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Heath: Our kids deserve better

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Heath: Our kids deserve better


On Friday nights at our offices in Portsmouth you’ll hear the sound of laughter coming from one of the many classrooms in our building. You are likely to see a group of middle and high school students working on an art project, debriefing their school week, or talking about their latest crush. They come from diverse families and backgrounds across the Seacoast (and beyond). What ties them together is their experience as LGBTQ+ youth and students. They have an opportunity to be seen, heard, and held in a community of their peers. It is my incredible privilege as the Executive Director of Seacoast Outright to help create space for community and joy in a time when our kids (and their families) are increasingly under attack.

I have long been proud that New Hampshire has consistently, and clearly, supported the rights of LGBTQ+ Granite Staters, and in particular, those of our LGBTQ+ youth. In 2018, Governor Sununu signed a landmark transgender anti-discrimination bill into law. This bill offered critical protections in housing, public accommodations, and more for transgender Granite Staters. He also signed a bill that banned the harmful practice of conversion therapy for minors. Governor Sununu did the right thing then. My question is: what about now, Governor?

The last two years have seen unprecedented attacks on LGBTQ+ youth. We stand on the precipice of the passage of multiple pieces of devastating legislation for transgender youth and their families in New Hampshire. Despite a resounding defeat last May, we are again facing a bill that forcibly outs students to their parents. The legislature is considering multiple bans on the participation of transgender girls in sports, and a major dismantling of the 2018 non-discrimination protections our Governor was eager to sign just five years ago. But this time around, Sununu has been silent.

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On behalf of LGBTQ+ youth and families across the Granite State, I want to be loud and clear: nothing has changed since 2018, Governor Sununu. Instead, the national climate for LGBTQ+ youth has gotten more hostile, not less.

Middle school and high school are hard enough already – for all kids. Being trans in this climate makes it even harder. They don’t need politicians bullying them by allowing these dangerous bills to become law.

There is a deep and profound cost to the dehumanizing rhetoric we are seeing at the State House and the silence we are seeing from Governor Sununu. We see its impact every day at Seacoast Outright. Our kids and their families are terrified and struggling. We have lost youth in the LGBTQ+ community in New Hampshire to suicide in the last year as a result of having to watch their personhood be debated by those who are charged to protect and care for them.

The Trevor Project recently released a statistic that 47% of transgender and non-binary youth believe their chances of living to 35 are low. My heart breaks when I read that data, and yet, I understand why it can feel that way. They see too few adults working to protect and care for them, and far too many doing the opposite. 

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All of our kids deserve to be safe at school. They deserve confidential access to safe adults to process their coming out stories and identities on their own terms. They deserve access to spaces and places they need to thrive.

All of our kids deserve the protective factors that come with being part of a team sport. What young person doesn’t hope for a deeper sense of belonging, the camaraderie of their peers, and a chance to excel at something? This is an essential piece of growing up.

Instead, we are on the cusp of making schools less safe and taking away access to sports. Our kids deserve better than this, Governor Sununu. Seacoast Outright’s kids, your kids, and all of the children of the Granite State deserve better.

This is an opportunity to remember your own words from 2018: “Discrimination – in any form – is unacceptable and runs contrary to New Hampshire’s Live Free or Die Spirit. If we really want to be the Live Free or Die State, we must ensure that New Hampshire is a place where every person, regardless of their background, has an equal and full opportunity to pursue their dreams and to make a better life for themselves and their families.” 

At our Outright parents and caregivers group we ask the question: who are you here for? I’ll ask that same question to you, Governor. Who are YOU here for? Our state’s LGBTQ+ youth deserve to know. It’s time for you to speak up now. Granite Staters are waiting.

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Heidi Carrington Heath (she/hers) serves as the Executive Director of Seacoast Outright, NH’s oldest LGBTQ+ organization. Seacoast Outright serves, supports, and advocates for LGBTQ+ youth across New Hampshire. Heidi is passionate about building a Granite State where all of NH’s kids can thrive. She lives in Exeter.



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CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Driver seen driving across Windham, NH lawn late at night – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Driver seen driving across Windham, NH lawn late at night – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


WINDHAM, N.H. (WHDH) – Police are searching for a person seen on camera driving across a lawn in Windham, New Hampshire.

Windham police say on April 25, around midnight, a driver plowed across a lawn on Trails Edge Road in Windham.

Police say the vehicle is believed to be a late 1990s-early 2000s Chevrolet Silverado, but the color in unknown due to the video being black and white.

A next-door neighbor says their driveway was just redone one day before the incident.

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“The boys came in the other morning. I was surprised I didn’t hear anything,” she said. “That’s not that bad but kind of scary, though. I just hope it never happens again.”

The incident is still under investigation.

