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Boston Globe
18 hours ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Governor Ayotte signs New Hampshire's $15.9b budget into law
That sparked a flurry of last-minute negotiations on Thursday, narrowly salvaging a budget deal on the two-year spending plan. 'I said from day one in office that I would work each day to deliver an even brighter future for all of New Hampshire — and we have kept that promise,' said Ayotte in a statement Friday afternoon before signing the trio of bills that made up the budget, which she touted as fiscally responsible. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Some New Hampshire Republicans shared her optimism. Advertisement 'From standing up for our first responders, to strengthening our Northern Border, to protecting Granite Staters in need, this budget keeps the promises Republicans made with no new taxes,' said Jim MacEachern, NHGOP chairman. 'This hard work will show at the ballot box in November,' he predicted. Democrats disagreed, criticizing what they called a chaotic process and the final product. 'The end result is a state budget that raises costs and threatens the health, safety, and well-being of our communities,' said Ray Buckley in a statement, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Advertisement The final budget, which every Democratic lawmaker voted against, features several controversial cost-saving measures, including significant funding cuts for the University System of New Hampshire and the Department of Corrections, plus a move to charge premiums for certain Medicaid beneficiaries who earn more than the federal poverty level. 'The budget they forced through is nothing short of catastrophic, ripping health care away from low-income families, defunding public education, slashing child protection services, and funneling millions to out-of-state casino operators and private schools,' said Representative Alexis Simpson of Exeter, the House Democratic minority leader. Simpson said the chaos and deal-making that complicated this process demonstrated 'a crisis of leadership' and resulted in a budget that will 'forever leave a stain on this state.' Republicans, however, celebrated. House Majority Leader Jason Osborne of Auburn said 'principled leadership' had produced a budget that defends the interests of taxpayers, provides additional funding to local schools, and more. Deputy Majority Leader Joseph F. Sweeney of Salem said the budget will work for all Granite Staters. 'Whether you care about property taxes, public safety, or educational freedom, this budget reflects the priorities of New Hampshire families,' he said. 'We can all be proud of that.' While citing constrained revenue estimates as necessitating cuts from certain programs they disfavor, Republican lawmakers relied on an expected increase in gambling revenues from newly legalized slot machines to help fund expanded investments in certain programs they favor. The primary sticking point that Ayotte cited when she threatened last week to veto the Legislature's version of the budget revolved around retirement spending for certain public safety personnel whose benefits were reduced in 2011 amid an earlier budget crunch. Ayotte had campaigned on restoring much of those benefits, but some GOP lawmakers objected to the price tag. Advertisement On Wednesday evening she 'There is no doubt in my mind that our citizens respect politicians who keep their word and fight for change,' said Michael Geha, president of the New Hampshire Police Association. 'That is what Kelly Ayotte did, and the entire state is better off and safer for it.' To adopt the late compromise, senators revived and amended Steven Porter can be reached at
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Boston Globe
Man, 19, severely hurt in Hampton Beach swimming accident, reports say
He said it appears the teenager misjudged the depth of the water when he dove in. 'It looks like he was simply playing in the waves on a hot day, not doing anything wrong,' McMahon said, adding that he responded to a similar call several years ago. The teenager's condition wasn't immediately available Wednesday. His mother, Melina Burton, identified him as Aiden Sloan in an interview Advertisement Burton told the network there was 'a sandbar that nobody could have known was there, so he dove through a wave and he hit the sandbar head-on.' Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Burton said her son told her, ''When I came to, Mom, I could see the top of the water, but my arms and legs wouldn't work, and I couldn't get myself to the top to get air.'' She posted a photo of a smiling Sloan to her Facebook page on Wednesday. 'My boy doing what he does best, smiling and hanging outside [heart emoji] god just please let him be ok,' Burton wrote. A GoFundMe Advertisement 'He misjudged the depth of some water at Hampton and, as a result, broke his neck,' wrote family friend Jess Kinney, the organizer of the fundraiser. 'He is unable to move his legs and hands at this point but is able to move his arms. His mom, Melina, is a single mom and will need to be by her boy's side as he recovers. There is nothing anyone can do but help with bills, so please consider donating as much as you're able.' The appeal said Sloan works in the hospitality industry. 'Aiden is a chef in Nashua at the Noodle Bar inside the Nash Casino and will be unable to work for a while,' Kinney wrote. 'He has been a staple in my son's life and has been the best friend a mother could ask for for her child. Aiden, we are all pulling for you and love you!!' Greenleaf, a restaurant in Milford, N.H. where Sloan has worked, said on Facebook that it was donating 25 percent 'of net sales from all small plates ordered through the end of June' toward his medical expenses. 'Aiden joined our Greenleaf family at a young age and we watched him grow as a person and a cook over the years and he and his family have our full love and support during these difficult times,' the restaurant said. Travis Andersen can be reached at
Boston Globe
19-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
This 87-year-old is donating blood in all 50 states
