N.H. News Recap for Oct. 15, 2021: Evacuee resettlement and the Executive Council rejects millions in federal contracts

This week, the Executive Council rejected $27 million dollars in federal funding for COVID vaccination efforts. Police removed several protestors from that meeting. These vaccination contracts sparked a disruptive protest that shut down an Executive Council meeting two weeks ago. Wednesday’s meeting was held at the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council, but there were still nine protesters who were arrested by police. The U.S. is in the process of resettling thousands of Afghan evacuees. Some of them will be coming to New Hampshire. And the state’s housing crisis continues. An agency responsible for coordinating the arrival of Afghan evacuees to the Concord area is struggling to find them places to live. The rental and housing crunch in New Hampshire is a longstanding issue, and it’s only gotten worse in the last few years. And a new study says the state’s rising housing costs can in part be blamed on local residential regulations.