what a human brings to the table. So I think the fear there has some legitimacy to it, but I would just say we're in an era where we all have to remain agile, flexible and kind of try to figure things out as we're going through this together.

Melanie Plenda:

What about AI’s use of intellectual property to learn and adapt? How would you address concerns about that?

Philip Magnuszewski:

I think that there's a couple of pieces to that. I am not a fan of how these initial large language models were built. I think that there are some lines that were crossed in terms of capturing or taking content from creators. I don't know what's going to happen with that. It's one of those cases where I think the law is still trying to catch up to the technology itself. I think that's a challenge.

Going forward, in terms of intellectual property in general, organizations are doing a better job of understanding where their data might be used to train these models, and actually leveraging their own data to better improve the models or what the models can provide from an outputs perspective as well.

Melanie Plenda:

As AI continues to evolve and develop, in five years, what impact will all of this have on New Hampshire businesses? What could that landscape look like?

 Philip Magnuszewski:

Trying to extrapolate five years out with this technology is tough. There's a wide range of things that can happen as a result of it. We could see everything from the dystopian view to a utopian view. I think we're going to be somewhere in the middle. I think we're going to grind through the next few years and figure out where it fits and how it looks. But I think that there is an opportunity — again if we do it responsibly — for businesses to operate with less friction internally. I think that there's an opportunity to kind of rethink and reimagine.

Melanie Plenda:

One of the goals of the non-profit AI in NH is to encourage curiosity about AI and to empower residents to engage with artificial intelligence. Why is curiosity important when learning about AI?

Philip Magnuszewski:

I think if you're curious, you're engaging with it, you're learning about it. I think that helps deal with some of the fears you might have, and it allows you to understand where and how you'd like to use it as an individual — where it fits and where the limitations are. I think of the people that I know that are using it quite a bit or the folks that are benefiting the most from it — it's the folks that are just curious. 

Melanie Plenda:

AI in NH recently hosted an AI Week with several events. Can you tell us more about some of the events and how they went? What do you have coming up?

Philip Magnuszewski:

We did it in partnership with the New Hampshire Tech Alliance. We had over 17 events over the course of the week, which was pretty intense. We had some folks up from Boston Dynamics talking about the future of physical AI, which is robotics. We had some kids attending there. We had hands-on workshops giving people a chance to explore what was possible and building things with it as well. We had organizations that were talking about how to build trust in an organization so your workforce is less resistant to the technology as well. We had students from Dartmouth and the University of New Hampshire that were showcasing some of the things that they built as well. 

Melanie Plenda:

What are some other ways Granite Staters can improve their AI literacy outside of attending events like these? 

Philip Magnuszewski:

There's a lot of resources out there today. There are podcasts. If you're interested in the technical side of things. I listen to a podcast that's called “Last Week in AI.” There are books and trainings from Google, Microsoft and all the major technology partners. And, frankly, you can't scroll a social media feed these days and not have a link to something that's going on with artificial intelligence. I think that those are all good resources. They give you a good chance to kind of understand what's going on as well.

But I'll go back to what I said before. The best way to learn and to understand what AI is, is to really just grab a tool — pick one, there are free versions for most of these tools. That’s the best way to get involved and to better understand

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you so much for joining us today Philip.

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

We may just fix America

We may just fix America - Audio Component

By Anthony Payton-Granite State News Collaborative

Nearly 23 years ago, a friend, who happened to be white, once asked me:  "Where is the only place where white guys can be the majority, and no one will protest?" His answer:  "On a military battlefield dying in war." 

His response caught me off guard. Though I'm always prepared to have a civil discussion on sensitive topics, this was new. 

We were involved in the kind of business where you don't ask questions and you don't break trust. Him, an Army veteran. Me, a drug war veteran, whose tour of duty encompasses gun violence and prison riots. 

I let him continue. I sensed that he needed to vent and process. More importantly, he needed to process with someone who looked like me. For him, it was a bonus that I was someone he could trust. 

He opened up about his father losing a job to a Black woman. He spoke about feeling that straight white men were being blamed for the country's problems, about political systems that no longer included him. 

When he looked to the left, he saw a party that blamed straight white men for everything, while his voice wasn't allowed unless it advanced the party's objectives. When he looked to the right, he saw a party moving further to the fringes, weaponizing religion, race and ideology. 

He had no political home. 

He knew there was a way to be patriotic without demonizing the people he swore to protect. He loved ‘90s hip-hop and knew black American culture on a high level. He stood his ground if you tried to make him feel guilty for being a white male. And he felt he should be able to openly celebrate his European heritage, not in a hooded-Klansman type of way. Just in a bagpipe-and-kilt kind of way.

He didn't enslave anyone. He wasn't the one who designed the oppressive systems that permeate every level of education and government. 

I listened. And I'll be honest, I felt both frustration and restraint sitting across from him. 

No, it doesn’t end there. I lit his ass up.

Welcome to the party. 

Because here's what I've learned about having these conversations: You can't meet someone where they are without first letting them arrive. 

Find me a Black person, a descendant of the slave trade, born before 1968, and I'll show you a citizen who wasn't born with full rights. The final piece of the oppressive Jim Crow laws was real estate. That wasn't even 60 years ago. And one of the fastest ways American families handed down wealth? Real estate. 

When you enslave a race of people and commit unspeakable atrocities, the damage is everlasting, even after slavery ends. You deny them education and employment. You enact laws that specifically target them. After some time, the work becomes autonomous. Some of the people will even begin to spew the rhetoric of their oppressors, in an attempt to align with that power structure. 

Then their descendants, who benefit from these systems, turn around and ask why black Americans can't get their act together. 

The nerve. 

My friend took it all in stride. It showed me that he had something to get off his chest. He didn't flinch at my retort. He was one of the few who didn't have that knee-jerk reaction. Turns out, I needed that as well. 

I've had the opportunity to live in a trailer park and experience white poverty. It mirrored urban neighborhoods I was raised in – a lack of fathers in the home, poor nutrition, not enough focus on education. And just like those urban communities, that population continued to vote for people who did nothing for their growth or betterment. 

Unity can't be achieved without understanding.  From those conversations with him, I learned to stay off the fringes, stop fearing what I don’t understand, and think twice before I judge.

My friend lives a smooth life right now, trying to stay on top of his declining health. We've been planning on having dinner for three years now, but distance and life gets in the way.  With the political landscape in such a dire situation in New Hampshire and across the country, I'm thinking we should have this dinner soon.

We may just fix America … one dinner at a time.

Anthony Payton is a podcast host, freelance writer and father living in Manchester. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

How will new ban on student IDs for voting affect New Hampshire elections?

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

What does a new law that removes student identification as a valid form of ID for voting mean for Granite Staters? Here to discuss that is Olivia Zink, executive director of Open Democracy, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on political equality in New Hampshire.

Melanie Plenda:

To start, can you tell us more about what Open Democracy does, and what the organization’s goals are? 

Olivia Zink:

We were founded by Doris "Granny D" Haddock, who walked across the country to get money out of politics. So our focus is sort of campaign finance reform, ensuring the freedom to vote for all Granite Staters and ensuring that we have a fair and functioning democracy that works for everybody.

Melanie Plenda:

Can you give us some background on the new photo ID law and what it does?

Olivia Zink:

House Bill 323, which will go into effect on June 2 is a law that prohibits the use of high school IDs and college IDs as legal identification to vote in an election. So your driver's license or passport or a government issued-photo ID from another state, is what you can use to check in and receive your ballot.

Melanie Plenda:

This law reverses the 2013 law that allowed student IDs at polls. What’s the reason for the change?

Olivia Zink:

Prior to 2012, nobody had to show an ID to vote. In 2012, they passed a law that required identification. In that 2012 law, it said you can use a student ID. So they've actually just taken that out of the law, saying that you no longer can use those identifications to check in to obtain a ballot. The governor has signed it. 

I think the debate was very confusing. I felt when you watched the Senate debate, they really talked about what you need to register to vote — and to register to vote, you do have to prove your citizenship, your domicile, your age and your identity. So when you register to vote, you're showing your birth certificate and something that has your address on it, and all the other documents you need to register. If you’re already registered to vote, you’re just checking in to obtain a ballot, but the law has now changed.

Melanie Plenda:

Why are voter ID laws such a contested topic between the parties? Why is this such a contentious dispute?

Olivia Zink:

There's a lot of disinformation about voting in general. The people who check us in are ballot clerks, our neighbors and friends, like the moderators at polling places. My moderator used to be my science teacher. They're our friends and neighbors. The people who are running our elections are doing a really phenomenal job in New Hampshire, ensuring that all eligible voters are voting there.

There's just a lot of information out there that there might be some people who are ineligible who are voting. I can tell you that there's probably a lot of 16- and 17-year-olds that want to vote, but they're not voting. You have to be 18, and you have to be a U.S. citizen in order to vote.I think there's a lot of integrity in New Hampshire's process.

What makes me sad is these laws that may make somebody question whether they should participate or not. I think all Granite Staters want all eligible voters to participate. We see that 18-year-old age group as a younger age that's not necessarily participating fully. And I think some of that is because they're discouraged by the process of not knowing how.

Melanie Plenda:

So what should Granite Staters make sure they have when voting?

Olivia Zink:

If you're brand new — if you've just recently moved — you should bring proof of citizenship. That’s your passport or your birth certificate. Also,  something to prove your identity — a driver's license, a passport, a government-issued photo identification with your name, your photo, and domicile, which is really a fancy way to say your address.

Melanie Plenda:

What impact will this have on upcoming elections?

Olivia Zink:

I'd love to know how many 18-year-olds have a driver's license. We have seen nationwide data that shows that not all 18 year olds are getting driver's licenses when they turn 18. I don't know actually how many Granite Staters don't have a government-issued ID. I know that it's challenging. For example, if you live in Hanover, going to Dartmouth College, the nearest DMV is in Newport, a 45-minute drive. So it might be more challenging for students that live further away from a DMV. If you live in Keene, the DMV is right there in downtown Keene. 

If you are already registered to vote and don't have a driver's license, you can get a voucher from your city clerk, and that voucher allows you to go to the DMV and get a voting ID for free. They are working right now on a change in that law to allow anybody who wants a voting identification to be able to attain a voucher from their town clerk. But we'll see what happens with that law as it goes through the process.

Melanie Plenda:

Do you foresee this change discouraging New Hampshire college or high school students from voting?

Olivia Zink:

It's going to impact high school students more than college students. I think high school students know it is expensive to go through the driver's ed process, or their parents may not have money to put them on car insurance and those are the young adults that I think are eligible and should be participating in our elections

I think it's important for people to participate in our civic dialogue, but it does bother me, especially because the 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says we can't discriminate based on age for voting purposes. Yes, you can go to college and or be a student at any age, but most of the students — especially high school students — are that sort of brand-new voter, and I get worried that many of them may be discouraged by this law and won’t participate in the process. But their voice is as important as anybody else's voice in the political discourse of the Granite State.

Melanie Plenda:

How can Granite Staters stay up to date on this and other issues at the State House?

Olivia Zink:

I feel like our New Hampshire election laws have changed dramatically in the last three years. There used to be processes — if you didn't bring your photo ID to check in, they could take your picture and you sign a form. Those all have been repealed, so right now, it's really more important than ever to check the Secretary of State's website, or you can go to places like opendemocracynh.org or the League of Women Voters to just get real good basic information about what you need in order to register to vote.

If you're a senior citizen who is in a nursing home, who wants to vote by absentee, the law has recently changed, and you need to produce an identity ID to show that you are who you say you are. We've seen seniors, especially around the state, that didn't have driver's licenses because they're not driving anymore that weren't able to vote, but there is a notary option. So we've found volunteer notaries who are helping voters that might need a notary application on an absentee ballot, but a lot of laws have changed that make it much harder to vote. 

