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NHPR, NH PBS set to lose federal funding after cuts clear Congress

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NHPR, NH PBS set to lose federal funding after cuts clear Congress


New Hampshire Public Radio and New Hampshire PBS are among the media outlets who will see major cuts to their funding streams following votes in Congress this week to defund public broadcasting.

On a near party-line vote, Republican lawmakers approved a rescission package backed by President Trump that will cut $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The CPB, in turn, awards grants to local stations across the public radio and television network.

For New Hampshire Public Radio, the cuts amount to more than $400,000, or 6% of the station’s annual budget. In a fundraising appeal sent Friday morning, NHPR CEO Jim Schachter said the rescission puts a “permanent gap” in the station’s budget.

“Our short-term response includes cost-cutting, of course; the demand for efficiency is greater than ever,” he said.

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New Hampshire PBS receives 18% of its budget — or $1.3 million — in the form of grants from the CPB. Earlier this week, vice president Dawn DeAngelis said the loss of that money won’t be easy to make up, but that the organization is hoping to avoid layoffs or a reduction in local programming.

“We’ve been preparing for this eventuality for a while,” DeAngelis said. “We’ve been communicating with people across the system. So I feel that we’re better prepared to handle it. Will it be difficult? Yes.”

Cuts to ripple across the country

Roughly 2% of NPR’s budget comes through federal funds. For PBS, that share comes to about 15%. Both NPR and PBS also receive additional federal money in the form of payments from member stations that receive government funds.

The reliance on federal funding by local stations varies considerably across the nation. Stations in more rural or remote parts of the country tend to rely far more heavily on federal funding to stay afloat.

While public broadcasting has enjoyed bipartisan support in Washington for decades, Trump has repeatedly accused NPR of political bias. The network has denied those allegations, but was unable to convince the Republican majority in Congress to protect its funding.

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Big financial impacts for other New England stations

Regionally, other New England public media organizations say they are still assessing the impact of the funding cuts on their bottom lines.

Boston’s two public media outlets — WBUR and GBH — say they expect to lose millions of dollars from the funding cuts. GBH was set to receive about 8% of its budget — or $18 million — from the CPB in the coming fiscal year. For WBUR, about 3% of its annual budget, or $1.6 million, comes from that source.

But for both news organizations, the financial losses could mount much higher, as both GBH and WBUR take in millions of dollars in sponsorships and syndication fees from other stations that pay to air their programs, including Here and Now, The World, and Frontline. Stations could decide to drop that programming as part of their own cost-cutting efforts.

“This is a painful moment,” said WBUR CEO Margaret Low. “We may be defunded but we feel determined to carry on and continue to serve the city and the country with high-quality journalism.”

Elsewhere in New England, Maine Public says it will lose about 12% of its budget due to the loss of federal funding. And Vermont Public says it gets about 10% of its annual funding from the CPB — or about $2 million a year.

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Editor’s note: This story was edited by NHPR’s Dan Barrick. No other NHPR staff or management provided input or reviewed the story before publication.





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New Hampshire

N.H. lawmakers to vote on increasing tolls, civil rights, and k-12 education – The Boston Globe

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N.H. lawmakers to vote on increasing tolls, civil rights, and k-12 education – The Boston Globe


One proposal (Senate Bill 627) would generate more than $53 million per year in estimated revenue for turnpike projects by essentially doubling what certain cars pay on the state’s toll roads.

The cash fare for Hampton’s main toll booth on Interstate 95, for example, would jump from $2 to $4 for cars and pickup trucks. The toll wouldn’t increase at all for motorists who use New Hampshire’s E-ZPass transponders.

“Surrounding states already have the same in-state discount structure in place,” Democratic Representative Martin Jack of Nashua wrote on behalf of a House committee that unanimously recommended the bill.

A potential hitch: Governor Kelly Ayotte. She’s expressed opposition to the whole toll-hiking idea, and proven she’s not afraid to use her veto pen.

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Modifying civil rights standard

Another proposal (Senate Bill 464) would add a few words to the state’s Civil Rights Act. Instead of addressing conduct that is merely “motivated by” a legally protected characteristic, the proposed revision would address conduct that is “substantially motivated by hostility towards the victim’s” protected characteristic (such as their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability).

The prime sponsor, Republican Senator Daryl Abbas, an attorney, testified the change was small and aligned with the law’s intent. But the attorney who oversees the Civil Rights Unit at the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Sean Locke, testified in opposition, saying the proposal could reduce protections, especially since the meaning of “substantially” is somewhat vague.

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The House is also weighing a proposed amendment that would add a few more words than Abbas’s version, potentially narrowing the Civil Rights Act’s applicability a bit further.

