GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A little more snow at first. But really, today’s mostly just cloudy as yesterday’s system tracks east (though snow may continue a bit above 1,000 feet). Highs around 40 today, lows tonight in the mid or upper 20s. Chance of showers tomorrow.
Weasels: The defense against Lyme disease. The slo-mo long-tailed weasel on Erin Donahue’s trail cam elicits this from Ted Levin: “Throughout most of their extensive range, from southern Canada to Peru, long-tailed weasels are brown in winter. In northern New England, a line divides winter’s two color phases: north of it, long-tailed weasels turn white; south of it, they keep their brown backs and white bellies. That shifting boundary runs close to the Upper Valley. I've seen both coats here in winter: white (ermine) and summer brown. One thing is certain: against Lyme disease, long-tailed weasels are more effective and safer than spraying. They eat mice, mice, mice.”
Long-time Sharon Academy leader steps down. Andrew Lane, who’s been the middle school director for a decade and at TSA for a quarter-century, resigned this week, The Herald reports. In a letter to the school community, Lane wrote, “Unfortunately, this is necessary for me to protect my health as I don’t seem to know how to perform this role at anything less than full speed ahead and it is clear that this cannot continue”; he went on to ask for privacy for himself and his family. The school has shifted Dean of Students Blake Fabrikant to the middle school to help support it, and has launched a search for an interim director.
Enfield Planning Board approves large residential development. In fact, planning administrator Rob Taylor says the 299-unit Laramie Farms complex will be the largest project in the history of Enfield land use, reports the Valley News’s Paris Hugley. In all, the plans call for “213 apartments and 86 townhouses across 77.1 acres between U.S. Route 4 and Maple Street,” Hugley writes. At its meeting Wednesday, the planning board included 23 conditions for its approval, including helping to fund a filtration system for the town’s uranium-burdened McConnell Well and helping to construct a sidewalk along a stretch of Route 4.
Claremont names new city manager. Elizabeth Ferland, city manager of Keene for almost a decade, will start up in Claremont in February, Patrick O’Grady reports for the VN. Ferland was also town administrator in Plymouth and Bristol. Her husband, Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland, grew up in Claremont, O’Grady writes, and returned home after a couple of decades in the military; the couple owns Liberal Beef in the city. “I recognize the tremendous potential that you have here,” Elizabeth Ferland told the city council after its 8-0 vote to hire her. She will be the city’s fifth full-time manager in a decade.
SPONSORED: Donate to the Holiday Book Angels, and give local kids the gift of reading this Holiday Season! Each holiday season, the Holiday Book Angels help get books into the hands of Upper Valley kids. This program is organized by the Norwich Bookstore and some amazing local volunteers, and supported by donations from our community. Check out the burgundy link or visit the Norwich Bookstore to learn how you can help by picking out a kid to shop for, buying pre-selected books, or donating funds. Your contribution will make a huge difference to young readers in our community this season! Sponsored by the Norwich Bookstore.
Third restaurant in a year leaves Randolph. But maybe it’s a sign of success? “When businesses come and go, it’s important to remember that they’re actually coming and not just going,” economic development director Mark Rosalbo tells The Herald’s Wilder Grimes. And he’s got a point: The spot Oak & Iron (which is moving to WRJ) occupied for the last 18 months was filled by other restaurants before it, and no doubt will be again. After Short Notice closed late last year, its place was quickly taken by the Seasoned Skillet. Still, Grimes points out, One Main remains empty, and ditto Wit & Grit, which closed up shop earlier this year. Grimes details comings and goings.
“You think you know your parents and then all of a sudden your dad goes, ‘Hey, let’s open an arcade.’” That’s Steve Kelley, who with his dad Russell opened Sure Shot Arcade in Lebanon in 1984, talking to the VN’s Sophia Sahni. “Their arcade, located near Lebanon High School, was your classic ’80s recreation spot,” Sahni writes, “with Van Halen and Billy Idol on MTV and quarters flowing from denim pockets into arcade machines.” They eventually closed up shop—but after Russell Kelley died in 2023, his son would find used games at great prices and just couldn’t help himself; he began buying them. And turned his Claremont basement into an arcade, in part to honor his dad. “He would be down here all the time,” he tells Sahni.
SPONSORED: Ford Sayre Looks to Expand Youth Skimo Racing Team. Skimo blends the fitness of cross-country skiing with the speed of downhill skiing, and it teaches kids the skills to become backcountry adventurers. Practices are Wednesday evenings at Whaleback, for active kids ages 8–18 in a fun, inclusive atmosphere. Rental gear is available. More details and registration at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Ford Sayre Youth Ski Mountaineering.
Hiking Close to Home: the Canaan Town Forest. This easily accessed trail network offers a peaceful hiking experience for all skill levels, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. Hikers can choose looped or out-and-back routes and will pass through varying forests of hemlock, white pine, birch, and maple along trails that follow the land’s contours. The network also passes through pristine wetlands; a nature hut at the center provides information about local wildlife. Don't forget to sign the guest book! Parking is at a pull-off on the north side of NH-4, on the right just past Lafortune Road heading west, away from downtown Canaan.
