GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A heads up for next week: Daybreak will be off next Thursday and Friday.Well that was a day, eh? And today it'll be even warmer. Like, we may be getting into the low 60s. And it'll be partly sunny, though that won't last all day. Yesterday's high pressure is exiting east, there's a low and a cold front coming in from the west, and the result is going to be winds picking up in the afternoon, clouds moving in, and a chance of rain starting this evening with a likelihood overnight. Which is rotten timing, since the Leonids peak tonight. Low overnight in the low 40s.Scent. In this "mixtape" from Erin Donahue. "With apologies to Shakespeare, that which we call a nose, by any other name, would not smell as sweetly," writes Ted Levin. "Although mammals employ 500 different odor receptors, not all noses are alike. We have about 5 million olfactory sensory neurons; coyotes, dogs, and raccoons have more than 200 million. Mammals change inhaling patterns, called focus sniffing, to detect different odors, just as we focus our eyes. Raccoons smell trash a mile away. A dog smells a passing coyote days later. The level of complexity beyond our doorsteps defies imagination."Buses blocking traffic, long lines for food, and a constant refrain of "Where's the bathroom?": Woodstock merchants debrief on foliage season. Visitor numbers were strong, but so were their complaints, business owners told the town's Economic Development Commission last week. "They can’t find parking, they can’t find a bathroom, there’s not enough signage," Woody's Mercantile owner Susie Curtis told the group. And food and hot drinks are a continual issue, writes Robert Shumskis in the Standard. Said one owner: "I’ve had a few people say, ‘You want us to come back to this town?’”Leb police request public help in identifying LL Bean shoplifting suspect. In a press release yesterday afternoon—with photos—the department said that last Friday, it received a report from the retailer about a female suspect who "entered the store and removed several thousand dollars worth of merchandise without rendering payment."“In the fire service there are legends and there are gods and then there was Capt. Mike Clark.” So runs the tribute from a Portsmouth, NH firefighter to Clark, who lived in Strafford and spent 34 years with the Hanover FD (then more as an instructor); Clark died last weekend at 75 after he caught Covid while getting chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. In the Herald, Darren Marcy writes that the tributes have been pouring in: to his patience, gentle hand, and enthusiasm teaching crucial fire, search and rescue, and emergency medical aid; to his penchant for kissing foreheads; and to his mustache.SPONSORED: America’s grid is on life support. New England's is extra vulnerable. That’s per a new needs assessment by the US Dept. of Energy. To decarbonize our grid and meet emission goals, transmission capacity may need to double by 2035; high-voltage transmission lines may need to increase by as much as 800 percent. This will take years to complete, with continued upward pressure on our utility bills. Hit the burgundy link to find out more about the tenuous state of our grid—and what you can do to help make power cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable. Sponsored by Solaflect Energy. "Positive snow control" report gives Killington World Cup go-ahead. That word yesterday from officials representing the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) means the mountain will once again host the women’s giant slalom next Saturday (11/24), the women’s slalom next Sunday, and somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 spectators. Unlike last year, when even the resort's ability to make snow was a question until the last minute, "this year we got some really cold temperatures at the end of October,” general manager Mike Solimano tells Boston.com.Texas jury finds Kaitlin Armstrong guilty of murdering Moriah Wilson. The verdict came down in an Austin courtroom yesterday afternoon, after about two hours of deliberation—and some 18 months after Wilson, a Vermont native, Dartmouth grad, and rising star on the US gravel cycling circuit, was shot to death in E. Austin. Wilson's parents and brother were in the courtroom audience, write Betsy Welch and Frederick Dreier for Outside, alongside Caitlin Cash, Wilson's friend and owner of the apartment where Wilson was found. Here's the NYT (gift) with more details about the case and the trial.A rural principal meets NY's literati: Ken Cadow goes to the National Book Awards. Cadow's Gather was one of the finalists in the young people's literature category, which earned him a trip to the awards gala Wednesday night—where a different book won but, the Oxbow High principal says, the experience was "mind-blowing and wonderful." In an interview with Daybreak yesterday morning—as he and his wife, Lisa, were waiting for a flight to Miami, where the finalists would read and do workshops at the Miami Book Fair—he reflected on the event.
