GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Showers, kinda gusty tonight. It’s a whole complex system affecting us today, but the gist is that we’re looking at showers for a good bit of the day and winding down this evening, with some breeziness today and noticeable winds following overnight (earlier in the day, the system’s expected to bring 60+ mph winds to the summits). We’ll reach a high today somewhere around 60, but a cold front trailing the system will steadily drop temps, with tonight’s lows in the mid 30s and tomorrow’s high just a few degrees warmer before we get down into the 20s tomorrow night.
Stocking up. “Gray squirrels are scatter hoarders: one nut buried here, another there,” writes Ted Levin about Erin Donahue’s latest trail cam video. “Each autumn, a gray squirrel may cache 3,000 nuts, mostly acorns and hickories—a cornucopia of excess gathered at a breathless pace of up to 25 acorns in 30 minutes. There is good reason for scattered storage: squirrels find caches by smell, and neighbors are quick to steal. As much as a quarter of the hoard may vanish to other gray squirrels, or sometimes to crows. To guard winter stores, gray squirrels may pretend to bury a nut: tactical deception, much like the practiced art of some politicians. Pretend, pretend, pretend.”
As it confronts AI questions, Dartmouth holds first “listening session.” In all, report The Dartmouth’s Karen Park and Isabella Piery, 380 undergrads, alumni, faculty, and staff crowded into the Hanover Inn ballroom last week. No news media were allowed, so Park and Piery reconstruct the session from interviews. A six-member panel, including President Sian Beilock, fielded pointed questions both about AI use on campus and its potential role in students’ lives after they leave. In general, they responded that “AI policies will differ from context to context,” student body VP Maggie de la Fuente says—a point several attendees also made after hearing from people outside their daily circles.
Let’s talk politics: A quartet of stories about what voters in different parts of the region will find on their ballots.
In the Valley News, Molly Hughes tackles the hotly contested question every NH voter will face on whether to cap school taxes. Both the Lebanon and Plainfield school boards have just voted to oppose it, arguing that its language—that the cap will affect only administrative costs, and not “classroom instruction, school-based services, or other municipal expenditures”—is misleading. They contend that if a cap forces cuts, those will inevitably affect students. Hughes talks to GOP Rep. Ross Berry of Weare, who helped write the measure and tells her that the cap will only force cuts to “bloated” administrations.
In the Monitor, David Brooks outlines what’s actually at stake in the District 2 Executive Council faceoff between incumbent Democrat Karen Liot Hill and Republican newcomer Tobin Menard of Newport, former treasurer of Upper Valley Libertarians. For starters, Brooks writes, the Exec Council gets to approve or reject a replacement for state Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, who resigned over a $50K payout to a former staffer. Also on the docket: what to do about the men’s state prison in Concord and state infrastructure spending. Brooks compares the candidates.
Over in Vermont, the Standard’s Tom Ayres takes a look at the six candidates—three Democrats, three Republicans—running for the three state Senate seats from Windsor County (plus Thetford and Pittsfield). All six—incumbent Democrats Becca White and Joe Major, Democratic state Rep. Elizabeth Burrows, and Republicans Jonathan Gleason, Andrea Murray, and Jack Williams—sat down for 20-minute interviews with Ayres about what they believe, what they’re focused on, and what they’d like to do in the legislature. Ayres profiles them all.
And in the White River Valley, The Herald’s Wilder Grimes profiles the two candidates running for the Windsor Addison state House seat, who happen to share a last name. Kirk White, the incumbent Democrat, is from Bethel; Republican Michael White grew up on his family’s farm and now works at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph. They both spotlight the needs of rural communities and Gov. Phil Scott’s push for school consolidation, which Kirk White opposes and Michael White says he needs to study more. Grimes give both plenty of space to talk.
SPONSORED: Taste the Upper Valley at CraftStudies' BowlFest! Sample delicious bites from nearly 40 local restaurants and take home a ceramic bowl, handmade by CraftStudies' artists. Choose Early Eats (12 - 2P) for family fun and lower-cost admission, or Evening Eats (5 - 7P) for smaller crowds and adult-friendly beverages. Join us October 24 at CraftStudies Studio & School in White River Junction. Get tickets here. Sponsored by CraftStudies.
“An amazingly flexible, brilliant man” born into a rapidly changing world. That’s how Norwich filmmaker Signe Taylor describes Samson Occom to VT Public’s Mikaela Lefrak. Occom, of course, was the Mohegan minister, educator, and intellectual who in the 1700s played a key role in Dartmouth’s founding, and on Vermont Edition, Taylor and Lefrak talk over his life—how he became a student of Eleazar Wheelock, his command of multiple languages and of music, his ordination as the first Native minister in the English-speaking world, the fact that a trove of his letters was ignored for 200 years. Taylor’s film about him, Forgotten Founder, is at the Hop tonight and tomorrow.