When I met a woman at a polling place, she brought her birth certificate and her driver's license, so she thought she was all set. But she was married, and so her driver's license had a different name than her birth certificate. She said she should have known that she needed her marriage certificate, but how would she have known the law just changed?

It's important not to blame us as individuals, that we all collectively need to do our part to get the word out that the laws have changed in the last couple of years, and more documents are needed when you go to vote. The last time I went to vote, I just bought everything. I brought my passport, I brought my deed to my house, I brought my birth certificate, just to make sure all my bases were covered. So I was over-prepared. I think that we sort of need that message of being prepared for the midterms this year, and maybe showing up over-prepared is the best way to do that. If you need to request a birth certificate in order to register to vote — or a marriage license, if your name has changed — there are resources to help you get those documents. You just can't do it the same day. You have to do it ahead of time.

Melanie Plenda:

On May 18th, you’re giving a talk on New Hampshire voting laws in Moultonborough. Can you tell us more about it? And are there other events from Open Democracy that we should be aware of?

Olivia Zink:

I've been on a public library tour around the state. I think this is my eighth or ninth public library that I've been to in the last couple of weeks. Up in Moultonborough, a group of people have invited me to speak about the changes of voting laws. The Secretary of State also has been on a sort of New Hampshire road show, doing public talks about the new laws. So there's lots of people trying to inform voters, but we have a lot more work to do. 

The group of probably already informed voters are going to show up at the library to hear my talk, but hopefully they inform others in their community about what we need in order to participate in this year's midterm elections.

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you for joining us today, Olivia. 

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

The new food pyramid: How is healthy eating changing?

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 70 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, and “nearly 1 in 3 adolescents has prediabetes.” As a way of combating these staggering numbers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recently released new dietary guidelines. What are the guidelines, and what do they mean for healthy eating? Here to discuss that is Hannah Brilling, a clinical dietitian at Dartmouth Health’s Walter and Carole Young Center for Digestive Health.

Melanie Plenda:

What does this new pyramid look like, and what changes have been made?

Hannah Brilling:

It looks like an upside-down pyramid. A couple of iterations ago, there was a regular pyramid, and now they've turned it in the opposite direction. There are some changes, especially visually, from the balanced plate — which was the last version of the dietary guidelines. The shape is different, but so are the pictures that are on there, such as a big piece of steak and a bottle of whole milk.

Melanie Plenda:

For people who aren't familiar with the original food pyramid, briefly explain what that was and once we invert, what does that mean?

Hannah Brilling:

The pyramid really tells us what things to have more of. The idea with the older version was that the larger base was more grains and starches, and then you get to the smaller top, with more meats, sugars, and proteins. So when they flip it, they're really saying that protein is a larger component of the things we should be eating more of. There is more of a focus on meat, this variation, than there has been in the past.

Melanie Plenda:

What do you think about these new guidelines?

Hannah Brilling:

There are some really great updates. There’s a focus on whole foods, on less processed foods  – those aren't so much updates, but they are given higher importance than maybe in past dietary guidelines. There's also a new focus on the microbiome, which is really important, and something that is emerging with scientific evidence that's not very clear yet, but we know it's important for health. Those are all great.

I don't necessarily find that the focus on red meat as a healthy fat aligns with the breadth of scientific evidence we have about heart health and healthy fats.

Melanie Plenda:

You mentioned protein intake. Based on these guidelines, how do you think that will affect people?

Hannah Brilling:

I don't think it's going to change a whole lot. I think this does align with current cultural trends and also scientific guidelines and guidance in terms of protein being a really important part of our daily intake, especially when we think about folks who might be actively losing weight, it's important.

I clinically work in obesity medicine, so that's a big part of the conversations that I have every day — about the importance of protein — but it's also something that we know that Americans already consume in really high numbers. I think it mostly reflects what people are already doing, and most Americans already eat a lot of animal products. So I don't think it's going to change a whole lot there.

Melanie Plenda:

Public schools are subject to USDA regulations that require them to implement these nutritional guidelines in their school meals. With these new changes, how can we expect school lunches to change?

Hannah Brilling:

School lunches also have budgetary constraints, so I imagine they're going to use the best tools they can to use whole grains, and they'll probably have a shifting of the percentage. They have very strict targets for different proportions of the different nutrients for each meal for each age range, so they're going to have to implement those just like they do with the current guidelines. Each school struggles to plan meals and to execute these on a budget, so they're going to have to implement these in a budget friendly way.

Melanie Plenda:

Eat Real Food, an official site of the U.S. government, states the old pyramid gave Americans misleading dietary guidance, causing high rates of chronic disease. Is this accurate? How will the new guidelines change things?

Hannah Brilling:

I think it's a really big stretch to say that the pyramid caused high rates of disease through misleading information. I think nutrition has been around to guide people for a long time, but the ways that people end up eating are influenced by their culture, by their knowledge of cooking, by their budget, by the time that they have to cook at home or to shop, or the access that they have to this nutrition information.

I think all of these factors play a role in how we eat, and it's really important to remember that the way that we eat does not completely control the outcomes of our health. We have genetics, we have environment, we have other lifestyle factors, like chronic stress, that influence our rates of disease and how our individual health plays out. So nutrition is important — I’ve devoted my life, my career, to this — but it is not the number one thing or the only thing that determines our health.

Melanie Plenda:

If Granite Staters were to follow these guidelines in their daily life, would they likely see a large improvement in their overall health? Why or why not?

Hannah Brilling:

I think the really big takeaways that are supported by these dietary guidelines — of trying to eat less processed food and focusing on the different food groups and how our daily balance plays out,  those are fundamental aspects of good nutrition that have been around for a long time. If people focus on those — yes, I think that health can be supported and improved as much as nutrition will play a role in how our individual health can be influenced. So less processed food is always going to be a good idea, and if you have the means to follow home-cooked meals with fresh fruits and vegetables or canned or frozen, that will support health.

Melanie Plenda:

Many Americans do not follow a healthy diet due to the high cost of nutritious foods. This new pyramid outlines a high-fat, high-protein, and low-carb diet, which can be quite expensive. How can people adapt? What should they do?

Hannah Brilling:

As I briefly mentioned, frozen vegetables, frozen fruits. are a great, nutritious tool to eat healthy on a budget. Canned tuna, canned beans and chickpeas — those are all very minimally processed foods, even though they come in a package. 

We also can keep all things in moderation so we can use low-cost whole grains, like brown rice that we cook from scratch. It's not “no carbs.” No one ever needs to have zero carbohydrates. So we use our low-cost foods to balance out the plate, and we do the best that we can. That's all anyone can do when feeding themselves and feeding their family. So we're all going to live our lives and try to feed ourselves every day. That's all we can do.

Melanie Plenda:

Do you expect that local produce across New Hampshire will see an increase in demand and consumption due to these changes to the guidelines?

Hannah Brilling:

I can't tell the future — they do highly encourage fruits and vegetables — but I would say that's not any different than the nutrition guidance that's been around for a long time. So I don't know that there's going to be a big change there.

I think the barriers of cost, access, education, cooking skills — they’re still going to be there. Nothing has changed in that sense, however, anecdotally, I have seen whole milk sold out at the supermarket in my own grocery shopping experience more than I have in the past. I think that that change in the dietary guidelines might be making a difference on the grocery store shelves.

Melanie Plenda:

Do you think encouraging whole milk will have an impact?

Hannah Brilling:

When I counsel families, I actually have not typically focused on dairy in my own clinical work in the past, because there is some mixed evidence in the nutrition research, while animal fats from things like meat, steak vs. chicken, skin on, skin off — that evidence was pretty clear. But when it comes to dairy, there is some mixed evidence, so I haven't really ever changed what people did for their dairy percentage. 

So, skim vs. 2% vs. whole — I had never changed that in the past, so I don't really care one way or another in my own clinical work, if folks switch to whole milk because I think that can be part of a healthy diet, even if they go from skim to whole.

Melanie Plenda:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, recently came under fire for some comments about Dunkin’ and Starbucks’ sugary drinks. He said, "We're gonna ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks — show us the safety data that show that it's OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it. I don't think they're gonna be able to do it." What do you think about that statement? And what do you advise people about sugary drinks?

Hannah Brilling:

Again, I think this conversation about sugary drinks has been around for a long time and holds merit. I don't think that 115 grams of sugar is supporting anyone's health, but in America, we're free to choose and let people make the decisions that they want to make. So being more clear about what is in foods and telling people what the risks might be, I think, can be valuable. In the end, people do have the choice to put tasty, sugary drinks in their bodies if they want to. A soda tax in different cities, historically, hasn't been very popular, so it hasn't worked all that well because people don't like it. So I'm curious to see where that goes. If we remove sugar from drinks, I'd be for that.

Melanie Plenda:

What kind of things do you recommend when people ask about eating healthy?

Hannah Brilling:

It's highly individualized. What you like to eat might tend to be most successful if you're going to make a plan — just like if we make a plan to exercise, it shouldn't be something you hate doing. 

I start with when we eat throughout the day. That's really important to manage hunger, to have enough opportunities to put nutrition into your body at different times so that you can absorb everything and stack up the grams of protein that you might want to get by the end of the day. You’ve got to put that in multiple times per day. So I talk about, when I talk about the food groups, just getting a variety of different food groups, getting some fruits and vegetables during the day, and then maintaining relatively healthy eating patterns, rather than trying to do perfect eating that may not last very long. Try to take small steps, make small changes that are likely to be sustainable over your lifetime.

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you, Hannah, for joining us today. 

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

The frightening double standard exposed in Trump’s profanity-filled threat to Iran

By Shamecca Brown-Granite State News Collaborative 

There are moments when I sit back, listen to the news, and I’m not just shocked anymore. I’m scared.

The other night, my 13-year-old son looked at me wide-eyed and said, “Mommy, how does he get to talk like this? People laugh and think it’s funny. I wouldn’t want people thinking it’s OK to talk like that to me or anyone. This is scary.”

I looked at him, and I got a cold chill. Because he’s right.

And in that moment, all I could think was, what is this world coming to? If this is the direction we’re heading in, then we are in trouble. I can feel the shift. I can feel the racism coming strong, and it doesn’t sit right in my spirit.

On April 5, 2026, President Trump posted a message about Iran that included profanity, a direct threat, and the phrase “Praise be to Allah.” Let me say that again: profanity, threats and religious language, all in one public message.

If I spoke like that at work, I would be fired. Immediately. No warning. No second chances. Yet somehow, this is acceptable when it comes from someone who holds the highest office in this country.

That’s the part that doesn’t make sense to me.

Because when people in power speak like that, it doesn’t just stay online. It doesn’t just disappear after the headline fades. It trickles down. It lands in classrooms, in workplaces, in homes. It reaches kids – like mine – who are still trying to understand what respect even looks like.

I’m a mother, a grandmother, an advocate. I’ve worked with families, with survivors, with people trying to rebuild their lives after trauma. I’ve sat with individuals who already feel like they don’t belong – because of their race, their background, their religion, or just the way they exist in this world. So when I hear language that feels disrespectful or careless toward a group of people, especially tied to religion, it doesn’t feel political to me.

It feels personal. Because I’ve seen what words can do.

I’ve lived it myself, as a Black woman from Queens now working in New Hampshire, often being the only one in the room who looks like me. I know what it feels like to be watched, judged, or misunderstood before even speaking.

So when someone in leadership speaks recklessly, I don’t hear “free speech.” I hear permission. Permission for others to talk like that. Permission for people to laugh it off. Permission for disrespect to become normal. And that’s dangerous.

Because here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud: there is a double standard.

People like me are expected to show up with professionalism every single day. We are expected to watch our tone, our words, our body language. In my line of work, respect isn’t optional, it’s required.

And I agree with that. So why do we expect more from everyday workers than we do from national leaders?

