All Member Posts (1,205)

Former gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne has taken a job in Washington D.C., and this may take him out of the running for future political races.

Ovide Lamontangne, the attorney who ran for both U.S. Senate and New Hampshire governor, will become general counsel for Americans United for Life, a top national anti-abortion law firm and advocacy group. Lamontagne says he and his wife will move to Washington but will keep a home in New Hampshire.…

By Paul Briand



Washington, D.C., has its Cherry Blossom Festival.



The golf world has the Masters in Augusta, Ga.



And when it comes to rites of spring, New England has the Boston Marathon. And today, something went horribly, horribly wrong as at least two explosive devices at the marathon finish line killed two, according to reports, and injured scores more.



Law enforcement officials, political leaders and media outlets are trying to sort…

By Grant Bosse

New Hampshire is getting really good at the shakedown.



Last week, a Merrimack County Superior Court jury found Exxon Mobil liable for contaminated well water with the gasoline additive MTBE and awarded the state $236 million, easily the largest jury verdict in New Hampshire history.



Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) is an oxygenate. It’s added to gasoline to raise the oxygen level, which not only prevents…

About 300 vendors were selling firearms at the Concord Gun Show this weekend. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, pending legislation is fueling consumer demand for firearms and ammunition.

The parking lot of the Everett Ice Arena is packed with cars, as a steady stream of gun enthusiasts line up for the show. Buyers say they see the demand reflected in high prices, especially for ammunition.…

A House committee this week took up consideration of the Senate-based casino bill, while a Senate committee took up consideration of the House-passed budget.



The legislation -- budget bills HB 1 and HB 2 and the casino authorization bill …

Before allowing patients to use medical marijuana, the state should seek a waiver from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, opponents told a state Senate committee yesterday.

With both legislative and gubernatorial support for authorizing therapeutic use of marijuana, the law enforcement and medical communities also proposed a tightly controlled, mandatory study of patients and a board of physicians to review every doctor recommendation of the drug before a patient could start using…

By Ananta Gopalan

This morning I read a story in the Union Leader about the latest 2-1 Public Utility Commission (PUC) ruling to reinstate those Public Service of New Hampshire customers that had left the regulated energy provider to a competitive energy provider but now wanting to get back to PSNH at a lower rate than the current customers of PSNH are paying. 



By the way, those higher rates of the PSNH were approved by the same PUC based on financial facts…

The new group Casino Free NH launched an effort Wednesday against a Senate-passed bill that would legalize a single casino in New Hampshire.

Lew Feldstein, who was president of the New Hampshire Charitable Association for 24 years, told reporters at a Statehouse news conference the money that gambling supporters promise will be raised is not worth the damage gambling will do to families and the state.

“This is a broad coalition of people who love New Hampshire and are appalled…

By Josh Elliott-Traficante

In New Hampshire, not only is spending on highways paid for entirely with user fees like gas taxes and registration fees but the user fees are often diverted to other uses. The largest recipient is the Department of Safety, ostensibly to pay for state troopers but smaller amount of money have been transferred to other departments as varied as Cultural Resources, Health & Human Resources, and the Board of Land…

New Hampshire has been awarded a $5.3 million federal grant to help implement a health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act, but some members of a legislative oversight committee are balking at the state’s plan.

The Joint Health Care Reform Oversight Committee refused Tuesday to approve key provisions of the state and federal partnership until a Memorandum of Understanding between the state and federal government outlining their individual responsibilities comes before the…

House Speaker Terie Norelli said Monday she’s decided to have two policy committees consider the Senate-passed casino gambling bill to ensure a “full and robust” process.

The House Finance and Ways and Means committees will jointly meet to consider the bill to legalize gambling at one facility where the developer would spend at least $425 million.

“I am confident that by assembling the expertise and wisdom of these two committees, we will ensure the proposed bill will be given…

By Paul Briand



Interesting storylines are already taking form around the 2014 off-year election.



With former House Speaker William O’Brien, former gubernatorial candidates Ovide Lamontagne and Kevin Smith, Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, and even former Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Scott Brown part of the current conversation, you can sense it’s going to be another interesting election cycle.



First, let’s dispense of this notion that Brown…

Mention casinos around these parts and two come to mind: Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, both 140 miles away in Connecticut. But there are four others, in Maine and Rhode Island, with three on the way in Massachusetts.

And New Hampshire might add at least one.

When the House takes up the state Senate’s bill to legalize a casino in New Hampshire later this month, the questions will be many. One of them will be this: How many casinos is too many, especially given the drop in casino…

The House on Wednesday voted 194-172 to approve a state budget of $11 billion for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 beginning on July 1.



While the House budget represents an increase of about 10 percent over current spending levels, it is about $52 million less than what Gov. Maggie Hassan had recommended in her budget proposal. The House budget (…

County officials are worried about a potential $8 million cut in funding in the House’s proposed two-year state budget.

The cut comes from the House budget proposal increasing the level counties would have to spend on long-term care before using general funds to soften the expense. But the cap increase isn’t the only change in the budget making county officials wary.

The proposal approved by the House also counts as general fund revenue a portion of money raised in a per-bed…

New Hampshire’s House passed an $11 billion, two-year budget package Wednesday that does not support legalizing a casino, a move that drew quick criticism from the governor and Senate.

Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, criticized the plan put together by the Democratic majority because the House cut spending rather than include the $80 million in her budget from licensing a yet-to-be-approved casino.

The House’s decision not to embrace…

By Paul Briand



By approving an $11 billion biennium state budget on Wednesday, the House showed it can balance the budget and restore some funding to certain programs without the revenue from a casino.



It may be the incentive and political cover some House members, particularly Democrats, need to vote against the casino bill when it comes up for consideration.



In past sessions, the House, as a group, has not approved bills authorizing casino…

New Hampshire’s best chance at curbing bedbugs is to create guidelines that clarify who is responsible for taking action when they’re discovered, a broad coalition of landlord and tenant groups, affordable housing advocates and pest control workers told legislators Tuesday.

A growing problem in New Hampshire due to the increase in multi-family housing and greater mobility, the blood-sucking parasites feed at night, leave itchy red marks and extract a psychological toll on their hosts.…

By Grant Bosse

Better-than-expected business tax collections boosted state revenues in March, cutting the state’s projected budget deficit by more than half with just three months to in the current Fiscal Year. Overall, New Hampshire collected $637 million in March, $26.5 million more than the budget plan. The extra revenues will cut a shortfall of $41 million down to $14.5 million.

Gov. Maggie Hassan has asked the Legislature for broad authority to raid…

Gov. Maggie Hassan is nominating former state Sen. Joseph Foster as the next state attorney general.

Foster, 53, of Nashua, works for McLane Law Firm, where he is chairman of the firm's bankruptcy practice.

Foster served as state senator from the 13th District from 2002-2008 and was majority leader in 2007.

"The role of attorney general in protecting and ensuring justice for the people of New Hampshire is one of the highest responsibilities in our state," Hassan said. "I…