Also on today’s menu:
First-In-The-Nation Provider
President Signs Bills To Help Veterans
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and Colonel Nathan Noyes of the New Hampshire State Police have announced that, after evaluating whether to bring criminal charges against anti-vaccination protesters at a meeting of the Governor and Executive Council on September 29, 2021, they determined that the state could not prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
Some state employees who planned to answer questions about items on the meeting agenda left after the breakfast meeting due to safety concerns about the protest, and the business meeting was canceled as a result.
In announcing that there would be no charges, officials said the state would have had to prove there was probable cause to believe that a crime occurred and that there was sufficient evidence to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. “In this case, there is probable cause to believe that certain individuals engaged in conduct which violated RSA 642:1, I, and RSA 644:2,” they said. “However, those individuals would have certain constitutional and statutory defenses available to them at trial and, based on these defenses, and other evidentiary issues, the state would be unable to sustain its burden of proving these individuals guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
First-In-The-Nation Provider
New Hampshire is the first state in the nation to receive approval for its $50 million broadband expansion plan. The plan calls for building out unserved and underserved locations with money from the American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund.
Governor Chris Sununu noted the state’s early efforts to address the lack of broadband service in much of the state: “In 2020, New Hampshire took the bold step of allocating short-term CARES Act funds to broadband expansion, dedicating $13 million to 16 projects that benefitted over 4,500 households, well before the federal government even created a program to do so themselves,” he said. “Today’s announcement is another step forward as New Hampshire continues to serve as a leader in expanding broadband services.”
Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the Department of Business and Economic Affairs, said, “We know how critical access to reliable high-speed broadband is not only to our New Hampshire small businesses today, but to support the jobs of tomorrow. That is one of the reasons why it is front and center as part of the state’s Economic Recovery and Expansion Strategy and why we will continue to drive this effort in the future.”
New Hampshire’s Statewide Broadband Build Program estimates it will serve half of the locations that lack high-speed internet access by supporting a local internet service provider in expanding service to around 15,000 homes and businesses in rural and remote areas. The request for proposals will be issued on Friday, June 10.
President Signs Bills To Help Veterans
President Joe Biden Jr. signed nine bills into law, including one that ensures that veterans who served near burn pits get the preventive care they need. Veterans for years have attributed health problems to the smoke from burn pits where material containing toxic substances are disposed of. Until now, the Veterans Administration has not recognized burn pits as a health problem, despite strong evidence of a connection between them and respiratory illnesses and cancer.
Another bill extends an expiring law that compensates Americans who developed cancer and other illnesses from the nation’s World War Two-era nuclear programs.
Some of the other bipartisan veterans’ bills establish new health centers to serve those who have served the country.
Please Support Our Efforts
The News Café is a virtual meeting place where we discuss the news of the day: local, statewide, national, and international.
An offering by the Liberty Independent Media Project, the News Café does not rely on advertising, as most media outlets do, freeing us to provide an independent focus on events and cultural issues. The project instead relies on direct monetary support from donors and subscribers, as well as providing news to other media outlets.
If you like what we’re doing, and want to see more local news you will not find elsewhere, please give what you can.
Subscriptions to this newsletter are available for as little as $5 per month. Subscribers can share their knowledge, thoughts, and questions about any topic, and we may select some of those subjects for more in-depth analysis.
If you’re unable to pay but still want to receive all of the free public posts in your in-box, click the Subscribe button and select a free subscription.