Spring always comes late to the North Country. Few are more ready for this change than high-school seniors, who are edging toward graduation, freedom and adulthood. Twelfth-graders are counting the days, but also settling within them is a gentle nostalgia…

The New Hampshire House last month passed the finest piece of criminal law in decades by a lopsided 256-57 vote, ignoring the benighted advice in a recent editorial by the publisher of the Union Leader.Senate Bill 500 would let nonviolent…

When it comes to climate change, the only thing the United States has more of than culpability is opportunity. Yet, as a nation, we continue to abdicate leadership. One of the most serious global challenges we face, climate change is…

The following are excerpts from testimony presented last month by Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire President Jim Roche on Senate Bill 497, which would address the tax on LLC distributions the issue of reasonable compensation.I am here this…

Twenty-nine deaths from that West Virginia coal mine ought to be enough. Ten thousand tons of pollution a day from coal here in New Hampshire ought to be enough. New Hampshire can do its part. We should now begin the…

Slot machines are moving inexorably toward reality in New Hampshire. It’s interesting that it will be the Democrats who make it happen — the champions of the common folks. But in the end it’s just the New Hampshire way: Tax…

There’s an old saying that “slow and steady wins the race,” but when it comes to hastening the nation’s economic recovery, positive change can’t happen nearly quick enough. Truth be told, the U.S. economy has lost such a massive amount…

For-profit career schools and colleges have again been in for some criticism recently in a number of mainline press articles. What is alleged is not as bad as what is left out. A few facts may help to paint a…

I will be supporting Senate Bill 489, the gaming bill, which I co-sponsored, when it comes to the House floor.Gaming is a business, a business in 40 other states. Our residents take their money to Maine, Connecticut and, soon, Massachusetts.…

For hundreds of thousands of New Hampshire residents, the cost of health care has been climbing steadily out of reach. But help is on the way. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation…

The New Hampshire Senate has voted to legalize six casinos and 17,000 video slot machines. Gambling proponents want you to believe that this represents a natural progression from our lottery and charitable gaming. Don’t be fooled. Senate Bill 489 would…

There has been much focus on the New Hampshire legislature’s review of Senate Bill 489, which would expand gambling in New Hampshire with slot machines and a resort casino. What has been missing from much of the debate are the…

This year, Congress will take up reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA. The last time the Bush administration acted to have ESEA reauthorized, we got the No Child Left Behind act, NCLB. In recent weeks, the…

What kind of a “right” mandates that you exercise it? For example, imagine a law that imposes a monetary fine on anyone who does not own a gun or who does not belong to a church. Can you imagine The…