{"id":25544,"date":"2026-02-14T07:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T12:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/?p=25544"},"modified":"2026-02-14T07:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T12:29:10","slug":"february-14-2026-new-england-news-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/?p=25544","title":{"rendered":"February 14, 2026 New England News Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>New Hampshire<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Daniel Will confirmed to New Hampshire Supreme Court<\/b>: Judge Daniel Will was confirmed as the newest justice on the state&#8217;s highest court in a 4-1 Executive Council vote, overcoming opposition from some far-right activists. <a href=\"https:\/\/nhjournal.com\/dan-will-wins-4-1-executive-council-vote-for-supreme-court-seat\/\">https:\/\/nhjournal.com\/dan-will-wins-4-1-executive-council-vote-for-supreme-court-seat\/<\/a> (NH Journal)<\/li>\n<li><b>Vaccine skeptics push new legislation<\/b>: Vaccine skeptics are renewing efforts in the 2026 legislative session to rescind New Hampshire&#8217;s school and childcare vaccine requirements through multiple bills. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhpr.org\/nh-news\/2026-02-12\/vaccine-legislation-new-hampshire-2026\">https:\/\/www.nhpr.org\/nh-news\/2026-02-12\/vaccine-legislation-new-hampshire-2026<\/a> (NHPR)<\/li>\n<li><b>House rejects red flag law bill<\/b>: The New Hampshire House killed a bill that would have allowed temporary firearm removal from individuals in mental health crises. <a href=\"https:\/\/newhampshirebulletin.com\/2026\/02\/12\/house-kills-red-flag-law-bill-allowing-removal-of-firearms-during-mental-health-crises\/\">https:\/\/newhampshirebulletin.com\/2026\/02\/12\/house-kills-red-flag-law-bill-allowing-removal-of-firearms-during-mental-health-crises\/<\/a> (New Hampshire Bulletin)<\/li>\n<li><b>No reinstatement of vehicle inspections<\/b>: House Republicans decisively rejected attempts to bring back mandatory vehicle safety inspections after a new law ended the requirement. <a href=\"https:\/\/nhjournal.com\/house-gop-wont-pump-the-breaks-on-ending-vehicle-inspections\/\">https:\/\/nhjournal.com\/house-gop-wont-pump-the-breaks-on-ending-vehicle-inspections\/<\/a> (NH Journal)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Maine<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Bangor woman to plead guilty in son&#8217;s death<\/b>: A Bangor woman is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter in the death of her 10-year-old son and may testify against others involved. <a href=\"https:\/\/bangordailynews.com\/2026\/02\/12\/bangor\/bangor-police-courts\/bangor-maine-braxtyn-smith-death-jem-bean-manslaughter-plea\/\">https:\/\/bangordailynews.com\/2026\/02\/12\/bangor\/bangor-police-courts\/bangor-maine-braxtyn-smith-death-jem-bean-manslaughter-plea\/<\/a> (Bangor Daily News)<\/li>\n<li><b>Lawsuit over hospital misdiagnosis and amputation<\/b>: A Maine man is suing a Bangor hospital, alleging misdiagnosis of his symptoms led to the amputation of his leg. <a href=\"https:\/\/bangordailynews.com\/2026\/02\/12\/bangor\/bangor-police-courts\/amputated-leg-lawsuit-bangor-maine-hospital-joam40zk0w\/\">https:\/\/bangordailynews.com\/2026\/02\/12\/bangor\/bangor-police-courts\/amputated-leg-lawsuit-bangor-maine-hospital-joam40zk0w\/<\/a> (Bangor Daily News)<\/li>\n<li><b>Fatal house fire in Presque Isle<\/b>: One man died in an early-morning house fire on Ginn Road in Presque Isle, where the blaze started in a bedroom and no working smoke alarms were found upstairs. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themainewire.com\/2026\/02\/presque-isle-house-fire-leaves-one-man-dead-investigators-say-blaze-started-in-bedroom-no-working-smoke-alarms-upstairs\/\">https:\/\/www.themainewire.com\/2026\/02\/presque-isle-house-fire-leaves-one-man-dead-investigators-say-blaze-started-in-bedroom-no-working-smoke-alarms-upstairs\/<\/a> (The Maine Wire)<\/li>\n<li><b>Drug bust leads to two arrests in Madison<\/b>: Somerset County deputies arrested two people after seizing over a pound of drugs during a search warrant execution in Madison. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themainewire.com\/2026\/02\/somerset-drug-bust-leads-to-two-arrests-in-madison\/\">https:\/\/www.themainewire.com\/2026\/02\/somerset-drug-bust-leads-to-two-arrests-in-madison\/<\/a> (The Maine Wire)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Vermont<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>$93 million awarded for broadband expansion<\/b>: Vermont has received $93 million in federal funds to expand high-speed internet access, aiming to connect more than 99% of locations statewide. <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2026\/02\/12\/vermont-receives-93-million-in-federal-funds-to-expand-broadband-access\/\">https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2026\/02\/12\/vermont-receives-93-million-in-federal-funds-to-expand-broadband-access\/<\/a>(VTDigger)<\/li>\n<li><b>Lawmakers eye accountability court expansion<\/b>: As a pilot accountability court program ends in Burlington, legislators are considering bringing the specialized courts to other parts of Vermont. <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2026\/02\/11\/as-pilot-program-sunsets-in-burlington-lawmakers-look-to-bring-accountability-court-elsewhere\/\">https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2026\/02\/11\/as-pilot-program-sunsets-in-burlington-lawmakers-look-to-bring-accountability-court-elsewhere\/<\/a> (VTDigger)<\/li>\n<li><b>Rutland names permanent police chief<\/b>: Matthew Prouty has been officially appointed as Rutland&#8217;s permanent police chief, removing the interim tag from his title. <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2026\/02\/11\/rutland-police-panel-drops-interim-from-matthew-proutys-title-naming-him-permanent-chief\/\">https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2026\/02\/11\/rutland-police-panel-drops-interim-from-matthew-proutys-title-naming-him-permanent-chief\/<\/a> (VTDigger)<\/li>\n<li>\u2022<b>Smugglers\u2019 Notch Resort sold<\/b>: Smugglers\u2019 Notch Resort in Jeffersonville has been sold to Bear Den Partners, the same group that owns Burke Mountain. <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2026\/02\/11\/smugglers-notch-resort-sells\/\">https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2026\/02\/11\/smugglers-notch-resort-sells\/<\/a> (VTDigger)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Hampshire Daniel Will confirmed to New Hampshire Supreme Court: Judge Daniel Will was confirmed as the newest justice on the state&#8217;s highest court in a 4-1 Executive Council vote, overcoming opposition from some far-right activists. https:\/\/nhjournal.com\/dan-will-wins-4-1-executive-council-vote-for-supreme-court-seat\/ (NH Journal) Vaccine skeptics push new legislation: Vaccine skeptics are renewing efforts in the 2026 legislative session to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":25545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[214],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-news"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/New-England-News-1.jpeg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25546,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25544\/revisions\/25546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nhtalkradio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}