NHPR morning newscast for Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026

Live from NHPR News, I'm Rick Gannley. The New Hampshire Insurance Department has fined two health care companies $420,000 for over 100 violations involving health insurance administration. According to the department between January 2020 and June of 2023, Anthem Health Plans of New Hampshire Incorporated and Matthew Thornton Health Plan, Inc., failed to process claims and appeals within a legal time frame, among other violations. Last October, the insurance department fined the same companies. more than half a million dollars for separate violations of state and federal regulations. The Voting Rights Group is suing the state over the use of school-issued photo IDs for voting. As NHPR's Todd Bookman reports, a new law removed those IDs. Since New Hampshire implemented voter ID rules in 2012, students have had the option of using high school or college IDs to register or receive a ballot, as long as they included a photo and expiration date. Earlier this year, Governor Kelly Ayat signed off on a bill removing school IDs from the approved list after Republicans in the State House argued they weren't as secure as government IDs and that students are not a special class of voter. The Coalition for Open Democracy is now suing to reinstate student IDs. It argues the law violates the Constitution by unfairly targeting young voters and that it was enacted despite any proof of voter fraud. This is the same group that successfully challenged a different bill that sought to mandate all first-time voters bring a passport or birth certificate when they register. It's not clear if a federal judge may act on the request in time for the September primary or November general election. Todd Bookman, NHPR News. Public health experts warn that the current mass outbreak of intestinal illness caused by the cyclospora parasite is stretching local health departments. Jennifer Nuzzo is the director of the pandemic center at Brown University's School of Public Health. She says one issue is that authorities still can't pinpoint what's causing the illness. But the likely food sources are the things you typically eat to stay healthy, like fresh vegetables and a salad and lettuce and herbs and other things. And so that's what makes it real. hard because, you know, for people who want to stay healthy by eating healthy, this outbreak really complicates that. Newsos says the safest way to eat vegetables is to cook them through completely, and it's likely that locally grown veggies are a safer bet. In sports, the Blue Jays came away with a 64 win over the Red Sox last night. They play again this afternoon. Patriots opened the preseason with the Colts at Foxborough tonight. Your forecast, cloudy skies north of Concord today with some showers, partly sunny south, but some showers and storms could pop up anywhere this afternoon. 70s to lower 80s today. It'll become partly cloudy overnight and cooler, lows in the 50s for most of us, dipping down to the upper 40s for parts of the North Country. And Friday, partly to mostly sunny, a breezy day, highs in the 70s and lower 80s. 58 Berlin right now, 64 in Concord, and it's up to 70 degrees in Nashua.