🍀 Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m wearing a sweater with shamrocks today to celebrate.
In other news, did you see the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute got a little creative with charts for Pi(e) Day on March 14?
One chart looked at income across the state using 2024 census data. It shows…
• 17% of Granite Staters earn $200,000 or more.
• About 16%, make less than $35,000.
• The largest group—20%—earns $100,000 to $149,000. (If only we were all that lucky!)
Another chart examined the link between poverty and disability:
• 29% of people living in poverty have at least one disability.
• The remaining 71% do not have a disability.
“This chart highlights an important reality: disability and poverty can be closely connected,” the NH Fiscal Policy Institute said on its website. “Understanding this overlap can help inform policies that support access to health care, employment opportunities, and public services for Granite Staters facing multiple challenges.”
Let me know your thoughts.
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Here’s what’s inside today’s newsletter:
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📰 What we’re reading: News from around the state
🍰 Who serves the best pie in New Hampshire?
📢 Question of the week: Are Americans mostly bad?
🔠 Test our crossword. The theme? Homophones.
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Gov. Kelly Ayotte has long warned about New Hampshire’s opioid crisis, but federal records show her campaign and PAC accepted over $83,000 from opioid-linked donors—including the Sackler family behind Purdue Pharma.
While targeting her 2026 Democratic opponent for past ties to Purdue, Ayotte herself took money from the very companies at the center of the epidemic, sometimes even the day after introducing legislation to curb overdoses.
Her record, stretching back to her time as attorney general, raises tough questions about influence, optics, and accountability at a moment when the crisis continues to devastate Granite State communities.
Colin Booth has the full story.
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🎓 Two New Hampshire students are headed to Washington. The New Hampshire Department of Education has selected Aadi Klukarni of Nashua High School South and Shelby McDonald of Plymouth Regional High School for the 64th annual United States Senate Youth Program. The pair will take part in an intensive study of the federal government while also receiving a $10,000 college scholarship funded by the Hearst Foundations. NH Department of Education
🏫 A school funding debate is heating up in Concord. Republicans in the NH House of Representatives passed a bill that would require voters across the state to consider capping school property taxes every two years. Supporters like Rep. Ross Berry say it gives more residents a say in spending, while critics argue it could force cuts in districts already facing rising costs. The proposal now heads to the New Hampshire Senate. New Hampshire Public Radio
🏛️ Another State House debate wrapped up this week. Republicans in the NH Senate voted down a bill that would have removed legal protections for gunmaker SIG Sauer. The company has faced lawsuits over claims its SIG Sauer P320 pistol can fire without the trigger being pulled. Sen. Debra Altschiller proposed repealing the law, but with the bill defeated, the current protections signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte remain in place. Portsmouth Herald
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Without local news, a lot of important things happen in the dark. Town decisions go unnoticed, misinformation spreads, and communities lose a shared understanding of what’s really going on. Our reporting brings transparency to local issues and gives people the facts they need to stay informed and engaged.
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Where is the best pie in New Hampshire?
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Pi(e) Day may have come and gone, but seeing this Facebook post got me wondering: where can you find the best pie in New Hampshire? According to the post and highly rated reviews, these spots are taking the crown. Got a favorite? Hit reply and let me know—yes, pizza counts as pie, too.
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A recent global survey from the Pew Research Center found something surprising about the United States…
Americans are more likely than people in any of the 25 countries surveyed to say their fellow citizens have bad morals and ethics.
In fact, 53% of Americans say other Americans are morally bad, while 47% say they’re morally good.
Politics may play a role: Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say their fellow Americans have bad morals. But across many countries, people who oppose the party in power tend to view their fellow citizens more negatively too.
So this week’s question is…
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Do you think Americans are becoming less moral—or just more judgmental of each other?
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Here’s what you’re saying…
“Great question! I am 67 years old, so I have seen some big shifts over time in American moral behavior. My answer is twofold. I do believe there is declining morality in the USA. But I believe that within each hard right and hard left, the concept of morality has changed. This is due to the massive divide in media, which now provides two very different sets of information and massive disinformation. The two groups have developed polarized sets of what is right and wrong to measure by. Therefore, each thinks the other’s is immoral because they use very different measuring sticks, as different as English vs. Metric. I also believe none of us are or were as moral as we would like to believe we are by traditional morals once more universally accepted. Conservatives’ morals theoretically should be closer to those traditional, largely Christian-based ones. But to see what behavior the MAGA base considers not important today (pedophilia, racism, and fraudulent lies & cheating), I am convinced there was always a degree of depravity hidden beneath a false face of “good people.” They aim for greatness at the expense of goodness and confuse the two. Liberal morals have progressed away from traditional religious ones, but are still grounded in the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Laozi, and Moses. (I came to understand how Christian-skewed USA morals are when living in China for 11 years.) It is understandable that the far right considers these values as somehow less pure or less moral. But while liberals’ behavior varies widely, they see themselves as holding the higher ground in aiming for what is correct and good. I self-identify as a left-leaning centrist with universalist morals.”
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Think you’ve got what it takes to crack this crossword? Tell us how long it takes you to finish it by emailing us at info@granitepostnews.com! This week’s topic? Homophones.
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Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Katy Savage with stories from Katy Savage and Colin Booth. It was edited by Brook Bolen.
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