The state is holding its final public information session on a new $30 million 24-bed forensic psychiatric hospital on Thursday, June 30, before seeking bids for the project later this year or early next.
The new facility, which will sit on New Hampshire Hospital grounds Concord will replace the current secure psychiatric unit within the state prison. It will house forensic patients who have been found not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity; state hospital patients considered dangerous; those committed to the institution by a court due to dangerousness, criminal behavior, and intellectual disability; and people involuntarily committed for treatment who are a danger to themselves or others.
State officials hope to open the new facility in spring 2024. They have scheduled three additional information sessions in 2023 and 2024, when construction is underway.
Thursday’s online meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Attendees can find a Zoom link on the Health and Human Services website, dhhs.nh.gov, and will be able to ask questions during the session. The department’s website also includes slides and videos from three prior information sessions.
Key federal funding for New Hampshire schools has not been affected by the shutdown in Washington, Department of Education Commissioner Caitlin Davis said Thursday, Oct. 9 — at least the money that flows through the state Department of Education.
New Hampshire voters aren’t feeling much relief from their anxieties about the state’s housing crisis. The continued reduced housing inventory, which pushes home prices higher, is also dampening labor market in the Granite State, according to a pair of studies.
New Hampshire’s attorney general says no improprieties by state officials preceded the sale of a large Nashua commercial building to China’s largest water bottler. But Attorney General John Formella’s report to Gov. Kelly Ayotte dated Oct. 3 says the provisions of federal law should have taken place prior to the sale of the 337,391-square-foot building at 80 Northwest Blvd. in Nashua by a subsidiary of Nongfu Spring.
Despite a shift in policy, New Hampshire officials expect 100% of the households and businesses in the state will have access to broadband internet by 2026.
The Trump administration’s Department of Justice is suing New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan, arguing he is illegally withholding the state’s voter file from federal officials.
Brian Gottlob uses these words to describe the state’s current economic climate: “Uncertainty rules.” The director of the New Hampshire Employment Security's Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau raised several issues — from immigration and unemployment, to housing prices and consumer spending — as reasons for both hope and concern for the economy into 2026.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte led the visit, which included a selection of policymakers as well as businesspeople representing a wide array of enterprises.
Nashua Mayor seeks funds to buy the long-vacant Daniel Webster College site from Chinese-owned Xinhua amid rising debate over foreign property ownership.
While home prices might be moderating in other parts of the country, the median price of a single-family house in New Hampshire rose to $550,000 in August, the second highest price point this current year. That price is just $3,000 more than the $547,000 recorded in July, but it is $47,500 more than January’s $502,500. The highest median price in 2025 was $569,450, recorded in June and the most ever recorded in the state.
