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Will NH put median barriers on I-95? Nearly 100 fatalities on state’s major roads in 2024

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Will NH put median barriers on I-95? Nearly 100 fatalities on state’s major roads in 2024


The New Hampshire Department of Transportation is weighing whether to install median barriers on Interstate 95, a consideration coming days after a double fatal car crash in Greenland on the major highway.

The two-car accident that left two people dead Wednesday afternoon and sent a third person to a local hospital remains under investigation by New Hampshire State Police. Data provided by a state police spokesperson shows fatal car accidents in New Hampshire this year are roughly equal to fatal crashes that occurred in 2023.

Jennifer Lane, spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, said the state has been contemplating putting in median barriers along the roadway, though no plans have been finalized. 

Lane stated in a Friday interview there is no timeline for a potential decision, nor any cost estimates.

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“In light of the recent serious crashes involving vehicles crossing the median, we are considering further safety measures, including the installation of median barriers,” she added in a prepared statement. “However, at this time, no specific plans or funding have been established for these improvements. NHDOT remains committed to monitoring safety along I-95 and all of our roadways to ensure the well-being of the traveling public.”

More: Youth driving deaths surge 400% in NH. What police are doing about it.

In the Wednesday crash, Steve Le, 24, of Methuen, Massachusetts lost control of his vehicle, crossed over the median into the opposite lanes and struck a southbound 2019 Ford Econoline. Le and the Ford operator, Leslie Lynn, a 58-year-old from Roanoke, Virginia, were both declared dead at the scene and traffic was slowed for hours, according to state police.

A passenger in Lynn’s vehicle was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, state police previously reported.

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Tyler Dumont, spokesperson for New Hampshire State Police, did not have any updates Friday.

“The investigation is ongoing,” he said.

New Hampshire studied I-95 median barriers in 2012

Lane said the department has been considering putting median barriers in place since long before the deadly collision in Greenland. 

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation evaluated Interstate 95 and other highways in the Granite State for potential median barrier installation in a 2012 study. The department ultimately determined the interstate did not need median barriers at the time, though the study found the Seacoast area had one of the higher motorist accident rates in the state.

The Department of Transportation undertook the study before roadway improvements “in order to help eliminate the potential of ‘crossover’ accidents on divided highways with medians 30 to 50 feet in width,” the 2012 findings state.

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“The purpose of this study was to identify potential areas for improvement and to develop a prioritized list of recommendations in the form of a matrix,” Lane’s statement added.

Driving deaths in the Seacoast on Interstate 95 are not uncommon. In late February, a California woman was killed near the Portsmouth-Greenland line when the northbound car she was riding in lost control, rolled over and ended up in the breakdown lane of the southbound lanes. The driver of the vehicle was transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

New Hampshire State Police recorded 96 fatal crashes on the state’s major roadways for the year through Monday, Oct. 14, only four less than the same period last year. Those statistics were compiled prior to the double fatal incident in Greenland on Wednesday.

Available data from state police shows 105 people have been killed in those 96 fatal crashes for the year until Oct. 14. That includes 47 motor vehicle operators, nine of whom were under 21 years of age, according to New Hampshire State Police.

State police recorded 119 fatal motor vehicle crashes on the state’s major roadways in all of 2023, resulting in 127 deaths. In 2022, there were a total of 146 people that died from 137 fatal motor vehicle crashes on New Hampshire State Police-patrolled roads.

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“It’s always on our minds,” Lane said in a Friday interview of potentially adding median barriers. “There’s always room for improvement. The study was done in 2012. A lot has changed.”

“Drive the speed limit, pay attention and be aware of your surroundings,” she urged drivers.

New Hampshire is the lone state in the nation to not require adults to wear seatbelts in the front seat of vehicles, though children are required to. Adult motorcyclists in New Hampshire are not required to wear helmets. Since July 2015, the state’s “hands free” law has banned all motorists from using their cell phone or other handheld electronic device while driving.



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New Hampshire

Bill to outlaw using student IDs to vote clears NH Legislature

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Bill to outlaw using student IDs to vote clears NH Legislature





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New Hampshire

NH cold case solved 40 years after police found man’s skull in woods

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NH cold case solved 40 years after police found man’s skull in woods


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Investigators partnered with a nonprofit genetic genealogy analysis organization to identify the man who the remains belonged to.

Warren Kuchinsky was born in 1952 and last known to be alive in the mid-1970s. New Hampshire Department of Justice

After nearly four decades, a man whose skull was discovered in the New Hampshire woods has been identified.

Warren Kuchinsky was born in 1952 and was last known to be alive in the mid-1970s, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark Hall said in a statement. In 1986, his skull was found in a wooded area in the town of Bristol.

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At the time, investigators weren’t able to identify whose skull it was, according to officials. Last year, however, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization, to solve the case using forensic genetic genealogy techniques.

Kuchinsky’s identity was confirmed through DNA testing of a surviving family member, according to officials. There is no evidence that his death was caused by foul play, according to the statement.

Founded in 2017, the DNA Doe Project partners with law enforcement, medical examiners, and volunteer genealogists to apply investigative genealogy to John and Jane Doe cases. By analyzing DNA profiles and building family trees from publicly available genetic databases and historical records, the organization has helped solve more than 250 cases nationwide.

