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New Hampshire rejects calls to secede from US, but more Republicans say it should

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New Hampshire rejects calls to secede from US, but more Republicans say it should


New Hampshire lawmakers rejected the latest push for the state to secede from the union and become an independent nation on Thursday despite a growing number of Republicans in favor of secession.

The state’s House voted against a proposed state constitutional amendment that would require the state to leave the United States if the country’s debt reached $40 trillion. It also rejected a bill that would form a committee to examine the “economic, legal and sociological aspects of New Hampshire exerting its sovereign state rights.”

If the proposed amendment had succeeded, it would have gone to voters, who would need to approve the amendment by a two-thirds majority. One in 5 voters said they would consider secession in a poll by the University of New Hampshire, according to Newsweek.

“In general, the talk of secession across the states is mostly just that, talk,” Nicholas Creel, a business law professor at Georgia College and State University, told Newsweek. “We’re in a highly polarized period where the parties are very far apart ideologically, making compromise difficult. These sorts of calls for breaking up the union are deeply unserious, supported by only those who don’t fully understand what secession would entail.”

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Creel added that secession itself is against the law and would require “political violence” in order to make it happen, which he said the U.S. is not prepared for.

The vote comes as a similar movement heats up in Texas, fueled in part by the border crisis. The movement has 619,000 active members and is the third-largest party in the state, behind Republicans and Democrats, according to the Texas Nationalist Movement.

“This [border] crisis directly affects the lives of Texans right here and now, prompting our independence debate even more,” said Daniel Miller, the party’s president. “So much so that the question at hand is not if Texas will achieve independence but when.”

New Hampshire Republican state Rep. Jason Gerhard, who sponsored the latest New Hampshire amendment, said his state would have an alliance with Texas if both seceded from the union. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

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“Freedom is not an abstract notion, it is a way of life, and the federal government continues to overlook the freedoms of both Texas and New Hampshire,” Gerhard wrote to the Texas Nationalist Movement in a letter Wednesday. “We believe that the shared principles, desires, and plights of Texans and Granite Staters highlight the importance of maintaining a relationship with one another. As New Hampshire makes its efforts to secure independence, it promises to strengthen the voices of both regions.”

Although discussion surrounding secession has been popping up for years, no serious attempt has been made since the Civil War.



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New Hampshire

Special Broadcast: The Youth Development Center from NHPR's Document Team

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Special Broadcast: The Youth Development Center from NHPR's Document Team


Tune in Friday, June 28 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, June 29 at 12 p.m. for a special one-hour broadcast of The Youth Detention Center from NHPR’s Document team.

More than a thousand people have come forward to say they were abused by adults in charge at New Hampshire’s juvenile jail, known as YDC or the Youth Development Center, and other youth facilities run or contracted by the state. And people are still coming forward. How did this happen – and how did it finally come to light?

The project is a rare look inside the black box of the juvenile justice system, where privacy laws meant to protect kids also hid abuse. Jason uncovers confidential documents and previously untold stories of misconduct and retaliation, as well as surprising moments of courage, compassion, and triumph.

The team also produced a three-part podcast series called “The Youth Development Center,” hosted by NHPR’s Jason Moon. All three episodes are available now wherever you get your podcasts.

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New Hampshire teacher says student she drove to abortion clinic was 18, denies law was broken

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New Hampshire teacher says student she drove to abortion clinic was 18, denies law was broken


CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A private school teacher who says she was fired after driving an 18-year-old student to get an abortion is suing New Hampshire’s Department of Education and officials she says falsely suggested she circumvented state law.

New Hampshire law requires parents to receive written notice at least 48 hours before an abortion is performed on an unemancipated minor. But in this case, the student wasn’t living with her parents and was a legal adult, according to the lawsuit filed Monday.

The teacher, who filed the suit as “Jane Doe,” said she provided the student with contact information for a community health center last fall when the student disclosed her suspected pregnancy and later gave her a ride to the appointment in October. The school fired her within days and referred the matter to the Department of Education, which revoked her teaching license earlier this month.

The lawsuit says the department exceeded its authority and violated her due process rights by revoking her credentials without a fair and impartial process. And it accuses Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut of pushing a false narrative of her conduct via an opinion piece he published in April.