SPONSORED: VINS' A Forest of Lights is new and expanded, with more magic than ever before. Join us this winter as thousands of lights transform VINS into an enchanted realm! Experience the magic of the VINS Forest Canopy Walk as you take in the lights of the season, with new additions including a twinkling Snowflake Tunnel, the Blue & White Icicle Tower, and the Fairy Lighting Hideaway. This enchanting exhibit promises to be a special experience and is a great time to make memories with family and friends. Learn more & get tickets at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by VINS.As school budgeting starts in districts around VT, “There’s a little shock and awe going on in the community." That's the reaction from one school superintendent to the chance that towns will be facing stiff tax increases thanks to Act 127. The measure, writes Peter D'Auria in VTDigger, aims to "direct education money toward students who need it more"—and it's producing great uncertainty at the school board level. Towns like Norwich and Thetford could see up to 5 percent jumps in the homestead tax rate each year for five years—and after that, Norwich school board member Neil Odell tells D'Auria, a possible "fiscal cliff." D'Auria looks at districts that will be helped and harmed.Hiking Close to Home: Hartness Park, Springfield, VT. Hartness Park, says the UV Trails Alliance, is an 85-acre town forest close to downtown Springfield. Three separate loops provide year-round access to the park, with trails ranging from wide gentle roads to steeper narrow hiking paths that accommodate many users, including skiers, horseback riders, and mountain bikers. Trails can be accessed from Dell Road as well as a parking area on VT-143. Across VT-143 from the Hartness Park entrance, a 0.8-mile trail through private woodland connects to Muckross State Park."Understanding water is critical to doing good and sustainable trail work." So you can imagine what the summer of 2023 was like for the high school trail crews working on the region's hiking paths for the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. Viva Goetze, a senior at Colby College, was a UVTA crew leader this summer, and in the VN she writes about the experience of trying to manage all that water. "I now know that a trail that accounts for water is built across the slope and with a tread that slightly banks downhill, allowing the water to harmlessly run over rather than along the trail," she writes.So... Think you know what's been going on in the Upper Valley? Because Daybreak's News Quiz has some questions for you. Like... Which sport has a relatively new band of Upper Valley enthusiasts who meet weekly to practice? And what interesting set of items is the Thetford Historical Society exhibiting at the moment? Those questions and more at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know which Vermonter, besides Noah Kahan, got a Grammy nomination this week.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questions about doings around the Granite State—like, which date did the NH Secy of State just set for next year's presidential primary?
There could be more. That's because the sun is approaching the middle of a solar activity cycle, reports NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian. Last month, NOAA said the current cycle, which began in 2019, will peak between January and October of 2024. Of course, Mt. Washington Observatory meteorologist Ryan Knapp says, weather conditions have to be just right: a clear night, no fog, few clouds, not much moonlight. One place to keep track:
.
