CONCORD: Susan Huard, who retired in December as president of Manchester Community College, has been named interim chancellor of the Community College System of New Hampshire.
Huard, who is expected to be in the post for a year while the board searches for a permanent replacement, succeeds Ross Gittell, who will leave in the spring to become president of Bryant University in Rhode Island.
CONCORD: Front-line workers at New Hampshire nursing homes and other long-term care facilities will get extra pay and many will be tested for the coronavirus, Gov. Chris Sununu said. Under his order, workers at Medicaid-funded residential facilities and social service organizations that serve Medicaid clients at home will be eligible for $300 weekly stipends. The state will cover the costs initially while seeking reimbursement from the federal government.
CONCORD: New Hampshire schools will remain closed and continue remote learning for the rest of the academic year, Gov. Chris Sununu announced. Sununu’s initial order transitioning education to remote learning was issued March 15. It was originally set to expire April 3, then was extended to May 4. But he said the severity of the coronavirus pandemic warranted extending the closure through the end of the academic year, which is typically the second or third week of June.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a fishing industry group, is asking several New England governors, including New Hampshire’s, to postpone the planning process of offshore wind development during the coronavirus pandemic. The letter also went to the governors of Maine and Massachusetts. The group requested a six-month halt on the federal planning process for putting wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine. In the letter, the group said efforts to fight Covid-19 will limit the public’s ability to contribute to the process.
DALTON: Casella Waste Systems, which is proposing a 180- acre landfill near a New Hampshire state park in Dalton, has filed a defamation lawsuit against project opponents. The lawsuit, filed in Merrimack County, alleges Jon Swan, the Forest Lake Association and Save Forest Lake disparaged the reputation of the company and CEO John Casella “by publishing and disseminating throughout the state of New Hampshire false statements of fact about the plaintiff online, in print and in person.”
The lawsuit asks for an injunction and order against the defendants saying they defamed the company, and damages.
CONCORD: New Hampshire’s unemployment rate for March was 2.6%, according to a survey that predated many business closures due to the coronavirus. The unemployment rate was unchanged from the February rate. A year ago, the rate was 2.5%. The survey covered businesses through March 12.
Many businesses closed after that date because of state emergency orders regarding the coronavirus. According to the survey, the state estimated that 748,970 people were employed last month, a decrease of 10,630 from February and 2,290 from a year ago.
MANCHESTER: Patty Lynott, president of Southern New Hampshire University’s campus, has retired from the post after 13 years at SNHU, three of them as president of University College. Lynott, 65, is a Manchester resident. She announced the news on social media and said she wanted to spend more time with her family.
