Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
New Hampshire
‘New Hampshire needs you’: Inside one effort to expand the state's child care workforce
The basement of the United Way of Greater Nashua is ready to party. There are sandwiches, snacks, gifts and balloons to celebrate the most recent class to graduate from the Family Childcare Preparation Program run by the Nashua Smart Start coalition and the Community Engagement Training Center.
The program aims to build the local supply of childcare workers by lowering the entry barriers to get an available online certificate. The program also aims to provide additional support, mentoring and networking for participants. In the year that the program has been in place, it has helped train more than 100 students who speak English, Spanish, Portuguese and Swahili.
“The state of New Hampshire needs you,” said facilitator Emily Ricardo. “Without child care, how can parents go to work?”
New Hampshire, like many other parts of the country, has been grappling with a severe shortage of qualified child care workers, and the issue has become a broader strain on the economy, About 16,000 Granite Staters were out of the workforce every month between September 2022 and October 2023 because they were providing care for children, according to a study from the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute.
The same study found a shortage of approximately 8,300 child care spots statewide in 2021.
As federal funds for health and social services are being cut, United Way Director Liz Fitzgerald hopes to keep the program running anyway. She thanked private supporters like the Community Development Finance Authority and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation for their ongoing support. However, she said there is still mentoring and support available for graduates and encouraged them to keep on going.
“The national government is cutting resources that support child development through the Department of Health and Human Services,” she said. “Our local resources have been diminished, but we have a strong network of private funders. They believe very strongly in the work that you’re doing and planning to do.”
This particular cohort has about a dozen people. It’s a mix of people early on in their career in child care, people switching careers and people who have been running a daycare for years.
This is the case for Carla Torres. She has been working with kids for over 16 years and joined to renew her CPR certification and grow professionally. During a short graduation speech, she encouraged her classmates to keep on going.
“It was hard for me sometimes,” she said in Spanish. “It’s easy to say ‘I don’t speak English at 100%, I can’t do it. There’s too many rules. There’s too much paperwork.’’ But there was always someone who told me that I could make it. When you have a passion for your work, you’re going to reflect it.”
Torres already owns a daycare, but she hopes to expand her skillset so she can eventually work with kids with autism.
Similarly, her classmates also have big dreams. With the certificate, participants have the ability to start working towards bigger goals, like opening a daycare business, working in a school or an established daycare, or taking early childhood classes in college.
New Hampshire
N.H. woman accused of civil rights violation after allegedly shooting at lost man because he was Black
Local News
Diane Durgin, 67, is accused of shooting at a Black man who inadvertently drove to her property after a prearranged truck part sale, prosecutors said.
A New Hampshire woman is accused of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act four times after she allegedly shot at a man because he was Black, prosecutors said.
Diane Durgin, 67, of Weare, N.H. could face up to a $5,000 fine for each violation she is found to have committed, the office of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Tuesday.
Durgin is also charged with criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon and attempted first degree assault with a deadly weapon, Michael Garrity, a media representative for the New Hampshire Attorney General, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.
Durgin had a final pre-trial conference last week, Garrity said.
In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Durgin is accused of threatening physical force against the victim, the AG said. Prosecutors asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Durgin from repeating her alleged behavior and from contacting the victim and his family.
During the morning hours of Oct. 20, 2024, the victim claims, he “mistakenly” drove to Durgin’s home after a prearranged purchase of a truck part with a seller online, prosecutors wrote as part of their request for an injunction.
When the man — whom prosecutors identified in court documents as X.G. — arrived, Durgin allegedly stepped out of her home and approached his car with a gun “holstered by her waist,” prosecutors wrote.
Upon noticing that X.G. was Black, Durgin allegedly “removed her gun and pointed it at X.G.,” prosecutors said in the injunction request.
While X.G. explained that he was lost, Durgin called the victim a “Black mother[expletive],” and threatened to “kill him,” prosecutors allege.
