1. Live Blog: House Votes 199-164 To Kill Casino Bill
Reporter Michael Brindley was live at the State House on Wednesday as the casino bill came up before the full House, and was ultimately voted down.
2. State Says No Evidence Of Air Pollution In Balsams Fire
Working largely on what amounts to the honor system state officials say they have decided state air pollution standards were not violated in a fire last January when two buildings at the Balsams resort were burned down as part of a renovation.
3. Why N.H.’s Medical Marijuana Bill Doesn’t Provide For P.T.S.D. Patients
Thursday, the New Hampshire Senate voted on, and passed, a bill to approve the use of medical marijuana. The House already passed a version, but the Senate bill is different in a few key ways: it doesn’t include a “home-grow” provision or post-traumatic stress disorder as a qualifying condition.
4. The Healing Power Of A Horse
Animals have long played a part in human therapy and healing; from dogs trained to assist the disabled, to all manner of animals making visits to hospitals and nursing homes. For one Vermont woman, it’s a horse that’s helped her heal; not from physical ailments, but from the emotional and spiritual scars of abuse
5. Hospital Costs Get An X-Ray
A recent national study of how much hospitals charge Medicare showed giant disparities among different facilities, even for the same procedures and within the same city! The research comes as policymakers intensify their focus on costs.
6. The Common Core: Coming to A School Near You
New Hampshire is among some forty states to adopt this more rigorous set of standards for math and language arts in public schools. But just as this bi-partisan effort becomes reality, the system is facing some backlash from both the right and left.
7. GOP Budget Writers Vote Down Medicaid Expansion
Saying there’s simply too much uncertainty, top Senate budget writers voted 4-2 against expanding the state’s Medicaid program on Wednesday. Senate President Peter Bragdon (R-Milford) says he has concerns the Federal government won’t be able to meets its promises to fund the expansion long-term.
8. An Updated Energy Plan For The Granite State?
With lots of proposals on the table right now, from biomass to wind to hydropower, efforts are underway once again to develop a statewide plan and judge these projects with that broader frame of reference in mind. But it’s not an easy process, taking into account various concerns from the environment to property values to energy costs.
9. Traumatic Brain Injury Takes The Stage
The novelist and former television producer Kate Wenner is the writer behind “Make Sure It’s Me,” a play about five Iraq War veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury and the doctor devoted to helping them. The playis premieringin New Hampshire on June 1st at Portsmouth’s West End Studio Theatre.
10. What Casino Money Can Buy: 48 Hours In Washington County, Pennsylvania
What could a casino at Rockingham Park mean for Salem city government? We traveled to Western Pennsylvania to find out. There, a $550 million casino and racetrack called The Meadows has injected millions into local government.
