Good evening!

Here’s some news to know tonight:

Apparently $100,000 isn’t enough to make everyone check their pockets. A Powerball ticket worth $100,008 has been sitting unclaimed in New Hampshire for nearly a year and the winner has until Sept. 7 to cash it in.
New Hampshire just got bumped down the presidential primary pecking order. Democrats approved a 2028 calendar putting South Carolina first, Nevada second, and New Hampshire third, but state law could complicate those plans.
New Hampshire’s school voucher program is getting a whole lot bigger. Enrollment in Education Freedom Accounts jumped 25% to 12,500 students, with another 943 on the waitlist and potential state spending topping $60 million.

Here’s what’s inside today’s newsletter:

📸 Reader photo: Knock, knock. This pileated woodpecker was busy making some noise in Hopkinton when Lucy LaFave snapped this photo. Share YOUR photo!

📰 What we’re reading, including: New Hampshire’s boozy reputation may need a sobriety check. Here’s why.

📢 Question of the week: Have you considered leaving New Hampshire? Why do you choose to stay? Share your thoughts.

Katy Savage

Newsletter Editor, Granite Post

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

(Courtesy of Lucy LaFave )

Shoutout to Lucy LaFave of Hopkinton, who spotted this pileated woodpecker while working in her front garden.

“She was right across the street just hanging out! What a treat!” LaFave said.

Did you know? Pileated woodpeckers are the largest woodpeckers commonly found in North America. They can grow nearly 20 inches long, and their powerful hammering creates distinctive rectangular holes in trees as they search for ants and other insects.

📸 Have you spotted something wild in your neighborhood? Send us your favorite wildlife photos from around New Hampshire for a chance to be featured in the newsletter. Click the button below.

Send your glimpse of NH

🦀 New Hampshire’s crustacean scene is getting a shake-up …

Blue crabs and fiddler crabs are showing up more frequently along New Hampshire’s coast as warming waters allow species once found farther south to expand north. Researchers are now studying whether the newcomers are just summer visitors or settling in year-round and what their arrival could mean for lobsters and other marine life. New Hampshire Bulletin

🕵️ In Exeter, a funeral home’s suspicions helped turn an apparent accidental death into a murder investigation …

Court documents say a funeral director noticed cuts and bruises on 88-year-old Janet Kelsen after her death and contacted authorities. An autopsy later determined she died from blunt-force trauma to the head. Her daughter-in-law and caretaker, Danielle Kelsen, is now facing second-degree murder and other charges. WMUR

🍺 And about that claim that New Hampshire drinks more than every other state …

It’s not quite that simple. New Hampshire does rank No. 1 in apparent per-capita alcohol consumption, but those figures are based on sales—meaning all those out-of-staters stocking up at New Hampshire liquor stores help inflate the numbers. State alcohol revenue has actually been declining in recent years. Concord Monitor

New Hampshire gained more residents than it lost to other states in 2024. About 48,700 people moved here from elsewhere in the US, while roughly 40,600 Granite Staters packed up and moved to another state.

So this week’s question is:

Have you considered leaving New Hampshire? Why do you choose to stay?

Sound off!

Here’s what you’re saying:

“Never seriously considered leaving NH, but if I did I would try to go to the high country in New Mexico. It’s beautiful and reminiscent of NH.” — JoAnn Carlson

“Born here. Lived here for my whole life of 72 years, so far. Raised my kids here. So, no, not ever leaving. I’m stuck here like a barnacle. And I love it.” — Denise Clark

Share your take