Anti-semitic graffiti, white supremacist posters found on Democrats' headquarters in Laconia. The swastikas and slur spray-painted on the Belknap County party's building in the center of town were found on Wednesday, along with imagery of a knife through a Star of David. This was the second such incident this year, after graffiti and posters were found at the Laconia State School that included similar white nationalist recruiting information. The AG's office says it's working with Laconia police on the case, writes the Laconia Daily Sun's Catherine McLaughlin.Short-term rentals continue to grow in VT—and so does debate over what to do about them. They're still a small percentage of total housing stock, Report for America corps member Carly Berlin reports for VT Public and VTDigger: about 3.6 percent, concentrated in ski towns. But as the state housing finance agency's Nate Lantieri tells her, with low vacancy rates even a single unit being taken off the long-term market has an impact. So towns are responding: considering limits on how many rentals an owner can possess, or even placing a moratorium on new short-term rentals.VT broadcaster Ken Squier—voice of NASCAR, founder of Thunder Road, owner of WDEV—dies at 88. Squier was just 14 when he announced his first stock car race from the back of a flatbed at a dirt track in Morrisville, writes David Goodman on VTDigger. It launched a long career: He co-founded Motor Racing Network and, in 1979, first announced the Daytona 500—a legendary race (it ended in a crash and a fistfight, with Squier giving the literal blow-by-blow). Closer to home, he turned WDEV into the heart of Vermont radio. "He’s proudest of being somebody who worked all his life to make that true, that WDEV was a radio station that served its community," says his daughter.About that horse on the plane. Yesterday's Daybreak had an item linking to the air traffic conversation involving the pilot of a cargo plane in which a horse had broken free from its stall. That story, it turns out, ended tragically, with the horse being euthanized after the plane landed because of the extent of its injuries. Horse Nation explains what happened and why, because of the way horses are loaded onto planes, "it would have been nearly impossible for the flight grooms to get the horse back into his stall safely" in flight. Thanks, KR!Nature photography from around the world. Jacquie Matechuk, from Canada, has won Nature Photographer of the Year for her image of a spectacled bear high in a tree, softened by a veil of Spanish moss. The prize is no small feat—more than 21,000 photographs competed. The image was no small feat either; Matechuk writes, “For 11 days...we hiked vertical paths up and down the canyon walls, trekking through creeks, ducking out of torrential downpours, and often clambering through mud to observe these beautiful bears.” My Modern Met has winners in all the categories, from Hermis Valiyandiyil’s hoopoe at sunrise to Jens Lax’s mystical “Sunset.”Fly sideways or dart? For hummingbirds, it's both. Researchers have long wondered precisely how the speedsters manage to maneuver—as they sometimes do—through dense foliage, given that unlike other birds they can't bend their wings. Now, a group at Berkeley has figured it out, thanks to high-speed cameras and an enclosure with two compartments separated by a small hole—with a hummingbird feeder in one of them. You can see the results in this footage from New Scientist, with the flight slowed waaaaay down.The Friday Vordle. And hey! Are you new to Vordle? Did you know that fresh ones appear on weekends, using words from the Friday Daybreak? You can get a reminder email each weekend morning: Just sign up here.
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From 6 pm to midnight, the stage at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover presents a double musical bill: The Rough & Tumble (the "innovative jangly dumpster folk" duo of Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler), fresh off leading last night's Bringalong Singalong in Bradford; and, starting at 9 pm, the hard-driving honky tonk and outsider country of Western Terrestrials—lead Nick Charyk, drummer Jared Croteau, bassist Jason Pappas, guitarist Chris Billiau, and keyboardist Alex Kelley—whose new album, "Working on the Case," was released a few weeks ago.
At 7 pm, The Sharon Academy's production of Freaky Friday will take over the main stage at the Chandler in Randolph for the first night of its two-night run. The musical comedy version of the Mary Rodgers novel and Disney film, it's a teen and her mom, struggling to understand one another, who on one fine Friday magically swap bodies. Complications ensue. Runs tomorrow night as well, same time.
And also at 7 pm, Thetford Academy launches its production of Radium Girls, DW Gregory's play about the factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from the paint that made the watches they worked on luminous—and their efforts to battle for their day in court. Also tomorrow at 3 and 7, and Sunday at 3.
At 7:30 this evening, Court Street Arts in Haverhill presents Maine-based singer-songwriter Tom DiMenna, who's now touring his review of Gordon Lightfoot's classic tunes, "Tom DiMenna Sings Gordon Lightfoot." "The evening," he promises, "will be packed with nostalgia, storytelling and fun music. You may even be moved to sing along, or at least hum!" As usual, dinner available ahead of time. At Alumni Hall.
Also at 7:30, Upper Valley Music Center presents harpist Rachel Clemente and baroque flute-player Mei Yoshimura Stone with "Stories of a Perfect Home." It's an evening of music from both Western European baroque tradition and Scottish tradition, reimagined and focusing on the importance of traditional melodies, how they are collected and shared, and the stories behind the two different cultures. At the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
Saturday
At 1 pm tomorrow, Hop Film has the Metropolitan Opera in HD production of X: The Life of Malcolm X. It's Anthony Davis's 1986 opera in its first time at the Met, with a new staging, newly revised score, baritone Will Liverman in the title role, and a cast of "breakout artists." In the Loew.