Leadership is not just about decisions. It’s about example. It’s about tone. It’s about how you speak about people, especially people who are different from you.

And our kids are watching who gets corrected and who gets excused. They’re watching what behavior is accepted and what behavior comes with consequences.

Right now, what they’re seeing is this: If you have power, you can say what you want, and people will laugh, defend you, or ignore it. That’s not the lesson I want my son, or any child, to learn. Because once we normalize disrespect, we normalize division. And we are already living in a time where people feel divided enough.

This isn’t about politics. This is about humanity. It’s about asking: What kind of leadership are we willing to accept?

Because if this is the standard, if this is what we’re OK with, then we have to be honest about what we’re teaching the next generation. And until we start holding people accountable for the words they use, we’re going to keep teaching the wrong lesson about respect, about power, and about what it really means to lead.

Shamecca Brown is a New Hampshire-based columnist who is family-oriented and passionate about serving underserved communities. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

New analysis details New Hampshire’s massive variation in property taxes

Report finds up to a nearly $17,000 disparity in tax bills for equally valued homes in different towns

By Kelly Burch-Granite State News Collaborative

The annual tax bill last year for a $500,000 home in New Hampshire ranged from as low as $1,310 to as high as $18,270, depending on where the property was located. 

That’s according to a new report issued by the N.H. Fiscal Policy Institute, which looks into an issue many Granite Staters have personal experience with: the huge disparity in property taxes across the state. The report found 2025 tax rates ranging from $2.62 to $36.54 per $1,000 of assessed value, with the state’s lowest-income families paying the greatest percentage of their income toward property taxes.  

Even in neighboring towns, the difference in tax rates can be striking: In 2025, a $500,000 home in Lee would have a $13,805 property tax bill, while the same-value home in neighboring Nottingham would face a bill of about $6,600. Owners of a $500,000 home in Acworth would have to pay about $8,030 in property taxes, compared to $18,270 in neighboring Charlestown, which has the state’s highest tax rate of $36.54 per $1,000 in assessed valuation.

One commonality when it comes to property taxes across the state is that they’re rising: The report found a 12.1% increase in the amount Granite Staters pay in property tax over the past decade, adjusted for inflation. That affects not only homeowners and businesses that own properties, but also renters, said Phil Sletten, research director at the Fiscal Policy Institute and author of the report. 

“People have noticed the changes … in their household budgets,” he said.

Limited revenue options

Two characteristics of government funding in New Hampshire come into play when discussing property taxes, according to John Orcutt, professor at the University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School of Law.  

First, the New Hampshire Constitution puts strict limits on the types of taxes that can be levied in the state. Because of that, the Granite State “is more reliant on property taxes than any other state,” Orcutt said. The percentage of total local public revenue coming from property taxes is higher in New Hampshire, at 61%, than in any other state, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute report.

Since property taxes are one of the only revenue streams available to local governments, they are “more likely to backstop a local budget in the face of increased revenue needs,” Sletten said. 

The second policy that contributes to the variation in tax rates is that New Hampshire funds education at the local level. In 2024, 70% of school funding came from local property taxes, according to the N.H. School Funding Fairness Project. 

To cover the costs of public education, cities and towns with lower overall property value must “place a higher burden on local property local taxpayers … compared to communities that have higher levels of wealth,” explained Bruce Mallory, senior research fellow at UNH’s Carsey School of Public Policy.

Mallory, who was project manager for the legislative Commission to Study Public School Funding — which issued its report in 2020 — described the inverse relationship between property wealth and tax rate as the “core issue in terms of equity for students and for taxpayers.”

Progressive vs. regressive tax policies

Property taxes everywhere are regressive — a technical tax term meaning they put a higher burden on people with lower incomes, according to Orcutt. That’s different from federal income tax policy, which is progressive, meaning higher earners pay more tax, he noted. 

That is true even if the tax rate is consistent. In New Hampshire, the variation in property tax rates, with higher rates in lower-income areas, makes the regressive nature of property taxes even more pronounced, Orcutt said. An analysis in the NHFPI report shows that low-income families pay three times the share of their income toward property taxes, compared with high-earners (5.9% vs. 2%).

For Mallory, this comes back to the issue of paying for education. 

“In a nutshell, New Hampshire school-funding policy is essentially regressive,” he said. 

Other issues compound the inequities. National research shows that property assessors tend to overvalue (and thus overtax) less expensive properties, while undervaluing and thus under-taxing higher-value properties, Orcutt pointed out. This phenomenon is known as property tax assessment regressivity.

In addition, high property taxes can drive down the value of homes in a city or town, Sletten said. Many homebuyers set their budget based on the monthly payment — a combination of their mortgage, insurance and property taxes. Because that cost drives the market, “there are going to be lower prices for homes in higher-property tax communities,” he said. With lower property values overall, the municipality may need to tax at a higher rate to meet its funding needs. 

All of this likely affects where Granite Staters live. Property taxes can be seen as a way of “investing in services” that a municipality provides, Sletten said. Communities with higher tax rates are seen as having a higher cost of those services, which could contribute to people opting to live in communities where taxes are lower.

More equitable solutions?

Granite Staters pay the second-highest per-capita amount in property taxes in the country. 

However, New Hampshire is one of only two states — along with Alaska — that has no income or sales tax, which is why it’s “difficult to compare” the average tax burden in New Hampshire to states that have a very different tax structure, Sletten said. 

The clearest comparison is to look at the revenue raised per capita by various states, from both tax and non-tax sources. There, New Hampshire ranks 40th. 

The report finds that New Hampshire’s local governments “do not appear to be collecting a disproportionately large amount of revenue per capita.”

While Granite Staters pay more property taxes, it’s unlikely they’re paying significantly more tax overall than residents in other states, Orcutt said. 

For New Hampshire residents to experience more equitable taxes, the state would likely need to make changes in how schools are funded, experts say. 

The school-funding study that Mallory oversaw didn’t make policy proposals, but it did examine what has worked in other states. Making the existing statewide education property tax the primary source of educational funding — as other states have done — is one possibility. That policy would collect local property taxes at a more equal rate, and redistribute them as education funding around the state. That “would achieve the kind of equity this commission felt was a goal,” Mallory said.

More recently, a group of New Hampshire residents, including three Democratic state representatives, introduced a plan that would set a uniform $3 property tax, coupled with a 3% income tax, to fund education. The plan was immediately denounced by Gov. Kelly Ayotte and both Republican and Democratic legislative leaders.

In addition, any efforts to introduce an income tax would face “very significant constitutional hurdles,” Orcutt said. 

In the meantime, the differences in property taxes — and school funding — contribute to a “huge variation in communities,” Orcutt said. 

“This is not a state where … there is relative equality in each community,” he said. 

After studying the issue for 50 years, Mallory said he still doesn’t understand why generations of New Hampshire policymakers have been “unwilling to confront the challenge of inequitable tax policy and inequitable student outcomes.” Other states, he emphasized, have proven solutions that address the regressive nature of relying on property taxes to fund education: “It’s not like we don't know what to do.”

These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

Start Local: Why Local News Matters More Than Ever

The most important stories aren’t happening somewhere else—they’re happening right here.

On April 9, communities across the country are marking Local News Day—a national moment to reconnect with the trusted information that helps us understand what’s happening close to home.

At a time when national headlines dominate our feeds, it’s easy to overlook the news unfolding in our own backyards. But the decisions that shape our daily lives—our schools, local budgets, housing, healthcare, and public safety—are made locally.

And local news is how we make sense of it all.

Local news is more than headlines. It’s how we understand what’s happening in our communities and how we participate in shaping what comes next. It’s the information that helps us ask better questions, make informed decisions, and stay connected to the people and places around us.

It’s also one of the last places where we can find common ground.

Local news isn’t about red versus blue. It’s about what’s happening here—and what it means for all of us. When we share facts about our communities, it becomes easier to disagree without disconnecting.

But local news doesn’t happen on its own.

Behind every story is a reporter attending a late-night meeting, digging through public records, or following up on a question someone in the community asked. Across New Hampshire, local newsrooms are doing this work every day—often with limited resources, but with a shared commitment to keeping their communities informed.

And increasingly, they’re doing it together.

Through collaborations like the Granite State News Collaborative, newsrooms are sharing reporting, expanding coverage, and making sure more people have access to the information they need. In a time of shrinking resources, that kind of cooperation isn’t just helpful—it’s essential.

Because when local news is strong, communities are stronger.

People are more informed. Institutions are more accountable. And neighbors are more connected to one another.

But that only works if local news is part of the fabric of the community it serves.

That’s where you come in.

Local News Day is built around a simple idea: Start local.

Read a story from a local newsroom. Share it with someone who doesn’t usually follow local news. Follow a reporter or outlet in your community. Pay attention to what’s happening around you.

These may seem like small actions. But they are how awareness grows. They are how trust is built. And they are how local news—and the communities it serves—stay strong.

Because in the end, the stories that shape our lives don’t start somewhere else.

They start right here.

Local News Lives Here.

The weather forecast: predictions for this spring and summer in New Hampshire

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article is edited for length and clarity.

Winter is over —- finally. What kind of an impact did it have? What’s on tap for spring and summer weather? Here to fill us in about what to expect is New Hampshire’s state climatologist, Mary Stampone, who’s also associate professor of geography at the University of New Hampshire.

Melanie Plenda:

Let’s start with the weather that was. Mary, did our winter match predictions and expectations?

Mary Stampone:

The outlook for this winter of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, was largely based on forecasts for a week of La Nina’s pattern of the Pacific to start the season and transition to neutral conditions now. So the weak La Nina winters tend to be, but are not always, snowier across New England. Snowfall was above normal for southern and interior portions of New England this winter. Unfortunately, the snow was fairly dry, so we actually ended up below normal in terms of the amount of water we received despite the amount of snowfall.

Melanie Plenda:

Can you tell us more about how seasonal weather predictions are made? What is the process of collecting data and predicting for upcoming seasons?

Mary Stampone:

NOAA's seasonal outlooks are not intended to predict exactly how warm or cold a season is going to be, but instead, they are intended to communicate the likelihood or chance of a season being above, below or near what is normally expected for temperature and precipitation based on past conditions.

The chances of warmer or colder weather or drier than normal, are determined using multiple different model forecasts, called ensemble forecasts, as well as some statistical methods for identifying likely patterns in temperature and precipitation from combination of the long-term climate data sets that we have, as well as more recent data on a variety of environmental variables.

Melanie Plenda:

The Old Farmer’s Almanac released its long-term spring forecast last month, predicting warmer and drier conditions across New England, with slightly above-average temperatures in New Hampshire. Based on your research, how accurate are these predictions?

Mary Stampone:

I can't really speak to the accuracy of the Old Farmer’s Almanac forecast. This isn’t really a resource that we use in our research, but overall, moisture conditions are really what we need to pay close attention to as we move into the warm season. So we still have not recovered from the lingering drought, so we're already starting drier than normal. And our snowpack is already largely gone, except for the far northern and higher elevation areas. So going into spring, we are relying solely on rainfall for both recharging the soil and the groundwater and to get us through this start of the growing season.

Melanie Plenda:

As you mentioned, this was a dry winter. And it seems strange with all the recent rain and snow. Can you tell us more about that? How does that work? According to NOAA’s research, this is the eighth-driest December through February since 1895. 

Mary Stampone:

When it comes to cold-season drought, when temperatures are below freezing, plants aren't growing, and we're primarily concerned about groundwater levels. So what's happening below the ground, frozen ground limits the amount of water that can percolate down into the groundwater system. Plus, most of the precipitation we get just kind of sits on the surface, and so does the snow. So there really isn't much that can be added to the groundwater system until spring, which kind of locks in drought conditions from the fall through to the melt season. 