Open enrollment for K-12 schools

A third proposal up for a vote on Thursday (Senate Bill 101) would make every K-12 public school in New Hampshire an “open enrollment” school. That way, students could freely choose to transfer to a district other than the one where they live.

The proposed policy is controversial, partly because of how schools are funded. Districts rely mostly on local property taxes to cover their costs, as the state government chips in relatively little, and property tax rates vary widely from one community to the next. That generates concern about who will foot the bill when a student transfers.

In light of those concerns, Republicans are offering a compromise amendment to SB 101 that would require the state to provide more money per pupil that a district receives via open enrollment, as the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Democrats are offering their own amendment to establish a study commission on this topic, rather than adopt the proposed policy now.

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Lawmakers have until May 14 to take action on the bills that came from the other chamber, though they have until June 4 to iron out any discrepancies.

Amanda Gokee of the Globe staff contributed to this report.


This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.


Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.





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Boston MedFlight expands into NH

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Boston MedFlight expands into NH


Boston MedFlight often touches down at the scene of some of the worst tragedies in New England – where minutes can mean life or death for a victim. The critical care transport operation is now expanding with a new base in New Hampshire.

The organization is hosting an open house at the new Manchester location on Thursday.

Boston MedFlight flies a critical care transport paramedic and nurse on every flight. Jaik Hanley-McCarthy says their helicopters and ground vehicles are equipped to handle just about any emergency medical procedure.

“Anything that can be done in the ICU,” explained Hanley-McCarthy. “We have a mobile lab so we can draw blood and run labs in real time.”

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Boston MedFlight now has five bases across the region.

“Having a base in Manchester just expands this Boston-level care even further north to the more remote areas of the state,” said Hanley-McCarthy.

Boston MedFlight operates as a network of bases and some of the locations are staffed 24 hours.

Chief Executive Officer Maura Hughes says the nonprofit operation survives on public and private donations.

“We provide about $7 million in free care every year to patients,” said Hughes. “Not every hospital can be everything to every patient. We’re really the glue that keeps the health care system together.”

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Heather Young says her daughter, Teighan, is still alive because she was flown for a critical assessment and procedure after falling off a truck and hitting her head.

“She should not be driving and walking and talking and all the things she’s doing as quickly as she is,” said Young.

Teighan just turned 18 and plans to go to college to study the medical field.

“I want to be a nurse and help other people,” she said.

It’s stories like this that keep the men and women who work Boston MedFlight focused on their mission.

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“I think we just go call by call and try to do the best we can,” said Hanley-McCarthy. “I think when we stop and truly think about it, I think that weight is pretty heavy.”

Boston MedFlight also has a yearly reunion where patients and the team get together here in Bedford to meet and check in on their progress. It really shows you how connected they are to the people they help.



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Hiker who set out in warm spring weather found dead after snowstorm in New Hampshire mountains

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Hiker who set out in warm spring weather found dead after snowstorm in New Hampshire mountains


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A Massachusetts hiker who set out in warm spring weather was found dead deep in New Hampshire’s White Mountains after a snowstorm dumped several inches of snow in the area, authorities said.

Kent Wood, 61, of West Roxbury, was discovered Tuesday evening on a remote section of the Kinsman Pond Trail in Franconia Notch, about 5.5 miles from his vehicle, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game.

Wood had driven to Franconia Notch on April 17 for a weekend camping and hiking trip, and set out on a hike the next morning in warm, clear weather, officials said. Family and friends last heard from him Saturday afternoon.

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When he failed to return or make contact for two days, officials said relatives reported him missing Tuesday morning, prompting a large-scale search.

HIKER IDENTIFIED, POPULAR TRAIL CLOSED AFTER DEADLY FALL A UTAH’S ZION NATIONAL PARK

An aerial view of Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire, where a hiker was found dead on Tuesday. (Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group, File)

Rescuers quickly learned Wood had packed for mild conditions, not the three to five inches of snow that fell in the area between Sunday and Monday.

Fog hovers over a narrow road through Franconia Notch in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire on Dec. 27, 2021. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis)

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Search teams from Fish and Game, PEMI Valley Search and Rescue, and the Army National Guard launched a coordinated effort, focusing on the Lonesome Lake and Kinsman Pond areas.

FAMILY’S SPRING BREAK HIKE TURNS INTO LIFE-OR-DEATH RESCUE AFTER PARENT FALLS 70 FEET OFF UTAH CLIFF

Conservation officers located Wood’s body around 7:41 p.m. Tuesday. Crews carried him out overnight, reaching the trailhead shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

Franconia Notch and the Appalachian Trail are seen in New Hampshire on Sept. 21. (Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

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Since Friday, six hikers from Massachusetts have been rescued in the White Mountains, Fish and Game said.

Officials are reminding hikers that winter conditions still grip the mountains, with snow, freezing temperatures and rapidly changing weather.



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