(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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Commission sets sights on UNESCO recognition for Mount Washington – NH Business Review

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Commission sets sights on UNESCO recognition for Mount Washington – NH Business Review


Ice coats instruments, buildings and rock fields atop Mount Washington. The peak’s extreme weather is one reason members of the Mount Washington Commission say they are seeking potential UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the peak. (Photo by Charlie Peachey, courtesy of the Mount Washington Observatory)

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Egypt’s Great Pyramids, Arizona’s Grand Canyon … and New Hampshire’s own Mount Washington?

At their April meeting, the group of institutions that steward the Northeast’s tallest mountain voted, 9-1, to take a preliminary step toward pursuing UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for the peak. The process may take years to decades, but if it is successful, Mount Washington could become the first site in New England to rank on the internationally recognized list.

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The possibility requires unique considerations, commission members said, including the need it would create to manage increased visitation that is already straining the summit’s alpine ecosystem and infrastructure.

Mount Washington Commission Chair Rob Kirsch believes the designation would be a boon for the mountain, bringing in not only more visitors but also more funding to invest in making the peak more resilient to traffic. Kirsch said he sees the application as a chance to showcase the wonder of Mount Washington at a grander scale.

“It will lead to an improved experience for people, generally,” Kirsch said. “It will give the state something to really be proud of.”

A property must meet at least one of 10 criteria to be considered for World Heritage Site status, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Mount Washington could invoke several categories in its application, including one for sites that “contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.”

There are many steps before Mount Washington could potentially be added to that list. The motion approved at the April 17 meeting of the Mount Washington Commission was the first: At that meeting, the commission approved pursuing “Tentative List” status for the mountain. One site is selected from that national list each year for submission to the United Nations World Heritage Committee.

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To move ahead, the application must receive support from the federal government. The commission has engaged with federal officials, and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has been supportive of the project, commission members said.

“Mount Washington’s unique natural environment, scientific significance and rich history deserve global recognition,” Shaheen said in a statement to the Bulletin. “I am proud to support the Commission as they work to have our region’s most iconic peak designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

From here, Kirsch said, the process may take decades. UNESCO designation typically boosts visitorship to a site, and proponents generally point to the associated regional economic boost as a benefit of the status. But the list has also been criticized as contributing to overtourism that can degrade sites or harm the communities around them. While it can boost public awareness of a place, there is no funding attached to the status itself.

The Mount Washington Commission is guided by a 2022 master plan for the mountain’s stewardship and conservation. In November 2025, the commission reviewed preliminary results from an assessment conducted as part of that plan, showing that crowds and climate change were large factors in the strain on the summit’s delicate natural environment and aging infrastructure.

With significant investment, the summit could readily accommodate significant crowds, said Kirsch, who is also an environmental lawyer, former weather observer at the Mount Washington Observatory, and a member of the observatory’s board of trustees. It’s not clear yet where the money for those investments will come from, but Kirsch said he hoped the UNESCO designation would help.

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“You can bring as many people as you want to Mount Washington as long as you make sufficient infrastructure investment to protect the environment,” he said.

The commission is still waiting for more results from the summit’s environmental assessment, but Kirsch said the boost to visitation would not affect the environment if the commission adheres to the guidelines laid out in the Master Plan. Rather, he said, the investments he hopes designation would help secure could help prevent any danger from overcrowding and ensure the mountain’s environment is protected.

He added that the benefit of a UNESCO designation would go beyond the businesses operating on the mountain — which include the Mount Washington Auto Road and the Mount Washington Cog Railway — to boost others throughout the North Country.


This story was originally produced by the New Hampshire Bulletin, an independent local newsroom that allows NH Business Review and other outlets to republish its reporting.

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Investigation into woman’s 2007 death resolved, NH officials say

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Investigation into woman’s 2007 death resolved, NH officials say


New Hampshire authorities said Thursday that they have resolved their investigation into the death of a woman nearly 20 years ago.

On Feb. 24, 2007, 25-year-old Carrie Hicks was found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head at the Acworth home of Wayne Ring, who was found alive in the same room with a single gunshot wound to the head.

Ring died at the age of 57 on May 26, 2012.

Investigators officially determined Ring fatally shot Hicks before attempting to take his own life.

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People who knew Hicks and Ring told authorities that they had formed a suicide “pact” and openly discussed suicide.

“Witness testimony revealed that Ms. Hicks had specifically instructed Mr. Ring to shoot her twice so she would not be left alive,” the office of Attorney General John Formella wrote in a press release.

A review of the autopsy report this year, along with a forensic reconstruction of bloodstain patterns, demonstrated that it was “medically and physically impossible” for Hicks to have fired the second shot she sustained, officials said. They added that, beyond a reasonable doubt, she could not have inflicted either injury on herself, and that Ring fatally shot Hicks before turning the gun on himself.

Formella said that if Ring were alive, there would be sufficient evidence to prosecute a first-degree murder case against him.

“We hope that the conclusion of this investigation brings a measure of clarity and peace to the loved ones of Carrie Hicks,” he said in a statement. “This resolution underscores the commitment of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit. By thoroughly re-examining the forensic evidence, witness statements, and autopsy records, our investigators have finally established the truth behind this tragic loss of life.”

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