Now, coming out of winter, we are still seeing precipitation deficits — that's the difference between normal and what we thought those deficits are — due to, again, the dry fall conditions that we had and the fact that despite heavy snowfall the winter the snow we received this winter was drier than normal, so it didn't contain as much water as we expected. Those two factors are why we have yet to see any improvement in our conditions.

Melanie Plenda:

What do you think this will mean for the rest of the spring and summer?

Mary Stampone:

It's really not unusual for it to take more than a year for the groundwater in our system to fully recover from drought. Back in 2016, it took two years for groundwater levels to recharge. We want to see enough rainfall compensate for the water needed, but not too much. We always need to be careful about what we wish for with rain, because too much can lead to flooding, but with enough rain, we can get through the start of the growing season without drought conditions worsening.

But drought conditions are expected to persist through spring across southern parts of the state. Keep in mind, any combination of a dry spell and warmer-than-normal conditions leading into summer could spell some trouble for us.

Melanie Plenda:

That was my next question. How will New Hampshire’s agricultural and gardening community be impacted by this drought?

Mary Stampone:

The general drought impacts include water stress on plants and animals, impacts on soil quality, as well as additional cost to bring water in when water resources dry up. But it's also worth keeping in mind that to a lot of farmers in this area, this is not our first drought, and they have been investing over years in more sustainable practices that reduce water use. So do plan on supporting your local farmers over the course of the summer.

Melanie Plenda:

How much of the causes of this drought are a result of climate change?

Mary Stampone:

We can link some of these impacts directly to the warming that we're seeing with climate change. First, the warmer temperatures increase the atmospheric demand for moisture, which is evaporated from the surface, drying off the soils and lowering surface water levels. That moisture is then added to the atmosphere, and eventually that has to come out in the form of precipitation. Usually, nowadays it comes in these larger precipitation effects. So we have bigger, heavier rainfall, with longer, drier, warm periods in between, leading to a lot more variability than we used to see — even in an area where variability is kind of the name of our game here.

Melanie Plenda:

Is this the new normal for New Hampshire? Will the state be dryer from now on?

Mary Stampone:

Actually, we overall are getting wetter, but the differences are kind of what happens in between.

We've always been vulnerable to both floods and drought, but the extremes are getting bigger. With summer temperatures increasing, we're not seeing any kind of change in precipitation that could compensate for those increased temperatures. Our vulnerability to drought during the warm season is increasing, but we’re overall getting wetter, and that heavier precipitation is shifting more toward that winter season. This is kind of a combination that is again increasing our vulnerability to both flood and drought, so it’s how we manage the water. We're going to have enough water overall, but it's not going to be evenly distributed. How we manage those resources will be really important in the coming years.

Melanie Plenda:

What else should New Hampshire residents know about spring and summer weather? Especially as it relates to their gardens and local wildlife?

Mary Stampone:

The big thing to keep in mind is that drought here can develop very rapidly at any point during the warm season. Think about last summer —- we started with really wet conditions and ended up with severe drought conditions. So even if our summer starts wet, any dry spell combined with extreme hot temperatures can lead to drought. Water conservation, even during the wet times, really is key here, and anything we can do to reduce our water use will make us more resilient to the variability that we expect to have always had here, but expect to get even worse over time.

Melanie Plenda:

Thanks for joining us today, Mary. 

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visitcollaborativenh.org.

I woke up scared: What the wars beyond our borders really mean

Even in the safety of your home, the news can overwhelm you

By Shamecca Brown-Granite State News Collaborative

I woke up this morning, my heart already pounding before I even opened my eyes.

The world outside my window was quiet - the kind of calm that mocks the chaos unfolding thousands of miles away. But the moment I unlocked my phone, my chest tightened, my stomach sank. Headlines screamed of airstrikes, burning cities, shattered families. Images of children, their faces pale, eyes wide with fear, flashed across the screen. I couldn’t look away, and yet I wished I could.

War feels distant when you’re in the safety of your home. But somehow, even from here, it reaches you. It seeps into your bones. It lingers in the air you breathe. Every life under attack, every innocent mother, father, child, feels like a personal loss.

It’s not just numbers on a screen. These are stories ripped apart in real time. Families fleeing with nothing but hope clutched in trembling hands. Children wailing for parents they might never see again. Cities that once thrived reduced to dust and rubble. 

I imagine the little feet running over broken roads, hands gripping backpacks too heavy for their tiny frames. I imagine mothers wrapping themselves around their children in the dark, trying to shield them from a world that has forgotten how to protect them. Aid workers – the bravest among us – risk, and sometimes lose, their lives just to hand a bottle of water or a blanket to someone in need.

Even here, in my home, the impact is palpable. I feel the tremors of uncertainty in the stock markets, at the gas pump, in every news alert that flashes across my screen. But more than that, I feel the emotional weight, a reminder that the world is fragile, and life can change in a heartbeat. 

I try to imagine their lives beyond the headlines. I see a father holding his son, whispering promises he may never keep. A grandmother clutching her granddaughter as their home is torn apart. A child drawing a picture of a sunny day while bombs fall outside. And my heart shatters over and over.

We may be far from these battlefields, but we are not untouched. Compassion crosses borders. Grief knows no distance. And love – the kind that binds humanity together – does not stop at oceans or continents.

I woke up scared today, but I also woke up determined: determined to see, to remember, and to honor those whose lives have been upended. To not scroll past. To not ignore the screams in the silence of my morning.

Every life lost is a universe destroyed. Every child in fear deserves our mourning. Every family separated deserves our empathy. And every human being caught in the crossfire deserves to be seen – not as a statistic, but as someone who mattered, someone who deserved peace.

If we can feel even a fraction of that pain from the comfort of our homes, then let it move us. Let it break our hearts just enough to remind us that caring matters. That witnessing their suffering, even from afar, is our chance to act with love, with empathy, and with humanity.

Because grief is not constrained by borders. Pain is not muted by distance. And hope, fragile, resilient hope, can still be carried in our hearts, across oceans, toward those who need it most.

Shamecca Brown is a New Hampshire-based columnist who is family-oriented and passionate about serving underserved communities. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

How Granite Staters can navigate through a fluctuating economy

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

Every day, the national and state economies seem to be in flux. What does that mean for you and your wallet? LPhil Sletten, research director of the N.H. Fiscal Policy Institute, talks about what’s going on, what you can expect, and what you might think about when it comes to stretching your finances. 

Melanie Plenda:

Let’s start with a broad overview. In your opinion, what’s going on with the economy nationally? What are some of the challenges there? 

Phil Sletten:

If we look at some of the key forecasts going into this year, they were actually relatively favorable. So in February, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office expected that the overall economy would grow about 2.2%. in 2026, and that's above their trend line. They generally expect that in the future years it'll be about a 1.8% average growth rate. They also projected the unemployment rate would rise a bit, but still be relatively low, at about 4.6% nationally. That's higher than what we see in New Hampshire, but it's still a low figure for the nation overall.

There were still some headwinds that they expected, such as trade and tariff policies adding to some friction or cost in the economy, particularly regarding the flow of goods and immigration policies. They said those would limit labor force growth, and they probably also limit consumer demand as well.

Now, we've had some key economic changes in the last few weeks or, following the beginning of the conflict between the U.S. and Israeli forces and Iran. That's led to some price changes, particularly in energy prices, because of Iran's control over a key oil shipping route, and that could actually destabilize some economies around the world that are more dependent on those particular trade routes than ours — not just for oil, but also for food, fertilizer and other goods. That could lead to some broader economic troubles that could affect the global economy.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank said in their most recent statement that economic activity has been expanding at a “solid pace.”. But they did note that job growth was low, inflation remains elevated, and there's a lot of uncertainty about the economic output input outlook, in part because of the conflicts in Iran in the Middle East.

Melanie Plenda:

What about the state economy? What’s going on there? 

Phil Sletten:

The uncertainties are similar, but the story continues to be labor force growth challenges and the costs for basics -- the rising costs for those essentials of living, including housing and health care costs, as well as child care costs for folks who have young children. We continue to rely on immigration for population growth in the state as deaths continue to outnumber births in New Hampshire, so the cost of living is important for attracting new residents and in retaining residents as well.

If we look at the data that we have for 2025, the number of people surveyed who say that they are working in New Hampshire was actually a little bit lower at the end than it was at the beginning of 2025. When we look at the employer survey data, we see that that's a relatively static figure too. So at least in the preliminary data we have so far throughout 2025, it looks like the employment picture has been pretty static in New Hampshire.

Melanie Plenda:

Let’s dig a little deeper and talk more about some of the key factors in the state economy — housing prices, gas prices and heating fuel prices. What’s going on there, and what impact will that have?

Phil Sletten:

Housing has been for a long time and continues to be probably one of the largest constraints on the economy overall, particularly the price of housing. I think it's important for folks to remember, if you're paying more for housing than you were for the same housing 10 years ago, that’s a percentage of your income that can't go to other things. You're getting the same product, but you're not able to engage in other parts of the economy in the same way. So the price of housing isn't just a factor in terms of how much of that particular line item is, it affects all the other line items as well.

The median single-family house sale price in New Hampshire in the last 12 months was about $540,000, so we're now solidly above the half-million dollar mark. And that's the statewide figure. Part of the reason we're in this problem is that we have been basically under-building housing in New Hampshire for the last 20 years. It's not just demand. It's also a lack of supply being added. We did see some data from the state showing that more multifamily permits in particular were generated in 2024. That doesn't necessarily mean a one-to-one addition of housing, and there's different timelines for when that housing would come online, but it's still more. Housing production is relatively low, but it is the right direction in terms of adding housing supply. 

Some of the things that I'm watching on the housing front as well are what happens with interest rates — which, of course, affects people's ability to borrow for housing, because most people have to borrow to buy a house or condo.

We saw faster price increases during the COVID-19 pandemic. We saw the price of a single-family house, for example, in Coos County, more than double over the five years straddling the pandemic. We saw that as well in Sullivan County. So in rural northern and western parts of the state, we're actually seeing the price pressures decrease the most. What I mean by that is the prices are not going up as fast, and in some cases they're even flat over the last several months, depending on which comparisons you're looking at.

Those are some of the counties that have the highest poverty rates in the state. So there's not a lot of spending power in those communities. It could be that we're seeing the post-pandemic increase in housing prices overshoot, and now there's a little bit of a correction. What does that mean for the rest of the housing market in the state? I don't know. It's hard to say that it could be just a pandemic-related phenomenon, but there is still a significant undersupply throughout the state, and I don't expect that that portends prices will be flat going forward, unless there were some really significant change in the economy.

Melanie Plenda:

Another thing that also has an impact on the state economy is the state budget. The Fiscal Policy Institute is gearing up for presentations about it across the state. Can you tell us more about that?

Phil Sletten:

We're trying to help people understand how state fiscal policy works. True to our name, we're here to explain and provide facts and information about how governments function and where the money flows. It's a lot of information that we have — the sense that we have of how our town governments and city governments work, how our state governments work — that is passed along, verbally shared from one person to another, and people have a sense from that of how things work. But we really want to help people understand more of the concrete details and most-up-to date information about how money flows. 

Melanie Plenda:

There have been small but steady increases in unemployment in the New Hampshire labor market as of late 2025. What’s going on there?

Phil Sletten:

From December 2015 to not very long ago — except for the spike in unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic — New Hampshire had an unemployment rate below 3%, and it rose above 3% in roughly the last year or so. That 3% benchmark is substantially lower than what we see nationwide. It is a little bit of an easing of the labor force constraint that we saw, especially in 2022 when there were many more job openings than there were unemployed residents. So we're seeing maybe a little bit more of a return to the economy that we saw, in terms of labor force anyway, about 10 years ago. 

