GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Getting warmer. We start out this morning with areas of frost and freezing fog, but under bright sun temps will be up to 60 and higher by mid-afternoon. There are some airflow dynamics between the high pressure that's covering the eastern US and low pressure that's forming off the Mid-Atlantic states, but the result is warming air, with highs reaching the upper 60s or low 70s starting tomorrow and lasting well into next week. Even so, we'll most likely see patchy frost again tonight, with lows around freezing.A male bobcat. A female bobcat. Both were caught on Erin Donahue's trail cam. Ted Levin writes, "The concept of sexual dimorphism—the pronounced difference between males and females within the same species—dates to Darwin. Think scarlet tanager, white-tailed deer. Or bobcat. Why are male bobcats 10 percent bigger, 25-50 percent heavier, maintain territories three times larger, and move 1.4 times more than females? A bobcat competes to mate, often satisfying more than one female. Maintaining year-round, well-marked territory reduces conflicts but takes size and stamina. The choice belongs to the female, and ... a sense of aesthetics means everything."And that moon! It was round and bright and the night was restless...
Looking out from Orford toward the river and Thetford beyond early yesterday morning. "Sure glad that I was up at 4:30 AM to catch it!" writes Bob Hedges. Kinda one of those bad news/good news things...
And from Hunter Ulf, the view from Mt. Tom overlooking Woodstock Wednesday evening, as the sun was setting and the moon rising. "We were really looking for the comet," he writes, "but this was an unexpected bonus!"
Sharon voters reject retail cannabis by two votes. Chelsea cannabis grower Sean Trombly's bid to open a retail dispensary in the former Sandy's Diner—which he owns—came to a halt Tuesday, at least for now, when a proposal to allow retail cannabis sales within town limits failed, with 137 people voting against and 135 in favor. In the Herald, Nicole Antal reports that opponents cited traffic concerns, the prospect of multiple dispensaries, and the town's character. “How exactly is your proposed pot shop going to enhance the charm and historic feel of this town?” one resident wrote on social media.Why was Woodstock's police chief placed on leave? In the Vermont Standard, the redoubtable Mike Donoghue digs into the news earlier this week that Joe Swanson has been placed on leave "while the Vermont State Police investigates a motor vehicle complaint involving his husband." The incident involved Woodstock lawyer Nicholas “Nico” Seldon, Donoghue reports; his lawyer, Linda Fraas, tells Donoghue, "My client was not the aggressor in this instance. The complainant was the aggressor. The police chief is simply a witness to the incident on Sunday." More details at the link.Randolph woman dies in accident on I-89. Beverly Emerson, who was 42 and worked for Casella Waste Systems, was one of two passengers in a car that went off the road into a ditch near mile marker 42 northbound in Williamstown Wednesday afternoon. The 38-year-old driver, Kristopher Steponik, and a 15-year-old reported to be Emerson's daughter were taken to Central VT Medical Center "due to potential injuries," the VSP says in its press release. The Valley News's John Lippman (burgundy link) spoke with Emerson's estranged husband. “She worked six, seven days a week and would talk with anyone,” he says. “She didn’t deserve to die this way.”A closer look at two weekend events: Sheng Wang at LOH tonight, and Lisa Piccirillo's release party at the Briggs tomorrow night. (See details in Heads Up below.)
In Seven Days, Ken Picard profiles the Taiwan-born, Houston-raised, LA-based comedian and his "Zen-like observations" about daily life. Like shopping at Costco. "If I can't find parking in under eight minutes, I drive away. Let it go, dude. Today is not the day," he jokes in his 2022 Netflix special. "I'm not gonna force it. I'm gonna respect it, like the ocean ... Costco is bigger than all of us."
And in the VN, Alex Hanson dives into the story behind Piccirillo's new album Radiate, which debuts on streaming services today with a release party tomorrow night. It'll be part listening session, part live performance, with Piccirillo, producer and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Mendocino, percussionist Raphael Groten and The Radiate String Quartet—VSO players who are on the recording. “I want to give people a chance to lose themselves in the music,” Piccirillo says.
