WNTK Local News

According to state employment officials, unemployment in New Hampshire could reach 20% due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports WMUR.

Last week, 9,491 NH citizens filed for unemployment. This was down approximately 3,000 from the week prior. According to Deputy Commissioner of Employment Security, the numbers are going in the right direction, but show that people in the state are clearly hurting. Since the pandemic began, NH has paid out $400 million dollars in benefits, which according to Levers is, “more than we paid out during the highest benefit year during the Great Recession.” The unemployment rate will become clearer when numbers come out next Tuesday.

Reportedly, NH saw fewer than 1,000 claims filed per week before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Vermont State Police are investigating an alleged bias-based incident that occurred last week in Hartford, VT, reports NBC 5.

According to police, a black man was verbally harassed and threatened for having New York license plates. He was reportedly driving his 11-year-old son near their Hartford home before being approached and flagged down by two pickup trucks. Police state that the victim assumed the men needed help, leading to him stopping his car before talking to the white male who told him the governor does not want him in the state, that he should leave, and then made racially charged remarks.

According to VSP Captain Gary Scott, the attorney general’s office has a bias reporting system that allows them to investigate a civil action even with no criminal cause. The alleged victim owns property in VT, and has been living here since early-March, though he is a professor at an out-of-state university.

This was reportedly not the first racially charged incident, and anti-Asian sentiments have been happened in the Rutland area. 

Eight new COVID-19 related deaths were reported in New Hampshire on Wednesday, states WMUR.

According to health officials, seven of the eight deaths came from those staying in long-term care facilities. 63 new COVID-19 positive tests were also announced.

At the press conference, Health Commissioner Lori Shibinette reported that NH has received 400 vials of the anti-viral drug remdesivir, which has been distributed to 13 NH hospitals. The drug is being tested to see whether it can be effective in defeating COVID-19. Some studies have shown that patients may recover faster after receiving the drug. Hospitals have been given the authorization to use in emergency situations to administer to those in an in-patient setting.

To date, 3,299 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in NH. 

The Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission is set to be the recipient of a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reports the Mountain Times.

The grant will go towards the assessment and clean-up of contaminated properties under the EPA’s brownfield program. The funds are meant to aid under-served and economically disadvantaged communities to help the clean-up of abandoned industrial and commercial properties. The grant going to Vermont totals $800,000, with $500,000 going towards the community of Bethel.

The remaining $300,000 (called an Assessment Grant) will go to the communities of Springfield and Windsor in order to conduct environmental assessments, develop clean-up plans, support refuse spending, and community outreach activities at various sites.

For more information on this grant, visit epa.gov. 

A Claremont man is facing charges for the overdose death of a pregnant Lebanon woman, reports WCAX.

36-year-old Christopher Santolucito was arrested Tuesday for the death of 22-year-old Kacey Grizzaffi. Grizzaffi, who was pregnant with twins at the time of her death, reportedly overdosed on herion and fentanyl in a convenience store bathroom during the month of February. Police were able to use cell phone records and surveillance techniques to trace the drug sale back to Santolucito.

He has been arrested and is being charged with sale of drugs with death resulting, and two charges of assault for the stillbirth fetuses.

He is being held without bail. 

Vermont Health Officials have announced Tuesday’s COVID-19 statistics for the state via WCAX.

As of Tuesday, there are 927 positive cases in the state, which have led to 53 COVID-19 related deaths. To date, over 21,000 tests have been conducted. There are 25 people still being monitored for symptoms, with 849 having completed this process. 787 people have recovered from the coronavirus.

The state’s stay-at-home order was originally set to expire on Friday, but Governor Phil Scott said it will be extended with softer restrictions. 

Three more “pop-up” COVID-19 testing sites are set to open in Vermont this week, reports WCAX.

They will open at the following sites; at Bennington College on Tuesday, at Brattleboro Union High School on Thursday, and at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction on Saturday. The sites are for asymptomatic healthcare workers, first responders, and childcare providers currently working as essential personnel. People returning to the state who are on day seven or later of their quarantine, including snowbirds and college students, may be tested.

To be tested, you must register ahead of time online. 

Vermont Governor Phil Scott is telling retailers in the state that they can begin to re-open next Monday, under strict guidelines, reports WCAX.

According to Scott, VT currently has the third-lowest COVID-19 growth rate in the country, but he hopes citizens will remain vigilant in their efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

In the guidelines for opening the economy, businesses are instructed to create their own safety plans that involve social distancing and new customer protections. Stores will be allowed no more than one-quarter their full occupancy at a time, and employees must wear masks. Scott’s order also will allow people to buy non-essential items from big box stores again.

The state’s current stay-at-home order is set to end on Friday, but Scott says it will be extended with softer restrictions. 

One person has been displaced following an early Sunday morning fire in Newbury, New Hampshire, reports WMUR.

The two-alarm fire occurred in a multi-family home, damaging one unit and a nearby shed, according to the Newbury Fire Department’s Facebook post. The Red Cross has committed to assisting the person displaced by the fire.

No injuries were reported. 

The Lebanon Police Department are on the hunt for two teens who attempted to spray paint the Rail Trail on Sunday, reports WCAX.

The two were attempting to graffiti the Rail Trail, and ran off when approached by an officer. The are described as being two cisgender white males, one 15 and the other a 17-year-old. One stands five feet five inches, with blonde hair, while the second stands five feet eight inches, with dirty blond or brown hair. Both individuals have slim builds.

If you have any information as to the identity of the graffiti artists, please contact the Lebanon PD at 603-448-1212.