The 15 National Guard soldiers Gov. Chris Sununu deployed to Texas this month are assisting with border security. Sgt. Connor Decker and soldiers from other states direct a man attempting to enter illegally to an official border crossing. (courtesy Texas National Guard) Gov. Chris Sununu has put nearly $2.3 million into tackling what he calls an illegal immigration crisis on two fronts: $1.4 million for a law enforcement task force along the state’s 58-mile border with Canada, and $850,000 toward this month’s deployment of 15 National Guard troops to Eagle Pass, Texas. Meanwhile, Republican ..read more

  In another move to stem the flow of city employee turnover, Concord city councilors approved a package of increased leave and other perks last week. Previous efforts — including bonuses and a temporary increase in overtime pay for police, weekly cash stipends for plow drivers, referral bonuses, shortening the period before benefits start, paid family and medical leave and a flexible work policy — have had moderate success, city department heads said. The 18% turnover rate across all departments last year has improved to about 16.5%, according to Director of Human Resources and Labor Re ..read more

New Hampshire’s cannabis legalization effort has reached a tricky crossroads. A year after Gov. Chris Sununu announced he would support a legalization approach that meets a number of strict conditions, the New Hampshire House has passed a bill. That bill, which cleared the House 239-136 last week, is now in the hands of the Senate. But the governor has already raised issues with the bill, arguing that it does not follow his vision of establishing retail cannabis outlets that are state controlled. Now, House Bill 1633 is in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and senators, House members ..read more

Without a budget to fashion and an election on the horizon, the second legislative session has been seen as more political posturing rather than landmark legislation. Apart from supporting several promising initiatives to tackle the housing shortage and lighten business taxes, the business lobby found itself fending off proposals that threatened to increase the cost of doing business. Taxes Lawmakers gave short shrift to a bill that would reduce a handful of taxes, including both business taxes, over the next five years, following on the heels of a round of lowering business tax rates between ..read more

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday over former President Donald Trump’s pursuit of absolute immunity from criminal charges alleging that he schemed and knowingly fed lies to subvert the 2020 presidential election, eventually leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In the final argument of this term, the justices must consider whether Trump can be tried on criminal charges, and depending on the timing of their decision, whether a trial can move forward before November’s presidential election. The former president and presumed 2024 Republican presidential nominee is seek ..read more

A state superior court judge is allowing the Democratic National Committee’s lawsuit against the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office to proceed, ruling that a newly implemented affidavit ballot system backed by Republicans could negatively impact some qualified voters. Two previous lawsuits brought by voter advocacy groups and the ACLU of New Hampshire challenging the constitutionality of the same law, SB 418, which took effect in January 2023, were dismissed on procedural grounds. Those cases are now on appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Under the law, which was backed by Republ ..read more

In 2021, Gov. Chris Sununu rewrote state law to give himself the power to sell the beautiful but problematic 220-acre former Laconia State School campus, saying he’d succeed where others had failed. With just three votes from the Executive Council, Sununu was able to sidestep the typical lengthy state vetting process. Now Sununu’s plan has stalled, too, but maybe not failed. The state’s chosen buyer, Robynne Alexander, who offered $21.5 million in cash, missed her Monday deadline to close the deal despite receiving three extensions. However, the group that submitted the next-highest ..read more

The state has rejected the 10-Year Stewardship Plan for the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Forest proposed by Aurora Sustainable Lands, LLC, which purchased the property in 2022 subject to the terms of the  conservation easement acquired by the state in 2003. Along with conserving open space, protecting natural resources and fostering wildlife habitat, the easement affirms that foremost among its purposes is “to retain the property as an economically viable and sustainable tract of land for the production of timber, plywood and other forest products.” Aurora, which calls itself “the largest ..read more

The Hundred Nights shelter located in Keene. (Courtesy of Hundred Nights Inc.) When homeless residents request housing assistance from Keene, the city must help, even when shelters are full. As the number of New Hampshire’s homeless has grown, that has become increasingly expensive. During the fiscal year that ended in June 2023, Keene spent $568,000 to provide housing to people who could not get a shelter bed, most often by providing vouchers for hotel stays, Mayor Jay Kahn said in an interview Monday. Come June, when the current fiscal year ends, the city will have spent more than twice a ..read more

The Mason Planning Board is preparing to bring a zoning ordinance amendment that will permit residents to have a detached accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on their property to next year’s Town Meeting. Mason Planning Board member Katie Boots is sworn in by Selectman Charlie Moser. (Photo by Cameron Cashman / Monadnock Ledger-Transcript) Accessory dwelling units are apartments built on the same lot as an existing primary residence. They can be attached to the main home, or detached from it, with size based on a specific square footage or a percentage of the existing home. Currently, Mason’s zon ..read more