'I'm doing it again. Hopefully the Lord will let me finish. He got me into it,' he said. Counting Wednesday's donation, Whitney said he will have contributed 1,145 units of platelets. He said one unit is about 2 tablespoons, which means he's donated almost 9 gallons of platelets. Sometimes called the Band-Aids of the blood, Advertisement Those donations provide a lifesaving intervention to people whose platelet counts are dangerously low, including people with cancer or those suffering from an acute traumatic injury. Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Whitney expects his tour of the country to take a few years because he can only donate 24 times in a 12-month period, per Whitney said he first started donating blood in 1965 after walking past a sign that read 'Donate Blood' in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. After making a donation, he said, he heard a voice telling him, 'Al, you can do more than this.' In the years since, he's gone on to do much more, organizing blood drives for the next 35 years. After retiring from his manufacturing job in 2000, Whitney began touring around the United States with the goal of raising awareness and encouraging other people to donate alongside him. Advertisement Whitney said he uses his Social Security to pay for travel expenses, and he has no idea how much he's spent on the efforts over the years. A 'cheap' trip, like his visit to New Hampshire, might cost him about $500, he estimated. He said he's trying to visit states in the Northeast during the summer months, when there's no snow, and he's planning to visit Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts soon. While he has established a nonprofit called On Wednesday, medical staff instructed Whitney to sit for 100 minutes, connected to a medical device that separates the platelets from his blood, and then returns his blood to his body. How does he feel afterward? 'Fine!' When he's done, he plans to get back into his 2015 Chrysler Town & Country and start the 10-hour drive back to Cleveland. He said he spends the time talking to his wife, who died 14 years ago, and God. 'He's incredible and kind of inspiring, really,' Dr. Richard M. Kaufman said about Whitney. Kaufman works with Dartmouth's Kaufman said Whitney isn't alone — there's actually 'a very dedicated, relatively small group' of people who make donations like clockwork every two weeks, including some who started donating after a loved one was on the receiving end of a donation. 'They'll schedule vacations around their platelet donation,' Kaufman said. 'It's a really big deal for them.' Advertisement There's an ongoing need for donations, since the country only has about a two-day supply of blood at a given time, according to Kaufman. Maintaining the inventory is challenging, since it only has a five-day shelf life, and it takes about 48 hours to process. Each donation yields about three adult doses of platelets, according to Kaufman. 'You'll never know what happens to a unit,' he said, 'but you actually can help save a life.' Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Boston Globe
18-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
What does upholding Tennesee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors mean for similar bills in N.H.?
New Hampshire Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up If either becomes law, New Hampshire would be the first state in New England to enact such bans, joining 25 other states that have banned such care for youth, according to the that provides research to promote equality. Advertisement A Advertisement Erchull said the US Supreme Court ruling finds that a ban on medical care for minors is not sex-based discrimination, but rather a regulation of medical procedures based on age. He disagrees, and notes that legal avenues are still available to challenge HB 377 should it become law in New Hampshire. That could include a challenge based on the New Hampshire constitution, arguing that the intent of the law was to harm transgender people, or a challenge on the basis of parental rights. 'It's legislation that very clearly impacts a family's ability, a parent's ability, to make important decisions with medical consultation about how to care for their children,' he said. 'And this is coming from the same exact people, the same exact legislators who tout National Center for LGBTQ Rights Legal Director 'Healthcare decisions belong with families, not politicians. This decision will cause real harm,' he said. Some New Hampshire Republicans celebrated the US Supreme Court decision. 'I applaud Tennessee for protecting children from irreversible harm by banning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors,' said New Hampshire state Representative Sayra DeVito, a Danville Republican who is a co-sponsor of HB 377. 'Children deserve the chance to grow, mature, and fully understand themselves before making permanent decisions about their bodies,' DeVito said in a statement. 'There's no discrimination in protecting children. Tennessee is leading with courage and common sense.' Advertisement Representative Erica Layon, a Derry Republican, said she hoped the Supreme Court's decision would 'bring reason back to healthcare for young people.' 'I believe that history will view these surgeries as just as harmful as other conversion therapies practiced in the past upon gay, lesbian and bisexual youth,' she said. Democrats in New Hampshire, however, are criticizing the decision. House Minority Leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter said the decision cuts off parents' access to critical, evidence-based treatment for their children. 'These attacks aren't about protecting kids, they're actively putting lives at risk, with anti-trans laws tied to a New Hampshire families with transgender children had been anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Supreme Court case. Rosie Emrich sits for a portrait with her eight-year-old transgender child at their house in Hooksett, N.H., on April 17, 2025. Emrich said that her family is considering moving from New Hampshire to Massachusetts because of a series of bills that could limit her child's ability to access gender-affirming care. Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe Rosie Emrich, who has a transgender child said the US Supreme Court's decision was 'heartbreaking.' 'I feel sort of gutted,' she said. 'I think maybe I let myself get a little too hopeful.' Emrich has been weighing whether For now, she said, she plans to focus her attention on urging New Hampshire's Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte to veto HB 377. 'It does definitely bring a lot bigger sense of urgency to the stuff going on here in New Hampshire and the push to try to have the governor hear the impacts of this,' she said. Advertisement Lawmakers from the House and Senate met this week for negotiations over which version of HB 377 should proceed. The House has agreed to the Senate's position on the bill, and lawmakers have until Thursday afternoon to sign off Ayotte has not said if she supports a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. Amanda Gokee can be reached at
