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New Hampshire

Judge allows transgender New Hampshire girl to play soccer as lawsuit challenges new law

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Judge allows transgender New Hampshire girl to play soccer as lawsuit challenges new law


CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge temporarily cleared the way Monday for a transgender girl to play soccer for her high school team while she and another student challenge a New Hampshire ban.

The families of Parker Tirrell, 15, and Iris Turmelle, 14, filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to overturn the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” that Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law last month. While Turmelle doesn’t plan to play sports until December, Tirrell sought an emergency order allowing her to start soccer practice Monday evening.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty granted the request with just hours to spare, finding that Tirrell had demonstrated likely success on the merits of the case. The two sides now have 14 days to schedule a hearing on the plaintiffs’ broader motion for a preliminary order blocking the state from enforcing the law while the case proceeds.

The lawsuit said the law violates constitutional protections and federal laws because the teens are being denied equal educational opportunities and are being discriminated against because they are transgender.

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The judge questioned how the law, as applied to Tirrell, would protect girls from unfair competition given that the state isn’t contesting evidence that she has no physiological advantage after taking puberty-blocking medication to prevent bodily changes such as muscle development. McCafferty also found Tirrell had proven that she would suffer irreparable harm without it, another criteria for emergency relief.

Michael DeGrandis, an attorney for the state, argued that missing soccer practice, while “stressful,” didn’t meet that standard, but the girls’ lawyer disagreed, saying it would have a “permanent, stigmatizing impact.”

“We are very happy with the judge’s order. It is also what we expected, because we know that this law is unfair and violates the rights of transgender girls of New Hampshire,” Chris Erchull, an attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, said after the hearing.

The rights of transgender people — and especially young people — have become a major political battleground in recent years as trans visibility has increased. Most Republican-controlled states have banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, and several have adopted policies limiting which school bathrooms trans people can use and barring trans girls from some sports competitions.



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New Hampshire

Your weekly guide to taking action in New Hampshire May 6-10, 2026 –

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Your weekly guide to taking action in New Hampshire May 6-10, 2026 –


Protests and rallies:

📅 Wednesday (May 6)

New Hampshire Peace Action: Vigil for Permanent Ceasefire Now! (Dover, 2 p.m.) 

New Hampshire Peace Action: Ceasefire Now! (Hanover, 4-5 p.m.) 

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603Forward: North Country Power Hour (Gorham, 6 p.m.)

📅 Thursday (May 7)

New Hampshire Peace Action: Ceasefire Vigil (Concord, 12-1:30 p.m.) 

American Friends Service Committee: Meeting for Worship with Attention to Peace (Virtually, 7:30 p.m.) 

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Brookline Democrats: Gerrymandering in NH (Brookline Historical Society, 6:30 p.m.)

📅 Friday (May 8)

American Friends Service Committee: Action Hour for Palestine (Virtual, 12 p.m.)

Indivisible: Nashua Bridge Brigade (Nashua, 2-4 p.m.) 

New Hampshire Public Radio: By Degrees Climate Summit Community Resilience (Manchester, 12 p.m.) 

Rochester Dems: Dance for Democracy (Rochester Performing & Arts Center, 6 p.m.)

📅 Saturday (May 9) 

NH Peace Action: Standing against authoritarian actions (Kingston, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.)

New Hampshire Democratic Party: Pro-Democracy Weekly Visibility (Derry, 12 p.m)

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📅 Sunday (May 10)

Occupy Seacoast: Civil Rights Sunday (Portsmouth, 12-4 p.m.) 

First Unitarian Universalist Society of Exeter: Bridge Brigade (Exeter, 5-5:30 p.m.)

Have an event to add? Email Lily Jackson, lily@couriernewsroom.com with details (please send details at least one week before the event).

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Make Mother’s Day memorable with these 6 activities in New Hampshire





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NH Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 Day winning numbers for May 4, 2026

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The New Hampshire Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Monday, May 4, 2026 results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from May 4 drawing

30-36-42-60-63, Powerball: 13, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 4 drawing

Day: 6-2-1

Evening: 3-3-9

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 4 drawing

Day: 7-9-1-8

Evening: 9-8-0-8

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Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Megabucks Plus numbers from May 4 drawing

01-05-33-34-41, Megaball: 05

Check Megabucks Plus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Gimme 5 numbers from May 4 drawing

23-27-29-37-38

Check Gimme 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 4 drawing

08-17-22-34-39, Bonus: 05

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the New Hampshire Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Pick 3, 4: 1:10 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. daily.
  • Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
  • Megabucks Plus: 7:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
  • Gimme 5: 6:55 p.m. Monday through Friday.
  • Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Hampshire managing editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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NH medical marijuana program added 2,100 new patients last year – Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

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NH medical marijuana program added 2,100 new patients last year – Monadnock Ledger-Transcript


More than 2,100 new patients signed up with New Hampshire’s Therapeutic Cannabis Program last year, bringing the total registry to nearly 17,000, according to new state data.

