Todd Bookman

A bipartisan bill raising the marriage age in New Hampshire to 16 is now law after a signing ceremony in Concord.

The measure, which was backed by Governor Chris Sununu and championed by Cassie Levesque, a teenage Girl Scout from Barrington, raises the age from 13 for girls and 14 for boys.

A former employee for the Town of Londonderry says she was the target of discrimination and harassment, and claims reports of sexual misconduct went unanswered by town officials.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court this week, the former employee, who held jobs with the town’s assessing and planning departments, alleges that she was the target of bullying and harassment by supervisors and co-workers.

A Wolfeboro woman found guilty of animal cruelty for her mistreatment of dozens of Great Danes will avoid jail time.

Christina Fay was sentenced last month to serve 90 days, but a Carroll County Superior Court judge on Thursday modified that sentence after Fay submitted a plan for counseling.

[You can read NHPR's previous coverage of this case here.]

The New Hampshire Liquor Commission is making a bet on itself. The state agency is investing heavily in refurbished outlets and supermarket-sized new facilities. It’s part of a long-term strategy to increase sales and ward off competition from other states.

Lawmakers who count on liquor profits to help fund state government are watching closely to see if these expensive projects pay off, with some concerned about the early results.

The state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 2.7 percent in May, a tenth of a percent higher than the April figure.

New data released on Tuesday by the New Hampshire Employment Security office show more than 2,000 jobs were added to payrolls last month. That was offset by slightly larger growth in the New Hampshire labor force.

The Department of Health and Human Services is cancelling a funding opportunity for needle exchange programs because the grants would appear to violate state law.

Needle exchanges were legalized in the state last summer, but the new statute said groups that provide clean syringes to injection drug users must be “self-funded” to operate in New Hampshire.

A long-festering dispute between New Hampshire Liquor Commission management and the union employees who staff the state-run stores erupted in front-page headlines this week.

Companies attempting to grow human organs will be exempt from paying two state business taxes for the next 10 years after a measure easily cleared both the New Hampshire House and Senate on Wednesday.

The bill comes in the wake of the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, a Manchester-based non-profit created by inventor Dean Kamen, receiving an $80 million grant last year from the U.S Department of Defense.

The New Hampshire Legislature is scheduled to vote this week on a bill that cuts the Liquor Commission’s budget for the next fiscal year. The size of that cut, though, is far less than what’s called for under state statute.

Since 2015, there’s been a law in place that automatically reduces the Liquor Commission’s budgeted appropriation if the state-run liquor stores don’t generate a targeted amount of revenue for the general fund.

The town of Londonderry is suing pharmaceutical makers for their alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis, joining hundreds of other municipalities across the country.

The New Hampshire Motor Speedway is cleared to stage a country music festival this summer after a Superior Court judge ruled the terms of 1989 agreement do not apply to property acquired in more recent years.

A group of concerned neighbors and the previous owners of the Loudon race track signed the agreement, which stipulated that the track couldn’t host concerts unless they were held in conjunction with a race.

New Hampshire’s two U.S. Senators are split on an upcoming confirmation vote for Gina Haspel to lead the CIA.

Democrat Jeanne Shaheen says while she believes the use of torture is inconsistent with the nation’s values, she will vote for Haspel, citing her extensive experience within the CIA.

A controversial animal cruelty bill appears dead after lawmakers in the New Hampshire House and Senate failed to reach a compromise.

The two chambers passed substantively different versions earlier this year despite hearing relatively similar testimony from animal welfare groups, law enforcement and so-called hobby breeders.

A Wolfeboro dog breeder found guilty of animal cruelty has been ordered to serve 90 days in jail.

However, if Christina Fay's attorneys can present a counseling program that the judge finds acceptable, that sentence will be reduced to 30 days.

Fay’s sentence was handed down on Friday in Carroll County Superior Court by Judge Amy Ignatius, who presided over a two-week trial that resulted in guilty verdicts on all 17 counts of animal cruelty.  

A Wolfeboro dog breeder found guilty of mistreating her 84 Great Danes will be sentenced in Carroll County Superior Court on Friday.

In a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors, the State is requesting the judge sentence Christina Fay, who was found guilty on 17 cruelty counts, to a year in jail, forfeit all of her dogs, and be barred from ever owning an animal for the remainder of her life.

Patrick Donovan is an Ivy League graduate, a standout football player, and a successful private practice attorney. You’d never hear him say that, though.

During his swearing in ceremony on Tuesday in Concord, the 54-year old was praised by colleagues in the legal community for his modesty, work ethic, and temperament.

“He questions incisively, he reasons logically, and he analyzes precisely,” said Judge Joseph LaPlante. “He speaks persuasively, but more important than all of these, Patrick listens carefully.”

Despite fears that it would close last summer, the Weirs Drive-in Theater in Laconia will kick off its 69th summer of screening movies under the stars this weekend.

The iconic movie theater announced it was closing last year after a buyer expressed interest in developing the property.

A judge in New Hampshire says evidence obtained by drug-sniffing dogs during last summer’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoints in Woodstock is not admissible in state courts.

The order throws the prosecution's cases against more than a dozen legal residents into question.

The New Hampshire House on Wednesday approved an amended animal cruelty bill that backers say protects the due process rights of pet owners.

The bill, which passed the House on 222-111 vote, is substantially different than a Senate-backed bill, setting up a potential impasse on final legislation.

Companies in the business of growing human organs would be exempt from paying two New Hampshire taxes for the next ten years under a bill passed on Thursday by the New Hampshire House.

Supporters of the bill argue that tax breaks will help kick start a nascent industry and ensure that New Hampshire becomes the ‘Silicon Valley of regenerative medicine.’

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Concord says a massive drug sweep involving 20 different federal, state and local agencies has led to 45 indictments, and the seizure of more than 30 kilograms of fentanyl.

Officials say they tracked a Lawrence, Massachusetts-based drug ring for more than a year, allegedly overseen by two brothers, Sergio and Raulin Martinez. 

After a “long and arduous journey,” negotiators with the four unions representing public employees have reached tentative contract agreements with the state of New Hampshire.