Why Don't More People Vote In This Neighborhood?
This Tuesday, millions of people across the country will head to the polls to cast their votes and help decide who should hold our nation’s highest offices. But there will also be millions of people who won't go to the polls. In fact, four out of 10 adults in the U.S. do not vote - and they have their reasons, too.
This Tuesday, millions of people across the country will head to the polls to cast their votes and help decide who should hold our nation’s highest offices. But there will also be millions of people who won't go to the polls. In fact, four out of 10 adults in the U.S. do not vote - and they have their reasons, too.
How Much Can New Hampshire's Governor Actually Do? Not Much.
New Hampshire voters had the biggest field of candidates for governor to consider in 20 years--seven people wanted the job. But how much can a New Hampshire governor actually do, anyway?
New Hampshire voters had the biggest field of candidates for governor to consider in 20 years--seven people wanted the job. But how much can a New Hampshire governor actually do, anyway? As it turns out, if you’re governor of New Hampshire, you’ve been handed a pretty raw deal.
Diary of a Down-Ballot Race
Republican State Senator Nancy Stiles sits in her favorite Portsmouth coffee shop, wearing a summer dress and a necklace of big yellow beads. After serving three terms in Concord representing District 24, she’s decided to step down: time to give someone else a turn. Within weeks of Stiles’ retirement, a quartet of eager Republicans stepped in the race to replace her.
July 20, 3:36 pm. Republican State Senator Nancy Stiles sits in her favorite Portsmouth coffee shop, wearing a summer dress and a necklace of big yellow beads. After serving three terms in Concord representing District 24, she’s decided to step down: time to give someone else a turn. Within weeks of Stiles’ retirement, a quartet of eager Republicans stepped in the race to replace her.
Stiles looks up over a half-eaten piece of cake and makes a wish. “I’m hoping the campaign doesn’t get overly nasty,” she sighs.
Then, a prediction: “But I think it’s going to, unfortunately.”
***
Stiles’ words — and what’s played out since — says a lot about the state of politics in New Hampshire in 2016.
In a year when campaign spending seems to have no limits and the tone of the presidential race can only be out-uglied by the tone of voters disparaging them, this little legislative district on the Seacoast is a kind of political petri dish.
CONTINUE READING:
https://www.nhpr.org/post/diary-down-ballot-race-primary-day-looming-things-get-testy-district-24
Homeless at The P.K. Motel
It’s nearly impossible to say how many homeless people there are in New Hampshire. And the biggest reason is that most people without a home in this state aren’t on the street or in shelters—they actually have a roof over their heads.
The PK Motel rises up over a big, dusty parking lot, part way down a rural road in Effingham, close to the Maine Border and wedged between the lakes and the White Mountains. The place looks more like a warehouse than a motel. It's not a place families stop on vacation. It's where local town welfare offices send people when they're out of options. And behind each of these doors are stories of people stranded by poverty - stories about addiction, violence, rural isolation, bad luck, and bad choices.
This story is part three in a special series on homelessness in New Hampshire:
http://www.nhprdigital.org/series-homeless-in-nh#special-series-homeless-in-nh
Are New Hampshire Cities Asking Homeless People to Disappear?
Drive the highway between Manchester and Concord, and maybe you’ll catch a glimpse of the tarps and tents lining sections of the Merrimack River and the train tracks. When winter shelters close, homeless people find refuge outdoors, in public—but that’s an act that’s often against the law.
Some cities in New Hampshire have backed away from rules against camping or panhandling, while others still choose to enforce them. And through these layers of conflicting policy, it’s unclear for homeless people what their rights actually are. Which means if you’re living on the streets of New Hampshire’s cities, you’re expected to pull off a kind of magic trick: make yourself disappear, right in plain sight.
This story is part two in a special series on homelessness in New Hampshire:
http://www.nhprdigital.org/series-homeless-in-nh#special-series-homeless-in-nh
What Happened to Gene Parker?
This past winter a car struck and killed a homeless man in Concord. His name was Gene Parker - he lived on the streets for five years and in that time his friends and advocates fought hard to get him into an apartment. But he died before that could happen.
This past winter a car struck and killed a homeless man in Concord. His name was Gene Parker - he lived on the streets for five years and in that time his friends and advocates fought hard to get him into an apartment. But he died before that could happen. Parker’s story is brutal, but it also says a lot about why it’s so hard to pull someone like him out of homelessness.
This story is part one in a multi-media series on homelessness in New Hampshire :
http://www.nhprdigital.org/series-homeless-in-nh#special-series-homeless-in-nh
How a Few Lines on a Map Hold So Much Power in New Hampshire Politics
Democrats are having success like never before, scoring wins that would have been unimaginable just two decades ago. But despite that shift, there’s one place where Republicans still have a leg up on Election Day: the state Legislature. And there’s a reason for this, an invisible force that drives everything in politics, that you probably won’t hear mentioned on the campaign trail: redistricting.
Here’s a confusing reality about New Hampshire politics today: Democrats are having success like never before, scoring wins that would have been unimaginable just two decades ago. But despite that shift, there’s one place where Republicans still have a leg up on Election Day: the state Legislature. And there’s a reason for this, an invisible force that drives everything in politics, that you probably won’t hear mentioned on the campaign trail: redistricting.