Following 9/11, Congress authorized creation of the Department of Homeland Security. And over the past decade, we’ve heard periodically that the state or local agencies have gotten new, upgraded equipment or funded special initiatives with Homeland Security money. So for the 10th anniversary of 9/11, NHPR’s Jon Greenberg looked into exactly how much money has flowed into New Hampshire. The answer is: A lot. Continue Reading
One of the key east-west routes through the White Mountains is set to reopen this weekend. The Kancamagus Highway has been closed since Tropical Storm Irene ripped through New England late
Tim Sackton / Flickr
Traveling through the White Mountains will be a lot easier for a number of residents and visitors starting Sunday.
last month. Although the deadline for opening the road was Thursday, September 15, it will actually open a few days earlier, on Sunday. Governor John Lynch’s office announced the highway’s planned reopening today. The Loon Mountain Pedestrian Bridge will also reopen Sunday.
Another important east-west thoroughfare across the White Mountains, Route 302, remains closed in Hart’s Location around the Sawyer River Bridge. The Department of Transportation hopes to reopen that stretch of highway by the end of the month.
You can read the announcement from the Governor’s Office here.
And you can find out how states apply for FEMA assistance to rebuild infrastructure here.
This afternoon, Governor John Lynch’s office announced that FEMA will start taking applications from Carroll and Grafton County residents for damage related to Tropical Storm Irene.
President Obama gave the go-ahead to offer individual FEMA aid to some New Hampshire residents on Wednesday. Continue Reading
The Liquor Commission’s been in the news a lot lately, between record-breaking year-over-year sales and plans to add a new store at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. But StateImpact was curious about something else.
Was there a spike in booze sales in the run-up to Irene?
Pam Lane/Flickr
StateImpact's got the Liquor Commission numbers for pre-Irene sales.
This week, we look into a key question for year-round New Hampshire residents: Do high concentrations of high-value vacation homes drive up local property tax rates? Read on for an interactive map that shows how your county compares with the rest of the state. Continue reading
The big news in real estate this week is the state’s sharply declining foreclosure rate. As NHPR’s Jon Greenberg reports, The New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority counted 238 homes that went into foreclosure in July. That’s about a 30 percent drop from June of 2011 and from July of last year. Continue Reading
NHPR
Despite varying degrees of damage across the state, Irene didn't detour tourists from visiting New Hampshire.
Four days ago, StateImpact, along with other New Hampshire media outlets, was questioning how many tourists–and how much tourism money–the state would bring in over the Labor Day weekend. After all, visitors and residents alike have been confused about the status some of New Hampshire’s remoter roads that are key to the tourism industry. Even Division of Travel and Tourism spokesman Tai Freligh told StateImpact, ““Last year, we estimated that there’d be about 530 thousand visitors to New Hampshire, and they would spend about 71 million [dollars]…This year is kind of a different situation. We’re not really looking at numbers, because everything’s kind of up in the air.”
It seems reports of a dead Labor Day weekend have been exaggerated.
A big piece of news broke over Labor Day weekend: President Obama has approved FEMA aid for four New Hampshire counties. As NHPR’s Chris Jensen reported, Merrimack, Carroll, Grafton and Coos Counties were damaged enough by Tropical Storm Irene to qualify for federal help,
“’The state and communities in those four counties are now eligible for assistance to cover
Jonathan Lynch / NHPR
Following President Obama's disaster declaration, a large swath of New Hampshire now qualifies for FEMA aid.
emergency response operations and repair costs, and funds for mitigation to help prevent future flooding,’ according to a news release from Gov. John Lynch’s office..
A request that help for individuals is still under review by Federal Emergency Management Agency teams.”
As StateImpact reported last week, we’ll probably get final aid numbers in a couple of months. You can learn more about how states apply for, and ultimately get, FEMA aid here.
As New Hampshire gears up for one of its biggest tourism weekends of the year, the state’s Division of Travel and Tourism is pushing one simple, post-Irene slogan: “New Hampshire is Open for Business.”
But is it really? Continue Reading
Here’s a new map from the Tax Foundation showing growth of high-income taxpayers from 1999-2009. What’s particularly interesting about these numbers is that they straddle pre- and post-recession years. So StateImpact naturally wondered, did the recession dramatically change where the high income bracket grew? Continue Reading
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