“We are honored to have partnered with the State of New Hampshire on this case,” DNA Doe Project Team Leader Lisa Ivany said in the statement. “Through the power of investigative genetic genealogy and the dedication of our volunteer genealogists, we were able to develop a critical lead in less than 24 hours. We truly hope that this identification brings long-awaited answers to Mr. Kuchinsky’s family.”

Initial DNA testing turned up only distant matches, so the DNA Doe Project selected the case to be worked on at a virtual retreat in May 2025, according to the organization’s case profile. Over the course of a weekend, more than 40 genealogists from the U.S., Canada, England, and Scotland collaborated virtually to work on the case.

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Within hours, the team discovered that the unidentified man had roots in New Hampshire and Quebec, according to the profile. They later zeroed in on Kuchinsky, who had attended school in Plymouth, N.H., but had no official proof of life past 1970.

“This identification reflects the power of partnership and scientific advancement,” Formella said in the statement. “The dedication of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the investigative support of the New Hampshire State Police, and the extraordinary work of the DNA Doe Project have restored a name to an individual who had been unidentified for nearly 40 years. We are grateful for their professionalism and commitment.”

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire House Advances One of The Nation’s Most Extreme Transgender Bathroom Bans

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New Hampshire House Advances One of The Nation’s Most Extreme Transgender Bathroom Bans


The proposal would fine transgender people up to $5,000 for using bathrooms aligned with their gender identity.

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Bathroom bans targeting transgender people have been spreading rapidly across the United States. In previous years, adult bathroom bans in public buildings were limited to a handful of states with extreme laws. This year, they have become one of the primary vehicles for anti-trans legislation nationwide. Kansas was the first to act, passing a bathroom bounty hunter system and invalidating transgender people’s IDs. Idaho and Missouri began advancing their own bills. Now, the New Hampshire House of Representatives has passed its own version — one of the most extreme in the United States, which states that a trans person using the bathroom of their gender identity is a crime under the state civil rights act, violations of which carries hefty penalties. The bill passed 181-164 on Wednesday night, just weeks after Governor Kelly Ayotte vetoed a separate bathroom ban. Republicans are now sending her something far more aggressive — raising the question of whether they are trying to move the goalposts or simply daring her to veto again.

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with the exception of RSA 21:3, RSA 21:54, and paragraph II below, all multi-user facilities, including bathrooms, restrooms, and locker rooms located in buildings owned, leased, or operated by any municipality shall be used based on the individual’s biological sex,” reads the new bill. This prohibition is expansive: it applies to parks, rest stops, airports, civic buildings, and more, and could leave transgender people struggling to find a public place to use the restroom across the state.

The bill contains a novel enforcement mechanism not seen in any other state. It declares that a transgender person “asserting” that their gender identity allows them to use the bathroom is against the law under the state civil rights act, turning civil rights protections that were meant to be protective of transgender people into a weapon against them. “It shall be unlawful for any person to assert that their gender identity is a sex other than that defined in RSA 21:3 for the purposes of accessing places or services restricted on the basis of sex,” reads the bill. Such violations could result in fines of up to $5,000 per incident and even jail time if a person violates a resulting court injunction by continuing to use the restroom.

The bill also contains provisions for private businesses. It permits any owner or operator of a “place of public accommodation” — a category that under New Hampshire law includes hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, bars, and concert venues — to restrict bathrooms by assigned sex at birth. The bill then immunizes those businesses from discrimination claims: “Adoption or enforcement of a policy pursuant to this section shall not be deemed discrimination under RSA 354-A or any other state law,” it reads.

A separate bill, HB 1217, also passed on Wednesday. That bill permits governmental buildings and businesses to classify bathrooms and locker rooms by assigned sex at birth — similar to the bathroom bans Ayotte has already vetoed. It passed by an even wider margin, 187-163. It contains no enforcement mechanism, but rather, states that bathroom bans and sports bans are not discriminatory towards transgender people under New Hampshire law.

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The bills are part of a larger movement towards bathroom bans for transgender people. Just last month, Kansas passed a bathroom ban that allows every citizen in the state to become a bounty hunter, where reporting transgender people in bathrooms can net them $1,000 per trans person caught. This law also invalidated trans people’s drivers licenses in the state. Meanwhile, Idaho and Missouri are both advancing extreme anti-trans bathroom bans of their own, with Idaho’s ban even applying to private businesses, making it against the law for a private business to allow a trans person to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

The bills are substantially more extreme than the one vetoed by Governor Ayotte just weeks ago. In a veto statement of a bathroom ban last month, Ayotte stated, “I believe there are important and legitimate privacy and safety concerns raised by biological males using places such as female locker rooms and being placed in female correctional facilities… At the same time, I see that House Bill 148 is overly broad and impractical to enforce, potentially creating an exclusionary environment for some of our citizens.”

It remains unclear why Republicans are pushing an even more extreme version of a bill their own governor has already vetoed three times. The bill still needs to pass the New Hampshire Senate and be signed by Ayotte to become law. One possibility is that the more extreme HB 1442 is designed as cover for HB 1217 — making that bill appear moderate by comparison and improving its chances of earning a signature. Another is that Republicans believe they can pressure Ayotte into signing, or are simply laying the groundwork for an override attempt down the line. Regardless, HB 1442 is one of the most extreme bathroom bans moving through any state legislature in the country, and transgender people across New England will be watching closely as it advances to the Senate.

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