In Grantham, Yankee Barn Homes gives ownership to employees. Thanks to a new Employee Stock Ownership Plan finalized this summer, reports Liz Sauchelli in the VN, the 21-employee homebuilder is joining King Arthur, Hypertherm, and West Leb Feed & Supply on the local ESOP list. The move, co-owner Paul Marinelli tells Sauchelli, came because he and partner Jeffrey Rosen wanted to keep the company in Grantham and its employees with jobs. “I did talk to private equity people, and as much as … they tell you that nothing’s going to change, that’s not always the case,” he says. “That risk just seemed to be too great to take.” Sauchelli outlines what’s happened.
SPONSORED: See Waldorf education firsthand: Lower grades Observation Morning. Curious about Waldorf education? Join us at the Upper Valley Waldorf School on Thursday, October 22nd, to observe a class in session, meet our teachers, and learn more about our approach to teaching and learning. Following the classroom visit, enjoy refreshments and a Q&A with faculty. Space is limited, and advance registration is required. Reserve your spot today. Can't attend? Contact [email protected] to schedule a tour of classes in session during a regular school day. Sponsored by Upper Valley Waldorf School.
NOAA updates winter weather prediction. Although we’re right about at the line for somewhat higher odds of above-normal precipitation for December-February, we’re also smack dab in the middle of the band where temps are predicted to be higher than normal—along with a good bit of the rest of the northern US, which, as Unofficial Networks writes, “reflects the growing influence of a strong El Niño.” It’s impossible to predict what this will all mean on the ground, since there could be good cold spells, but as they note, “For skiers, warmer seasonal temperatures could create challenges at resorts where snowmaking and natural snowfall depend on sustained cold weather.”
Hiking Close to Home: Mink Brook Nature Preserve & Tanzi Tract, Hanover. This 112-acre preserve protects a variety of fish and wildlife and is the result of deep generosity and community collaboration, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. The land offers multiple trails with varying terrains and is open to foot traffic in all seasons. Trails can link to preserves in both Hanover and Lebanon. The first quarter mile of the Quinn Trail from Brook Road is suitable for off-pavement wheelchairs and walkers with balance issues and leads to The Norman Overlook, which has a seating area that can accommodate wheelchairs. Best parking is at the Brook Road trailhead.
Daybreak’s Upper Valley News Quiz. Were you paying attention this week? Because we’ve got questions! Like, how did Leb’s Katie’s Cookies expand earlier this year? And which popular Upper Valley eatery announced this week that it’s closed? You’ll find those and more at the link. Meanwhile, here’s NHPR’s New Hampshire quiz, while Seven Days’ Vermont quiz is here.
Kelly Ayotte calls on X to suspend Libertarian Party of NH’s account. In a letter to the social media giant’s head of safety released yesterday, the NH governor writes, “This account has openly called for the assassination of elected officials from the New Hampshire Democratic Party, has said it condones murdering elected officials for their policy positions, and most recently threatened a member of House leadership… These posts plainly violate X’s own rules on violent content.” As the Monitor’s Charlotte Matherly notes, the account has a long history of calling for public officials’ deaths. The AG’s office will only say that it’s “aware” of the posts.
What, more politics? Well, there’s this governor’s race going on in Vermont that, at least in the lead-up, has turned out to be more interesting than most of the races that incumbent Gov. Phil Scott has faced. So in Seven Days, Alison Novak takes an in-depth look both at his challenger, Democrat Amanda Janoo—born on a Norwich farm (her dad worked at CRREL), raised in Strafford, went to Hanover High—and at Scott, who casts himself “a rare breed of moderate Republican, a check on the excesses of a Democrat-controlled legislature.” It delves thoroughly into both candidates: Janoo’s background, work life, and talking points, Scott’s record and campaign style.
Hiking to a “dreamscape gouged some 214 million years ago by a meteor.” Manicouagan, an enormous impact crater, lies 500 miles northeast of Burlington “as the astronaut flies,” writes Jen Rose Smith in Seven Days. It’s a lot longer by ground. Smith and her husband set out by road and water—through the Whale Route (belugas!), past massive dams and the last gas station for 155 miles, and up into the Uapiskha mountains, to see the magnificent crater, which left her “giddy with beauty and sunshine.” It’s a rich travelogue and a fine example of why Richmond, VT’s Smith just won a national Travel Journalist of the Year award. Maybe we should go?
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
If you didn’t get a chance yesterday, check out everything going on in Daybreak’s Weekend Heads Up!
And for today...
We’ll just take things down a notch ahead of the weekend, with Lizzy McAlpine and friends hanging out on the porch playing “Over Country,” off her newly released album.
See you Monday for CoffeeBreak.
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