GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly sunny, warmer. A ridge of high pressure elbowed its way into the region last night (there's low pressure not far behind, so don't get all cocky or anything), and we'll see plenty of sunshine, much more sedate winds, and highs in the high 20s. Clouds move in again overnight, ahead of a chance of light snow after midnight and through much of tomorrow. Low in the mid teens.Coyotes. Sound up for Erin Donahue's video! "For the Aztecs, the small wolf was coyotl, the barking dog," writes Ted Levin. "Dark as dusk and half the size of a timber wolf. Coyotes speak in tongues, an emotional language establishing geographic positions and setting auditory boundaries. Wails, yelps, barks, yips, whines, huffs, woofs, yaps, snorts, hisses, and the charismatic and proverbial howls ... the haunting. Coyotes pushed beyond the Desert Southwest in the past five hundred years: coast-to-coast and north-to-south, Alaska to the Everglades. Like the Pilgrims, coyotes arrived in New England and flourished."So, did you check out "Dear Daybreak" yesterday? If not, you missed Jay Heinrichs climbing Mt. Cardigan and... hearing something; Pam Kneisel celebrating the best form of heat during these bitterly cold days; and Mark Chamberlain's suggestion for sometime when you're standing in a grocery line. And if you've got a good story about life in these parts, send it in!Facing public outcry, Mountain Views school board puts an end to talk of arts, language, STEM cuts. The board began backtracking last month on proposed cuts to the Unified Arts program in the district that reaches from Woodstock to Killington when it restored funding for several positions. On Monday, after continuing feedback from educators, parents, students, and community leaders, it nixed "in full" the cuts proposed by district administrators and its own finance committee, reports Tom Ayres in the VT Standard. The result will be a $30.77 million budget before voters in March—though five of the seven towns will likely see a drop in the education tax rate, Ayres writes.In letter to governor, Orange County sheriff calls loss of Orange County Courthouse contract "a coup." As you probably remember, last year VT judiciary administrators yanked the Chelsea courthouse security contract from Sheriff George Contois and gave it instead to Windsor County's sheriff, Ryan Palmer. Contois, convinced that it was taken from him wrongly, is trying to enlist the help of Gov. Phil Scott and others in getting it back, reports Darren Marcy in The Herald. Contois argues a law that went into effect last year puts him in the right; the law's sponsor—and Palmer—disagree. Contois says he may sue.SPONSORED: Why do so many Upper Valley high school juniors and seniors spend half of their school day engaged in learning at the HACTC? Visit the Hartford Area Career and Technology Center's Open House on Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 6-7 pm, to find out! Learn more about the HACTC’s 13 programs, meet instructors and current students, and enjoy refreshments prepared by Culinary Arts students. The new student application for the '25-'26 school year is currently available at the burgundy link or here. Completed applications are due by Friday, January 17, 2025. Sponsored by the HACTC.Hanover soil testing after discovery of animal remains finds formaldehyde, no groundwater contamination. As the VN's Clare Shanahan reports, the remains were found last fall, buried at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen, but because the remains—it's unclear how many years go they were buried, or why—were in soil, the lab believes they do not "pose a health threat to CRREL employees or the surrounding area,” spokesperson Justin Campfield tells Shanahan. Preliminary groundwater tests found no contamination.Woodstock manager, newspaper face off over investigator's report on police chief. The Standard and reporter Mike Donoghue mince no words: "Woodstock residents are not being permitted to read the investigative report they are paying for concerning management concerns within the village police department," Donoghue begins as he details the paper's efforts to see a private detective's report on issues "reportedly raised by Woodstock Police employees about the operation of the department under Chief Joe Swanson." Municipal manager Eric Duffy's won't release it. Swanson's still on leave. Stay tuned.In Thetford Center, town-owned church building in limbo. Back in 2018, its congregation donated the Timothy Frost Methodist Church to the town—and it's sat empty since, reports Emma Roth-Wells in the VN, first because of the pandemic and now because of an estimate that it would cost at least $671K to stabilize it—plus whatever's needed to make it functional for whatever the town decides to do with it. At a selectboard meeting last month, several residents made it plain they had little appetite for spending tax dollars on renovations. The board plans to survey residents soon. Roth-Wells writes.Shout out a word, Inua Ellams responds. The Nigerian-born British writer and performer has a lot of words under his belt—poems, reviews, essays, plays—and in his show Search Party, which opens tonight at Hanover's Theater on Currier (see below), he relies on the audience's vocabulary to cue