ROCHESTER: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has fined Frisbie Memorial Hospital $102,660 after determining it was not in compliance with federal price transparency requirements. The fine was imposed in April after CMS determined the HCA Healthcare-owned hospital had been out of compliance since Oct. 24. The agency’s rules establish requirements for hospitals operating in the United States to establish, update and make public a list of their standard charges for the items and services that they provide.
CONCORD: NH Insurance Commissioner Chris Nicolopoulos will not be seeking reappointment after his current term ends and will step down from the post on July 4, Gov. Chris Sununu announced. Nicolopoulos was appointed by Sununu in 2020. He said he will return to the private sector.
CONCORD: The NH Supreme Court has ruled in favor of short-term rental owner Scott Kudrick in his suit against the town of Conway, allowing him and other short-term rental owners to continue to rent their properties, at least until the town decides to regulate them. Town Manager John Eastman had earlier told The Conway Daily Sun that if the court decided short-term rentals are legal in the residential zone, then the town would seek to regulate them in those areas.
JEFFERSON: After 35 years, Santa’s Village in Jefferson will be retiring its Rudy’s Rapid Transit Roller Coaster in the fall. A steel roller coaster with multiple dips and turns and a top speed of 22 miles per hour, the coaster is a “family favorite,” the attraction posted on Facebook statement, but added that it is an “old coaster and repairing and replacing parts is getting harder and harder to do.” The ride started out at Benson’s Animal Park in Hudson, where it was known as the “Firefly Coaster.”
PORTSMOUTH: Haven, the nonprofit that aids victims of sexual assault and family violence throughout the Seacoast, has announced plans to create a central hub in Portsmouth for all support services, including temporary housing after being awarded a $2 million U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant to support the new center. The organization said it is currently seeking a location in Portsmouth that can accommodate the new center.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, and her Senate colleague, West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito, have reintroduced the Forest Incentives Program Act. The bill directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish an incentive program that allows eligible forest landowners to enter into a long-term contract to adopt conservation practices that have been proven to deliver emissions reductions. The bill also creates financial incentives for commercial building owners to use biological products, such as wood, as structural building materials instead of more energy-intensive materials.
CONCORD: Over 23,000 Granite State consumers should be receiving checks for about $30 in the mail following a $728,920 settlement with TurboTax’s owner Intuit, the attorney general’s office announced. The settlement involves charges that the consumers were tricked into paying to file their federal tax return. Consumers eligible to take part in the settlement include those who paid to file their federal tax returns through TurboTax for tax years 2016, 2017 and 2018, but were eligible to file for free through the IRS Free File Program. More information is available at AG-TurboTaxSettlement.com.
MANCHESTER: The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program at Manchester Community College has announced that 26 small business owners from New Hampshire are participating in its spring cohort. The sessions are offered twice per year in spring and fall. Deadline to apply for the fall cohort is May 25. For more information, visit 10ksbapply.com/newhampshire.
