New Hampshire
Concord Hospital To Perform ‘Armed Intruder’ Drill Wednesday
CONCORD, NH — If you hear strange sounds or see unusual activity at the Concord Hospital campus on Wednesday, everything is OK … it is only a drill.
Concord Hospital Health System and the New Hampshire Department of Homeland Security will conduct an “armed intruder” drill at the hospital. This is the third such drill happening with the hospital’s affiliates. Drills were also held in Franklin and Laconia earlier this year.
John Duval, the hospital’s director of security, said safety and training have been consistent priorities for security staff. However, security staffers, who also worked with hospital staff to ensure they were prepared, had not done extensive training since the end of the pandemic. Duval has also been named to a new state commission focused on hospital safety.
A few events nationally led the team to “revisit our policy” and shift the focus from active shooter to armed intruder.
“There have been situations, not only in the United States but across the world, where the killing of people in one incident happens in other ways other than firearms,” he said.
Duval said security and medical staff needed to be focused on the person and the weapon, not just a gun. The security staff then rewrote many of the protocols over the course of about two years. During all of last year, employees at all three hospitals were trained with the new policies.
Eric Crane, a security program manager at the hospital, said employees worked on functional exercises, testing their eternal response to an event. Every department and employee was involved in hundreds of activities. The events and exercises were “short in duration” but meant to get employees to focus on what was happening at the hospital before outside personnel arrived to assist.
“Our policy speaks to avoid, hide, and fight,” he said.
Previously, the policy was run, hide, and fight, but that often led to hundreds of employees all converging on exits, causing clusters of activity and chaos. By avoiding, employees create distance, and in many ways, Duval said, they are safer, too.
Crane said he would act as an armed intruder and then instruct the staff to react to the scenario chosen for the training so the drill would be as realistic as possible. Hospital staff, he said, performed the tasks before work, during breaks and lunch hours, and after regular work hours, so their day-to-day activities focused on patient care were not affected by the training.
Security officials conducted debriefings after the training to analyze each department’s successes. Crane said each employee reacted differently to each scenario; some found their heart rates rising, while others had to address the emotionality of the training.
“The reactions have been quite positive,” Crane said.
Duval said each department now had safety and escape plans based on the training. And every employee, too, has their plans, he said.
“We want them to keep this, not on the front burner,” he said. “Awareness. Don’t come to work afraid; come to work aware. And when you do that, you can do your job, reasonably safe, and the employee will be successful when they are mindful of their options.”
After all the training, Duval and Crane raised the level beyond the hospitals to include outside law enforcement, fire and rescue teams, and other entities involved with emergency rooms. When there is conflict in a hospital, Duval said, it was often in an emergency department, even though it could happen anywhere in the building. But it was usually focused on a specific crisis incident.
While law enforcement and firefighters will be involved, the focus will not be on their activities and reactions as much as on the reactions of the hospital staff and security.
Franklin was held in May, and Laconia in August. After Wednesday’s work, the security officials will assess how everything went and then proceed.
Duval and Crane said the hospitals had excellent working relationships with law enforcement partners around the county and were fortunate to have built rapport with the departments.
The drill will start at Concord Hospital around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
New Hampshire
Texting and driving? Lawmakers want you to pay steeper fines – Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
If you use your cell phone while driving, you may want to think twice — unless you’re willing to pay twice as much.
A bipartisan bill, backed by state law enforcement, would institute higher fines for drivers who use handheld devices behind the wheel. In some cases, motorists could lose their licenses for a month or more.
Sen. Donovan Fenton, a Democrat from Keene who serves on Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s Highway Safety Task Force, pointed to state crash data as reason for the change proposed in his Senate Bill 649
The number of traffic deaths in New Hampshire has crept up over the past few years. In 2023, there were 127 fatalities, at least six of which stemmed from distracted driving, Fenton said.
“Distracted driving is becoming more pronounced, more dangerous and more deadly,” he said at a public hearing last week. “The current penalties are not enough to change behavior, particularly with repeat offenses.”
There were 133 traffic deaths in 2024 and 138 in 2025, according to the Office of Highway Safety. In 2026 so far, thirteen people have died in car crashes.
Fenton’s bill would increase the amount someone has to pay for violating the prohibition on cell phone use while driving. First-time offenders would pay $250 instead of the current $100, and on the second violation in two years, the offender would pay $500. For the third offense in two years, they would pay $750 and lose their license for 30 days. All those penalties could increase if cell phone use behind the wheel is found to be a contributing factor in a car crash.
