WNTK Local News

There are now more than 1,000 active COVID-19 cases in the state of New Hampshire, reports NH Public Radio.

As of approximately two weeks ago, there were around 450 active cases of the coronavirus in NH. Today, that number has more than doubled, with active cases now at 1,020.

On Monday, state health officials announced 57 new positive COVID-19 cases, which brought the active cases tally to the aforementioned 1,020, and the total number of cases for the duration of the pandemic to 9,746.

Also announced on Monday was one new COVID-19 related death, bringing NH’s total death toll to 468.

Today’s news comes on the heels of Vermont passing travel restrictions on visitors who enter NH’s Grafton County, which includes a recommended 14-day quarantine period post-visit, this past weekend.

A Windham County, Vermont woman is in critical condition following an incident in West Wardsboro, the VT State Police announced via press release.

According to the release, at approximately 8 PM on Sunday, October 17th, the VSP received a report of a woman lying semi-conscious in the road on Stratton Arlington Road in West Wardsboro.

Upon arriving at the scene, emergency personnel identified the victim as 65-year-old Deborah Ayers. An initial investigation discovered that Ayers had been struck by a vehicle, which then fled the scene.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation, and the VSP are asking anyone with information regarding the accident to call the VSP Westminster Barracks.

Ayers was airlifted via DHART to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire and is currently being treated for life-threatening injuries. 

Mink the Bear’s third, and final, orphaned cub has been found, reports WCAX.

Earlier last week, the male cub was trapped not far from an area where it had been spotted several times recently in West Lebanon, New Hampshire.

The cub is the spawn of Mink, a well-known bear in the Upper Valley who died in August. At the time of her death, she had three cubs. Two have now been captured, while one was hit and killed by a vehicle.

Lebanon Fire Department Chief Chris Christopoulos stated, “On Tuesday morning, we caught a raccoon, which is kind of funny. Reset the trap late Tuesday afternoon. When I went out there to set the trap, I happened to look over the back and the cub was sitting there looking at me. He took off down the hill and by the next morning we caught him.”

The bear cub has been relocated, with its brother, to Ben Kilham’s bear sanctuary in Lyme, NH.

According to the report, both bears will likely be released back into the wild next spring. 

The state of Vermont is currently leading the country in percentage of turned in absentee ballots, reports WCAX.

According to the new data, 30% of voters have cast their ballots, which equals approximately 95,000 VT residents.

This election year, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, legislation has allowed all voters to receive absentee ballots in the mail, which has led to the large numbers of pre-election day votes.

According to Middlebury College Professor Eric Davis, this has led to a change in how campaigns have spent their money in the run-up to November. “Whether it’s television and radio advertising, direct mail, the get-out-the-vote spending and mobilization, you may have concentrated that in the last two weeks of the campaign. The time to be doing that is right now. Indeed, for some candidates it may be too late if they haven’t already.”

According to the report, around 325,000 Vermonters voted in the 2016 general election. 

A Claremont, New Hampshire man has been arrested in connection to a string of recent robberies, reports E-Ticker News of Claremont.

On Thursday, October 15, 2020, investigators from the Claremont Police Department arrested Nathan E. Lane, 32, for his alleged involvement in four robberies.

The four robberies in question include; Wall Street CVS on August 27th, same CVS on August 29th, Pleasant Street Cumberland Farms on September 15th, and the Pleasant Street Family Dollar on September 16th.

Lane has been charged with the following; Attempted Robbery, Attempted Theft, Robbery (four counts), and Theft.

He is currently being detained without bail at the Sullivan County Jail. He will be arraigned tomorrow, Friday, October 16th, at the Sullivan County Superior Court. The time of the arraignment is still pending. 

300 of New Hampshire’s licensed ambulance service units will soon be able to better disinfect their vehicles, reports the Associated Press.

According to state safety officials, 300 ambulance service units will be gaining access to “electrostatic sprayers” which will help disinfect vehicles. Safety officials continue by stating that the lightweight, handheld device allows for 36-touchless sanitization and disinfection, “ideal for the current pandemic.”

NH Bureau of EMS Chief Justin Romanello says that the sprayers should cut down on turnaround times following EMS calls.

The Granite State Health Care Coalition helped with funding. 

A judge has ruled against the request of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy to leave select statements made to police out of his upcoming trial, reports WCAX.

Zhukovskyy is the pickup truck driver who has been charged with causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists last year in Randolph.

Attorneys for Zhukovskyy state that their client indicated during a police interview last June that he could no longer continue, and that the continuation of the conversation was a violation of the man’s Miranda Rights.

According to the attorneys, police suspended the interview momentarily before continuing their lines of questioning about the driver’s drug use and whereabouts on June 21, 2019, the date of the fatal incident.

Prosecutors argued that his statement was ambiguous.

A judge has now concluded that Zhukovskyy’s Miranda Rights were not violated.

The alleged criminal has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of negligent homicide. 

Vermont health officials are updating the state’s long-term care center visitation policies, reports WCAX.

According to Agency of Human Service Secretary Mike Smith, indoor visitation will now be allowed at long-term care facilities with strict rules.

All visitors will be required to be screened for COVID-19 symptoms and risk factors. Also, as of now, there will be no physical contact allowed between residents and visitors, masks will be required, and there will be regular testing of staff members.

According to Smith, only two visitors per resident will be allowed at a time. He states that visits will be scheduled and kept short. Any facilities with active COVID-19 cases, or in counties with a more than 10% COVID positivity rate, will only allow outdoor visit at this time.

Smith reports that Adult Day Centers will also be reopening, but it will be up to the discretion of each individual location to develop a plan that meets state guidelines and to get that plan approved by the state. Some of the more “at risk” visitors may not be allowed to return yet. 

Enfield, New Hampshire town officials are researching contact tracing efforts and possible quarantines following an Enfield Market vendor’s positive COVID-19 test, reports ABC 22.

According to a post on the town’s Facebook page, the vendor in question is the Boston-based Whiskey Kissed Company. Organizers of the market reportedly learned at around noon on Saturday that the home decor vendor had tested positive for COVID-19 at some point in the previous 24 hours. Organizers then asked the vendor to leave, which they then did immediately.

Town officials report that, to their knowledge, everyone who visited the vendor, as well as the vendor themselves, were wearing face masks during the two hours they were at the event. 

The New Hampshire Food Bank will be hosting a drive-through mobile food pantry locally this week, reports Manchester Ink Link.

The NH Food Bank, which is a program of Catholic Charities NH, has hosted 28 drive-through pantries since March in an effort to assist citizens during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The charity estimates that an additional 71,000 NH citizens are now food insecure due to the pandemic.

The upcoming mobile food pantry will take place in Claremont as part of a three-stop tour through the Granite State this week.

Truckloads of food will be distributed to individuals and their families in their vehicles from 11 AM to 1 PM this Thursday, October 15th, at Claremont’s Monadnock Park.