However, one measure I think is important to remember is that the underlying factors feeding into that measure are probably quite different than they were 10 years ago. One of the key changes is that over the last year we've seen this sort of low-higher and low-layoff environment. There may be more people entering the labor market — particularly younger people entering the labor market — who are then having trouble finding jobs, or maybe having trouble finding job opportunities. They would have been snatched up very quickly by employers who were really looking for workers and were under-resourced in terms of labor supply.

There are other discussions as to how much artificial intelligence is affecting this. I don't know that we're actually seeing that on a large scale at this point. I just haven't seen data to support that, but that's a possibility. But I think that more likely right now, tariffs and now energy prices are likely generating economic uncertainty that makes businesses a little more hesitant to hire. That being said, I wouldn't expect there to be a substantial excess labor force going forward. 

Melanie Plenda:

With upcoming changes to the Medicaid Enhancement Tax, what will this mean for New Hampshire’s economy, patients and providers?

Phil Sletten:

The Medicaid Enhancement Tax — and my colleague Jess Williams, did some research on this over the last month — actually the fourth-largest state tax revenue source, but not very many people have heard about it because it only is paid directly by hospitals in the state. That money collected from hospitals is then matched with federal Medicaid dollars. So it has a 50-50 match, roughly, from the federal government. That match generates more money for Medicaid, which is health coverage, generally, for people who have relatively few resources or specific qualifying health conditions.

Those Medicaid Enhancement Tax dollars are also used to reimburse hospitals for costs that they have, for uninsured patients who show up at hospitals and need care, or Medicaid patients who are at hospitals and need care. Typically, Medicaid has lower reimbursement rates than Medicare or private insurance does. So that's part of the payment mechanism to those hospitals to fund that so-called uncompensated care. 

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed back in July of last year, limits the amount that states can charge hospitals in taxes like the Medicaid Enhancement Tax over time. So it lowers the tax rate that the states can charge. What that means is that the state government in New Hampshire is going to have less revenue coming in from the Medicaid Enhancement Tax — and we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars, especially if you include the federal matching dollars that the state is going to have to find in each subsequent year. 

That means the state has to either find some other source of revenue to fund these existing Medicaid services, or the state has to reduce the amount of services that it pays for through the Medicaid Enhancement Tax, and that could include those hospital budgets and right aid to hospitals for that uncompensated care.

We don't exactly know how the state government is going to respond. The government has a little bit of time to respond, but it's a significant amount of money. Even though it sounds arcane, it could have an impact that cascades through many parts of the state budget, and could impact hospital budgets, which in some cases — particularly for rural hospitals — are relatively constrained. It could impact hospital budgets as well going forward, depending on what state policymakers decide to do.

Melanie Plenda:

What other challenges are you keeping an eye on when it comes to the state economy? 

Phil Sletten:

One cost that we haven't mentioned very much so far is child care. I'd say child care costs continue to increase. One of the things that we've seen that's positive on that front is there are more child care slots available in 2025 than there were in 2017. That's a positive sign. However, that added supply does not cleanly translate into an easier time for everyone to get their child to a child care center, for example.

Because more family-based providers are closing or have closed over that time period. So more small and large providers and more center-based providers have added slots, and in general, the smaller ones have not done as well on that front. So it probably means that there's more drive time for parents to get their children to child care, and that may become more expensive.

Even if the price isn't directly more expensive, which we've seen prices be relatively high in New Hampshire, but we also see that it may be more difficult to access in other ways, even if there is a slot available because of that increased drive time and increase in gasoline prices. 

Another factor that I think is important in the part of the economy that is most concerned with accessing child care is the child care scholarship program may be running out of funding by the end of the biennium. So there is a program that allows people to access resources to help pay for child care. It also provides resources to the child care providers themselves and for eligible students, this is targeted at families with low incomes.

This is a program the state expanded in 2023, however, there may not be enough money to avoid a wait list for accessing the child care scholarship program by the time we get to the end of next fiscal year, in June of 2027. Because child care not only is important for the family individually, but enables more people who otherwise might be out of the labor force to remain engaged in the labor force, particularly if it's worthwhile and affordable for them to access child care. 

Melanie Plenda:

Do you have any advice for people navigating these chaotic times?

Phil Sletten:

Nearly a quarter of New Hampshire households did not have at least $2,000 in emergency savings in 2022. Meaning that there were a fairly large number of households in the state that didn't have that sort of basic buffer in non retirement savings for there to be some sort of financial or economic shock to their budgets. These savings can be critical in times of job losses or spikes in the cost of necessities such as fuel or food. The more folks that have these savings, the more resilient Granite Staters can be in the face of external economic shocks like the one we're experiencing now. But it can be very hard for households with low incomes to save for these for the future, when it's so difficult to cover costs in the present on a day-to-day basis — especially those core living costs, such as housing, child care and health services, which have risen substantially over the last 10 years, and food has risen over the last five years. 

Now, I'm not a financial advisor, but in times of need or unemployment, knowing where you can get help in advance – whether it's from friends or family or municipal human services offices or charitable organizations, programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Medicaid or unemployment compensation and having a plan for that, even though it's maybe not fun to think about, can make it easier to navigate hardship, especially if you spent that little bit of time learning about them beforehand.

Of course, there could be public policy responses, depending on the size of an economic shock as well. But I think, for individuals seeking to navigate this, knowing where the resources are that you might need, especially in advance, and ideally, having them in your hands in advance is probably the best thing that we can do in the midst of these large scale and very distant but very acute economic shocks.

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you for joining us today, Phil.

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visitcollaborativenh.org.

The end of car inspections? Program remains on pause as court battle goes on

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

The changes surrounding car inspections in New Hampshire have been causing confusion for many Granite Staters over the past few months. People are rightfully bewildered about what the future holds when it comes to that formerly dreaded sticker. How did we get here, and what does that mean for New Hampshire? Rick Green, a reporter from The Keene Sentinel, who has been following this story closely. 

Melanie Plenda:

Can you walk us through where we are now with car inspections? What’s the latest?

Rick Green:

The latest is that you don't need to have car inspections. According to the state Attorney General's Office, there's been a lot of back and forth on this question, particularly since there's litigation involved and legislation that ended the program. It gets to be quite a complicated picture — but right now, the inspection program is off.

Melanie Plenda:

Tell us more about the lawsuit with Gordon Darby, the company that ran the state's vehicle inspection program. Where do things stand? 

Rick Green:

We have to go back a little bit to when the Legislature passed a budget trailer bill last year that ended this program – and they did so without asking the feds . It turns out the state has a requirement under its plan for complying with the Clean Air Act that it inspect cars, because part of that inspection goes into the emission system, and air pollution is a concern. So it never asked for federal approval, and the state contractor that runs this program, Gordon Darby, said, “You can't end this program without getting approval for a waiver under the Clean Air Act from the federal government.” The state had never done that, so the moment it ended this program, it was out of compliance with that act.

Melanie Plenda:

Rick, tell us more about how we got here. Where did this all start?

Rick Green:

It's kind of been a perennial issue at the state Legislature. These inspections rankle people who feel like it's inconvenient. They get their cars into the mechanic periodically anyway, and they don't want to be told by the state that they have to inspect their cars. They make the point that most vehicle accidents are not caused by equipment breakdowns, but by driver error. So there are a lot of people who are upset with the program, and it always comes up in the Legislature.

But, on the other hand, there are safety concerns. We live in a state where there's a lot of salt that's applied to roads, and that leads to corrosion in cars – brakes, wheels, undercarriage – and the opposition’s argument is that we need our cars inspector from a safety basis.

Melanie Plenda:

While car inspections are not necessary now, could this change again?  

Rick Green:

A federal judge has ordered that the state continue with its inspection program, but the state is not complying with that federal order. The state is appealing that order right now, and meantime it's out of compliance with the federal court. So whether more ramifications come down from that, we'll see, but potentially the judge could fine the state for not complying with her order.

Melanie Plenda:

Now, without New Hampshire, only 13 states require them. Are there any major differences in road safety between states that have inspection programs and those that do not?

Rick Green:

There are different arguments on both sides of that. It really depends on the state, too. We're in a part of the country that gets really bad weather and uses a lot of salt on the roads. So is it fair to compare that with a state that's on the West Coast, where they don't have such deterioration of vehicles, or is that apples to orange? There's nothing definitive in terms of being able to say for sure that this is going to harm road safety by getting rid of this. 

But that’s certainly what advocates like AAA say – that these inspections pick up a lot of problems that wouldn't otherwise be addressed, at least in the short term. With an inspection program requirement people have to get that sticker, and so they bite the bullet and make repairs that they otherwise might not make.

Melanie Plenda:

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said that she disagrees with the elimination of car inspections, adding that not having these inspections will create greater risks to those traveling. What about other Granite Staters? Where do people stand on the issue, based on your reporting?

Rick Green:

I think there's really a loud group of motorists who have weighed in to the state Legislature and said that not only is it onerous having to get vehicles in for inspection and may be not necessary because we see our mechanics periodically either way. But there's a big group that says that they're unfair – particularly to people who might have a check engine light on. It's kind of a problem that's hard to track down. It can take hundreds and hundreds of dollars to clear that light — even to diagnose it can be expensive.

So I think there was a lot of built-up antipathy toward this program anyway. But it never was able to advance through the Legislature, so it got thrown into this budget trailer bill, which is a way of getting things done that might not otherwise pass in the regular legislative method.

Melanie Plenda:

Should Granite Staters still be looking to get their cars inspected, even if the inspection is no longer necessary? 

Rick Green:

You're probably not going to go in and get an official sticker right now — you might be able to, but just on the general question of, “Should I have a mechanic look at my car periodically?” I think the answer everybody agrees is yes. Things like brakes and suspension need to be looked at from time to time –  again, particularly with the conditions we have out here.

The other aspect is an environmental one. There are people who say that our cars should be looked at from an emissions standpoint. We shouldn't be polluting the air anymore than we need to.

Melanie Plenda:

Could getting rid of this program have long-term impacts on the environment? You mentioned its connection to the Clean Air Act, for example.

Rick Green:

It's hard to answer that kind of question. New Hampshire isn't a place you would ordinarily think about that has a lot of air pollution, but there are some parts of the state — particularly the southern areas off of the main interstate corridors — where there have been indications of some pollution. New cars are made to reduce that kind of pollution. These inspections look at onboard diagnostic systems that monitor your emission controls. So, theoretically, it could have an impact on the environment if people are not keeping their cars maintained properly.

Melanie Plenda:

How can New Hampshire residents stay up to date if anything changes with car inspections in the next few months?

Rick Green:

The Attorney General's office has been pretty good about putting out news releases, and of course, they have their website, and they've been advising the public about changes. The advice has ranged from we're going to hold these in abeyance for a few months to we're not doing it at all to at one point you should continue getting it up to a certain day. But right now, everything’s on pause while this thing is being fought out in court. 

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you Rick for joining us today. 

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

One felony. One life. Two standards?

Millions of Americans have  a criminal record – a stigma that can follow them for the rest of their lives.

By Shamecca Brown-Granite State News Collaborative 

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” – Fannie Lou Hamer

In 2024, Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in a New York court. He has denied wrongdoing and is appealing the conviction. Despite the convictions, he was elected to serve as president of the United States for a second time.

Meanwhile, I have committed one felony, and that one conviction has followed me into job interviews, housing applications, assistance programs – even Social Security decisions. It has shown up before I even had the chance to explain who I am today.

I am not writing this to debate politics. I am writing this to talk about something deeper: freedom, and who truly gets to experience it.

I am far from the only person living with this burden. Across the United States, millions of Americans carry felony convictions that shape their opportunities long after their sentences end.

Researchers estimate that over 20 million people in the U.S. have a felony conviction on their record, and that number continues to grow as criminal justice practices expand. These individuals cannot easily pursue many jobs, secure housing or access programs, even when they’re qualified and trying to contribute.

