A TREAT TO SEE YOU, UPPER VALLEY!
Maybe a little snow this morning, chance of showers. We're heading into the season that separates hard-core northern New Englanders from dilettantes. A disturbance moving through today brings a chance of light rain all day, with some snow possibly mixed in this morning. Skies will be mostly cloudy, temps won't get beyond the mid-40s; they drop to around freezing overnight. So let's take a fond look back at summer evenings...a few days ago. Here are three of those memorably wonderful sunsets we managed to snag this week:
The view across the Connecticut Tuesday evening from River Road in Lyme, by Jay Davis.
The view across Canaan Street Lake in Canaan from a canoe paddled by Lydia Foxall and her mom, Elise.
And, though it wasn't summery like earlier in the week, the view last night across the sky above Plainfield toward Mt. Ascutney, from William Daugherty's drone.
College to spend $42 million renovating Dartmouth Hall. This comes after a $25 million fundraising effort by alumnae, "the largest such effort ever organized exclusively by women graduates of the college," reports the Valley News's John Lippman. The building houses several language departments and humanities classrooms, and will undergo an extensive interior retrofit, including lighting and HVAC; it's known for its poor air quality.WRJ food scene expands with some funk. Kevin Halligan and Dee Sonthikoumanne were childhood friends, reconnected in Laconia with a market/restaurant Halligan owned, and now have launched Funkalicious in the old Kibby's building just across the bridge from old West Leb. The sandwich shop and butcher's market opened Tuesday, and Isaac Lorton gives its "vivacious" food and decor a lovingly described profile in Junction mag. There's some serious eating possibilities there. “We want it to be comfortable but non-apologetic about this is who we are and this is what we do," says Halligan.Boy, talk about plum assignments. President-elect Joe Biden has named an eight-member "agency review team" to look at NASA's operations in preparation for the transition to his administration. It includes Jedidah Isler, who teaches astrophysics at Dartmouth, studies how black holes may serve as particle accelerators, and has been a forceful voice for advancing scholars—and especially women—of color in the STEM disciplines. Hiking close to home: the Lyme Town Forest. For the next few Fridays, the Upper Valley Trails Alliance is checking in with suggestions for a nearby, under-the-radar trail. This one focuses on about three miles of hiking (with varying terrain and views) in the Lyme Town Forest, starting at the Western Forest Trail where it meets Mud Turtle Pond Road, then to the Ledge Trail, which climbs to 1,200 feet and offers views of Smarts, Cube, and Moosilauke from its exposed rock ledges, then back down on the Western Forest Trail. It makes for a short but strenuous outing that's fine for families. Link is to TrailFinder description.SPONSORED: Sharon Academy nurtures intelligent, independent, and creative thinking. Are you looking at options for middle and high school? Discover how The Sharon Academy knows, values, and challenges students to reach their potential at its Virtual Information Event for Prospective Families: this Sunday, Nov. 15, from 4-5:30 pm. Both students and families are encouraged to attend. More info at the maroon link or email Amber Wylie at [email protected]. Looking forward to seeing you there! Sponsored by The Sharon Academy.Ivies cancel all winter sports. The league announced the move last night; it affects Dartmouth’s basketball, ice hockey, skiing, squash, and indoor track and field teams. In addition, reports The Dartmouth, spring sports have been postponed and fall teams that had been hoping they might be able to play in the spring won't get the chance.Leb High's football team finds out today if its championship hopes are cancelled. Last Saturday, in the quarterfinals for the state championship, the Raiders defeated Bow 30-6. But yesterday, reports Tris Wykes on his Octopus Athletics blog, they learned that one Bow player has tested positive. State officials will rule today on whether tomorrow's semi-final against Plymouth can go ahead. The team, says one athlete, cried when coach Chris Childs told them. “It was a crushing blow," Childs says. "To go out and tell your kids that we’re not playing, that broke my heart.” Team members are getting tested.Twin States join with rest of New England, NJ, to suspend interstate youth hockey competition. The agreement takes effect tomorrow and lasts at least through Dec. 31.“As case numbers increase in many states across the country," the governors said in their joint statement, "it is critical that neighboring states coordinate a regional approach to limit further community spread of the virus." The move does not affect collegiate or professional hockey.NHers who voted at a polling place on Election Day should monitor selves for Covid symptoms. That word came yesterday from state health commissioner Lori Shibinette, who announced that the state has identified four people who've since tested positive who were unable to social distance while waiting in line to vote at Pembroke Academy, Souhegan High School, Belmont High School, and Newfields Elementary School. That last spot, notes the Monitor's Teddy Rosenbluth, is where Gov. Chris Sununu voted. Though they've only identified the four spots, the warning affects voters statewide.