his search for a piece he's written. As Seven Days' Mary Ann Lickteig writes in her profile of Ellams and Search Party, he told one audience, "If it is brilliant it is because of your word choices, and if it is terrible it is your fault. Collective responsibility."The organist at the Rollins Chapel keyboard. And the Church of Christ keyboard across the road. And the small pipe organ in Spaulding Auditorium (eventually). We're talking about Henry Danaher, the Dartmouth College organist, who's profiled this week by Noelle Blake in The Dartmouth. He got his start during a music class when he was a senior at the college and former Church of Christ organist Ernie Drown led a tour of the organ there; when Drown asked if anyone wanted an introduction to it, Danaher took him up. Now he's doing his best to lavish the community with the organs' sounds.Hiking and Skiing Not Quite Close to Home: Sterling Forest Trails, Stowe, VT. This week, the Upper Valley Trails Alliance recommends this extensive, 16-mile-long trail network a bit to the north. There are several winter hiking options and a plowed parking area at the top of Sterling Valley Road, by Sterling Falls Gorge. The trails are not groomed, but the elevation is quite high, forested primarily with birch, and offers excellent backcountry skiing on pretty much the entire network. The Upper Gorge Loop is about 3 miles long, but check the map and plan your route to easily adjust the length of your trek.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions. Like, what's Fresco Flowers in E. Thetford going to be offering besides cut flowers when it opens? And why did the elementary school in Newport, NH have to close on Monday? Those and other questions at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know which climate record Vermont broke in 2024.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what was the outcome of a vote on a proposed school budget cap in the Kearsarge Regional School District?
Remember how, earlier this week, it was announced at a Pease Development Authority meeting that embattled ports director Geno Marconi had submitted his paperwork to retire? Well, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman, Marconi's attorney then issued a statement: "The PDA made an announcement...without contacting or speaking to Geno. Had they contacted him, they would know that he remains optimistic about resuming his role at the PDA.” No comment from the state retirement system. Marconi continues to draw his $154K salary while on leave.
Classroom cellphone ban, government efficiency, mental health: NH's new governor lays out plans. In the Monitor, Charlotte Matherly offers a set of highlights from Kelly Ayotte's inaugural speech yesterday, including that cellphones-in-schools ban; a new efficiency commission to be led by former GOP Gov. Craig Benson and Lottery Commissioner Andy Crews; a ban on "sanctuary cities" (NH has none at the moment); and expanding education opportunities for mental health providers. There was more, like belt tightening and cutting housing red tape—Rick Green summarizes in the Keene Sentinel.Phil Scott uses inaugural address to "come out swinging" on education funding. That's how VT Public's Mark Davis, Lola Duffort, and Peter Hirschfeld describe the governor's address to the legislature yesterday. "We’re here to do what Vermonters need. And they just sent a very clear message: They think we’re off course," he said. And while specifics will come later, they write, Scott "teased a plan that would overhaul Vermont’s byzantine school governance structure and see the state assume a direct role in deciding how much districts spend." Expect to hear the words "foundation formula" a lot in coming months.The best 10 minutes, 48 seconds of your day/week/possibly month. If you’re not a dog lover, you will be, and if you are, well, go full screen. “The Dogs of 2024” video is out from the team at WeRateDogs, and, true to form, the montage captures an array of hound behavior from the sublime to the really, really ridiculous. Patting the cat, playing “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” saving lives, throwing out the first pitch … young, old, mini, giant, good, not so good: absolutely guaranteed to make you laugh and probably tear up. As one commenter says, “The ONLY year end video that matters.”
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
Fleece vests, sweatshirts, head-warming beanies... Strong Rabbit has updated the Daybreak page to keep up with the changing weather. Plus, of course, the usual: t-shirts, long-sleeved tees, the Daybreak jigsaw, those perfect hand-fitting coffee/tea mugs, and as always, "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Check it all out at the link!
It's the 2019 version of the film based on Louisa May Alcott's novel with Emma Watson and Saoirse Ronan—
and a chance to settle in with your knitting project and and hang out with others. Free teas and treats on hand, but bring your own mug. 6 pm tonight.
Sean Baker's 2024 film is an "authentic 21st-century screwball comedy," the Hop writes. Uzbek-American exotic dancer at a Manhattan "gentlemen's club" meets the son of a Brighton Beach Russian oligarch, they get married, complications, mayhem, and grit ensue. 7 pm in the Loew, recommended for adults only.
