In New Hampshire, a new prison is officially opening Friday morning in Berlin.

In New Hampshire, prison officials are adopting a new method of assessing the appropriate rehabilitative and treatment programs for inmates.

The state is no longer sending inmates to a Massachusetts jail and the change may have aggravated tensions in Vermont prisons. Officials are reporting an up-tick in violence among inmates, and they say out-of-state gang members held on drug charges may be responsible.

Governor Peter Shumlin is celebrating victories in what he calls "the war on recidivism." He says the state has made progress in reducing the prison population while also cutting the crime rate.

This week, State of the Re:Union travels through Appalachia. We'll learn about mountain-top-removal mining through the miners and communities of West Virginia. In Kentucky, we hear a local radio DJ who's gone from bluegrass and blues to Blackalicious, with an unexpected key audience.

The Vermont Department of Corrections is reporting a gradual decrease in the number of people in jail. Officials say the decrease is a result of the governor's Challenges for Change budget initiative.

An independent investigation into the death of a prison inmate last summer says the state failed to follow proper medical procedures that could have saved his life. But the Department of Corrections disagrees with the report's findings.