That increase — about 14.5% from the year prior — is the largest since 2021.

Likely driving the growth were changes to state law in 2024 that allowed more people to qualify for medical marijuana use. They can now join the program at doctors’ discretion — which covers any debilitating or terminal condition or symptom, as long as their medical provider agrees the benefits of cannabis could outweigh the risks — or with a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder.

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More than 900 patients list anxiety as their qualifying condition, according to the report issued this week by the state Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program.

“There was certainly an uptick in growth after those bills took effect in late 2024. It hasn’t skyrocketed, but has somewhat accelerated the growth of the program,” said Matt Simon, a lobbyist for GraniteLeaf Cannabis, one of three licensed cannabis providers in the state. “Where we’ve been, this extremely tiny program that was tiny for years, it is steadily growing.”

With 16,846 people, about 1.2% of the population are either certified patients or designated caregivers, who are authorized to buy cannabis on behalf of a patient. That’s close to one in every 84 Granite Staters.

The data released by the state was collected in June 2025. Simon estimates roughly 1,000 more people have joined since then.

The Therapeutic Cannabis Program, established in 2013, is the only way to lawfully consume marijuana in New Hampshire, as recreational use remains illegal. Patients require a doctor’s approval to join and receive a state-issued card that licenses them to buy medical cannabis products from seven dispensaries across the state, operated by three producers: GraniteLeaf Cannabis, Sanctuary Medicinals and Temescal Wellness.

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The new data comes as the Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana last month as a less dangerous drug, effectively legitimizing programs run in 40 states, including New Hampshire’s. The change opens the door for more cannabis research and potential tax breaks for producers.

NH Therapeutic Cannabis Program patients by municipality
NH Therapeutic Cannabis Program patients by municipality Credit: NH Department of Health and Human Services

In New Hampshire, program demographics skew older. Nearly a quarter of patients are between 55 and 65 years old, and almost 70% of patients are over the age of 45. Pain is far and away the most common condition that people aim to treat with cannabis.

Patients are concentrated in southern New Hampshire and in towns where dispensaries, also called alternative treatment centers, are located. There are seven across the state in Chichester, Conway, Dover, Keene, Lebanon, Merrimack and Plymouth.

Concord has between 300 and 734 patients, according to the state data. Manchester has the most patients out of any municipality, at 1,150.

Despite the program’s growth, cost and accessibility remain a challenge. Jerry Knirk, a retired surgeon and state representative who now chairs the state’s Therapeutic Cannabis Medical Oversight Board, said New Hampshire’s strict regulatory environment plays a role.

“Part of the issue is we have a very high-quality, highly regulated program with testing of all products and lots of restrictions and things, and that does make things more expensive, but it’s how you keep the quality to be really high,” Knirk said. “We want to have really good quality. Unfortunately, it does make it a little bit harder.

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One family of three spent $548 after discounts on a six-week supply of their medicine, which they use for chronic pain and other ailments, the Monitor reported last year.

Limited retail locations also mean that in some parts of the North Country, patients must drive upwards of an hour to obtain their medicine.

“The lack of dispensary locations, well, yeah, that is a problem,” Knirk said.

The oversight board, joined by other advocates, has pushed for laws to alleviate those concerns. Some of the biggest include allowing patients to grow their own medicine at home and letting dispensaries use outdoor greenhouses to cut down on electricity costs.

That legislation is introduced in the State House almost every year but is often torpedoed by Republicans’ concerns over security protocols.

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While advocates expected little movement on marijuana policy under Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who opposes legalizing recreational use, the bill to allow greenhouse cultivation is nearing the finish line this session. Former governor Chris Sununu vetoed a similar bill two years ago; Ayotte hasn’t indicated whether she’d sign it.

Simon said that while cost and accessibility are still challenges, patient satisfaction with the program is improving.

“We started in a tough place with a lot of people really not liking the law and the program,” he said. “I think it’s been steady growth and steady improvement. Prices have come down somewhat, and the vibes are better.”



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