News

The New Hampshire Insurance Department took an overwhelmingly positive view on expansion during its presentation to the Medicaid Expansion Study Commission, the body that will decide if the state grows the health care program for the poor under so-called Obamacare.

Department officials told the nine-member body that expansion would benefit a wide range of groups, including insurance companies, hospitals and employers with low-paid workers.

Tyler Brannen, a health policy analyst with the Department, testified that people who buy their own insurance also stand to gain.

Second District Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster will hold a telephone town hall Wednesday morning focused on issues facing senior citizens.

Kuster says she will talk about programs such as Social Security and Medicare, and answer questions from constituents.

Experts from AARP will also take part in the conversation.

The telephone town hall will start at 11.

Those wishing to take part can sign up at Kuster’s website.

Those who register will receive an automated phone call when the town hall begins.

A top executive with Northeast Utilities told analysts Tuesday that he expects to have final approval for the Northern Pass Project around the middle of 2015 and be importing hydro-electric energy from Canada two years later.

"Our plan has both the state and federal permitting processes complete by mid-2015. On that schedule we expect to bring the project into service around mid-2017," said Northeast Utilities chief operating officer Lee Olivier during a conference call with analysts.

Both of N.H’s U.S. Senators  Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte were in the Granite State on Monday.

Senator Shaheen met with business leaders and advocates on Monday at Grappone Toyota in Bow to tour the only LEED certified car dealership in the state and support her energy efficiency legislation.

The so-called Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act introduced with Senator Rob Portman aims to establish a national energy strategy. The bill incentivizes the use of green technologies to businesses throughout the country.  

A 54-year-old North Carolina man was found dead on the Appalachian Trail near Warren Monday morning.

Lt. James Kneeland of New Hampshire Fish and Game says two hikers found the man’s body.

“Early this morning we received a report of a hiker that was not responsive in his tent up here on the Appalachian Trail in Glencliff.”

Kneeland said the hikers were apparently worried when they didn’t see any activity and looked inside the tent.

Officials from the state police, U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Game responded.

While the ukulele has grown in popularity of late, a group based out of Manchester brings a unique twist to the instrument.

The New Hampshire Ukeladies is an all-female group of performers with a shared passion for the miniature member of the guitar family.

They come from all walks of life and different parts of the Granite State.

They meet weekly to rehearse, but they also perform, and when they do, they’re decked out in Hawaiian shirts and sharing a lot of laughs.

Top stories & shows for July 22 - 29:

1. Gov. Hassan Signs Medical Marijuana Bill Into Law

Governor Hassan signed a bill Tuesday, making New Hampshire the 19th state to legalize the use of medicinal marijuana. She says the law breaks new ground by giving seriously ill patients what they need.

Two Lowell, Massachusetts men are due in the court this morning, charged in connection with an armed robbery in Manchester over the weekend.

Police say they also found a woman and her 6-year-old daughter in the getaway vehicle.

Twenty-two-year old Brian Cunneen is accused of robbing the Crosstown Variety on Bremer Street at gunpoint late Sunday morning.

After leaving the store empty handed, police say he entered a vehicle being operated by 27-year-old John Hickey and they both fled the scene.

You may have noticed some of NHPR's signals were down for a brief time on Sunday, July 28th.  A surge suppressor malfunctioned and shorted out a main electrical panel at our Concord tower.  NHPR's engineering team responded immediately and was able to identify the problem and bypass the defective equipment to get our signal back on air. We apologize for any inconvenience!

Both of New Hampshire’s U.S. Senators are in the Granite State this morning.

Democrat Jeanne Shaheen is scheduled to tour the Grappone Toyota dealership in Bow.

She will be joined by a group of business leaders and advocates and will discuss her proposed energy efficiency legislation.

And later today, Republican Kelly Ayotte will be in Nashua to present Pelham veteran Joseph Norkiewicz, Jr. with the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

He is earning for the medical for his service in the Navy during Operation Blue Bat in Beirut, Lebanon.

A concentration of police resources are spent dealing with disturbances and crimes in and around the popular club scene in downtown Manchester. But it’s not as bad as it used to be. A crackdown on several problem clubs in the past decade have set an example for club owners today. 

Song/ Artist/ Album/ Label

House Carpenter/ Irish Bastards/ Their Best/ Irish Bastards

The Books In My Library/ Nuala Kennedy And Oliver Schroer/ Songs From Sing Out! V.55#2/ www.singout.org

Oh My Little Darling / Fire On the Mountain/ Burning Bridget Cleary/ Pressed for Time/ Burning Bridget Cleary

Hit The Ground Running/ Maura O'Connell/ The FolkScene Collection/ Red House

Ain't Life A Brook/ Greg Brown & Bill Morrissey/ Friend Of Mine/ Philo

They Called It Music/ Gibson Brothers/ They Called It Music/ Compass

Monday, July 29

>>>The Ennis Sisters (Country & Celtic) at the Tillotson Center ~ Colebrook, NH ~ 7pm ~ www.gnwca.org   603-246-8998

Wednesday, July 31

>>>The Head & The Heart at Prescott Park ~ Portsmouth, NH ~ 7pm ~ www.prescottpark.org

Drawing on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's concept of "cheap grace," Andrew Bacevich exposes the chronic defects in the current U. S. approach to waging war.  He explains why the world's most powerful military doesn't win and why the nation's reliance on professional soldiers has turned out to be such a bad bargain. When American soldiers deploy to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, what is the cause for which they fight?  The patriotic answer is this:  they fight for freedom.  Challenge that proposition and you’ll likely pick a quarrel.

 The Department of Environmental Services has lifted the fecal bacteria advisory on Weirs Beach in Laconia.  But advisories remain in place for Bartlett Beach and Opechee Cove. 

DES Beach Program Coordinator Sonya Carlson says contrary to earlier reports, there is no evidence right now that bacteria at the Weirs could be coming from so-called “sewage sludge.” Carlson points to water samples the EPA took there last year looking for traces of pharmaceuticals.