- Associated Press - Wednesday, December 25, 2019

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A collision that killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire, a legislative vote to repeal the death penalty, and a barrage of candidate visits leading up to the first-in-the-nation presidential primary were among the state’s top stories in 2019.

Others included the shooting of a bishop and a bride during a wedding, an impasse over the state budget, and challenges to two laws affecting voters.

A look at the state’s top stories:

MOTORCYCLES CRASH

A pickup truck hauling a trailer collided with a group of motorcyclists in Randolph, New Hampshire, in June, killing seven. The truck driver, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, was charged in their deaths and pleaded not guilty. Officials said Zhukovskyy’s license in Massachusetts should’ve been suspended because of a drunken driving arrest in Connecticut.

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DEATH PENALTY

New Hampshire, which hasn’t executed anyone in 80 years and had only one inmate on death row, became the 21st state to abolish the death penalty after the Democrat-controlled Legislature voted to override Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s veto.

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ELECTION 2020

New Hampshire was visited by numerous presidential candidates ahead of the 2020 presidential primary. By the end of the filing period for the Feb. 11 first-in-the-nation primary, 33 Democrats and 17 Republicans got on New Hampshire’s ballot.

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STATE BUDGET

Sununu and Democratic leaders in the Legislature agreed on a compromise two-year budget less than a week before temporary funding measures were set to expire. Sununu vetoed the budget earlier in the year, saying it set up unsustainable spending expectations and “job-killing tax increases.”

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MISSING FOR THREE DECADES

Three suspected victims of a serial killer were identified decades after their remains were discovered in barrels in a state park. The state attorney general’s office confirmed one of the victims was Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch, 24. Her two daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn, 6, and Sarah Lynn McWaters, 1, also were identified. A fourth victim, a little girl, remains unidentified.

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VOTING RIGHTS

Two New Hampshire laws affecting voter registration and residency face court challenges. A trial over the constitutionality of a law requiring voters to provide more documentation if they register within 30 days of an election awaits a judge’s decision. And a federal judge denied a request that would have blocked a law requiring voters to be full-fledged residents from being enforced for the presidential primary.

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CHURCH SHOOTING

Dale Holloway was accused of storming into a Pelham church and shooting and wounding a bishop and a bride during a wedding. The groom at the wedding was the father of a man charged with killing Holloway’s stepfather. Holloway later was charged with attacking his public defender, who suffered severe head injuries. Holloway pleaded not guilty in both cases.

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FOREVER CHEMICALS

The state approve d some of the country’s toughest drinking water standards for a class of toxic chemicals that have been used in everything from firefighting foam to nonstick cookware but are now raising health concerns. A group including 3M, a farmer and others sued the Department of Environmental Resources, alleging that the state didn’t follow the appropriate process in approving the standard for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively called PFAS. The state denied wrongdoing.

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JUVENILE CHARGED

A couple who ran a chiropractic practice were gunned down in their home in Alton, and an 11-year-old boy was charged with second-degree murder. The killings stunned those who knew James Eckert, an ultramarathon runner, and Lizette Eckert, who “loved being a mom to her three children” and running the family farm, according to the couple’s obituary.

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SUNUNU’S VETOES

Sununu’s list of more than 50 vetoed bills emerged largely unscathed after override attempts in the Legislature. There were failed override attempts for bills including ones creating a paid family medical leave program and raising the state’s minimum wage and measures related to labor and employment law.

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