When you include all types of criminal histories, including misdemeanors and arrest records, tens of millions more experience barriers in employment, housing and life opportunities. In some estimates, one in three American adults has a criminal record of some kind, and this stigma can follow people for the rest of their lives.

These are not just abstract numbers. These are neighbors. These are family members. These are people trying to rebuild. And these are people being told that one moment, one conviction, defines their worth forever. People like me.

I understand that not all crimes are the same. There are serious and violent offenses that deserve strong accountability, especially crimes against children or crimes that endanger others. But there must be space in our system for nuance. For context. For growth.

When I applied for Social Security assistance after the death of my husband, I was not asking for luxury. I was asking for support for my children. For stability while grieving. For breathing room.

Instead, I was reminded of my felony. There was no conversation about rehabilitation. No room for character references. No consideration of the life I’ve built since. Just a record.

Yet we are told that in America, people deserve second chances. If second chances are real, they cannot only apply to the powerful. If accountability matters, it must matter across the board.

If redemption is possible, it must be possible for everyone, not just those with wealth, influence, or access to elite legal teams.

The truth is, access to strong legal defense changes outcomes. Money changes outcomes. Power changes outcomes. And for many of us, we never stood on equal ground to begin with.

I am not pretending to be perfect. But I am a mother. A worker. An advocate. A woman rebuilding her life. A widow trying to hold it together for her children. My past should not erase my present.

I already wrote about my felony publicly. I told that story in my own words – not because I was forced to or because someone exposed me. But because I refuse to live in fear of a public record defining me.

I am not ashamed to say I made mistakes. But I am also not going to let a document, a docket number, or a headline tell my story for me. Who I am is more than ink on public paper – I am my growth, my motherhood, my advocacy, my grief, my rebuilding, my resilience.

If we can trust a man with 34 felony convictions to lead a nation, surely we can trust mothers with one non-violent felony to receive assistance, apply for jobs, and provide for their children. This is not about politics. It’s about consistency and humanity. It’s about whether redemption is a slogan or a standard.

Because if nobody is free until everybody is free, then selective freedom isn’t freedom at all. And it shouldn’t take the highest office in the land to prove that one conviction doesn’t define a life. We all deserve that chance.

Shamecca Brown is a New Hampshire-based columnist who is family-oriented and passionate about serving underserved communities. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

Farmington school superintendent faces assault, obstruction charges

Town’s former health officer alleges confrontation over attempted lead inspection

By Daniel Sarch, Granite State News Collaborative

FARMINGTON — Farmington School Superintendent Giselle Pomeroy has been charged with two misdemeanor offenses: simple assault and obstructing government administration.

Arraignment is scheduled April 6 at 7th Circuit Court in Rochester.

The charges, filed by the Strafford County Attorney's Office, stem from an incident last September at Valley View Community School involving Mark Ekberg, Farmington's then-health officer. Ekberg had arrived at the school to check on the installation of a new oil storage tank, as well as the status of lead filters that had previously been installed.

According to an incident report filed by Ekberg, when he visited the school, he spoke with staff and, after leaving the building, sought to speak with the food service director. As he tried to reenter the school, he said Pomeroy confronted him.

The superintendent was “yelling at me, demanding that I leave the building,” adding that she told him he didn’t have the right to be in the building and shouldn’t be there, he said in the report.

Ekberg claimed Pomeroy told him he could not be in the school while students were present, but he told her she was preventing him from doing his job as health officer. After he protested that he was being denied access to the school, he suggested that she put her claims in writing. Ekberg said she ignored that request and alleged that she shoved him out of the building.

Multiple requests for comment from the superintendent’s office were met with no response.

However, Joel Chagnon, chair of the Farmington School Board, issued a statement that reads: “The Farmington School Board supports our Superintendent.  She was directed to remove the former building inspector from the property due to his constant harassment and threatening of school staff and for making inappropriate and unsettling comments to cafeteria personnel. We trust the judicial system will justify the actions taken to protect our schools.”

Assistant County Attorney Shawn Lampron, the prosecutor in the case, told the Granite State News Collaborative, “My office doesn't file charges unless we believe we can prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Contentious relationship

Ekberg, who was fired in December from his jobs as Farmington’s health officer, building inspector and code enforcement officer, has had a contentious relationship with town officials, much of it because of his insistence over rules enforcement, he said.

When he was removed from his jobs in December, he was notified that the decision was based on a pattern of insubordination. Reasons stated in the notification letter included imposing “after-the-fact” fines that the board of selectmen determined he had no authority to levy. (At a selectboard meeting on Sept. 29, 2025, Ekberg said the fees were a “response to unpermitted work.”)

The letter also claimed that Ekberg entered a property after the landowner refused to allow access. Ekberg refuted that claim, stating he had the right to enter as health officer after he noticed a huge pile of old trash bags — “it was at least 20 feet in diameter and 10 feet tall. … As health officer, I have the ability to try to find out if there is a health concern.”

After appealing his firing, Ekberg received another notice, signed by Selectboard Chair Gerald Vachon, denying the appeal. In that notice, additional grounds for termination were provided — including claims that Ekberg worked overtime without pre-approval and that he failed to identify or report concerns about permitting and inspection oversight software used by the town.

“Either of these bases would be sufficient to terminate your employment with the Town,” the notice read.

 But Ekberg claimed he was fired for a reason other than those provided: to halt his investigation into the lead filters. He said that without him, there is no mechanism to bring the schools into compliance.

 “I was removed as health officer in regards to the schools and in regards to the schools only,” Ekberg said.

Requests for comment from the Farmington Selectboard and town administrator were not immediately returned.

State oversight

According to Ian Atwell, manager of the N.H. Department of Environmental Services’ Get the Lead Out of Drinking Water program — which provides funding and support for dealing with and remediating lead in schools and child care facilities around New Hampshire — said the school acted when he contacted officials after Ekberg raised the issue.

“When Mark Ekberg raised these concerns in late September, I think we confirmed that, within a week, all the filters that we were questioning were changed out,” Atwell said. “The facility took reasonable action, so we were comfortable with that response.”

Atwell also said records detailing the replacement and installation of the filters were available on request, but felt that was not necessary after the district remediated the issue.

State law requires all licensed child care programs and schools to complete three rounds of testing at least six months apart. The third round of testing was conducted at Henry Wilson Memorial School on June 23, 2025. Third rounds were conducted at Valley View Community School on March 22, 2025, and Farmington Senior High School the day after. 

According to Atwood, the non-enforceable health goal is for the level of lead in drinking water to be zero because it is so toxic and can be harmful to human health, even at low exposures. But the action level for the program is five parts per billion, which is lower than the national standard of 15 parts per billion. Data results on the program’s website show that all water sources in Farmington that sampled above five ppb were remediated.

“I think it would be accurate to say that [Farmington is] in a similar spot to a number, if not the majority, of other facilities across the state,” Atwood said.

While Ekberg said he’s glad that the school is now in compliance, he feels the way he was treated during his inspection suggests that, if he hadn’t pushed the issue, students could have been at risk. 

He also said that, even though he is fighting multiple battles with the town of Farmington, proper enforcement is worth the time and effort.

“I'm the one that has to look at myself in the mirror every day,” he said. “This is a huge ethical dilemma when it comes to lead in the schools, which is why I'm not dropping that torch.”

These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

A mid-session update on legislation making its way through the State House

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

As we close in on the halfway point of the 2026 New Hampshire legislative session, many key bills have been discussed in the House and Senate — legislation focusing on a range of subjects from education funding to voting in elections. What bills should Granite Staters be aware of? Here to discuss that is Anna Brown, executive director of Citizens Count, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to educating voters about the political process, as well as executive director of the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Service at the University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School of Law.

Melanie Plenda:

What bills have you been tracking that Granite Staters should be aware of?

Anna Brown:

School funding is probably the biggest issue that I've been tracking in general this legislative session. First of all, there are identical bills in the House and Senate that would define an adequate education in a way that really pushes back on recent state Supreme Court rulings that would require the state to be providing more funding. There are also a few bills that are looking to set up open enrollment, where students would have the opportunity to enroll in different public schools around the state.

Another big trend in bills is looking to allow some separation based on biological sex, or even require it in some settings, such as schools, sports, hospitals and so on. That has been an ongoing issue between Governor Ayotte and Republicans in the Legislature. 

There are also some bills related to child care that I'm watching, which is really a perennial issue in New Hampshire that a lot of people agree is a big problem. There's a big shortage, but the state hasn't been able to make a lot of big changes to move the needle.

Melanie Plenda:

What bills do you believe are likely to pass the Senate? What about the House?

Anna Brown:

Almost all of the bills I just mentioned. When we're talking about pushing back on the state Supreme Court school-funding rulings, open enrollment, those child care bills, the bills looking to add separation based on gender identity versus biological sex. They have support in the House and in the Senate. So I really do see those issues as likely to move forward.

That being said, there are a lot of questions about the open enrollment bills and the school-funding bills, so that could slow down their progress. Recently, Governor Ayotte vetoed Senate Bill 268, which would add an exception to the state anti-discrimination laws for bathrooms, locker rooms, sports and so on based on biological sex. That's the second time she's vetoed a bill like that in a year, and so that also could really slow that down.

Melanie Plenda:

Some bills, like House Bill 1792, named the CHARLIE Act, have yet to gain sponsors within the Senate. What does this bill aim to do, and do you expect that it will be backed by Senate sponsors soon?

Anna Brown:

HB 1792 is interesting. The CHARLIE Act is named for [the late right-wing political activist] Charlie Kirk, but they came up with an acronym: Countering Hate And Revolutionary Leftist Indoctrination in Education Act. It prohibits teaching various concepts and theories. For example, it prohibits teachers from requiring students to acknowledge LGBTQ-plus sexuality as “ethical or normative.” Another example: the bill only allows instruction on critical race theory if it is presented as “Marxian theory contrary to American tradition, law and ethics.” This would apply to public schools, but not colleges or private schools or home school, and individuals could sue under the law. 

It's pretty sweeping when you think back to a couple years ago, when the state passed a law attempting to ban the teaching of critical race theory that was much more narrowly tailored and has been tied up in court cases. That being said, even though it's a potentially controversial bill, it had vocal support from House Majority Leader Jason Osborne. The fact that it was such a priority for him and for the Republican leadership in the House — and it still didn't get Senate sponsors — I think means it might not succeed in the Senate. Once again, I go back to the fact that it's a pretty far-reaching bill, and sometimes the Senate takes a more cautious approach to legislating than the House.

Melanie Plenda:

In New Hampshire, Republicans control the House, Senate, Executive Council and governor’s office. Has this caused any major disagreements during legislative sessions?

Anna Brown:

Being part of the same political party does not mean agreeing all the time. We've already talked about the bills vetoed by Governor Ayotte related to gender identity and biological sex. She's been very clear that she has no hesitation to veto some other bills she's talked about. 

So far, the House wants to repeal the Housing Champion grant program. She says she wants to keep it in place. Other bills she said she would veto includes a Senate-passed bill to increase tolls for non-E-ZPass users as a way to fund road maintenance. She said the bill is dead on arrival if it gets to her desk.

The House and Senate also are not always on the same page, so we discussed how with the CHARLIE Act I'm not sure if it's going to have the same reception in the Senate that it did in the House. Also, the House keeps passing marijuana legalization bills, and the Senate keeps on not passing marijuana legalization bills. 

Melanie Plenda:

One issue that is appearing in both the House and the Senate is school funding. Bills HB 1815 and SB 659 both look at redefining what should be included and funded by the state for students to receive a quote-unquote adequate education. Why is this an important issue in New Hampshire?

Anna Brown:

School funding has been a huge issue in New Hampshire for a few decades. Right now, schools are funded through both local and state property taxes, and there's a huge debate around if that's really a fair or constitutional split. 

