CONCORD: In its first decision, the state’s new Housing Appeals Board has overturned the rejection of a four-lot subdivision that the Francestown Planning Board issued in January. The dispute centers on the planning board’s decision to deny a four-lot subdivision, which the Appeals Board said didn’t conform to the town’s subdivision regulations and zoning ordinances. The threeperson board was created by the Legislature in 2020 to speed up appeals of decisions by town or city planning boards, which previously could be appealed only to Superior Court.

DOVER: Jeffrey Hughes has been named president and CEO of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, becoming the 11th permanent lead administrator in the organization’s 115-year history. Hughes has served in the interim role since October 2020 and succeeds Gregory Walker, who was president and CEO for 23 years before retiring. Hughes has been with the organization since 2012. Before being named to the top job, Hughes was chief operating officer of the hospital.

HOLYOKE, MASS.: The New England region is in good shape when it comes to having enough electricity to meet summer demands, according to ISO-New England, which oversees the region’s power grid. In its forecast, ISO-New England says it expects electricity demand to peak at 24,810 megawatts on a hot late afternoon, while “above-average summer weather, such as an extended heat wave, could push demand up to 26,711 megawatts.” It says more than 31,000 megawatts of capacity production is available.

MANCHESTER: Andrew Vrees, a native of Stratham and former news director of WCVB-TV in Boston, has been named president and general manager of WMUR-TV, succeeding longtime President Jeff Bartlett, who earlier this year announced plans to retire this summer. Vrees, who was news director at WMUR for five years earlier in his career, has been vice president of news for the station’s owner Hearst Television since 2016.

MOULTONBOROUGH: The NH Electric Cooperative has flipped the switch on the first large standalone battery storage facility in New Hampshire.

The 2.45-megawatt battery project, the largest in the state, sits on land alongside the co-op’s solar farm in Moultonborough. The battery project was developed in partnership with Engie, the North American arm of a French energy firm. Engie will own and operate the unit, which will charge from NHEC’s distribution system during times of low demand and discharge during peak regional electricity use.

MANCHESTER: Anna Thomas, public health director of the city of Manchester, has been named the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year. She will be honored on Thursday, June 24 at 7 p.m. in a hybrid in-person/virtual Citizen of the Year Celebration held at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. For more. information, visit manchesterchamber.org/coy2021.

BOSTON: Some 1.24 million federal stimulus checks issued to help people weather the pandemic — including 5,859 in New Hampshire — remain unspent, according to a report in the Boston Herald. Based on IRS records as of March 30, the newspaper also reported that Massachusetts residents had 27,689 unspent checks. The figures, the IRS said, reflect “the number of people who either refused to accept, paid back or not cashed the stimulus checks they received from the IRS as a result of the CARES Act that was signed into law on March 27, 2020.”

CONCORD: The NH Senate has killed legislation that would have prohibited the construction of landfills near state parks. The bill, which had passed the House in April, would have created a two-mile buffer zone around parks in which landfills couldn’t be located. It was driven by opponents of a proposed landfill in Dalton near Forest Lake State Park, and senators who voted against it said the issue was a matter for local zoning officials and environmental regulators, not the Legislature.