The celebrated poet, playwright, and writer walks on stage with everything he's ever written on a tablet in his hands. "Prompted by audience suggestion and open conversation," the Hop writes, "Ellams searches through his archive, unearths refined or raw gold, and presents his treasure in a spontaneous performance...an act of call and response that hearkens back to the birth of storytelling." 7:30 tonight at the Theater on Currier, as well as at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm tomorrow.
The prog rock improv band from Dover, NH blends rock, funk, reggae, blues, and psychedelic. 9 pm.
Saturday
It's a sensory-friendly morning screening (lights up, sound down) with on-screen lyrics so you can sing along to Lin-Manuel Miranda's lyrics for the Disney classic. Audience members, LOH says, "
are welcome to dance, walk, shout, and SING!" 10 am.
Behind the twisty scenes at the Vatican with Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini as a new pope gets selected. 4 pm, Loew Auditorium.
Conservation biologist and NH coyote researcher Chris Schadler delves into the ecology and behavior of eastern coyotes, the possible return of the eastern wolf, and what it all means. 2 pm tomorrow at the Chosen Vale Performance Center.
. Caller Quena Crain will teach and guide everyone, beginner and expert alike, through the dances. Naomi Morse and Amy Engelsberg lead an open band with Emmet McGowan (and anyone who shows up with an instrument can join in). Dancing 6-8 pm tomorrow in the
Weathersfield Center Meetinghouse, 2579 Weathersfield Center Road; potluck and socializing afterward.
The Smack Dabs specialize in '30s swing blues (Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, and others); the quartet takes its bearings from Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, and the Hot Club of France. Music starts up at 7:30 pm tomorrow, but at 6 there's a free, 45-minute swing dance lesson with Bob Burch, Susan Frishberg, and The Smack Dabs to get ready for the dance floor later.
And assuming you're reading this on Friday:
, the community-led, community-organized mud-season chance to learn all
sorts
of useful and interesting things from your neighbors. Info on BU at the link above,
. This year's classes will start up in March.
Sunday
Jesse Eisenberg directed and co-stars in this definitely-not-a-buddy-film about two cousins (the other is played by
Kieran Culkin)
who travel to Poland after the death of their Holocaust-survivor grandmother, both to see her hometown and to visit the sites of WWII genocide. A film that "
alternates nimbly between anxious comedy and meditative drama." 2 pm in the Loew.
Works by William Walton, Jodie Blackshaw, WC Handy, Vincent Persichetti, John Phillip Sousa, and others, plus Dizzy Gillespie's classic "Night in Tunisia". 3 pm Sunday.
Across Colburn Park at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon, Upper Valley Music Center cello instructor Kulp offers up a program that
features two contemporary women composers as well as Jimi Hendrix’s famous arrangement of
The Star Spangled Banner
adapted for cello. 3-4 pm Sunday, reception to follow.
Susan Gallagher, who died in 2023, was renowned for her jewelry, weaving, and ceramics, and the exhibition includes both her work and the work of colleagues, teachers, and others—some pieces completing Gallagher’s unfinished work, others inspired by her materials, sketches, and notes. Reception Sunday from 4-6 pm.
Pianist Annemieke McLane and cellist Miriam Herron in Strafford. They'll be playing pieces by Max Bruch, Beethoven's Cello Sonata number 4, cello caprices by Carlo Piatti, and a series of short solo piano works. 4 pm Sunday at the United Church of Strafford (no link).
The Upper Valley Land Trust and the Orford Conservation Commission are hosting a moonlit walk (depending on conditions, spikes might be better) to Mason Pond. All ages welcome, headlamps and appropriate footgear recommended. 5 pm, parking at the UVLT lot on Mousley Brook Road. Info and registration link at the link.
And to get us ready for the weekend...
All the way back on New Year's Eve—seem like forever ago, right?—ABC aired its annual
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve
with Ryan Seacrest and Rita Ora hosting. In amidst your Rob Gronkowskis and Carrie Underwoods and Alanis Morissettes was the British retro soul/funk/disco/electronica band Jungle by pre-recorded video from London, which they sorta had to do because the band that's as well known for eye-opening choreography in its videos as it is for its music had some dancers along. Who light up the floor even though they're mostly in shadow.
See you Monday for CoffeeBreak.
The Hiking Close to Home Archives. A list of hikes around the Upper Valley, some easy, some more difficult, compiled by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. It grows every week.
The Enthusiasms Archives. A list of book recommendations by Daybreak's rotating crew of local booksellers, writers, and librarians who think you should read. this. book. now!
Daybreak Where You Are: The Album. Photos of daybreak around the Upper Valley, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the US, sent in by readers.
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