Last summer, the state Supreme Court ruled that the state is not providing enough funding. It's a bit of a simplification, but they really said, “This is on the Legislature to fix. We're not going to tell them how to do it, but they have to do something.”

Now, the two bills you mentioned, they're identical — one in the House, one in the Senate. They’re sponsored by influential Republicans, and notably, both bills state, “How the state and its local governmental entities choose to raise, allocate and spend financial resources to implement this integrated public education system is a political policy matter reserved to legislative and executive judgment and control.” What that means is they're basically writing a state law that says the courts cannot decide that this is an issue for the Legislature. 

Now, can you write a state law that's going to override how the court understands the Constitution? The state recently filed an appeal in these lawsuits, arguing the court should overturn their original rulings that found the state had that obligation to be funding schools a certain way. So it's a bit of a showdown, I would argue, between the Legislature and the courts. And, even if this bill passes, I would say that it's really going to depend on how the school-funding cases play out to see what the actual impact would be on school budgets and also our property taxes.

Melanie Plenda:

HB 1196 aims to repeal the state Housing Champion designation and grant program, which helps alleviate New Hampshire’s housing shortage. Governor Ayotte has already said she wants to keep this program. Why would lawmakers want to repeal this bill in the middle of a housing shortage?

Anna Brown:

This bill was basically a way to reward towns that were adopting housing-friendly policies, and so people who originally supported the grant program are now saying, “OK, we’ve made enough changes at the state level to zoning that really this is not going to move the needle as much. The cost of administering the program is not going to give us all that much more benefit in terms of housing down the line.”

That being said, Governor Ayotte wants to put more money into the program in the next budget. I think that in the past, there was more grant money available. Now it's down to, if I recall correctly, about $3 million — which in the way of statewide housing development, is not a lot of money. So if she does have the money to put in the next budget, I think that could make a difference for some legislators. But right now, it's kind of uncertain how our budget's going to turn out at this point, and so I think legislators are very much in the mindset of cut costs, cut costs, cut costs.

Melanie Plenda:

Did anything else surprise you about this session?

Anna Brown:

I was surprised by one bill in particular. The House recently voted down a bill to repeal vaccine requirements for schools and daycares. This surprised me because the bill did have support coming out of committee. So it looked like the Republican majority was going to get on board, and they have a pretty, fairly large majority compared to the Democrats this year.

So I was surprised when the full Republican-controlled House came back and said, “Nope, we want to keep the vaccine requirements.” We've seen a lot more growth in anti-vaccine sentiment in New Hampshire ever since COVID-19. Now, RFK Jr has obviously been doing a lot of advocacy on the national level, sort of questioning whether vaccines are good. But the House, I would say, gave a resounding answer that in New Hampshire we're sticking with vaccine requirements.

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you for joining us, Anna. 

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visitcollaborativenh.org.

Who said you have to be famous? Celebrating the women who hold other women up

By Shamecca Brown-Granite State News Collaborative

Every March, we see the same names. The same famous faces. The same polished quotes. The same highlight reels of women who made history. Don’t get me wrong, they deserve their flowers, but who decided that Women’s History Month is only for the famous? What about the woman who covered your shift when your back gave out? What about the friend who picked up your kids when you were overwhelmed and didn’t make you feel small about it? What about the co-worker who whispered, “You got this,” when the room felt heavy?

History isn’t only made in Congress. History isn’t only written in textbooks. History is being made every single day in living rooms, shelters, schools and workplaces by women who may never trend but are transforming lives quietly.

One of my favorite women in history is Shirley Chisholm. She once said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” That quote isn’t just bold, it’s sisterhood in action, because how many women do we know who didn’t wait for permission? Who didn’t wait to be invited? Who didn’t wait to be validated? They built their own tables. They pulled up chairs for other women and made room..

But sometimes that table isn’t a boardroom. Sometimes it’s a kitchen table with bills spread out and kids doing homework nearby. Sometimes it’s a group chat where women share job leads. Sometimes it’s a co-worker protecting your name in a room you’re not in. Sometimes it’s a woman sending you a few dollars and saying, “Pay me back whenever,” knowing you might not be able to.

There’s this narrative that women compete with each other. That there isn’t enough space. That if one wins, another loses. But I don’t believe that.

I’ve seen women hold each other up in ways that don’t make headlines. I’ve seen women sit with survivors and remind them they are not broken. I’ve seen grandmothers raise babies again without applause. I’ve seen women navigating predominantly white spaces, carrying professionalism in one hand and authenticity in the other, refusing to shrink. I’ve seen women build sister circles when the environment didn’t naturally offer one.

We don’t talk enough about the emotional labor women carry for each other. The texts asking, “Did you make it home?” Or “call me when you get a minute,” “I’m proud of you,” “You’re not crazy,”  “You’re not alone.” Those are lifelines.

In a world that already tries to divide us, by race, by class, by politics and  by identity, choosing to support another woman is radical. Especially for women of color. Especially in spaces where we may be the only one. Especially when we are told to tone it down, smooth it out, quiet it up.

Sisterhood says, “Stay you. I got you.” You don’t have to be famous to be foundational. The woman braiding a little girl’s hair and teaching her to love her texture is shaping history. The woman teaching her children Black history every single day, not just in February, is shaping history. The woman who refuses to let bitterness harden her heart is shaping history. And sometimes it’s women like me. 

A single parent again. Getting life back together. Grieving, rebuilding, restructuring and still standing. I don’t always give myself flowers – in fact, I rarely do. But I am now. Because I am strong. I am willing to fight,  even through the struggles. Because even when life shifts in ways I didn’t plan, I don’t fold. I adjust.

Shirley Chisholm brought her folding chair to tables that didn’t expect her. Women today are still doing the same thing, in offices, shelters, classrooms, courtrooms, and quiet moments no one sees.

My life – rebuilding, loving, mothering, working, healing – is me making history. Not the kind that makes headlines, but the kind that makes legacy. You don’t need followers to be historic. You don’t need a stage to be powerful. You don’t need fame to matter.

This March, I’m not just celebrating famous women. I’m celebrating the women who hold other women up. The women who don’t compete, but collaborate. The women who aren’t trending, but are transforming lives every single day.

Shamecca Brown is a New Hampshire-based columnist who is family-oriented and passionate about serving underserved communities. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

What would proposed changes in the Legislature mean for public school open enrollment?

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

A bill in the N.H. Legislature that would change open enrollment restrictions for New Hampshire public school students is being fast-tracked by lawmakers and is expected to pass within the next few weeks. Here to discuss House Bill 751 is Annmarie Timmins, a senior reporter at NHPR who specializes in education. 

Melanie Plenda:

To start, can you describe to us what is in this “open enrollment” bill and what changes it intends to make? 

Annmarie Timmins:

The crux of this bill is that a student in New Hampshire could go to any public school in the state, and their sending district, or their home district, would have to send money with them and pay for their education wherever they chose. At its most basic that’s what open enrollment is.

Melanie Plenda:

Senate Republicans are fast-tracking this bill straight to the House, without hearings in either chamber. Why are they moving the bill at this speed and is it necessary?

Annmarie Timmins:

Republicans are eager to get this through for a couple of reasons. There was a Supreme Court ruling out of New Hampshire recently that changed the way open enrollment transfers would be paid, and so that has caused, in their mind, some confusion.

The second reason is that we're right now in the middle of the annual school budget and town meeting season, and at those meetings, districts have to adopt their budget for the next school year. So they wanted to get ahead of that, because budgets are built on enrollment, in large part. They're also aware that school districts are very quickly trying to set some boundaries around this open enrollment, to manage their budgets and their enrollment. So they really wanted to get ahead of school district meetings.

Melanie Plenda:

You recently wrote an article for NHPR on this bill and its impact if passed. According to your reporting, how are different school districts feeling about these potential changes?

Annmarie Timmins:

They're largely trying to, I would say, shut them down, or very much limit them. I've heard Republicans who support this, and we have seen people speak up for this at these district meetings, that this is about school choice. If your school's not working for you or your child, in their minds, you should have the right to go elsewhere. That sentiment is coming up when I've been to deliberative sessions, but primarily school district leaders and voters are trying really hard to limit this. 

I looked at about 40 different communities, and each of those said no students may leave the district – and that's to protect their budgets. They don't want to send money away. Their frustration is maybe not open enrollment as a concept, but the way it's funded. On the other side, we're seeing limits put on who could come into a district, so some districts don't want to take any new students. Some have very specific limits, like two students could come in for kindergarten or for 3rd grade. And there are some districts who are struggling with declining enrollment, and they have seen open enrollment as a chance to fill some seats at a time when they really need students.

Melanie Plenda:

How would this bill impact lower-income school districts that can’t afford to lose large amounts of students to other districts?

Annmarie Timmins:

This is funded based on how school districts fund their schools. We know that every school district spends a different amount of money. Say a Manchester student wanted to leave and go to Bedford. Bedford spends more money than Manchester on a student. So when that student from Manchester comes, that might be a $17,000 so-called loss for Manchester. That student comes to Bedford, and while the bill tries to address this, a student is going to bring $17,000 with them, where Bedford spends $23,000 on its students. Are we giving them a tuition break to come over to Manchester? Will districts lose money if a student transfers? The supporters of this bill would say, well, you're also losing a student. But one student fewer, of course, doesn't change the light bill or the transportation budget — so that's the disagreement over why students should go somewhere else and why they shouldn't.

Melanie Plenda:

What about the higher-income districts? Will this have an impact there?

Annmarie Timmins:

They are anticipating seeing students wanting to come to them. If you spend more on education, maybe you have more programs to offer. Maybe you have smaller class sizes compared to a district with less money. So they're anticipating students coming into their district, and there's the spending discrepancy that I just described.

But also how do they control? If they can't set any limits on who can come in — which would be kind of disallowed, but there are limits on what limits they could set. So what if they have an influx of 10 to 15 students midway through the year? Their question is, “How do we budget for that?” So they're worried about that.

Melanie Plenda:

Sen. Tim Lang, a Republican from Sanbornton, who authored this bill, noted that the bill leaves it up to the school district to set the capacity for how many out-of-district students they can accept. Do you think, with the amount of pushback so far on this bill, that many districts will be doing this?

Annmarie Timmins:

I think we will see school districts definitely set the limits on what we've seen so far proposed. What Tim Lang's bill would do is let districts say what their capacity for students is. But the bill does not identify or explain how capacity would be determined. Is it just what you hope your student-to-teacher ratio would be? How do you factor in students who have far more needs in a year, or maybe a drop from 25 students to 23 is not really a drop in terms of resources that that classroom needs.

Critics of the bill will say this is one weakness of it that’s not clearly defined. While it sounds like they'll be able to set some limits, they're not quite sure what that would look like.

Melanie Plenda:

If this bill passes and goes into effect, could that impact town meetings, either this year or next year?

 Annmarie Timmins:

It could. Right now we're in the SB 2 season, which means you have your deliberative session and then you vote in March at the polls — as opposed to what we think of as a traditional school district meeting. So what we're seeing early on are these districts adopting these caps. So if those pass, they'll be in effect. 

But there's disagreement over what happens next. If this legislation passes, but doesn't take effect right away, then the school year would proceed, presumably, with these caps in place. If these caps are sort of set aside or overruled by this legislation because it passes and is signed by the governor quickly and takes effect immediately, there are just different views on what happens next. Some school district lawyers have said that just sets aside these caps; they're moot now. Others have said no, that would lead to litigation, and they would ask a court to keep them in place in the meantime. So it's one of the many unknowns of this legislation.

I should say that the governor has expressed some concerns about the timing of this bill, and so it's possible we might see a rewrite that does extend the effective date out to the next school year. But even if that happened, we're setting a budget right now for next school year. So it's unclear how much that would help.

Melanie Plenda:

Based on your reporting, what would be the long-term, lasting impacts of this bill for schools in New Hampshire?

