The top New England News from the past week!
New Hampshire
- NH scores outsized share of $224M Meta settlement — Attorney General John Formella’s decision to pursue New Hampshire’s own state-court lawsuit against Meta, rather than joining the multistate case, paid off this week with a strong settlement recovery. (NH Journal — nhjournal.com/nh-punches-above-its-weight-in-224m-meta-settlement/)
- NH-01 Democratic primary turns into a healthcare bidding war — With the September 8 primary approaching, Democratic candidates in the 1st Congressional District are competing to stake out the most aggressive pro-healthcare positions. (New Hampshire Bulletin — newhampshirebulletin.com/2026/08/25/nhs-1st-district-democratic-primary-has-become-a-whos-the-most-pro-healthcare-competition/)
- Appeals court sides with Bow parents in free-speech fight — A federal appeals court unanimously reversed a lower-court ruling that had allowed Bow school administrators to restrict a controversial T-shirt message, handing a win to the parents who sued. (NH Journal — nhjournal.com/appeals-court-sides-with-bow-parents-in-xx-free-speech-fight/)
Maine
- Maine to receive at least $56M in Meta settlement — Maine is set to collect a significant share of a sweeping multistate settlement with Meta tied to the platform’s impact on children. (The Maine Wire — themainewire.com/2026/08/maine-to-receive-at-least-56-million-in-landmark-meta-settlement-targeting-social-medias-impact-on-children/)
- Six write-in candidates trigger ranked-choice voting in Senate race — What looked like a head-to-head matchup between Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson has been complicated by six write-in candidates, activating Maine’s ranked-choice system. (The Maine Wire — themainewire.com/2026/08/six-write-in-candidates-complicate-maines-u-s-senate-race-trigger-ranked-choice-voting/)
- Press Herald exposes “pink slime” sites posing as Maine news — An investigation identified three recently launched sites — on both sides of the political spectrum — that mimic local news outlets while being run by super PACs and partisan operatives. (Portland Press Herald — pressherald.com/2026/08/26/inside-the-rise-of-maines-partisan-pink-slime-news-pages/)
Vermont
- Nearly 900 people mistakenly on mail-ballot rolls — State officials confirmed that close to 900 Vermonters who did not want to be registered to vote were nonetheless slated to receive mail-in ballots, an error caught just ahead of the election. (VTDigger — vtdigger.org, Aug. 25 report by Shaun Robinson)
- South Burlington Catholic school offered for sale amid diocese bankruptcy — The Diocese, now in bankruptcy court, is privately offering to sell a South Burlington school for $4.3 million — a fraction of its $30.5 million appraised value — to try to keep it from liquidation. (VTDigger — vtdigger.org, Deerfield Valley News report, Aug. 24-25)
- St. Albans dairy plant fight moves to arbitration — A federal judge declined to further intervene in the Teamsters’ bid to halt the shutdown of an idle St. Albans dairy processing plant; the union’s retaliation claims will now go to an arbitrator. (Vermont Public — vermontpublic.org/local-news)