"Compared with most of our neighbors, New Hampshire does seem to be taking a bit of a wait-and-see attitude." NHPR's Rick Ganley spoke with reporter Jordyn Haime about how the state's Covid regs compare to the rest of New England, with other states imposing tighter mask mandates and stay-at-home restrictions. NH "always moved a bit slower than neighboring states" this spring, Haime notes. On the plus side, she says, hospitals are better prepared than in the spring, with more robust PPE supply chains and greater knowledge about effective therapies.Meanwhile, the state is backing off on contact tracing. In a separate story, Haime reports that with numbers now growing so large, state epidemiologist Benjamin Chan said yesterday that contact tracing "becomes a less effective strategy of identifying and breaking the chains of transmission." The state's been reaching at best half of the people who test positive on a first call, Haime notes. It will now rely on the health-care providers who deliver news of a positive test to instruct people on isolation or quarantining.NH moves up in national innovation ranking. Every other year, the Milken Institute, the California-based economic think tank, ranks the "innovation pipelines" in the 50 states. It looks at a range of factors, from R&D funding to risk capital infrastructure to the tech and science workforce. As it has since 2010, MA leads the pack. This year, NH moved up two notches to land in 7th place nationally, largely on the strength of its R&D funding and tech/science workers, reports NH Business Review's Jeff Feingold. VT came in at 28th, down from 17th a decade ago.As Covid spreads in VT, state officials link rising numbers to out-of-state travel and private gatherings. As a result, reports Seven Days' Colin Flanders, "They are encouraging anyone who has traveled out of state, had a visitor from outside Vermont or attended any gathering with people outside of their normal social circles to get tested." Washington County had 46 new cases yesterday, Chittenden County 16, and, as you'll see below, Orange County had 11. Every county in the state had at least one.Resort reservations are down, and other things to know about skiing in VT. VPR's Vermont Edition spoke Wednesday with a panel of industry officials, including the presidents of Jay Peak, Bolton Valley, and Killington/Pico. "I'm looking at my place right now for Christmas week...and we're 70 percent off where we should be," says Jay's Steve Wright. "So I'm here to attest to the fact that somebody is paying attention to the [travel] guidance.” On the other hand, some areas have already sold out of season passes. And staffing will depend partly on visitor numbers and partly on how much terrain, lifts, etc are open.Deer breaks in. Police abet escape. A six-point buck broke through a window at Budget Auto Service on Rt. 102 in Londonderry, NH yesterday morning. When police arrived, it was frantically lashing out at equipment and other glass doors in its bid to get out. They located the owner, who unlocked one of the bay doors... and this video picks it up from there. As the LPD says, "Every day in patrol is different and you never know what to expect!" Serious time-sink alert! The International Photography Awards have just announced their 2020 winners, choosing from among the work of some 13,000 professional photographers around the world. There are some unbelievable photos out there, from Antarctic landscapes to Hong Kong democracy protests to a lightning storm over Canberra, Australia, to... well, nature and sports and more categories of professional advertising than you knew existed.Is this the coolest drive on the planet? Or a case of "You couldn't pay me enough"? It took the villagers of Shenlongwan, in Shanxi Province in China, 15 years to carve a road through nearby cliffs so they could reach the outside world without a 6-hour trek through the mountains. The drive? It looks like a metaphor for these times. Here's 15 seconds of your life you'll never get back.
Last numbers for the week.
Dartmouth now reports 5 student cases and 3 among faculty and staff. In all, 36 students and 5 faculty/staff are in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 12 students and 16 faculty/staff are in isolation as they await results or because they tested positive.
NH reported 323 positive test results yesterday (not a typo), bringing its total to 13,470. There were 3 new deaths, which now stand at 495; 64 people are hospitalized (down 5). The state's current caseload is at 2,528 (up 134). Catching up on the last two days, Grafton County has 109 active cases (up 8), Sullivan has 67 (up 6), and Merrimack added 30 to stand at 267. Newport remains at 33 active cases, Hanover has 9 (up 4), while Lebanon, Claremont, and New London have 8 apiece (up 1 each). Charlestown now has 7 (up 2) and Sunapee 6 (up 1). There are 1-4 cases each in Haverhill, Piermont, Orford, Warren, Dorchester, Lyme, Canaan, Plainfield, Grantham, Unity, Goshen, and Newbury.
VT vaulted to a new record yesterday, adding 109 new cases. Its official total now stands at 2,651, with 634 of those still active (up 105). Deaths remain at 59, and 19 people with confirmed cases (up 5) are hospitalized. Windsor County gained 3 cases and stands at 146 for the pandemic, with 20 of those in the past 14 days. Orange County gained 11 new cases to stand at 73 cumulatively, 39 of them reported in the past 14 days (the third highest rate in the state, behind Chittenden and Washington counties).
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At 6 this evening, the Upper Valley Music Center is hosting a free "listening party" with the Miller-Porfiris Duo—violinist Anton Miller and violist Rita Porfiris—playing chamber works from Poland, China, Russia, the US, Mexico, and Argentina. The event will be live on Zoom.
At 7 pm, Vermont Humanities is hosting presidential historian Harold Holzer, a scholar of Abraham Lincoln and director of Hunter College's Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, talking about the fraught relationship between presidents and the press from George Washington on to the present day. Via VT Humanities' digital channels on the web, FB, and YouTube.
And at 7:30 pm, UVM's Lane Series is streaming an intriguing double bill: writer Stephen Kiernan, whose new novel, Universe of Two, is based in part on the life of Charles Fisk, who worked on the Manhattan Project early in his life, then went on to become a world-renowned builder of cathedral organs. Fisk built and installed the organ in UVM's Recital Hall, and Kiernan will be talking about both it and his book—and will be followed by UVM prof David Neiweem giving a recital on the organ itself.
Meanwhile, tomorrow's the launch for a new food pantry in the region. It's a pilot supported by the Haven, hosted (outside) by The Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, and organized by a group of women calling themselves the Hanover Community Food Security Team. It will operate in the driveway behind the church on Saturdays from 11 am-1 pm, and is open to anyone who's short on food. (No link.)
Tomorrow is also the annual JAG Juke Joint, streaming this year—a cabaret of accomplished actors and singers coming together as a fundraiser for JAG Productions. The take-home food portion of the evening is sold out, but there are still tickets for the event itself.
Finally, if you're on the hunt for more, check out Seven Days' choice of seven events over the next week, which include soprano Mary Bonhag at the Highland Center in Greensboro and three women in business—including Global Village Cuisine's Wangene Hall and ShiftMeals' Jean Hamilton—talking about how they've persevered in business in recent months.
And let's go into the weekend with a reminder that even in these times, heat and cool can overcome distance. Sting and Melody Gardot
off of Gardot's new album, for a Norwegian-Swedish television audience.
See you Monday.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Banner by Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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