New Hampshire
Cartoons on an IPA can? These NH teens say frothy beer labels need to sober up
Last month, the members of an after-school club called Dover Youth 2 Youth took a field trip to the State House in Concord. They arrived armed with empty beer cans, part of their planned testimony before lawmakers.
“For example, we have this brand of beer from Concord Brewing Company that has cans designed like the kids animated movie we’ve all seen: ‘Finding Nemo,’ ” explained Megan Merrigan, 12, during public testimony on the bill.
State senators were handed a can with an illustration of a brightly colored fish resembling a character in the Disney movie.
Merrigan, along with her teenage peers, contend that alcohol-makers are using imagery on their labels–whether intentional or not–that appeals to minors. They offered this as Exhibit A for why the laws needed to change.
“They’re most likely not going to pick something that’s like a big, boring bottle of beer,” said Dani Lynn Somer, 14, another member of the Dover after-school program. “Kids go for something that’s more enticing to the eye.”
The legislation these students are backing seeks to provide more clarity to both the alcohol industry and state regulators about what’s acceptable on a label of beer, wine or spirits. Cartoons, toys and other fictional characters that a kid may associate with would be prohibited.
But local craft brewers contend their labels, which are often designed by local artists and rooted in the individual culture of the business, are at risk of getting caught up in any enhanced regulations. These beers are being brewed for adults, they contend, and only available for purchase by people 21 and up.
Real dog, illustrated dog
Under current New Hampshire law, the state Liquor Commission has the power to block any alcohol label that regulators believe is designed to induce minors to drink. Alcoholic products that also falsely imply through labeling that they improve athletic performance are also prohibited.
In total, the agency reviews 5,400 labels annually — every bottle of wine, can of beer, or spirit sold in the state — approving 96% of them.
Senate Bill 335 would add clarifying language to the statute, spelling out that cartoons, toys, robots, fictional animals and creatures that are consistent with other products marketed at minors are a no-go. It would also create a new board to handle appeals from rejected applicants.
(The Liquor Commission said, in a statement to NHPR, its approval of the “Finding NEIPA,” Nemo-themed label was done in error, and that after a “constructive conversation with the brewer, Concord Craft agreed to change the imagery, according to a spokesperson.)
Last November, To Share Brewing based in Manchester submitted four labels that were initially rejected by the Liquor Commission. Two of those labels included illustrations by a local artist of the co-owner’s pet.
“It’s the face of my dog with her tongue sticking out,” said Aaron Share, holding up a can inside of his brewery on a recent morning. He said he has submitted more than 80 labels since founding the brewery, and that these were the first to be rejected.
“I don’t see anything on this label that would be considered a cartoon, or that would induce a minor to drink,” he said.
Share said the Liquor Commission later notified him, without explanation, that it had reversed course and approved the labels.
He fears that under the proposed legislation, regulators would have to make subjective calls about products, and may lack the qualifications to do so.
“Do they have a background in art? You know, are they a child psychologist?” he said.
As well known as Mickey Mouse
The debate now going on in the New Hampshire State House is in some ways a throwback to the 1990s, when it was tobacco, and not alcohol, coming under scrutiny. Federal regulators determined that much cigarette advertising — including Camel’s cartoon spokesperson, Joe Camel — was designed to appeal to children.
Dr. James Seargent, a behavioral epidemiologist at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, was a young researcher at Joe Camel’s peak, and said the ads were so ubiquitous and seductive that a study found the camel was “recognized as commonly as Mickey Mouse” amongst children.
There were eventually stricter labeling and marketing rules applied to cigarettes in the United States, and some parts of Europe have gone farther with tobacco packaging restrictions.
“I don’t think we’re ready to do that for beer,” Sergeant said, “but I certainly think the New Hampshire law to do away with cartoon-like characters is not unreasonable.”
But during the legislative hearing last month, some lawmakers, including Republican state Sen. Dan Innis, seemed skeptical that any new guidance or regulation could be done in a way that’s consistent.
“The hard part for me is how are these decisions going to be made,” he said. “And that’s where it just gets messy.”
Take for example other boozy offerings now available on store shelves: alcoholic Monster energy drinks, spiked Sunny D, and Eggo Waffles branded liquors. What do you do with those products? Are they aimed at kids? Nostalgic adults?
Mia Mozzoni, 18, from the Dover Youth 2 Youth group, said she doesn’t appreciate how the broader industry views people her age and wants to see adults take steps to protect her and other young people.
“I don’t like being targeted by the industry. I don’t like seeing my peers ruin their brains and their livers at like 14 and 15 because they’re binge drinking,” she said, adding, “It’s just a problem.”
The son of Cher is scheduled to be in court Wednesday for a hearing over allegations he broke into a New Hampshire home earlier this month.
It was the second arrest in a matter of days for Elijah Allman, 49, of Malibu, California, who was detained Feb. 27 after allegedly acting belligerently at a prestigious prep school in New Hampshire. It was unclear if Allman had any connection to either St. Paul’s School or the home in Windham, New Hampshire.
Allman remains in the Rockingham County Department of Corrections in what is called preventive detention, Superintendent Jonathan Banville said.
Allman, whose father was the late singer Gregg Allman, faces two counts of criminal mischief, one count of burglary and a count of breach of bail for breaking into the home on March 1. Police said in a report that Allman did not have permission to be at the home and forcibly entered it .
In the incident at the prep school, Allman was charged with four misdemeanors: two counts of simple assault, criminal trespass and criminal threatening. Allman was also charged with a violation of disorderly conduct, which is illegal in the state but not considered a crime.
At about 7 p.m. that day, Concord police responded to reports that Allman was disturbing people in the dining hall of St. Paul’s School. After charging Allman, police said he was released on bail as his case works through the court system.
Allman did not respond to an email requesting comment, and a phone number for him was not working. It was unclear from the court records if Allman has an attorney.
In December 2023, Cher filed a petition to become a temporary conservator overseeing her son’s money, saying Allman struggles with mental health issues and addiction have left him unable to manage his assets and potentially put his life in danger.
The petition from the singer and actress said Elijah Allman is entitled to regular payments from a trust fund. But “given his ongoing mental health and substance abuse issues,” she is “concerned that any funds distributed to Elijah will be immediately spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting Elijah’s life at risk,” the petition says.
A few weeks later, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jessica Uzcategui denied the request, saying she was not convinced that a conservatorship was urgently needed. Allman was in the courtroom with his his attorneys, who acknowledged his previous struggles but argued that he is in a good place now, attending meetings, getting treatment and reconciling with his previously estranged wife.
New Hampshire
Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters
As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.
“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.
“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”
Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.
“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.
He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”
Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.
For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.
“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”
Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.
CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.
On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”
Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.
29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.
“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.
While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.
“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,
“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.
“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.
Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.
“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.
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