New Hampshire
Council approves $16 million change to Bedford tolls, confirms new member of PUC • New Hampshire Bulletin
The Executive Council on Wednesday agreed to convert the toll plaza on F.E. Everett Turnpike in Bedford to all-electronic tolling, meaning vehicles won’t slow down to pay.
On a 3-2 vote, the councilors approved a nearly $16 million contract between the Department of Transportation and R.S. Audley Inc., a construction company based in Bow. They also OK’d a contingency of just under $800,000 for “unforeseen issues” during construction. The project is funded through the state Bureau of Turnpikes’ Capital Program and is expected to be completed by September 2027.
This project will replace the traditional toll plaza with an overhead, boothless system that doesn’t require vehicles to pump the brakes. That means people won’t be able to pay with cash as they pass through the toll, a point that split the council. Instead, E-ZPasses will be captured by the system, or travelers can pay online within seven days or through a mailed invoice.
A minimum of two lanes of traffic will run on both sides of the highway during construction, and there will be three lanes of traffic both ways once completed, according to documents DOT submitted to the council and governor.
DOT Commissioner William Cass said toll plazas have posed safety concerns, pointing to “horrific” accidents where people have driven into the barriers. Besides eliminating the accident risk posed by the barriers, it will also help “increase capacity” and “decrease emissions from idling cars,” according to DOT.
Gov. Chris Sununu said the all-electronic tolling should be considered on a “case-by-case basis, if it’s expanded at all.”
The outgoing Republican governor met with the Executive Council for his third-to-last time Wednesday. Come January, the long table on the second floor of the State House will be surrounded by some new faces, but it will have the same party makeup: 4 Republican councilors, one Democrat, and another Republican governor, Kelly Ayotte, at the helm.
In other news from the meeting:
- On a 3-2 vote, the council confirmed Mark Dell’Orfano, an assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice, to the Public Utilities Commission.
- Sununu nominated Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais to serve on the state Boxing and Wrestling Commission, which helps provide “a framework for the conduct and performance of all boxing and mixed martial arts bouts and wrestling exhibitions” under its jurisdiction, according to its webpage.
- The council approved the use of federal funds for an energy efficiency program, which will provide rebates for income-eligible residents to purchase certain electronic appliances. The program is expected to launch early next summer, said Joshua Elliot, director of the division of policy and programs at the Department of Energy.
- Sununu gave some hints as to what’s next for him, saying it would probably be a mix of things. He told reporters he has been looking at opportunities in the private sector, which may include sitting on boards, “helping companies navigate and strategize around avoiding political landmines,” or perhaps media. “I haven’t signed on the dotted line with anything yet,” he said.
The New Hampshire Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Saturday, July 4, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from July 4 drawing
17-38-46-50-69, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from July 4 drawing
Day: 6-5-3
Evening: 8-0-6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from July 4 drawing
Day: 9-8-1-3
Evening: 2-9-4-1
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Megabucks Plus numbers from July 4 drawing
06-10-19-22-33, Megaball: 04
Check Megabucks Plus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 4 drawing
17-20-37-40-43, Bonus: 04
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.
250 years in, and America is still a work in progress. Many American poets have written hymns and howls, declarations and outcries for this country that brims with so many people, and so many hopes, from all over the world.
“I Hear America Singing,” Walt Whitman wrote, in the 1850s.
“…the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
…The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else…”
Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” was inscribed on the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal in 1903. It’s a poem in praise of immigrants who were cast out from other lands and found safe harbor in America.
“Give me your tired, your poor,” wrote Emma Lazarus.
“… your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
But Langston Hughes’ 1949 poem, “Freedom,” reminds us that many Black American families did not sail to America under the flame of a welcoming lamp, but were captive, shackled, to be sold into bondage. After the Emancipation Proclamation, many still endured segregation, bigotry and the constant threat of racist violence.
“I tire so of hearing people say, let things take their course,” wrote Langston Hughes.
“Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.”
This week, as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship, you might read Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s 2017 poem, “Learning to Love America,” about how immigrants make America their own as they start families here.
“…because to have a son is to have a country,” she writes.
“…because my son will bury me here
because countries are in our blood and we bleed them”
The America great poets see is imperfect, unsettled, and unfinished, even after 250 years. Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote in 1958 these words that still ring out:
“…I am waiting
for a rebirth of wonder
and I am waiting for someone
to really discover America”
Copyright 2026 NPR
A Times Square Ball Drop, a rolling series of ball drops, timed to occur at midnight on July 3 in every U.S. time zone from Guam to American Samoa, is part of the “Giving 4th Broadcast Benefit Show,” creating a nearly 24-hour celebration of the 250th anniversary. It’s part of the broader “Giving 4th” initiative that aims to make and establish Independence Day the biggest annual day of giving.
A time capsule will be buried in Philadelphia to be opened in 2276 on July 4. It contains a carefully curated collection of letters and artifacts reflecting the leadership, institutions, and communities that shape the country today. It will include contributions from all three branches of the U.S. federal government and submissions from each of the 50 states, Washington D.C., and five territories.
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