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The essay, titled “Thank God Someone is Looking Out for the Children,” was published in response to New Hampshire Public Radio reports critical of the commissioner. In it, Edelblut asked rhetorically whether the department should “turn a blind eye” when “allegedly, an educator lies by calling in sick so they can take a student – without parental knowledge – to get an abortion.”

According to the lawsuit, department officials knew for months prior to the essay’s publication that the student in question was an adult and thus not subject to the parental notification law.

Kimberly Houghton, spokesperson for the department, declined to comment on its investigation of the teacher and referred questions about the lawsuit to the attorney general’s office. Michael Garrity, spokesperson for that agency, said Wednesday that officials are reviewing it and will respond in due course. Attorneys for the teacher did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The teacher’s firing was first reported last week by The Boston Globe, based on investigatory records it requested from the Education Department. The lawsuit said the department’s “biased and stilted disclosure” of information that should have remained confidential until the case was settled created a misleading narrative that damaged the teacher’s reputation and put her at risk.

A hearing is scheduled for July 3, five days before the teacher is set to begin a new job.

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Neighbors in this N.H. town came together to repair a senior citizen’s greenhouse after it was damaged in a storm – The Boston Globe

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Neighbors in this N.H. town came together to repair a senior citizen’s greenhouse after it was damaged in a storm – The Boston Globe


“She’s a beautiful old lady,” said Kevin Parker, 70. “We just wanted to help her.”

Parker, who also lives in Fitzwilliam, was one of the neighbors who joined the team to help repair the greenhouse. He said work got underway a few weeks ago, after he and another neighbor, Todd Reed, had assembled a team.

“It became like a barn raising thing for a couple of days,” Parker said. The repairs took about 15 hours, according to Parker, who has been spending summers in Fitzwilliam for as long as he can remember. Twenty-five years ago, he became a full-time resident.

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Todd Reed said the team of volunteers stripped rotten wood off the frame of the greenhouse and cut two pieces of 40-foot plastic to drape over the frame. Amanda Gokee/Globe Staff

Parker, who is a retired general contractor turned vegetable farmer, said Bullock is beloved in town, and when it became clear that she needed help, people were willing to volunteer.

“She’s been struggling,” he said. “The thing got ripped a couple of years ago. Rolls of replacement have been there since the fall, but no one got the ball going to help her.”

That changed this spring, when her longtime neighbor Todd Reed, 60, led the repair effort.

When Reed moved to Fitzwilliam in 1986, Bullock and her husband were the first people he met. Her husband passed away in 2017, but Bullock has kept the farm stand going on her own.

“She’s just one of the nicest, sweetest ladies you ever want to meet,” said Reed, who was happy to work on the repairs after Bullock called him and asked for help. He has an auto body repair shop and raises honey bees.

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Reed said the team stripped rotten wood off the frame of the greenhouse and cut two pieces of 40-foot plastic to drape over the frame. They also installed ventilation and a double-layer of plastic that can be filled with air in the winter to provide extra warmth.

Some people were there for their knowledge, while others were just needed to hold the huge piece of plastic, according to Reed.

“You’ve got to realize unrolling a piece of plastic that size, if you get any wind at all, it makes a pretty big kite,” he said. “You need people just to hold down the corners. They don’t necessarily need to know what they’re doing, they just need to be a body holding a corner.”

Thanks to his recruitment, he said there plenty of bodies: around eight to 10 people were there to help, which was enough to avoid the kite scenario.

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Frances Bullock’s farm stand has been a roadside fixture in Fitzwilliam for at least the past 40 years. Amanda Gokee/Globe Staff

Reed said the repair should last for about three to five years before it needs to get done again.

Bullock has already filled the greenhouse with annual flowers that she can sell this year.

“I’m really happy to have this,” Bullock said. She said the money from the farm stand helps her pay to heat her house in the winter.

Bullock said she started the farm stand about 40 years ago. “We grew more than we could eat and neighbors kept coming by looking for stuff,” she said.

Now, she said the ears of corn have become a favorite among her customers.

“Fitzwilliam is split politically but all the residents love the loons on Laurel Lake and Mrs. Bullock’s corn,” said Barbara Schecter, a longtime summer resident of Fitzwilliam.

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Residents said in the town of about 2,400, it’s typical for neighbors look out for each other.

“I’ve been helped through times, too,” Parker said. “It is a place where money’s not the first issue.”


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Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.





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