New Hampshire
NH House follows RFK Jr., approves ending hepatitis B requirement
The state House voted, 186-168, Feb. 12 to remove hepatitis B from the list of required vaccines in New Hampshire.
Rep. Kelley Potenza, a Rochester Republican and sponsor of House Bill 1719, framed it as an effort to align with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which under new Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has moved in a controversial direction on vaccines.
In December, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to change the federal government’s guidance to not recommend the hepatitis B vaccine at birth for infants unless the mother tested positive for the virus. The decision came months after Kennedy fired every member of the panel and replaced many of them with fellow vaccine skeptics and was condemned by dozens of major medical organizations.
Potenza has in the past argued that aluminum ingredients in the vaccines cause myriad health complications. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the CDC have all previously reported that aluminum is included in vaccines in doses too small to be toxic.
Supporters say the bill targets government overreach
“What (HB 1719) does is make the hep B vaccination a real choice,” Rep. Matt Drew, a Manchester Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, said on the House floor. “Not a government mandate with the force of the state behind it and the lurking threat of being banned from your day care or school if you refuse.”
State law allows for exemptions on religious and medical grounds, though Drew argued these were insufficient.
Democrats say bill harms public health
The bill was passed over Democrats’ opposition, who decried the bill’s potential effects on public health.
Rep. William Palmer, a Cornish Democrat, noted that since the universal hepatitis B vaccine was introduced in 1991, “there’s been a 99% drop in infant infections.” After 1 billion doses administered around the world, he said, it has proven to be “one of the safest and most effective of all vaccines.” Indeed, from 1993 to 2019, there was a 99% drop in infections among children and adolescents, according to a letter from the American Public Health Association and a coalition of health professionals.
“The peer-reviewed data around the world supports this impressive safety profile,” Palmer said. “And we should not be misled by reports that have not been subjected to such vigorous review.”
This bill will be considered by the House Finance Committee before it heads to the Senate.
Vaccine religious exemption bill passes, too
In a 197-163 vote, the House also approved another vaccine related bill, House Bill 1584. The bill would allow parents to receive religious exemptions from vaccines simply by providing any written statement attesting to the religious exemption as opposed to filling out a specific form created by the Department of Health and Human Services, as is the process now.
Additionally, the bill would require that any time the Department of Health and Human Services promotes vaccines, it must write that “medical and religious exemptions are available under New Hampshire law” in “bold, clearly noticeable, starred print on the front or top portion of the material.”
The original version of the bill imposed a fine of up to $1,000 on any department employee or officer who violates this requirement, but the bill was amended before it passed to allow department management to handle disciplinary action.
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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