Annmarie Timmins:

I think the long-term impacts of this are really unknown at the moment. If we only see a few students take advantage of this, what would the impact be? It might be quite minimal. If we see pockets of students sort of leaving a district and going to another district, a single district, that will have a big impact for that district.

I think we should look for what happens in communities where there are many school choices. If you live in central New Hampshire or the southern part of the state, you have nearby schools you could go to. So I think, geographically, it's worth paying attention to what happens if litigation ensues. School districts are locally funded, primarily. Critics say this is really the state taking over local control. So I think there's a lot of unknowns — and that's what's worrying school districts. 

The other question here, in terms of impact, is school districts are urging the governor to sign an alternative open enrollment bill, which would study open enrollment for a year. Now, we're different from other states that have open enrollment because some states say school districts don't have to transfer money. The student can leave, but money doesn't go. I think that would resolve a lot of school districts' concerns. We're funded very differently from other states, so the impact here might not look like the impact that has been studied elsewhere. So school districts are urging the governor to sign this study bill instead of putting open enrollment in place now. That’s another unknown — if both bills reach her desk, which bill will she sign?

Melanie Plenda:

What other education bills are you currently following? 

Annmarie Timmins:

There are lots of questions too about what school funding is going to look like.

Some lawmakers want to put more money into public education. Some want to reduce the scope of what an adequate education is, and thereby you'd be paying for less. Where does the Legislature end up in terms of the court saying, “You're not spending enough, but we're not going to give you a deadline for spending more or tell you what you should be spending.”

Also, I'm really interested in what happens with the University System of New Hampshire. Our public universities and colleges saw about a $30 million cut over two years, and students are telling us what that looks like for them — not only tuition increases but they're losing advisors, and they're seeing professors take early buyouts, so a class they need next semester to stay on track might not be offered until the following semester, and that could have long-term impacts. We have seen a bipartisan bill that would reinstate some of that money, at least for the next school year, and I'm watching that as well.

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you for joining us today, Annmarie.

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

The illusion that ‘we take care of our own’ in New Hampshire

By Shamecca Brown, Columnist, Granite State News Collaborative 

New Hampshire is proud of its independence. “Live Free or Die” isn’t just a motto — it’s a mindset. We value hard work. Self-reliance. Community. We say we take care of our own.

But I’ve been asking myself lately: Who exactly counts as “our own”?

I’m a widow. When my husband died, grief was not abstract. It was physical. Sitting at the kitchen table explaining death to a child still learning algebra. Waking in the middle of the night reaching for someone who wasn’t there. And while I was trying to hold my family together, the bills didn’t pause. The car note didn’t pause. The bank didn’t pause.

I am currently facing repossession issues because when my husband died, his income died with him. And just like that, the next person in line – me –  is expected to absorb the impact.

You would think widows might catch a break. You would think there would be some grace period, some humanity built into the system. But banks don’t grieve. Lenders don’t attend funerals. Algorithms don’t care who used to sit in the driver’s seat. Someone dies, and the next person pays. That’s the system.

New Hampshire prides itself on community. On small-town warmth. On neighbors helping neighbors. And I’ve seen that spirit exist. But systems are different from neighbors.

There’s something unsettling about how quickly compassion disappears once paperwork begins. Widowhood is emotional. Repossession is transactional. The two don’t speak the same language.

We talk a lot about taking care of our own. But what does that mean in practice?

Does it mean casseroles for a week and silence after that? Condolences,but no policy flexibility? Sympathy in public, but zero grace in contracts?

Independence is a beautiful value, until it becomes isolation. Self-reliance is powerful, until life knocks you to your knees. In a state that celebrates toughness, where is the room for vulnerability? Where is system-level compassion when someone’s entire financial structure collapses because their partner died?

Death is not a budgeting error. It’s not irresponsibility. It’s not mismanagement. It’s loss, and loss has consequences that outlive the funeral.

There’s another layer we don’t talk about. In a small state, reputations travel. Struggles feel visible. Falling behind feels public. There’s stigma in financial hardship, especially when you’re a parent, a professional – someone “supposed to have it together.”

But life does not care how put-together you appear. Grief doesn’t check your credit score. And the reality is this: Many families are one death, one illness, one job shift away from crisis.

I know I am not the only one. There are widows and widowers across this state quietly navigating probate court, car loans, mortgages, credit reports and children’s grief all at the same time. We don’t wear signs. We go to work. We show up to school meetings. We answer emails. And behind the scenes, we are restructuring entire lives.

“Live Free or Die” is a powerful phrase. But freedom without support can feel like abandonment.

And if we truly believe in taking care of our own, we have to ask harder questions: Should financial institutions have structured flexibility for surviving spouses? Should there be mandated grace periods tied to documented loss? Should compassion be optional  or expected?

I love New Hampshire. I’ve built a life here. I’ve raised children here. I work here. I contribute here. I am not writing as an outsider. I am writing as someone inside the system who is learning how quickly it moves when you stumble.

We say we take care of our own. So here is the real question: When someone becomes a widow. When someone’s income disappears overnight.  When someone is trying to parent through grief, do they still count as “our own”? Or do they simply become the next account due?

Because in this state that values strength and resilience, maybe the bravest thing we can do is admit this: Community isn’t measured by slogans. It’s measured by what happens when someone falls. And right now, too many are falling quietly.

But if we start telling the truth about how many of us are one loss away from falling, we might finally build a state that catches people.

Shamecca Brown is a New Hampshire-based columnist who is family-oriented and passionate about serving underserved communities. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

Collaborative effort seeks to standardize AI use in New Hampshire schools

By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

Artificial Intelligence is continually changing and shaping the way we live our lives. As AI continues to become more common, it’s important that students understand how to use it to enhance learning. But what are safe ways to use AI in school settings? The N.H. Learning Initiative helped to create a guide that outlines a way to standardize AI usage in schools across the state. Here to discuss that is Ellen Hume-Howard, executive director of the N.H. Learning Initiative.

Melanie Plenda:

The N.H. Learning Initiative worked to create the N.H. AI Education Collaborative. This collaborative, made up of school districts and administrators, wrote the AI guidance for schools framework. Can you tell us more about the framework, and what went into making these guidelines?

Ellen Hume-Howard:

We're very lucky in New Hampshire — we have a very collaborative environment with the professional associations, the principals, the superintendents, the school board, and all the technical organizations in the state. We all were sharing that we thought collaboratively we would be able to maybe get on paper — a little bit of a practical guide for districts. All of our national organizations were sharing with us really great information, so we decided to work together and put our heads together and to create a roadmap for New Hampshire educators and school systems so they'd have a little bit of a starting point. 

Melanie Plenda:

Why did the New Hampshire AI Education Collaborative feel it was important to create this document?

Ellen Hume-Howard:

Lots of times in education, we tend to be a little bit behind the curve when new technology is introduced. There have been many times with different things — computers, internet, calculators — there’s sort of like this hesitation, this waiting to see what's going to happen.

In the case of AI, though, it was coming pretty quick, pretty fast and pretty rapidly, and like the internet and phone use in the last several decades, kids were really out ahead of it — more than the educators in the system. Our intuition was telling us, “Let's see what this is going to look like. Let's see what the safety aspects are.” Because as educators, that's one of the things you're always thinking about — how safe is it? We had to find a middle-of-the–road approach to this, where we were providing guidance but also being very cautious about what the tools were like.

Melanie Plenda:

In what ways can artificial intelligence help both students and teachers?

Ellen Hume-Howard:

I think that AI can be incredibly helpful in multiple ways. One of the things that's really key is that, when it comes to students, having adults guide the process and creating conditions within schools where you can control the AI tools that students have access to really can enhance what education looks like.

Ultimately, AI doesn't replace human beings, right? So that's still a major factor in education, but what AI can do is provide a little bit of a roadmap for students in regards to getting feedback for their learning in multiple ways. Teachers, on the other hand, can find tools within AI that help them with tasks where they need feedback, also designing some lesson plans, doing some things that are often time-consuming that can be quickly done.

Melanie Plenda:

How do these guidelines in the framework help to ensure that AI is being used responsibly within schools, and which parts of the guidelines have been helpful to schools so far?

Ellen Hume-Howard:

Right out of the gate, one of the ways that we were able to cull together the different national picture and the different tools that we were sharing was the idea of what policy needs to look like. Oftentimes, with things like this, when any kind of change happens, lots of times policy is slow to catch up with what the practice needs to be. We wanted to get out ahead of it really early to help districts put in place policies that could help them guide and be able to be flexible, because this is the type of technology that changes and has changed significantly since we even published our guide last spring. 

That was a big piece — where do we start with some of these policies? What do they need to look like? What's fair? How do they align with what the state of New Hampshire requires in an educational setting, things like student privacy, all of those pieces? We built starting points for policies and gave districts sort of a springboard that, “this is how other districts are doing it.” Ultimately, we created a network thinking about this, and I think that really helped. We had some districts that were way out ahead, and they were part of this group.

As we built the guide, we tapped into what they would recommend — here is a good place to start; this is the way that you can build your technology infrastructure so that kids have access to AI but you can protect them. There were multiple things happening as we built this, and it really was reflective of the expertise of this entire committee, and we tapped into people beyond just even the committee — any kind of resources we could find and experts that weighed in and gave us some feedback. 

Melanie Plenda:

Why do you think AI literacy is important to teach in schools from a young age? 

Ellen Hume-Howard:

One of the things you're responsible for as an educator is to prepare students for the world they're living in and for the world that's going to be coming — making sure that we have sensible learning progression experiences for students where they can learn to be literate, they can learn to understand, and how to use these things. We did that when we first introduced the internet.These are all things that come into play in being digitally literate and also just AI-literate, which I think is the new literacy component that all schools need to make adjustments to.

Melanie Plenda:

What would you say to parents who may be skeptical about AI being used in the classroom?

Ellen Hume-Howard:

I think they just need to ask questions, and they need to be part of the conversation and to share what they're worried about and to have communication at the school level to demonstrate how they use AI and what it really looks like. 

We don't have to keep anything a secret about how we're going to use it. One of the things that I was most impressed with early on with AI was the idea that the school system could control what AI students had access to in school. Students have had access to lots of different AI for years, but it's been in different forms. So the control in the school, I think, is probably more strict than maybe what they find when they leave the walls of the school out on their own and what they have access to with other apps. 

I think having the conversation with parents because there are things that they would really benefit from — about how the schools lock down things, advice on how parents can lock down information. I think the conversation needs to be pretty fluid and pretty open and transparent, and no one needs to be worried, because we can have control over some of these things. What we need to be is cautious. We need to be good consumers of these types of advancements. 

Melanie Plenda:

These guidelines were released in June of 2025. How has the implementation of these guidelines played out differently for schools across New Hampshire? 

Ellen Hume-Howard:

We accomplished the policy baseline pieces, which I think have been really effective. But over the last several months we've got lots of feedback from districts. We've had suggestions on how to talk to parents about AI, about different ways to vet apps that students would have access to. We built this guide on our own, but what's happened is that everyone's starting to contribute. So one of the things that we'll do as we get closer to the spring is just relook at every section and update it and edit it based on our learning and take a little dip into where the national conversation is going. 

Melanie Plenda:

How can Granite Staters learn more about how to use AI in an effective manner? Does the New Hampshire Learning Initiative have more resources for understanding AI?

Ellen Hume-Howard:

Looking at the guide has been helpful to some parents — the guide is available on our website. I think maybe just one of the things that we've encouraged teachers to do is to navigate what type of AI workshops are good for them based on their content area. Also, for community members, they're welcome to come and learn some things. There's lots of different AI training going on everywhere, from the University of New Hampshire to the community college system. So there's lots of opportunities where people, all members of the community, are welcome to learn.

Melanie Plenda:

Thank you Ellen for joining us today. 

“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.