New Hampshire
Governor Ayotte vetoes ‘bathroom bill’ in N.H., just as her predecessor Chris Sununu did – The Boston Globe
CONCORD, N.H. — Governor Kelly A. Ayotte vetoed legislation on Tuesday that would have rolled back anti-discrimination protections for transgender people in bathrooms, locker rooms, detention facilities, and sports.
In so doing, Ayotte followed in the footsteps of her predecessor, Chris Sununu, a fellow Republican and close ally, who had vetoed the same legislation last year.
While proponents said House Bill 148 would protect people’s privacy rights and physical safety, opponents said the measure would allow discrimination against transgender people.
Ayotte said she sees “legitimate privacy and safety concerns” on this topic, but believes HB 148 was too broad and impractical, and risked creating “an exclusionary environment” for some community members.
“While I believe that the legislature should address this serious issue,” she said, “it must be done in a thoughtful and narrow way that protects the privacy, safety, and rights of all New Hampshire citizens.”
The legislation would have allowed public and private organizations to bar transgender individuals from using certain facilities and participating in certain activities that align with their gender identity.
Unlike the bathroom bills that have passed in other states, such as Florida and Utah, the legislation in New Hampshire would have allowed for sex-based separation in certain settings, without requiring it.
Every state in New England has adopted legal protections on the basis of gender identity. Had this bill been signed into law, New Hampshire would have become the only state in the region to add exceptions for transgender people in certain circumstances, according to Movement Advancement Project.
The legislation would have curtailed protections that Sununu signed into law, when legislators added gender identity to New Hampshire’s existing nondiscrimination statute.
When he vetoed a bill like HB 148 last year, Sununu reiterated his prior statement that discrimination “is unacceptable and runs contrary to New Hampshire’s Live Free or Die Spirit.” He said the bill sought to solve problems that hadn’t cropped up in New Hampshire, and would invite “unnecessary discord.”
Republican Representative Jim Kofalt of Wilton, the prime sponsor of HB 148, disagreed with Sununu’s assessment and said school districts in New Hampshire have struggled to regulate bathroom usage under the current law.
“This is an important change that we need to make in our law so that we can respect everyone’s privacy and security,” he told senators in May.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire opposed the bill, which policy advocate Courtney Reed called “egregiously cruel legislation” that would permit discrimination.
“This discriminatory, detrimental, and regressive bill is an attempt to expel transgender Granite Staters from public life,” she said in a statement ahead of the bill’s passage.
Ayotte said in her veto message that she worried HB 148 would “spur a plethora of litigation against local communities and businesses.”
Ayotte said the provisions of HB 148 that pertain to athletics for women and girls are “weaker” than New Hampshire’s current law, which is being challenged in federal court.
Legal challenges to bathroom bans have had mixed results elsewhere. Some bans have been upheld, such as a March decision from an appeals court in Idaho, while some efforts to reinstate bans have been rejected.
Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee. Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
New Hampshire
6th Highest Powerball Jackpot, $1.25 Billion, Expected On Wednesday Night, New Hampshire Lottery Says
CONCORD, NH — The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday night is expected to be the sixth largest in history, according to the New Hampshire Lottery.
The jackpot is expected to be $1.25 billion. The one-time cash payout should be around $572 million before taxes. No one has won the jackpot since Sept. 6, when winners who purchased tickets in Missouri and Texas split a $1.78 billion jackpot.
Top 10 Jackpots
- $2.04 Billion, Nov. 7, 2022
- $1.787 Billion, Sept. 6, 2025
- $1.765 Billion, Oct. 11, 2023
- $1.586 Billion, Jan. 13, 2016
- $1.326 Billion, April 6, 2024
- $1.25 Billion, Dec. 17, 2025 (anticipated)
- $1.08 Billion, July 19, 2023
- $842.4 Million, Jan. 1, 2024
- $768.4 Million, March 27, 2019
- $758.7 Million, Aug. 23, 2017
The odds of winning the jackpot are 292.2 million to 1. The odds of winning the $1 million prize — matching five numbers without the Powerball are 1 in 11.7 million.
Charlie McIntyre, the executive director of the New Hampshire Lottery, said last week, $2.4 million worth of tickets were sold in the state.
“We’ve gone a number of drawings without a winner, giving this Powerball jackpot plenty of time to rise to the sixth largest of all time,” said “There’s still time to make your holiday season brighter with a chance at this $1.25 billion prize — all you need is $2 to play.”
Revenue from the sales, he said, helps the commission “continue our daily mission to deliver the maximum amount of revenue to public schools in New Hampshire.”
Since 1964, more than $3 billion has been contributed to schools in the Granite State.
Deer have evolved to survive the stark winter months, with adaptations like a warm winter coat and stores of body fat they can use for extra energy. The animals also reduce their activity and food intake to conserve energy and migrate to a forested shelter called a deer yard, which can provide some protection from the elements.
“Although people may feel badly for deer and want to help, the Fish and Game Department would like to remind the public to never feed deer as it may actually harm them,” said Becky Fuda, the deer project leader at New Hampshire Fish and Game.
In 2015, 12 deer were found dead around a feeding site in South Hampton, after they were given food they could not digest, according to Fish and Game.
Microorganisms in the deer’s stomach help them to digest food. The natural diet of deer gradually changes with the seasons, and the microorganisms also change over the course of a few weeks to help them digest different foods.
But a sudden shift from a high-fiber woody diet to a high-carbohydrate diet offered by humans can disrupt the deer’s stomach chemistry, making deer less able to digest food, and releasing toxins.
And Fuda said feeding can have other negative consequences for deer, like increased risk of getting hit by a car and increased risk of disease transmission.
“Fish and Game strongly discourages the practice,” she said.
There are about 100,000 white-tailed deer in New Hampshire, according to an estimate from Fish and Game.
This story appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. To receive it via email Monday through Friday, sign up here.
Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.
NASHUA, N.H. — An investigation into a September burglary involving the theft of $150,000 in jewelry from a store led to an arrest on Tuesday.
The Nashua Police identified the suspect as Nathan Ladue, 34, of Nashua, who was taken into custody on a felony warrant for receiving stolen property.
The case began on Sept. 28 when officers were called to a burglary report at Euddy Jewelry, located at 108 E. Hollis St. Police said that surveillance footage showed a white male driving a vehicle in the area that was registered to Ladue.
Detectives from the department’s Criminal Investigation Division obtained search warrants for Ladue’s vehicle and residence, which allegedly uncovered multiple pieces of stolen jewelry along with illegal drugs.
Ladue was subsequently arrested on a felony warrant on Tuesday.
He is charged with two counts of receiving stolen property, a Class A felony; two counts of possession of a controlled drug, a Class B felony; and receiving stolen property, a Class A misdemeanor.
Ladue was held without bail pending his arraignment at 9th Circuit Nashua District Court on Wednesday. The outcome of the hearing was not immediately available.
Police are asking anyone with information about the case to call the Nashua Police Department Crime Line at 603-589-1665.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
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