And in Claremont, a close look at the changing rural landscape thanks to the Smithsonian. The museum's traveling exhibit, “Crossroads: Change in Rural America", opened Monday at River Valley Community College; it uses photos, text, song lyrics, items from the Claremont Historical Society, and works by local artists to explore how rural life has changed over the decades and continues to change, both nationally and in Claremont, writes Patrick O'Grady for the VN. "The goal is to prompt conversation and questions [that] every community can relate to in some way,” says RVCC's Eric Sutphin.Did you check out "Dear Daybreak" yesterday? As you know by now, it's a collection of short items from readers around the Upper Valley, and keeping it going depends on you. If you've got an anecdote or a photo or a great story about living in these parts, hit the burgundy link and send it in! And if you didn't see yesterday's edition, here it is!Hiking Close to Home: Faulkner Trail, Woodstock, VT. This is one of the best late-fall treks in the Upper Valley, says the UVTA. The straggling leaf-peeping tourists are departing but the weather is great and the views are opening. Most of the two-mile switchback climb is well-maintained. Take in the beautiful forest and historic stone trail features; there's a rest at the bench and stone bridge about half way up. The final 200-foot scramble is worth the views and access to more trails on Mt. Tom. Park on Mountain Ave. at Faulkner Park; trailhead and kiosk are at the edge of the woods on the far left corner.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, what once-prominent landmark did West Windsor ship off to a Massachusetts town? And which Upper Valley town is going to have two bridges out once one of them shuts down for repairs next week? 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 what kind of "straw purchases" Vermont has become a target for.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, what will DHART do with a recent $6.7 million gift?
Geno Marconi's indictment yesterday came the day after his wife, state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi, was indicted separately on charges she'd tried to influence the investigation into her husband. Geno Marconi is the target of a still-secretive grand jury investigation; yesterday's indictments, reports
NH Bulletin
's Ethan DeWitt, charge him with allegedly providing confidential motor vehicle records to a third person, then trying to cover up that act. Marconi has been on leave since April.
VT's population grew slightly in 2023. It also aged. A new study from the state's Joint Fiscal Office reports the state had 1,800 more deaths than births between 2022 and 2023, but gained 2,100 people through immigration, both from abroad and domestically. Overall, writes Erin Petenko in VTDigger, the state added 350 people—and 4,400 total since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the state's cohort of people 24 and younger dropped between 2020 and 2023, while its population of 65- to 79-year-olds grew by more than 10 percent; there was also an uptick in Vermonters ages 25 to 54.After being denied federal grant for EV incentives, VT puts them on hold. The state has three programs that offer up to $5K toward buying or leasing a new or used EV. But, reports VT Public's Peter Hirschfeld, demand has been high, and the state exhausted $18 million appropriated by the legislature in 2022 for the programs; the money was supposed to last through next July. Earlier this summer, the federal EPA turned down a grant proposal to keep the program going. "I’m sure this will be a discussion next year when the Legislature returns in January," says a state official.“We’re not going to let people basically weaponize Front Porch Forum." When Michael Wood-Lewis and his wife launched the precursor to FPF, it was just for their neighborhood in Burlington. "We wanted to know our neighbors better," he tells David Goodman in a wide-ranging "Vermont Conversation". "We were new. We didn't have a dog to walk around.... We learned a lot about what built community among neighbors vs. what eroded it." One thing they learned was the importance of moderation—and how to do social media in a way that enhances civic participation, rather than stoking division.For a valuable comics collection, "being shoved in boxes in a nondescript office worked just fine.” Some of the oldest and rarest comic books ever printed are about to go to auction, after spending decades stashed in an office. The collection, gathered across more than 50 years by Christine Farrell, who ran a comic book store in Burlington, could sell for up to $7 million, writes Chris Farnsworth in Seven Days. The collection has some items so rare—like the first Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman—that “there's no question that its sale will send shock waves through the collectors' market,” writes Farnsworth.At the end of gardening season in these parts, "It's time to look back at all the disappointments, the failures, the crazy, dashed dreams of success.” On Vermont Public, Erica Heilman speaks with gardeners who were defeated by birds, slugs, weevils, and more this summer. Gordon Grunder tried growing heritage corn, which reached 10 feet tall “and then a bear came and tore down the fence and just had a party.” Mary Alice Proffitt has developed this approach: “If you bloom, you're invited to be part of my family, and if you're ugly or hard to deal with, you need to move it on down the road.”"They're all great. This one's a little cozier." The action-sports media company Teton Gravity Research has just dropped the trailer for a new film commissioned by Indy Pass that features four non-profit ski areas, including Enfield's Whaleback Mountain. The others are Black Mountain in Maine, Shames Mountain in BC, and Antelope Butte WY. "The people who help these nonprofit (and) co-op mountains survive and thrive," director Drew Holt tells New England Ski Journal, "are really special...they absolutely keep the soul of skiing alive." The documentary will have a screening at LOH in mid-November.It's illegal to climb the Great Pyramid at Giza. But no one told this dog. Last weekend, paraglider Alex Lang was overflying the pyramids as part of a paramotoring event taking place starting this past weekend, when he noticed some movement up at the top the Great Pyramid, 450 feet up. The rest is viral-video history...
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We may be the middle of nowhere to everyone else in VT and NH, but
we
know what's good! Strong Rabbit's Morgan Brophy has come up with the perfect design for "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Plus you'll find the Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, as well as sweatshirts, tees, a fleece hoodie, and, as always, the fits-every-hand-perfectly Daybreak mug. Check it all out at the link!
