MANCHESTER: SolutionHealth, the health system that includes Elliot Hospital in Manchester and Southern New Hampshire Medical Center in Nashua, says it will be investing $28 million in employee compensation that includes an increase in the minimum wage across the system to $17 per hour and many wage and salary adjustments for positions throughout the system, based on market data. Most of the jobs being adjusted are front-line, clinical and supportive positions, said CEO Sherry Hausmann.

CONCORD: A lawsuit challenging the decision by Gov. Chris Sununu’s administration to end unemployment benefits under the federal CARES Act early has been dismissed by Judge Jacalyn Colburn, saying the claims are based on flawed interpretations of state law. In her ruling, Colburn wrote, ”the plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims because neither of the statutes on which they rely require the defendants to act.” The state decided to end the extra payments early because the unemployment rate had dropped and there was an abundance of available jobs, Sununu had said.

CONCORD: President Biden has nominated lawyer Samantha Elliot, a partner at the firm of Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, to serve as a federal court judge. Elliott served as president of the firm from 2015 to 2020 and is a founding board member of 603 Legal Aid, which provides pro bono legal services to low-income residents. In a joint statement, New Hampshire Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan said Elliott has the credentials and a “demonstrated commitment” to justice. If confirmed, Elliott would fill the seat left by Judge Paul Barbadoro.

CONCORD: New Hampshire has joined 18 other states in a settlement with the nation’s largest drug distributors related to the opioid epidemic. The settlement will bring roughly $115 million to the state over 18 years. That money will go toward addiction treatment and other impacts from the years-long opioid crisis, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General. New Hampshire has not joined a separate settlement with drug maker Johnson & Johnson and is proceeding with a lawsuit against the company in state court. A trial in that case is set to begin in February.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Twelve New Hampshire school districts, including Manchester, Nashua and Salem, will be sharing $2.4 million in federal funding that will be used to help them provide students with internet connectivity devices and services. The grants were awarded through the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Connectivity Fund, which U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, played a key role in working to establish through the American Rescue Plan. The funding can be used by elementary and secondary schools and libraries to provide laptops and tablets, Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers and broadband connections for offcampus use by students, school staff and library patrons in need.

CONCORD: New Hampshire’s sprawling youth detention center should be replaced with a much smaller facility designed and staffed as a residential treatment home instead of a prison, according to a consultant’s report presented to lawmakers. The state currently spends $13 million a year to operate the 144-bed Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester, though the typical population now is about a dozen teens. The two-year budget signed in June included a mandate to close it by March 2023, and a legislative committee has been studying how to replace it.

MANCHESTER: U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney will be the featured speaker at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications’ annual First Amendment Awards on Nov. 9. The Wyoming Republican, a fierce critic of Donald Trump, is serving as vice chair of the nine-person committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The New Hampshire event raises money for the nonprofit school, which provides free classes in subjects related to communications.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Volkswagen AG has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle environmental claims with the states of New Hampshire and Montana over updates of emissions software arising from the 2015 diesel cheating scandal. The settlements, about $280 per vehicle, are a small fraction of what the states initially sought. VW will pay New Hampshire $1.15 million, and it pledged to build another highspeed charging station in the state by 2024. VW has agreed to pay Montana $357,280. New Hampshire had sought up to $25,000 per vehicle per day and Montana sought up to $10,000 per violation per day. The settlements with the two states cover about 5,500 vehicles.