Boston Globe
17-06-2025
- Boston Globe
Long-buried claim of rapist priest at Catholic summer camp puts N.H.'s statute of limitations to the test
Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up According to the plaintiff, counselors at the camp would play a game they called 'strip the campers,' in which adults would chase children and remove clothing from whoever they caught. Advertisement In his efforts to avoid being forcibly disrobed, the plaintiff recalled hiding behind a bench where three adults laughed at him, and one directed him to hide in a nearby cabin. The camp's director, The plaintiff alleges Dowd told him to rest on a bed, where he could watch the other campers through the window. Then Dowd climbed onto the bed and raped the child, while saying that he and God both loved the boy and wanted him to be there, according to the lawsuit. Advertisement This wasn't the first allegation of predatory behavior at Camp Fatima, nor was it the first against Dowd. Several other claims More than 20 years later, states are still struggling with how to hold abusers accountable — and whether statutes of limitations apply. As society's understanding of trauma and its complex impacts on victims has evolved, many states have sought to give survivors more time to file litigation seeking accountability from individuals and institutions, especially in cases of childhood sexual abuse. Heed's report concluded the diocese could be criminally charged with endangering the welfare of minors for failing to protect children from priests who had abused kids in the past. In lieu of prosecution, the attorney general's office reached an agreement with the diocese and released the facts that investigators had uncovered. Dowd's name appears among dozens of others on the diocese's Advertisement New Hampshire lawmakers enlarged the statute of limitations repeatedly in the 2000s, then abolished it altogether in 2020; however, the 2023 lawsuit over Dowd's alleged conduct at Camp Fatima is now testing whether the abolishment of the statute of limitations applies retroactively. The diocese contends the plaintiff could have filed his lawsuit until 1986, when he turned 20 years old, since the statute of limitations that was in effect at the time gave childhood victims until two years after they attained adulthood to bring such claims. The diocese contends the expiration of the prior statute of limitations created a 'vested right' that state lawmakers cannot revoke later on — and Superior Court Judge Elizabeth M. Leonard agreed. 'The Court acknowledges that the plaintiff is one of many who was not served by the prior law,' Leonard wrote in a decision last fall granting the diocese's motion to dismiss this case. 'However, the fact that the current law allows the plaintiff a path of recovery cannot justify the revival of a time-barred claim through the retrospective application of the law.' 'Ultimately, it would be more unjust to allow for a system in which vested rights can be taken away by subsequent legislative amendments,' Leonard added. The plaintiff's attorneys, Scott H. Harris and Stephen A. Weiss, have appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, urging the justices to overrule Leonard's decision and prioritize their client's right to seek a judicial remedy over the diocese's right to be free from previously time-barred litigation. Harris and Weiss argued the concept of an unambiguous vested right is 'especially odd' in a case like this one, since a hypothetical plaintiff in similar circumstances might be granted more time to bring allegations of decades-old misconduct if they didn't know enough earlier on about the existence of their potential claim. Advertisement 'Statutes of limitations are important tools to encourage parties to bring their disputes to court promptly, while memories are still fresh and evidence still available,' they wrote in a court filing. 'Statutes of limitation are not, however, substantive law that determines the merits of a disputed claim.' Harris and Weiss argue the diocese was negligent. They say church leaders either knew or should have known children were being sexually abused at Camp Fatima. And they fault the diocese for naming Dowd as camp director in 1971 shortly after he was accused of fondling a teenage boy in Keene, N.H. During oral arguments, an attorney for the diocese, Olivia F. Bensinger, will argue that Leonard's decision was correct. In a statement, Bensinger framed the outcome as a matter of practical fairness. 'As the statute of limitations law recognizes, a lawsuit concerning a report of abuse that is many years old can be difficult, if not impossible, to defend because witnesses and evidence may no longer remain available,' she said. Bensinger said the diocese has been working for more than two decades to meet the needs of victims and survivors of abuse, and the diocese has implemented safeguards to foster safe environments at parishes, schools, and camps to protect kids. While this case in New Hampshire echoes similar disputes across the country, state courts have Advertisement In Maine, the Supreme Judicial Court The New Hampshire Supreme Court may be inclined to reach a similar conclusion, especially since the state's constitution expressly prohibits retrospective laws as ' New Hampshire's constitution is one of only seven nationwide — and the only one in New England — with such a clear-cut prohibition. Steven Porter can be reached at
