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The state senate approved a bill Thursday declaring the white potato as New Hampshire’s official state vegetable.

The bill comes in recognition of the spring of 1719, when settlers in what is now the Town of Derry were the first to plant the tuberous vegetable in the new world.

Virginia had challenged that first-in-the-nation status, but the U.S. Potato Board has substantiated the claim and Virginia has since yielded.

The bill now heads to the Governor for signature.

The Senate voted 16-8 Thursday killing a bill that would’ve enabled the liquid cremation process known as alkaline hydrolysis.

Northeast Utilities, the parent company of the Northern Pass project, did not announce a new route during a conference call with analysts Thursday morning. 

NHPR’s Chris Jensen listened in and has this report.

Late last year Northern Pass officials said they finally had a new route through the North Country.

But they said they weren’t ready to disclose it.

Then, at the end of March officials basically said the same thing.

The number of homes sold in New Hampshire rose by eight percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same time period last year.

The data released this week also shows homes are selling at slightly higher prices.

Median homes prices rose 4 percent compared to last year’s first quarter.

That median price – about $195,000.

New Hampshire Association of Realtors President Bob Weidacher called the growth slow, but said things are improving.

Seven of the state’s ten counties saw their home sale prices rise.

The state's more than 300 charities that raise money through poker and table games may have to scramble if New Hampshire legalizes a casino offering more expanded gambling options for players.

Police in Concord, N.H., have dropped charges against an 18-year-old man accused of threatening a high school student with a gun after they determined the witness lied.

Last month Northern Pass opponents complained that U.S. Department of Energy contractors working on the Northern Pass project were trespassing on their land to carry out environmental studies.

That prompted Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte to ask DOE about it.

Now DOE has responded but things are still unclear.

  The House Science, Technology and Energy Committee kicked off a summer’s worth of work to reform the way the state evaluates proposals for new power plants Tuesday. They heard a whole day’s worth of testimony about wind energy. 

Speakers at the wind forum talked about wind farms’ impacts on wildlife, the grid, and the health of people who live near them. The discussion closed with a presentation on possible changes to the process by which wind projects get a permit.

New Hampshire’s highest court has ruled that a lawsuit brought against the state by operators of the Mount Sunapee Ski area can go to trial.

State officials are warning residents to be cautious when consuming wild mushrooms. The Department of Health and Human Services says only experts in wild mushroom identification should forage.

"We want to make sure everyone knows about the dangers of wild mushrooms potentially being poisonous especially since they may encounter them doing outdoor spring activities," says Dr. Jose Montero, Public Health Director for New Hampshire.

1. 10 Breakthrough Technologies For 2013…According To MIT

As part of the Affordable Care Act, pharmaceutical company payments to doctors will become public information starting in 2014. But a slice of those disclosures is already available, and the impact of transparency is being felt across New Hampshire.

In the last four years, New Hampshire doctors and nurse practitioners have taken in $5.8 million in money from drug companies.

Senator Kelly Ayotte has been in the news for her opposition to expanded background checks for gun sales; the NH Senate set to vote on a number of bills this week, with a number of them expected not to pass; one bill that may find bipartisan support is the proposed freeze of the Voter ID law, which would mean that more stringent requirements set to go into effect in September would be put on hold.

Senate budget writers turned their attention Monday to the state’s biggest agency, the Department of Health and Human Services.

The proposed budget for DHHS comes in at just more than $2 billion. It seeks to restore the CHINS program and increase payments to hospitals for uncompensated care.

The budget also lays out $24.5 million over the next two years to shore up the state’s troubled mental health system.

Senator Lou D’Allesandro questioned if the state can wait that long for a fix.

Commissioner Nick Toumpas replied there really is no choice.