Current law allows hands-free operation of a cell phone via Bluetooth but prohibits handheld device use. The state collected more than $568,000 in related fines and penalty assessments in the most recent fiscal year.
Distracted driving was a contributing factor in 4,520 of the state’s nearly 28,000 non-fatal crashes in 2023, according to the Department of Safety. That’s a little over 16%, though a report from the task force said officials suspect distracted driving is difficult to track and underreported in more serious collisions. Cell phones are a common culprit in distracted driving.
Ayotte’s task force has highlighted other policies that it says would increase public safety, including doubling the license suspension period for refusing a breathalyzer test.
In the first 10 weeks of 2026, three-quarters of the people arrested for impaired driving in New Hampshire refused to take a breath alcohol test, Ayotte said in a recent press release. The governor has waged a public campaign for the proposed law, Senate Bill 260, which she says would disincentivize drivers from refusing the test.
What’s next: Senate Bill 649 breezed through the Senate earlier this year. The House of Representatives is set to vote on it in the coming weeks after a committee recommended its passage almost unanimously.
New Hampshire
Longtime Blue Jays organization member Tamargo tasked with leading New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Are you ready for your mornings reimagined?
Hi! I’m Garret Doll (like Ken, but less hair and not as handsome), and I’m teaming up with Katie Killourhy for 97.5 WOKQ’s new morning show, Garret & Katie in the Morning!
You ready to join us?
So, Who Is Garret Doll?
I’ve learned something about myself… I don’t like clutter. Unless it’s my clutter. Then it’s not clutter, it’s a system.
That’s probably a pretty accurate starting point for who I am. A little self-aware, a little stubborn, and definitely someone who knows what he likes. I like tacos, steak tips and lobster rolls. (Fun fact: I’ve never had a lobster roll until moving here.)
How It All Started
This whole radio thing started for me when I was 15. My mom helped me land a job at a radio station in my hometown (cause she worked there), and I fell in love with radio. I’ve never left this career.
I’ve spent my entire adult life doing this job, and I still feel like I lucked into the best job in the world. No two days are the same. One minute you’re talking about life, the next you’re playing your favorite songs, then suddenly you’re out in the community meeting people who feel like friends you’ve known forever.
Most of my career took me to places like Denver, Charleston, and Richmond. Now, somehow, it’s brought me here to New Hampshire.
Honestly, I look at it like a “this is exactly where I’m supposed to be” moment. It’s a new start on life, so to speak. You will learn more about that as we get to know each other and you listen to the show on 97.5 WOKQ.
Why WOKQ Matters to Me
WOKQ is one of those stations you hear about in radio. It’s got history. It’s got heart. And it’s built around a community that actually cares about local connection and country music throughout New England.
That matters to me.
I don’t want to just “be on the radio.” I want to be part of what’s happening here. The towns, the events, the random conversations at a bar, the places you tell your friends they have to check out.
That’s the fun part of all of this.
What I’m All About
I’m a pretty simple dude:
I’m the guy who would give you the shirt off my back
Glass half full (even when it probably shouldn’t be)
Always smiling
Authentic… sometimes too authentic
And yeah, there are definitely moments where I say something before thinking it all the way through.
So if you ever hear me and think, “Did he really just say that?” There’s a decent chance the answer is yes.
Some Quick Hits About Me
Coffee order: Americano
Drink Order: Old Fashioned or just a good local beer
Favorite food: Tacos (not even close)
Guilty pleasure show: The Big Bang Theory
Pet peeve: Close talkers… and people who are late
Random fact: I once got a tattoo of Dopey from the Seven Dwarfs because a girl I was dating wanted one. We got them together. (Don’t worry, it’s been covered up by a microphone and a rose… and I haven’t heard from her in about 20 years)
Let’s Do This Together
I’m new to town, which means I could really use your help.
Where’s your go-to spot when you just want to get outside? Best place to hike? Kayak? Local bar? Just disappear for a few hours?
READ MORE: Hidden Gems in New Hampshire: 5 Secret Places Worth Discovering
Drop me your favorites, because if there’s one thing I know, it’s that the best recommendations don’t come from Google… they come from you! The ones who actually live it.
And I’m ready to start exploring and getting to know you. So make sure to tune in to Garret & Katie in the Morning! See you there.
BankNH Pavilion: Summer Show Lineup, 2026
Gallery Credit: Sarah Sullivan
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