Daybreak’s Upper Valley News Quiz. Were you paying attention this week? Because we’ve got questions! Like, what’s the name of the popular ice cream spot in Wilder that just reopened after 22 years? And why do most of Hartford’s departments have to move out of town hall for a while? You’ll find those and more at the link. Meanwhile, here’s NHPR’s New Hampshire quiz, while Seven Days’ Vermont quiz is here.
NH House Dems will nominate minority leader Alexis Simpson to be speaker. And given their supermajority in the chamber (with 292 seats, or nearly three-quarters) it’s a good bet the five-term rep from Exeter will wind up with the gavel when the new session begins. Still, as NH Bulletin’s William Skipworth points out, Rep. Jim Maggiore, a former Republican who now represents North Hampton as a Democrat, was able to find a group of caucus members who were unhappy with Simpson’s leadership while it’s been in the minority. In the end yesterday, the final caucus vote on whose name to put forward when the House meets Dec. 2 was 200-75 in Simpson’s favor.
Chronic wasting disease found in NY State doe; VT issues notice to hunters. The prion-caused disease hadn’t been found in wild deer there since 2005, reports Theo Wells-Spackman for VTDigger; it’s similar to “mad cow” disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, and is fatal to deer, moose and elk. “Those prions that cause CWD can remain in the soil for decades,” says VT Fish & Wildlife biologist Nick Fortin. “The persistence is the biggest concern.” So this week, the agency warned hunters against bringing deer meat that hasn’t been properly processed into the state from areas where the disease has been found (including NY, PA, and QC).
Only two health insurers sell on VT’s exchange. Why is that? It’s not the only state with limited options, reports VTDigger’s Olivia Gieger: seven other states (and DC) also have just two. But Vermont’s got a wide array of things working against new entrants to join BCBS and MVP, Gieger writes. For one thing, the market is tiny. This means that just a few big claims can overwhelm premium revenues. Meanwhile, there are very few hospitals, limiting insurers’ bargaining power—and also very few alternatives like standalone imaging centers. Gieger surveys the challenges.
Search and rescue: “We have nothing magical. We have to hike just like they did, and often we’re carrying all this extra equipment.” With winter arriving, SAR volunteers around VT (and NH) are gearing up and training, and in Seven Days, Hannah Bassett gives a sense of what might lie ahead. Her throughline is a blow-by-blow nighttime rescue of two hikers from Quebec off Camel’s Hump last February (they had spikes, but not the snowshoes or extra clothing they needed), but along the way, Bassett goes into how carefully rescuers have to manage their own ability to stay warm and safe, the drills they conduct (Killington volunteers do overnight exercises with more than 10 miles of travel and 2,000 feet of climbing with heavy packs), and more.
No, no, it’s “KWEE-chee.” For the 30-day Map Challenge, a guy named Maxwell Howe has created a map of “New England Places Everybody Pronounces Wrong.” It’s pretty fun, though as internet explorer extraordinaire Jason Kottke points out, “As you would expect when you start talking about local pronunciations and accents, he’s getting some blowback.” On Kottke’s own site (at the link), for instance, one commenter notes that Howe left out New Haven, CT—and “the tendency for out-of-towners to say ‘NEW haven’ rather than the locally preferred ‘new HAVEN.’ Imagine how discordant it would be to hear someone call the city ‘NEW york.’” Yeah.
A “springy and ambitious” Leopard Frog scores. Catching a dragonfly in midair, that is—Cissy Beasley’s “Best in Show” photo for the 2027 North American Nature Photography Association’s showcase. But there’s so much to look at: the cloud of ponderosa pine chips as a pileated goes to town on a trunk; two backlit polar bears in Manitoba; Joshua trees in a blizzard, Iguassu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina, Nathan Myhrvold’s stacked photo showing the flight patterns of gannets in Norway, and much, much more.
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
From the world premiere of William Grant Still’s opera Costaso at the Chandler and the Fab Faux at LOH tonight, to “I Was Never Here: There Is No Spy Show” at Sawtooth on Sunday, you’ll find it all in the Weekend Heads Up.
And for today...
The weight of expectations for BG, Zeimani, and Kucha Womack growing up must have been extraordinary. Their father Cecil and uncle Bobby were the R&B duo the Womack Brothers; then their dad found even more fame with his wife, Linda, as Womack & Womack. Meanwhile, Linda’s dad—their grandfather—was soul legend Sam Cooke. The sisters’ debut album this summer signaled they’re up for the challenge, mixing Southern soul, gospel, and R&B with a sound that will take you back more than a few decades. Here’s “I Am Your Season,” which they recorded for the Berlin-based A COLORS SHOW.
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