New Hampshire changes statewide assessment for students

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

New Hampshire students will take new statewide assessments this spring.

The department of education announced Wednesday that it would contract with American Institutes for Research, a D.C.-based company, to test students in grades 3-8 and 11 in math, English language arts and science. The $9.55 million contract, which runs through June 2021, was approved by the executive council that day.

The state had previously contracted with AIR to administer its statewide assessments, so the electronic interface in which students and teachers are already accustomed won’t be any different. What will change is who develops the questions students are asked. *| More…

| Concord Monitor

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Farmers Banned From Farmers Market Over Religious Beliefs Get Their Day in Court

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

The case of a Michigan city that banned family farmers from selling their goods at a local farmers market due to their religious beliefs about marriage headed to court Wednesday, where lawyers from both sides argued before a federal district judge.

Lawyers for Steve and Bridget Tennes, owners of Country Mill Farms in Charlotte, Michigan, asked the court to grant the Tennes family a preliminary injunction, a temporary order that would allow them to sell their produce at the East Lansing Farmer’s Market while the case proceeds. | More…

| Daily Signal

Posted in Culture, National News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Business group wants NH to seek Amazon HQ2

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

PORTSMOUTH — A group of business people in the region is trying to persuade state officials to apply to Amazon to get the Seattle-based retailer to locate its second headquarters in New Hampshire.

Several cities – Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas, among them – are interested in hosting what the company calls “Amazon HQ2.” |More…

| Fosters

Posted in Around New England, Economy/Economics, Jobs/Unemployment | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Task force appointed to recommend NH veterans hospital changes

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The Manchester VA Medical Center appointed a 12-member task force Wednesday to make recommendations on the future of New Hampshire’s only veterans hospital in the wake of whistleblower allegations of substandard treatment and conditions.

The appointments were the latest step toward reform since a Boston Globe report in July on a whistleblower complaint that described a fly-infested operating room, surgical instruments that weren’t always sterilized and patients whose conditions were ignored. | More…

| AP

Posted in Health Care, Military | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Chief Andrew Shagoury: Marijuana is still illegal

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

September 16, 2017 is the effective date of the law decriminalizing certain amounts of marijuana and some marijuana related products under RSA 318-B:2-c. There is a difference between decriminalization and legalization. Marijuana will still be illegal after that date. Anyone possessing any amount of it can still expect that it will be seized and they would be charged. The difference will primarily be how the charges would be handled. | More…

| Laconia Daily Sun

Posted in Crime, Drugs | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Ford mechanics working with police to resolve CO fume issue

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Police in New Hampshire say that an executive and mechanics with Ford Motor Co. were in Manchester this week to help with carbon monoxide issues in police SUV cruisers.

Manchester Police Chief Nick Willard said Wednesday that his department had a second incident with elevated carbon monoxide levels in a Ford vehicle this week. | More…

| AP

Posted in New Hampshire News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

N.H. opens hate crime investigation in boy’s near-hanging case

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has directed the state Attorney General’s office to join a hate crime investigation in Claremont, N.H., after an 8-year-old boy was hospitalized with rope burns on his neck from an alleged hanging incident involving other boys. | More…

| Boston Herald

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2017 Summary of NH Right-to-Know Bills

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

All the Right-to-Know bills are finished in both the House or Senate for 2017.  As such, it is a good time to summarize the results for the 2017 legislative session.  There were 9 Right-to-Know bills tracked by RTKNH.  3 bills were passed, 6 bills were killed, and 1 bill was retained in committee.

Passed and Signed.  The following 3 bills were passed by both chambers and signed by the Governor. | More…

| Right to Know NH

Posted in Legislation, Right to Know Law, Right to Know NH | Tagged , | Leave a comment

US House votes to curb asset forfeiture

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to curb federal asset forfeitures, a program that enables law enforcement officers to seize private property, often in cases where the owner was never even charged with a crime, much less convicted. The House bill passed by a virtually unanimous voice vote. | More…

Wash Po| Volokh Conspiracy

Posted in Legislation, Property Rights | Tagged , | Leave a comment

First Meeting: N.H. Right to Know Study Commission

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Steve Mac Donald

The New Hampshire commission to study Right-to-Know complaint resolution met for the first time last Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. It’s official name is the Commission to Study Processes to Resolve Right-to-Know Complaints. It was formed by House Bill 178. All the members except Rep. Gary Hopper and Chris Dwyer representing the N.H. Municipal Association attended. | More…

| Right to Know NH

Posted in Right to Know Law, Right to Know NH | Tagged , , | Leave a comment