NH News Briefs 3-20-2026

There’s a new development in the ongoing legal battle over vehicle inspections. The state is asking a federal appeals court to stay an order requiring New Hampshire to resume its inspection program. Two agencies say the previous ruling that determined the state was violating the Clean Air Act by ending inspections without federal approval is flawed. Inspection station operators are still being told to return any unused inspection stickers by April.

The sentence of a man found guilty of killing his sister-in-law and two young nephews in Northfield is being upheld. Last October, 19-year-old Eric Sweeney was ordered to serve three concurrent sentences of 60 years to life for committing those murders back in 2022. The Attorney General’s office requested a sentence review because it was seeking a much steeper penalty. Sweeney won’t be eligible for parole until he’s in his 70s.

No charges are expected to be filed following a crash in Nashua. A woman slammed her car through the wall of Ivy Rehab Physical Therapy on Amherst Street yesterday, causing significant damage to the building. The woman suffered minor injuries but no one inside the physical therapy office was hurt. Authorities say it appears that the woman accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake when parking her car.