“How should the Department respond when a parent has reached out to express concern that a teacher had called a student a ‘White supremacist’ and confiscated their Trump flag while ignoring the student wearing the Pride flag? … Or when an art teacher, rather than teaching art, introduces children to Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ for Kids, without consulting with parents or school leadership,” he wrote. “Should we look the other way?”
In that list, Edelblut briefly mentioned a teacher having been accused of lying to take the student to “get an abortion” without their parents knowing.
“Should we turn a blind eye?” he asked, rhetorically.
By stoking concerns about secrecy between school personnel and students, Edelblut’s op-ed echoed a contentious debate over “parental rights” legislation that state lawmakers considered in 2022 and 2023. Edelblut, a socially conservative former GOP candidate for governor, expressed disappointment last year when the legislation was defeated.
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His op-ed included enough detail to inspire public mistrust of New Hampshire educators, but not enough detail to verify its allegations. It didn’t cite evidence to substantiate the abortion-related allegation, and neither Edelblut nor a spokesperson for the Department of Education would tell the Globe in April whether the allegation had been investigated and deemed credible.
A month later, in late May, in response to a public records request from the Globe, the department released a heavily redacted one-page report about the incident, and posted it publicly online. The letterhead, address, and name of the investigating party were redacted.
The document said the teacher had told investigators she helped the student “determine how far along they were … so the student knew what options they’d have available,” located a “safe” facility for the procedure, spoke with the student for two and a half weeks about the appointment, and offered to accompany them based on a belief that the student “didn’t have anyone to support them.”
The teacher was placed on administrative leave through the remainder of her employment contract, at which point her termination would take effect, according to the redacted report, which does not reveal the year in which her firing was or will be finalized.
The department released two additional records on June 7. Although the names of the teacher and the school were redacted, the teacher’s last name was included in the metadata for one of the documents. An attorney for the department, Elizabeth A. Brown, acknowledged the name had been divulged mistakenly.
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No one with the teacher’s last name appears on the department’s public list of educators with suspended or revoked credentials. One person with that last name is included among educators with active certifications.
A Regional Services and Education Center Inc. school facility in Antrim, N.H., is seen in this photo taken on Sunday, June 9, 2024.
That teacher, who holds an experienced educator license, was listed on a school website as working for Regional Services and Education Center Inc., a nonprofit based in Amherst, N.H., that has been providing special education services for more than four decades. The nonprofit, which serves students from New Hampshire and Massachusetts, runs small non-public schools that cater to students in grades 5-12 with special needs and learning disabilities.
While superintendents and school board members from surrounding public school districts serve on RSEC’s board, the state lists the private nonprofit’s facilities as non-public schools.
The nonprofit’s executive director, Devin Bandurski, declined to answer questions about the teacher.
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“Matters involving personnel will not be discussed,” she said through a spokesperson.
Shortly after the Globe contacted RSEC with questions about the teacher and the abortion-related allegation, the teacher’s name was removed from the list of faculty and staff on the school’s website. A years-old post about her having received special recognition was removed as well.
The teacher did not respond to interview requests. The Globe is not naming her at this time to protect the student’s privacy.
The records that the Department of Education released on June 7 include an email showing that someone — their name, title, and employer are redacted — sent the initial one-page investigative report to Richard Farrell, an investigator for the department, on Oct. 19 (the year is redacted).
The records also include a letter that Deputy Education Commissioner Christine M. Brennan sent using official state letterhead on Nov. 9 (the year is redacted) to notify the teacher that the department had opened an investigation into possible violations of the educator code of conduct.
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“Namely, the allegation is that you failed to properly supervise and abide by ethical standards regarding student boundary protocols with a student under your care,” the letter states.
Brennan’s letter says the teacher’s license and credential are valid during the pending investigation, but the reason for that is redacted.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education declined to answer questions about the case, citing the “investigatory nature” of this matter.
It’s illegal in New Hampshire to perform an abortion on an unemancipated minor younger than 18 years old until 48 hours after providing written notice to the pregnant minor’s parent. In Massachusetts — the state line is a 20-minute drive from Amherst, N.H. — pregnant patients who are 16 or 17 can consent to an abortion without involving their parents. Each state also has a process for minors to persuade a judge to grant an exception.
None of the records obtained by the Globe specify whether the medical facility was located within New Hampshire, whether the student was an unemancipated minor at the time, or whether the teacher made any representations to medical staff concerning her relationship to the student. They also do not confirm whether an abortion was performed.
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Bandurski did not say whether RSEC reported the matter to law enforcement. Spokespeople for the Amherst Police Department and New Hampshire Department of Safety, which includes State Police, said their departments had no record of reports about the incident.
A spokesperson for the New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, which includes the Board of Medicine, an agency that oversees health care providers, declined on Tuesday to comment.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said on Tuesday that staffers for the state’s Board of Registration in Medicine had checked their files and found no records responsive to the Globe’s request.
The teacher has since been hired to work at a public school district in New Hampshire, according to school board meeting minutes. The school board for the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District voted in early May to accept the teacher’s nomination for a job beginning in August, according to meeting minutes. The superintendent for that district, Reuben Duncan, did not respond to questions regarding whether the district became aware of the abortion-related allegation before the hiring process concluded.
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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
WILTON, N.H. (WHDH) – A woman died in a Wilton, New Hampshire, house fire Wednesday morning, according to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office.
At 9:08 a.m., Wilton firefighters responded to Burns Hill Road after a caller said their home was filling up with smoke. When they arrived, a single-family home was on fire and they found out two people were still inside on the second floor.
A man and a woman were both taken out of the house by firefighters and taken to Elliott Hospital. The woman was pronounced dead and the man is in serious condition.
Officials have not released the name of the victim at this time.
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At this time, investigators are looking into the cause of the fire and are trying to determine if a power outage in the area played a factor. The fire is not currently considered suspicious.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The wintry mix may also cause a light glaze of ice across southern New Hampshire.
Blizzard snowfall totals: Latest snowfall total from New Hampshire, Maine after blizzard
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.
