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Episcopalians in New Hampshire have elected Reverend Robert Hirschfeld as their next Bishop. He will replace Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the history of the church.

Robert Hirschfeld – currently the rector of Grace Church in Amherst Massachusetts – was elected on the first ballot, which is a rarity in Episcopalian elections.

The chair of the Bishop Search and Nomination Committee, Kevin Nichols, says that reflects a consensus in the New Hampshire dioceses that Hirschfeld is the right man for the job.

Today members of the New Hampshire Episcopalian dioceses are gathering to elect a successor to Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the history of the church. 

The election of Robinson in 2003 tore a rift in the global Anglican community. In 2010, Robinson announced that he would retire next January, saying years of death threats and controversy had taken their toll.

The vice-chair of New Hampshire’s bishop search committee, Margaret Porter, says that sexual orientation did not figure in to the selection of candidates.

This weekend, the Canterbury Shaker Village opens its doors for the season.

It’s 600 acres of stillness, of restored buildings and manicured fields. But there’s one thing missing.

“Visitors come here expecting to see Shakers,” says Funi Burdick, Executive Director of the Village.

Nationally, there are about 600,000 unfilled factory jobs.  But despite high unemployment, these jobs are proving all-but-impossible to fill, even in New Hampshire.  For one thing, most people don’t have the skills.  And many companies are handing over the training, and cost, of potential new workers to community colleges.  But that still doesn’t guarantee it will lead to new hires.

It is going to take a little longer than expected for the state of New Hampshire to decide whether it can save money by having its prisons run by a private firm.

NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

By July the state’s department of administrative services had hoped to finish its report evaluating proposals from four companies interested in running a private prison.

But Linda Hodgdon, the commissioner for administrative services, says there is so much information the department is looking for a consultant to help sort through it.

New Hampshire House lawmakers try and fail to revive a bill to ban late-term abortions.

The Senate has all but killed a measure that would have given landlords greater flexibility to evict tenants.

Bill opponents say the move preserves some equity between tenants and the property owners.

Originally the legislation would have allowed large-scale landlords the ability to evict a tenant when a lease expires.

Owners already can remove a tenant for any number of reasons, including rent hikes or personal business needs.

New Hampshire Legal Assistance attorney Elliott Berry says tenants are entitled to not be arbitrarily evicted.

The state Senate has overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment to ban an income tax.

Lawmakers now must agree on the plan before it makes it to the ballot this fall.

Many Senate and House Republican leaders strongly favor prohibiting the state from collecting an income tax.

That’s why it’s likely the two sides will reach agreement on constitutional amendment language when they meet later this month.

Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley told his colleagues supporting this plan is noble and worthy.

For the first time in U.S. history, more babies are being born to minority parents than to non-Hispanic white parents. 

The New Hampshire House has passed a new version of the rules that govern what counts as renewable energy. The bill would expand the definition of renewable to include thermal energy.

The state Senate has passed a plan that would give business a tax credit for donations to private and parochial schools.

The bill has strong legislative support.

In essence, this bill gives businesses incentives to support non-public schools.

Backers say wealthy people already have the resources to send their children wherever they want.

Sponsor Republican Senator Jim Forsythe says making more scholarship money available gives more families more choices.

The city of Nashua is spending a little more than $100,000 to figure out how to better brand itself. 

The New Hampshire Senate is expected to take up legislation Wednesday to curb welfare fraud.

Some state Senators aren’t convinced there is a problem worth solving.

Under the House-passed plan, the state would expand screening of low-income families before they can receive cash benefits.

Supporters say cheating the system erodes public support for programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families – the state’s welfare program.

Tonight selectmen in Rye will hear from the town's lawyer about the legality of a new cycling ordinance in that town. Cycling - both for commuting and recreation - is on the rise, but so too is the number of cars on the road, and recently on the seacoast, tensions between cyclists and drivers have flared.

New Hampshire Fish and Game officials say they had to rescue three hikers and a dog over the weekend.  The hikers ran into trouble on Little Haystack Mountain in Grafton County.  NHPR’s Chris Jensen has more.

(Jensen) A 29-year-old Manchester man used his cell phone late Saturday to call for help after it got dark before he could finish hiking down from Little Haystack Mountain.

And he lacked a flashlight.