HAMPTON, NH — Mother’s Day 2024 is approaching.

This year, the holiday dedicated to celebrating mom is Sunday, May 12. If you plan on treating her to brunch or dinner, now is the time to make reservations since they may fill up quickly in Hampton and North Hampton.

Here are a few options for dining out on Mother’s Day.

There are currently several bills in the New Hampshire Legislature that seek to target and exclude our transgender friends and neighbors, particularly in sports. Senate Bill 375 and House Bill 1205 would ban trans girls from participating on school-sponsored girls sports teams. The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation strongly opposes these bills. 

Trans girls are girls. And trans girls, like all girls, deserve to be accepted and included in schools and have access to the many benefits of sports including teamwork, friendship, and belonging. New Hampshire girls are twice as likely as boys to experience poor mental health and LGBTQ girls have even higher rates of poor mental health than their heterosexual or cis-gender peers. At this moment in time, we need more support for girls, including trans girls, not efforts to socially alienate them. 

These proposed bans on trans girls’ participation in girls sports are inconsistent with the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association rules, as well as New Hampshire’s non-discrimination laws, and would open the door to violations of the federal Title IX law. National organizations like the National Women’s Law Center, the Women’s Sports Foundation, and Women Leaders in College Sports all support trans-inclusive policies. 

There are real issues we should be addressing in girls sports like a lack of adequate funding and resources, but that doesn’t seem to be a priority of the legislature. Student athletes are not asking us to ban their friends from playing sports with them. They, and we, say: Let trans girls play! 

Tanna Clews, of Portsmouth, is the CEO of the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation.

More: Why are there so many bills about gender identity in New Hampshire? Experts weigh in

BARTLETT — A New Hampshire State Trooper was injured in a single-car crash early Thursday morning on Route 302.

Sgt. Nathan Johnston, a 20-year veteran of the State Police, was traveling eastbound at approximately 3:20 a.m. when his cruiser veered off the road and struck a utility pole, causing utility wires to fall.

Johnston, who was on duty at the time, managed to call for assistance himself.

Responders from the Bartlett Fire Department, Bartlett Police Department, State Police, and utility companies arrived on the scene.

After ensuring that the downed power lines were no longer live, they were able to safely extract Johnston from the wreckage.

He was transported to Memorial Hospital in North Conway where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and later released.

Traffic near the crash site is expected to face delays for several hours as repairs to the damaged utility pole are underway.

Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the accident.