From 2-3 pm tomorrow, the Kilton Library in West Leb hosts a "Very Hungry Caterpillar Community Baby Shower Extravaganza." It's aimed at expectant parents, both for education and connection, starting with a "munch and learn" workshop with tips, insights, and songs; that will be followed by the "baby shower" part, with raffles and prizes from the Family Place, WISE, and the Women's Resource Center, as well as staff from White River Family Practice and Waypoint on hand to talk and socialize with expectant parents. Loved ones welcome, they say: "the more, the merrier." In the community room.
Also at 2 pm tomorrow, the Norman Williams Public Library hosts bestselling author Ben Mezrich for a talk about his book, Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History. The title and subtitle of the book, published ten days ago, pretty much say it all—though Musk notoriously refused to participate. Mezrich will look at how it all happened—and where it all may be headed. Yankee Bookshop will be on hand with the book.
Tomorrow afternoon at 3, and again Sunday at the same time, Billings Farm will screen Dusty & Stones. Part of the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival 2023 Vermont Fall Tour, Jesse Rudoy's 2022 film traces the trip through the American South of cousins Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” Msibi, struggling country singers from the tiny African nation of Eswatini (also known as Swaziland), after they're invited to record in Nashville and take part in a Texas battle of the bands. The Sunday screening will be followed by a Q&A with film editor Loulwa Khoury.
Tomorrow from 4-6 pm, singer, songwriter, and actor Tommy Crawford will take the stage in the back listening room at Sawtooth Kitchen in Hanover for the first installment in a reprise of the popular residency he presented there last spring. No cover, just lots of songs—original and covers—and stories, all in Crawford's inimitably engaging and entertaining style. He'll do it again in a ticketed show Dec. 4 with his Only Yesterday co-star at Northern Stage, Christopher Sears, and then another solo outing on Dec. 16. At 6 pm tomorrow, acoustic guitarists Sandiland and Vincent take over, and then a DJ dance party at 10 pm, no charge for any of it.
There are still tickets left for tomorrow's 7 pm screening of American Symphony, the film that lit up Telluride at Dartmouth, about how the musician Jon Batiste navigated his near-overwhelming 2022: massive professional success and the leukemia relapse of his partner, Suleika Jaouad. Director Matthew Heineman, a 2005 Dartmouth grad, will be on hand to talk about it afterward. In the Loew.
At 7:30 tomorrow evening, the Raqs Salaam Dance Theater presents its annual showcase, "Belly Dance Beyond the Borders." Traditional dances from North Africa, Asia and India, musical theater straight out of recent Hollywood and Bollywood movies, American "popping and locking"—it's a family-friendly, relatable, and educational show, they write. In the auditorium at Mascoma Valley Regional HS in Canaan.
Sunday
On Sunday at 11 am, the Upper Valley Humanists host former Marlboro College professor and political thinker Meg Mott for a Vermont Humanities talk at the Norwich Public Library, "Must Free Speech Endure Hate Speech?" She'll take up the legal history of speech laws in the US, but also consider how free speech and the First Amendment fit into our democracy. "Our constitutional democracy forces us to co-exist through a respect for each other's rights to free speech, due process, and religious liberties," she explains. "The more we understand the importance of these fundamental freedoms, the better able we are to use them to our mutual advantage."
And at 5:30 pm Sunday at the NEFOC Center in N. Thetford, the Thetford Historical Society will host local historian Larry Coffin for his talk, "Flooding in the Connecticut River Valley: Late 1800s to 1940." Will be followed by a brief annual meeting and then a potluck supper.
And to take us into the weekend...
We'll turn to Leeds, UK folk singer Chris Brain, whose sophomore album,
Steady Away
, just came out. Here he is with his band, live at his launch show last month at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds,
Have a fine weekend! 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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