The local thriller writer will be talking with fellow novelist Katie Crouch (
Embassy Wife
) about Berry's latest book,
Trust Her
, which focuses on a pair of Northern Irish sisters resettled in Dublin whose past tangles with the IRA catch up to them. 5 pm.
Those are three separate exhibitions, featuring Vermont painters, Arista Alanis and James Secor, Vermont multi-disciplinary artist Dominique Gustin, and Vermont artists, musicians, and scientists Rich Fedorchak and Peter Thomashow. 5-7 pm.
The Hanover-based nonprofit that focuses on boosting physical activity and social connection among young people is holding a fundraising night of dancing, drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and games for individuals and teams—with an optional moonlit summit up Whaleback Mountain. Starts at 6 pm.
With an entire community backing the players behind the scenes, the troupe puts on Robert Caisley's raw play about families confronting the Blitz in England. At 7 pm this evening and tomorrow evening.
. The two Vermont natives are both mainstays of the state's contemporary folk scene. 7 pm, and a chance that fellow-mainstay Jim Rooney will join in.
. Pentangle Arts brings in the "crooner and troubadour," originally from Woodstock, who shot to national attention on
The Voice
in 2017 and has toured ever since. It's an acoustic show backing his debut album. 7:30 pm.
The comedian (
Fresh & Juicy
on Netflix) and actor/writer (
Fresh Off the Boat
) brings his brand of wry, close observation to the LOH stage—featuring material he's developing for a second hourlong special (see above). 7:30 pm.
Saturday
Jon Waterman is a former park ranger, veteran guide, and serial author of books and articles. Four decades ago he traveled to the Alaskan Arctic for the first time, explored it over the years since—and then returned two years ago to document the effects of a changing climate. He'll be talking about his new book,
Into the Thaw
, with legendary outdoors writer Laura Waterman. 2 pm tomorrow.
It begins at 6 pm at the Briggs Opera House in WRJ with a collection of vendors and artists and wellness practitioners and Nancy the Girl in the lobby. Then at 7, there's a listening session followed by "an intimate concert experience" featuring Piccirillo and several of her collaborators on the album.
.
Presented by the Chandler Center for the Arts, Malian balafon, calabash, and bass guitarist Balla Kouyate and Mozambique's Matchume Zango on timbila, mbira, and percussion have been on tour with a sort of musical conversation between their instruments. 7 pm tomorrow, community dinner at 6 pm.
The NH native and former deputy sheriff uses New England as comic muse starting at 7:30 pm tomorrow.
Sunday
Bird expert Tom Sherry on warblers. Biology prof Sherry, who studies bird migration, will focus on the long-distance migration of northern warblers, where they come from, why they're so diverse, and why they're so abundant in the Caribbean region during our (northern) winters. 11 am in the community room of the Norwich Public Library, sponsored by Upper Valley Humanists. No link.
At Sawtooth Kitchen, a free public reading of Eugenie Carabatsos' play with music, A Series of Inelastic Collisions
. Directed by Amanda Rafuse, the play delves into "a family and the ties that bind despite the gravitational pull of divisive politics"—with the help of humor, music, tenderness, and some high school physics. A star local cast including Jamie Horton, Tommy Crawford ,Molly Shimko, and others. 1:30 pm.
Violinists Angela Bae and Justin DeFilippis, violaist Benjamin Zannoni, and cellist Russell Houston will be playing Haydn’s “Lark" Quartet and Smetana’s “From My Life” Quartet. No charge. 2 pm.
The acoustic guitarist presents an afternoon
of
Spanish music, up-tempo Latin, Beatles and pop songs, Bach, original compositions, and stories about the music. 3 pm Sunday.
The coffeehouse at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Norwich brings in four veteran singers from the larger region: Alan Blood, Will Danforth, Becky Graber, and Amanda Witman, for an evening of a cappella arrangements of poetry, world music, and American roots. 4 pm Sunday.
. The former biologist writes widely on natural history, food science, history's odd corners (like, the archeology of privvies), and more. She'll be talking about "Wolf Peaches, Poisoned Peas, and Madame Pompadour's Underwear: The Surprising History of Common Garden Vegetables". 4 pm in the Thetford Center Community Building on Route 113.
What began as a combo aimed at upgrading the music on the rubber-chicken political circuit in Portland, OR 30 years ago is now a 13-member band with a repertoire of songs in 25 languages and an international following for its ace-musicians-meet-cocktail-lounge vibe. 7:30 pm Sunday.
And to take us into the weekend...
Heck, sure. Pink Martini.
Have a fine weekend out there! 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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