The Exchange

Human trafficking is on the rise in New Hampshire as part of a larger trend across New England. This is due, in part, to the opioid crisis, as drug users and addicts may be at higher risk for becoming victims of trafficking crimes.

In this Race for the 1st conversation, The Exchange on Monday interviews Levi Sanders , a Democrat running in the closely watched race for New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District.

In the southern region of New Hampshire and on the Seacoast, vacancy rates are low, housing prices are high, and there is a lack of affordable housing for families and young adults. In the northern and western parts of the state, substandard housing remains a problem. As part of the The Balance series on NHPR about the cost of living in the Granite State, we look at why our state continues to have issues, and how some cities, like Londonderry , are turning to mixed community developments. This

This smoking alternative is sweeping schools nationwide and causing concern. JUULs are small and easy to hide; they look like a flash drive and come in delicious-smelling flavors. But manufacturers say their product is squarely aimed at adult smokers, to help them quit. We look at the arguments.

While Statehouse politics draw headlines, it's the day-to-day decisions at the city and town level that can have a bigger impact on our lives: from housing to education to the opioid crisis. We sit down with a panel of local leaders, about the challenges and rewards of their jobs - and what they'd like to see from the state.

Legislators find the state may be on the hook to pay a lot more money to hospitals for people with no insurance or for those on Medicaid. A proposed constitutional amendment that would give crime victims more rights gets hung up in a House committee. And the state emphasizes cost and competition in its new energy plan.

A recent Concord Monitor series, "Stolen Memories," profiles several Granite Staters who were diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer's, some in their early fifties. We'll hear their stories and learn about their particular struggles with work, family, and the medical system.

In this Race for the 1st conversation, we check in on the race with NHPR's State of Democracy reporter, Lauren Chooljian , who has been following the candidates and attending forums. We'll talk about campaign spending and various candidate events around the state.

Many towns across New Hampshire have adopted single-stream recycling... toss everything together, and it will be sorted out down the line. But a recent episode of NHPR's Outside/In found that this method of collection is becoming less sustainable and less profitable. We look at how this is impacting the Granite State. Listen to the full episode of Outside/In: "One Bin To Rule Them All."

Jeffrey Meyers, Commissioner of the Dept. of Health and Human Services oversees some of the state's most challenging issues: the opioid crisis and a struggling treatment network, a child protection system with high caseloads and under scrutiny, and a Medicaid expansion program under review.