The Concord Monitor

13/12/2025

Over a dozen residents bundled up on Saturday morning to gather in the parking lot of the Chichester Central School despite frigid temperatures and packed schedules for a town meeting that never took place.

The meeting, called for by a citizen petition, would have given residents a chance to mandate that the Board of Selectmen meet weekly and publicly post minutes and agendas before each meeting to ensure more transparency. Yet the Board of Selectmen voted 2-1 to cancel the meeting last week, stating that the petition wasn’t valid. That didn’t stop these residents, who maintain that their legal right to meet has been breached by the decision, from convening at the planned date and time.

“The minute they posted the meeting, they accepted the signatures as valid,” longtime resident Chris Weir told the group on Saturday. “They can’t go back and say, ‘Oh we don’t like that now.’”

Read the story:

Residents of Chichester expressed frustrations and concerns about transparency after selectmen schedule then cancel citizen petitioned special meeting.

13/12/2025

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12/12/2025

For every new rule, regulation, or policy enacted by the state, lawmakers and bureaucrats would be forced to erase two from the books.

State department heads should start using artificial intelligence to save hours of manpower. In an effort to help communities, the government must offload its unused properties and return them to the tax rolls.

These were among the 54 proposals offered by Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s Commission on Government Efficiency, also known as the COGE, which she assembled nearly a year ago to find inefficiencies and unrealized potential in New Hampshire state government.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte's Commission on Government Efficiency made recommendations aimed at improving government efficiency and saving taxpayer dollars.

11/12/2025

Concord City Reporter Catherine McLaughlin looks back on the year and shares how important and impactful her "Concord Votes" project was on the community. She said she not only loved talking with local officials and hopeful candidates, but she also loved speaking to residents about what issues mattered most to them.

You can find the Monitor's coverage of this year's municipal election at https://www.concordmonitor.com/concord-votes/

Learn how you can support the Concord Monitor at https://www.concordmonitor.com/2025/11/07/support-nh-journalism/

11/12/2025

The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Merrimack, one of the state's biggest tourist draws, is going to close next year after a half-century of operation as part of a company overhaul in the face of stagnant beer sales nationally.

Anheuser-Busch brewery in Merrimack to close after 50 years as part of company overhaul. Stagnant beer sales lead to facility closures and modernization efforts.

11/12/2025

Neil Trindade couldn’t wait to get the piles of inspection stickers and paperwork out of his repair shop, Neil’s Laconia Garage, after New Hampshire lawmakers voted to do away with mandatory vehicle examinations.

After January, drivers in New Hampshire will no longer need to get safety inspections each year — much to the cheering of some and the chagrin of others.

Not so fast, says one state lawmaker.

Rep. Peter Leishman, a Peterborough Democrat, plans to introduce a bill in 2026 that would bring back mandatory annual safety inspections, starting in 2027, for all cars older than three years. Emissions testing, which New Hampshire also repealed, would stay eliminated.

New Hampshire lawmakers voted to repeal the state's mandatory car inspection law, but one state lawmaker plans to introduce a bill in 2026 to bring it back for cars older than three years, while emissions testing would remain eliminated.

11/12/2025

The district's legal filing was in response to a lawsuit filed this fall by Jack Harrington, a recent high school graduate who asserted school officials violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they searched his truck while he was a student last April.

Hillsboro-Deering High School defends the search of a student's car for a gun, citing legal grounds and reasonable suspicion. Lawsuit ensues.

11/12/2025

The report includes accounts from several New Hampshire businesses, including Soloman's Store in West Stewartstown, a few miles from the border. "We spoke with Canadian customers who told us point-blank that they were hesitant to cross due to the current political tension. The joy of the 'shopping day trip' has been replaced by anxiety over border enforcement and tariffs," said store owner Kyle Daley.

New Hampshire experienced a 30% drop in Canadian visitors due to tariffs, border controls, and political tension, impacting businesses and jobs.

11/12/2025

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11/12/2025

‘A sense of belonging’: Epsom library pilots memory care reading program
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Sponsored by Concord Hospital Health System

10/12/2025

The homeowners and their grandson were inside when the fire started and got out safely.

A fire destroyed a two-story home on Boscawen’s North Water Street Wednesday afternoon. The homeowners and their grandson were inside when the fire started and got out safely, according to Sean Watson, 45, who lived in the house with his family. Watson had left the house he shared with his parents...

10/12/2025

Jenn Moore, Penacook Elementary School's principal of nine years, will transition next school year to serve as the assistant superintendent of the Merrimack Valley and Andover school districts. Moore has spent nearly her entire career in Merrimack Valley schools, starting as a special education teacher at the middle school in 2000, before teaching seventh and eighth grade math, social studies and language arts there.

Jenn Moore, Penacook Elementary School’s principal of nine years, will transition next school year to serve as the assistant superintendent of the Merrimack Valley and Andover school districts. Moore has spent nearly her entire career in Merrimack Valley schools, starting as a special education te...