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Archives
Special Panel Tells Lawmakers About Problems With the State's Retirement System
By David Darman on Thursday, January 3, 2008.The leaders of a special panel that reviewed the state’s pension system say the retirement benefit as a whole is already on the road to recovery.
But they also told the House Finance Committee that the retiree medical benefit system is in much worse shape.
They reported things are so bad that teachers and local government employees who don’t retire by this July will no longer be eligible for medical coverage.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman has more.
The Curse of Knowledge
By Virginia Prescott on Thursday, January 3, 2008.Interesting story in the NY Times Business Section by Janet Rae-Dupree:
"It’S a pickle of a paradox: As our knowledge and expertise increase, our creativity and ability to innovate tend to taper off. Why? Because the walls of the proverbial box in which we think are thickening along with our experience."
Giuliani Not Worried About Bypassing Iowa For Later States
By Josh Rogers on Thursday, January 3, 2008.Republican Rudy Giuliani says he doesn't regret his decision to skip the Iowa caucuses, and isn't troubled by a recent slide in New Hampshire polls.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers reports.
Ayotte: Voters Deserve Answers on Push Polling
By Josh Rogers on Thursday, January 3, 2008.The New Hampshire Attorney General says she doesn't expect to identify those responsiable for some potentially illegal phone calls that targeted Republican Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith.
New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers has more.
New Hampshire's Water Widely Contaminated with MtBE
By Mark Bevis on Thursday, January 3, 2008.A new study conducted by the US Geological Survey has found that the gasoline additive MTBE has contaminated drinking water supplies throughout the state much more widely than originally believed.
Oil companies added MTBE to gasoline supplies in order to reach clean air standards.
And in the more populated counties, Hillsboro, Merrimack, Rockingham and Strafford gasoline was required to contain the additive.
But in the 1990s the chemical was found to be contaminating water supplies in communities across the country, and New Hampshire phased it out as of last year.
The new Geological Survey report suggests that phase out may have been too late.
The study shows that MTBE has contaminated roughly 30 percent of the public drinking water supplies in the state's most populated counties and in 17 percent of the private wells tested in the same area.
And Fred McGarry, at the Department of Environmental Services, which commissioned the report, tells NHPR's Mark Bevis that some of the wells tested have contamination levels higher that state safety standards.
A Debate About the Debates
By Laura Knoy on Thursday, January 3, 2008.Controversy is swirling over three Presidential forums scheduled for this weekend in New Hampshire...because they will exclude less-popular candidates. The media sponsors say their goal is a deeper discussion among leading contenders, but their decision has caused an outcry...that shutting certain people out is un-democratic. We'll look at the controversy...and how presidential debates have evolved this year, with such a long campaign season and so many candidates.
Guests
- Andy Smith, Associate Professor of Political Science at UNH and Director of the UNH Survey Center, the state's leading poll organization.
- Thomas Patterson, Professor of Government and the Press for the Shorenstein Center at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He is also the author of several books, including "Out of Order", about the media's political role and "The Vanishing Voter", looking at the decline in electoral participation.
Different Day, Same Story
By Dan Gorenstein on Wednesday, January 2, 2008.The presidential primary is less than a week away. And with all the mailers, phone calls and news reports, it seems like the state’s attention is locked in on the race. But New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports that the state Legislative session quietly began today. He has this preview of the issues lawmakers are likely to debate in the coming months.
