“The Democrats love to sing songs and stand in the snow, while Kelly Ayotte is busy getting shit done and delivering what the people of our state are asking for,” Ayotte spokesperson John Corbett said in a statement as her polls dip amid her handling of the ICE detention center in Merrimack.

Elijah Blue Allman— yes, the 49-year-old son of Cher and the late Gregg Allman—was arrested in New Hampshire twice over the weekend.

He was arrested Friday night on trespassing charges at St. Paul’s School in Concord, according to TMZ.

Concord police say officers were called just before 7 p.m. for reports of an unwanted guest in a dining hall who was allegedly “causing a disturbance and acting belligerently.”

He was arrested again Sunday in Windham for felony burglary, breach of bail, felony criminal mischief, and misdemeanor mischief charges.

Why is Allman in New Hampshire? That part isn’t clear.

What we do know is that the musician has been open for years about his struggles with addiction. In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Tonight, he said he started using drugs at 11, beginning with marijuana and ecstasy before moving on to harder drugs.

“I was just looking to escape all the things in my past and that’s when you turn to those kinds of drugs… heroin kind of saved me. If I didn’t have that at that point, I don’t know what I would have done. You may jump off a bridge,” he said.

We dug into Allman a bit more and found he does have a New England connection. Turns out he attended Hyde School in Bath, Maine, about two hours from Concord, and graduated in 1994. He spoke about it in a 1997 interview with Lollipop Magazine for his former band Deadsy, which existed from 1995 to 2023.

“The artery of this band is the whole New England prep school thing… All the debauchery, the uniforms, the crests, the blazers. We love all that shit.”

Allman added this about drugs at prep schools:

“On the weekend you can go home and get more money from your parents to go back and do more drugs. The usual concept of prep school is such a misleading idea! It’s like college before college.”

At one point in his career, he even called himself P. Exeter Blue I, a nod to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, according to Lollipop Magazine.

More recently, his struggles have continued to play out publicly. In 2023, Cher filed for a temporary conservatorship, arguing that any money distributed to her son would “immediately be spent on drugs,” according to Page Six. She withdrew the petition in September 2024 after Allman said he was sober.

In June 2025, TMZ reported he was admitted to a California facility following a drug overdose while navigating a contentious divorce from singer Marieangela King.

According to People, court documents show King is seeking $6,000 a month in spousal support, plus a 2017 Toyota Prius.

We’ll keep you updated if we hear more about Allman.

Here’s what else we’re covering today:

📝 Ayotte plunges in polls

📰 What we’re reading, news from around the state

📢 Question of the week: How are you evaluating Trump?

❓Dear Grace: My son is being bullied for his autism—by kids and adults. How do I stand up for him?

P.S. Consider this a good-use-of-your-inbox moment. Know someone who’d appreciate it? Send it their way.

P.P.S. Before you scroll further, we’re still collecting reader feedback and would love to hear from you before it’s too late! Take our short, 5-minute survey before it closes tonight. Click here.

P.P.P.S. Keep an eye out for this newsletter in your inboxes tomorrow. We’re featuring this micro bakery, which is all the rage in Londonderry.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s standing with New Hampshire voters has fallen to its lowest point since she took office, with a new University of New Hampshire Granite State Poll showing her net approval rating at 0%, with 47% approving and 47% disapproving, down from +5 in January.

Colin Booth has the full story.

👉 NH House panel unanimously rejected an impeachment inquiry into Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, a Democrat. New Hampshire Bulletin

The effort fizzled before it really began, because the sponsor, Deputy House Majority Leader Joe Sweeney of Salem, a Republican, asked them to. The controversy centered on Hill’s use of her Executive Council email to connect a national Democratic law firm with potential plaintiffs challenging the state’s voter ID law. The attorney general cleared her of wrongdoing.

👉 It’s mostly Democrats speaking up right now after the US and Israel’s attack on Iran. WMUR

NH Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan are saying the administration lacked a clear strategy and should involve Congress before dragging the country into another open-ended conflict.

👉 A bipartisan group of state senators unveiled a bill to overhaul how the state handles abuse and neglect in New Hampshire’s disability care system. New Hampshire Bulletin

They want a new oversight commission with more accountability and clearer reporting after state records showed hundreds of credible abuse reports and over a hundred deaths in recent years.

👉 Dartmouth College went all-in on AI, and the campus is not chill about it. Boston Globe

Administrators struck deals to bring tons of generative AI tools to students and faculty and leaned into partnerships with companies like Anthropic and AWS. But professors are pushing back, worried it’s too fast, too intense, and could change how education itself works, especially after the college paid a student to promote a mental health chatbot in the school paper.

👉 Meanwhile, Rep. Ro Khanna was campaigning in Hanover, Keene, and Nashua over the weekend. WMUR

He said he’ll team up with Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie to force a House vote on halting US military action in Iran, arguing the money would be better spent on housing and education in places like New Hampshire.

President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address last Tuesday. Over the weekend, he ordered a strike on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation’s supreme leader. Trump has often called himself a “president of peace” and, during his campaign, promised to end wars.

This action comes as his overall approval rating is slipping. Multiple polls show it hovering around 40%, and most voters believe Trump is overstepping his authority.

What does this mean for the midterms?

Republican pollster Whit Ayres, speaking to Politico, said presidential approval ratings have historically been strong indicators of midterm results.

So this week we’re asking:

Which issue matters most to you in evaluating Trump:
military action, the Epstein files, immigration enforcement, or something else?

Here’s what you’re saying…

“The thing that bothers me most about Trump is that his mental illness leads to complete disregard for the Constitution and any law limiting his power. It also makes him vulnerable to manipulation by unscrupulous powers.” — JoAnn Carlson 

Welcome to our weekly advice column, courtesy of Grace: She’s the big sister who shares her own mistakes so you can avoid making them, the coworker who builds you up to ask for the raise you deserve, and the friend who is always happy to listen.

We all need someone like Grace in our corner. Submit your own questions here.

Dear Grace,

My son is Autistic and in middle school. He is my whole life and perfect the way he is. He struggled with bullying a little bit last year, but it’s gotten worse since the whole “Tylenol causes autism” thing. Not only are kids at school making fun of him, but adults are being rude to him, too.

First of all, there is no single cause of autism. It’s not caused by vaccines or Tylenol or whatever. Second of all, why is everyone acting like autism is so terrible? My son is smart, kind, loving, and he can memorize whole movie scripts. I wouldn’t want to change him…ever! 

When I hear adults and kids saying things that aren’t true and that are meant to make Autistic people feel bad, I go into Mama Bear mode and get mad and protective. But I don’t want to yell at people or make it worse. What should I do? How can I convince people that my son’s autism isn’t bad, it’s a wonderful part of who he is? What should I say when people repeat false things about autism?

— Angry Mama in Ardmore

Dear Angry Mama,

I get why you’re angry. As parents, we want to protect our children from being bullied or from people who think they need to be “cured.” You clearly love your son deeply, just as he is! I’m sorry that other people around him are having trouble seeing him the way that you do.

While I understand why you would want to yell at someone for saying something cruel to or about your son, you’re right that it might make things worse. Here are some of my ideas about what you could do… Readers, click below to read and give your advice to Angry Mama!

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Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Katy Savage with stories from Colin Booth and Galvanize Together. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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