Marketplaces function best when consumers have choices, and that includes the marketplace of ideas embodied by our elections and the campaigns leading up to them. When voters have choices, candidates are more likely to voice ideas that have to compete for approval at the ballot box.

One of the things we know is that our readers are passionate, smart and not afraid to tell us when they think we are wrong.

It's no secret that Andrew Hosmer is a Democrat. He was active in party politics long before he was elected mayor of Laconia, and his position gives him standing to comment on a variety of public policy matters. But an offer we received this week went too far.“I wanted to quickly reach out a…

According to the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, the criminal justice division prosecutes, among other things, “cases of crimes committed by state, county, and local government officials, including law enforcement officers. The cases involve a variety of criminal conduct, including …

We feel bad for the members of the Lakeshore Redevelopment Commission who have worked for the past few years – at the behest of the Legislature – to come up with a plan to redevelop the former Laconia State School property.

We'd like to think that our local law enforcement agencies are above reproach. We want to believe that the men and women on the police forces that keep us safe are professional, truthful and bastions of integrity.

We would like to know a lot more about the dispute in the Belknap County Sheriff's Department that has resulted in the suspension of Chief Deputy David Perkins, who has been on paid administrative leave for more than four months.

The decision by LRGHealthcare to furlough as many as 600 workers — including doctors, nurses, technicians, receptionists, custodians and other employees throughout the facility — sent shock waves through the Lakes Region.

The news was as welcome as a slug in the gut: LRGHealthcare, the largest employer in the region, is going to furlough 500 full-time workers for four months.

When police and firefighters are called to help in a crisis, we want them to have the best tools available to do the job at hand.

The world will be watching when New Hampshire voters go to the polls Tuesday to choose their preference for the Democratic and Republican nominees for president.

After he was arrested last Aug. 9 outside a Tilton restaurant and charged with DWI, Merrimack County Sheriff Scott Hilliard publicly admitted he has struggled with alcoholism.

New Hampshire's Right-To-Know Law, which was passed to ensure that the public has reasonable access to meetings of public bodies and governmental records, has a noble aim.

Ask any public official if they favor more transparency in government, and they undoubtedly will sing its praises.

There was troubling news out of Belmont this week, when word arrived that the Belmont Senior Center would be closing at the end of the month.