Yesterday President Trump signed an Executive Order called the ‘National Initiative to Empower Veterans and End Veteran Suicide.’ It creates a task force to identify ways the government can help cut down on the number of veterans committing suicide every day. The transition from being in the service to being a civilian can be a daunting one. Veterans often go into the military at a critical time for job training, spend years acquiring skills that are hard to translate to civilian life, and sometimes even experience traumatic events that will stay will them for the rest of their lives. A veteran commits suicide once every 65 minutes. That’s an average of 22 veterans a day and it’s a statistic a lot of people want to put a stop to. Valley resident and former Army Captain Ray Gilmore recently spoke on his personal experience. Gilmore says his best friend and roommate committed suicide in 2013. “You know, sapper qualified ranger, qualified combat advisor just like me. Did his stuff, five kids- six kids. Six kids, he was an overachiever. It was just, it was a shock. When 22 soldiers a day are committing suicide, there’s no such thing as ‘not that guy,’ that guy is everywhere.” If you’re a veteran contemplating suicide, you are not alone. You can find help by calling 800-273-8255 ext. 1, or by going to mentalhealth.va.gov

As the State of New Hampshire considers passing reforms for Family Medical Leave, two overall plans have emerged between Governor Chris Sununu and the State Legislature and the primary point of contention is funding. Governor Chris Sununu has teamed up with Vermont Governor Phil Scott to propose a voluntary paid Family Medical Leave plan, utilizing contributors from both New Hampshire and Vermont to grow the pool of insurance revenue to reduce the cost of insurance. New Hampshire’s Legislature is lining up behind a different proposal that may prove more controversial for the Live Free or Die state. In debates before House Bill 712 was passed in that chamber, Representative Jack Flanagan of Brookline said, “The funding mechanism is an income tax. I mean, some people will like to say it’s a payroll deduction, but it is truly an income tax and currently it’s at one-half of a one percent. Paid by the employee unless the employer is willing to pay on their behalf.” North Conway Representative Harrison Kanzler rose in defense of the bill before the house and said he disagrees. Representative Kanzler explained that an income tax bill would apply to the total income of an individual, whereas this bill would only institute a ‘premium,’ against an individual’s wages and not the total income. The bill passed the house yesterday but with just under 200 votes for the measure, it falls well below the three-fourths it will need to override the Governor’s likely veto.

Heavy winds batter New England and Mt. Washington may be bearing the brunt of it. Tom Padham, Weather Observer and Meteorologist at the Mt. Washington Observatory says they had a gust of wind as fast as 171 mph, which is a record for the month of February. Powerful winds are striking elsewhere throughout New England as well with average gusts around 53-55 mph in New Hampshire and Maine. Central Maine Power reported that 6,000 customers were in the dark. In New Hampshire, Eversource had about 7,600 customers without power, and WCYY in Maine reports a communications tower was broken in half atop Sugarloaf Mountain.