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Earlier this year, their cramped mobile home growing smaller every day, Milford couple Lora Painter and Nick Dumont set about searching for larger, more suitable quarters for them and their three sprouting children. Times being what they are, though, scoring such a property for what they could afford was about as likely as all the nation's teens giving up their cell phones. But then, as April showers began bringing May flowers, what Painter calls "our miracle" happened. It came in the form of a tidy, hillside ranch with three good-sized bedrooms and a potential fourth, a couple of airy walk-in...

Breaking news 4:24 PM N.H. legislators OK gay marriage The governor is expected to sign the bill, which would make New Hampshire the sixth state to legalize gay marriage.

CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire legislators approved a measure Wednesday that would make the state the sixth to allow gay marriage, and Gov. John Lynch said he would sign it later in the afternoon. He had promised a veto if the law didn't clearly spell out that churches and religious groups would not be forced to officiate at gay marriages or provide other services. The Senate passed the measure Wednesday, and the House — where the outcome was more in doubt — followed later in the day. The House gallery erupted in cheers after the 198-176 vote. "If you have...

New Hampshire lawmakers unexpectedly rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have made the state the sixth in the United States to authorize gay marriage. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted down the bill in a 188-186 vote, hours after its Senate approved the legislation 14-10 along party lines. An earlier version of the bill passed the state's House of Representatives on March 26. Both chambers had been asked to approve language that would give religious institutions opposed to gay marriage legal protections, including the right to decline to marry same-sex couples. That wording was added by Governor John Lynch,...

CONCORD, N.H. -- The New Hampshire House reversed itself Wednesday and passed a bill extending anti-discrimination protections to transgender individuals by a single vote. The House voted 181-149 last month to kill the bill but reconsidered Wednesday after a passionate appeal from House Speaker Terie Norelli to include transgender individuals in the state's anti-discrimination law. The House debated more than three hours before voting 188-187 to send it to the Senate. Republicans call it the "bathroom bill" based on the argument it would open all bathrooms to both men and women. Republicans said women and children would be put at...

The old saying that crime doesn't pay is certainly true for corrupt politicians hoping to get their pension. The board overseeing public employees retirement benefits has slashed benefits of several public servants who tried to collect pensions after corruption convictions or guilty pleas. When former state Senate President John Lynch gets out of prison, he'll be eligible for about 267 dollars a month. That's compared to the 18-hundred a month he would have received had he not pleaded guilty last year. The reduced pensions are part of a law that went into effect in April. The law makes it impossible...

CONCORD, N.H. — Gov. John Lynch signed legislation Friday that made New Hampshire the first state to repeal a law requiring a parent be notified before a minor received an abortion. The 2003 law never took effect because of a court challenge, and the repeal took effect immediately.

Guilty plea by ex-Senate president expected to short-circuit federal graft probe Former state Sen. John Lynch, the brash legislator who for two decades was a dominant force in New Jersey politics, is scheduled to plead guilty this morning to federal corruption charges, according to a knowledgeable source who has been briefed on the planned proceeding. Such a plea would bring a sudden and extraordinary halt to an 18-month investigation just days before prosecutors were expected to seek an indictment against the Democratic Party leader and onetime Senate president... < snip > The source who knew about the hearing would not...

Gov. John Lynch said he's against gay marriage, but opposes changing the state's constitution to ban it. The Democratic governor has plenty of company among legislators of both parties, who said Thursday they saw little chance of the amendment passing. "There is no need to amend our constitution to do what is already set in law," Lynch said, expressing views shared by many. "Our time is better spent focusing on the real challenges facing New Hampshire and working to unite people, not divide them." New Hampshire law already defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. But...