As the victim attempted to drive away, Durgin allegedly took her gun and fired two shots at the fleeing man’s car, missing both times, the AG’s office said.
While on the phone with a dispatcher, Durgin allegedly said she shot the man’s car because the victim is Black, the AG said.
“The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal,” Durgin allegedly said.
Police located X.G. and brought him to the Weare Police Department, stopping along the way at the correct seller’s home to complete the truck part purchase, prosecutors wrote in court documents.
To prove a violation of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act, the AG must show that Durgin “interfered or attempted to interfere with the rights of the victim to engage in lawful activities by threatening to engage in or actually engage in physical force or violence, when such actual or threatening conduct was motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability,” prosecutors said.
Streets of Portsmouth after snow storm
The streets of Portsmouth are still in the process of being cleaned up, as seen the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, following a huge snow storm.
It may be March, but winter in New Hampshire is far from over. Just one week after a blizzard tore through the state with heavy snow and high winds, the state is getting another round of snowfall.
The state will get three to five inches during the evening and night of Tuesday, March 3, says the National Weather Service (NWS) of Gray, Maine. While the accumulation will not be significant, the snowfall may cause dangerous road conditions and a layer of ice on the ground in certain parts of the state.
Here’s what to know before tonight’s snow in New Hampshire, including snow totals and timing.
When will it snow in NH tonight?
According to the NWS, it will start snowing in New Hampshire during mid-afternoon or early evening and continue through the night. Specifically, snow will arrive to the southern part of the state around 2-3 p.m., spreading northwards through the rest of New Hampshire by 5 p.m.
Rain or freezing rain will mix in later this evening across southern New Hampshire, creating a wintry mix. All precipitation should move out of the state by midnight.
Due to the timing of today’s snowfall, the Tuesday evening commute will be affected, with the NWS warning to slow down and exercise caution while driving.
How much snow will NH get tonight?
New Hampshire will get one to four inches of snow tonight, with one to two inches in northern New Hampshire, two to three inches in southern New Hampshire and three to four inches in the center of the state, with the possibility for five inches in localized areas.
In the Seacoast specifically, Portsmouth, Rye, Hampton and York are expected to get between two to three inches of snow, while Dover, Exeter and Rochester may get up to four.
The wintry mix may also cause a light glaze of ice across southern New Hampshire.
NH weather watches and warnings
The NWS has issued a winter weather advisory for the state of New Hampshire, in effect from 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 through 4 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4.
Sign up for weather SMS alerts
News25 minutes ago
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of former supreme leader, tipped to become Iran’s next head of state
West31 minutes ago
Las Vegas first responders conduct seven-hour rescue of injured climber stranded 600 feet up rock face
Midwest37 minutes ago
Breaking: Arkansas Announces Significant Partnership With Tyson Foods, Including New Uniform Patch Logos
Southwest43 minutes ago
Ted Cruz endorses Texas state Rep Steve Toth in GOP primary challenge to Dan Crenshaw
Northeast55 minutes ago
New York AG orders Manhattan hospital to resume gender-transition treatment for transgender youth
Florida1 year ago
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Connecticut2 years ago
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
Oregon2 years ago
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Virginia2 years ago
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana1 year ago
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
News25 minutes ago
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of former supreme leader, tipped to become Iran’s next head of state
News10 hours ago
Video: Senators Question Kristi Noem on ICE Immigration Tactics
Politics11 hours ago
Combustible Republican Senate primary in Texas heading into overtime
World12 hours ago
Hungarian veto proves EU needs less unanimity, says new Dutch PM
News13 hours ago
Pregnant migrant girls are being sent to a Texas shelter flagged as medically risky
-
World6 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts7 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Denver, CO7 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Louisiana1 week agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Oregon5 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling
-
Florida3 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Maryland3 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Culture1 week agoTry This Quiz on Thrilling Books That Became Popular Movies