Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

Eight of nine families comprising the New Hampshire Families for Home Nursing report needing to ration or reuse supplies for their medically complex children due to reduced or incomplete shipments. The nine families across the state united this summer to advocate against cuts to nursing hours. Their children receive services through the Home Care for Children with Severe Disabilities Program, often referred to as Katie Beckett.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office entered new territory last Friday in its defense of the state’s school funding formula, arguing that two landmark school funding decisions were wrongly decided and should be overturned. In August 2025, Judge David Ruoff of Rockingham County Superior Court ruled in favor of a group of taxpayers in the case of Rand v. State of New Hampshire, finding that the state’s underfunding of schools had led to unconstitutional tax disparities between towns.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran Deal, was negotiated between 2013 and 2015 and finally implemented on January 16, 2016, after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) certified that Iran’s nuclear program was limited to peaceful uses and that Iran granted the Agency sufficient access to verify the agreement.

Sign up for the Transcript's daily newsletter and get essential news each day. Lyndeborough residents gathered at Center Hall on Sunday, Aug. 16, for the town’s annual Community Day, featuring live music, local vendors, family activities, and historical displays. The day’s events included craft booths, games, magic shows, a silent auction, an antique car display, and an evening steak dinner paired with an open mic session.

Tucked away in Jaffrey Center, a stately white building sits in front of a sloping green lawn. Inside are decades of local history. The former Melville Academy — now the Melville Academy Museum, owned by the Village Improvement Society — holds many aspects of Jaffrey’s past. On the first floor are town artifacts, including the former Jaffrey Center post office boxes, a collection of band boxes made by early woman entrepreneur Hannah Davis, and tools of everyday living.

As New Hampshire children return to school in the coming weeks, they will be just as well-vaccinated as they have always been. Since school vaccine rules are set by states and not the federal government, New Hampshire’s requirements have not been affected by the Trump administration’s attacks on the medical technology. Some New Hampshire lawmakers attempted to weaken school vaccine rules this year, including one bill that would have tossed out all requirements, but all were defeated.

The Town of Sharon will host a ceremony to celebrate the inclusion of its 1832 Brick Schoolhouse on the Country Schools Association of America’s National Registry on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 5:30 p.m. The event, held at 432 NH Route 123 in Sharon, marks the site as one of only five designated “Landmark” school buildings in New Hampshire and the first in the Monadnock region. A permanent plaque on the building’s exterior will be unveiled during the presentation.

The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript provides an important service to all readers by encouraging columnists to express thoughts based upon their own experiences, activities, or events within or outside this state or country. Two recent columns were the inspiration behind this letter. They were written by Anna Meigs and Joe Bennham under the heading Viewpoints. Both shared their thoughts on two entirely different topics yet offered lessons or suggestions on how to better understand the world we inhabit.

To the Editor: Federal midterm elections are coming up. Most of our federal officials are seeking higher office or re-election. It is time to ask what each one has done about our $40 trillion national debt. Congress has the “power of the purse” under the Constitution, but has allowed the debt to grow to an unsustainable size. I have repeatedly written our federal representatives to ask 1) what he or she has done about the debt to date, and 2) what the plan is to fix this problem going forward.

The roots band Tattoo will perform a free concert from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27 on the Hancock town common as part of the Hancock Summer Concert Series. The local band, featuring husband-and-wife duo Fred Simmons and Leslie Vogel, performs American roots music, including rock ‘n’ roll, soul, swing, Cajun, and original songs.