GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sunny, gusty, cooler. These winds coming in from the west accompany a cold front—but it's just cold relative to yesterday, at least for today, when the high will get up into the mid-40s. We'll have pretty full-on sun for much of the day, gusts as high as 28 mph. Clouding up overnight, ahead of the snow and whatever else this weekend's storm brings. Low in the mid-20s.Speaking of which, keep this handy... The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, which among other things oversees the National Weather Service, has a whole suite of winter tools that let you take a look ahead and behind—from forecasts several days out to maps of potential snow accumulation (that's #5, and it's got the links that will take you to the Burlington and Gray, ME weather offices and their handy maps of what we might be looking at this weekend) to maps of actual snow coverage and recent snowfall.The world around us...
So, down by the river on the Mink Brook Trail, this seems to be a busy time for beavers. And that's just one of several different trees that Bill Hamlen sends along.
And one more photo from that sunrise the other day, just because it's unusual: the sky over the Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, from Sam Blanchette.
Messing about in boats... First it's just Henry out on the pond, with Lydia painting. Then Eddie shows up. Then Auk. Then the fish... As he does every Friday, Lebanon author and illustrator DB Johnson chronicles the doings in his favorite patch of trees. Hit the back arrow to catch up on previous weeks or just head right back to the beginning.Twin threats put Claremont on edge. Schools are cancelled today and Valley Regional Hospital has police posted there after separate threats came to light this week. The Valley Regional case, writes John Lippman in the Valley News, comes after "telephonic threats" the hospital received regarding its treatment of a Covid patient in its care. Schools around the country have seen general threats originating on social media, but "shortly after the close of school" yesterday afternoon, SAU 6 Supt. Michael Tempesta told WMUR, "we had some targeted names and things to investigate," and opted to cancel classes.SPONSORED: It’s time again for new year’s resolutions. If living life to the fullest or spending quality time with loved ones are on your list, here's a suggestion: Dive into inspiring, provocative arts experiences at the Hopkins Center this winter and spring. Think an immersive audio-visual installation by Ash Fure about climate change, or the premiere of a new dance-theater piece by Urban Bush Women about familial lines. Added benefit: All that time spent with the arts will tick off a few more resolutions, like expanding your horizons and spending less time on social media. Sponsored by the Hop.Florida doctor arrested in 2019 killing of delivery driver in Rockingham. You may remember the incident two years ago, when Boston-area driver Roberto Fonseca-Rivera's body was found shot inside his truck along Route 103. Yesterday, officials in VT and Florida announced that Dr. Jozsef X. Piri, who owns a home in VT, had been arrested. VSP detectives determined that Piri had been driving immediately in front of Fonseca-Rivera just before the shooting occurred—and, reports NBC10-Boston, a search of Piri's VT home turned up a firearm consistent with the one used to kill Fonseca-Rivera.But just as one Route 103 mystery in Rockingham gets solved, another materializes. Wednesday morning, VT state police troopers responded to a report of an injured cow in the northbound lane of 103 where it intersects with Williams Road. Witnesses told them the cow had fallen off a trailer hauling livestock. The cow was safely moved to the side of the road and a Be-On-the-Lookout was issued for the truck, but to no avail. "At this time the owner of the cow has not been located/identified," the VSP says, and they're asking for help.After 168 years, "the odds are closing in" on the Vermont Standard. The award-winning Woodstock-area weekly "celebrates its community while watching it like a hawk," writes Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen, but it's "bleeding" ad revenue. "We're going to preserve the print edition at all cost," longtime publisher Phil Camp tells him, "but I don’t know where the revenue is going to come from.” He is hoping, writes Cullen, "that someone, somewhere, with a little capital and a lot of love for small towns and community newspapers, becomes aware of the Standard’s plight and rides to the rescue." (Paywall.)A look back at 2021 on campus, in photos. It was an interesting year at Dartmouth, from far fewer students than normal at the start to more students than ever before in the fall. The college's photographers—Eli Burakian, Robert Gill, and Julia Levine—were out and about for all of it, and caught not only what you'd expect, like sporting events and performances and students going about their lives, but plenty of unusual sights (have you ever seen the inside of Bartlett Tower?) or unusual takes on familiar sights (like Burakian's shot of sparks from the homecoming bonfire).Hiking (Pretty) Close to Home: Mount Moosilauke, Glencliff Trail. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance checks in with this beautiful and challenging 4,000-footer winter day-hike that starts in Benton, NH. Bring winter gear and pick a clear day for this 8-mile round-trip hike with stunning views. The first few miles offer a more gradual ascent on an old farm road; then the steeper climb to the peak begins. Be sure to map your route and watch for intersections with the AT and the spur trail to the South Peak. You'll find the trailhead and parking area in Benton by taking a right off NH-25 in Warren and traveling 1.3 miles.Been paying attention this week? The guys who run The News Quiz have some questions for you. Like, what was it that damaged the VT Veterans Cemetery in Randolph? And what did police find in a Kensington, NH home after an accidental shooting? And what did the Hartford Selectboard just reverse course on? You'll find those and others at the maroon link.Dartmouth researchers are digging into the impacts of snow droughts. A group led by geography prof Justin Mankin is studying snowpack data to better understand—and even predict—effects on water security after low-snow winters. Perennial uncertainty, reports David Hirsch in Dartmouth News, is driving the research, which they hope leads to a common definition of snow drought. But it’s complicated, because it matters where snow drought occurs and how severe it is. Says Alexander Gottlieb, coauthor with Mankin, “The impacts of snow drought will not be felt equally everywhere.”And speaking of snow, here's something to look forward to: snowy owls. Or at least, "Based on what we have seen so far," the folks at VINS write on their Facebook page, "we are expecting an irruption year of snowy owls this winter." Snowy owls spend their time in the Arctic, but every so often—possibly after an abundance of food during the summer breeding season produces a lot of young snowy owls—some head south in the winter. VINS has already had three injured owls brought in this year, they report. Only one survived, and after 20 days it was released back to the wild yesterday. WCAX has the footage.NH's energy efficiency fight explained. It's been an ongoing drama ever since the Public Utilities Commission deep-sixed both funding and a three-year plan to expand programs, with new developments almost every day. NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian and Daniela Allee have helpfully come up with an page that outlines what's at stake and what's happened so far—and will keep track of events moving forward.Housing in NH: Still expensive, but a few hopeful signs. The NH Housing Finance Authority is out with a new report, and it mostly confirms what you already know: The market "remains expensive and prohibitive to enter after a year of unprecedented outside interest," as NH Bulletin's Ethan DeWitt puts it. The median home price is still up over a year ago, but has dropped a bit from its high during the summer. On the other hand, single-family building permits have increased. And evictions, despite the federal moratorium's expiration, remain far lower than they were in 2019.That feeling when a jellyfish steals your soul. How can something subaquatic look so…extraterrestrial? Get a load of this exquisite gelatinous being, the giant phantom jellyfish, spotted off the Monterey, CA coast. As Elizabeth Gamillo writes for Smithsonian, it’s quite a feat to capture this jelly on camera—one of only 100 times anyone has gotten this close to its 3-foot-wide bell and 33-foot-long arms. Marine biologists needed to pilot a remote submarine thousands of feet underwater, to a depth that light can’t reach, a place they call (no joke) the midnight zone, where the phantom swims.
The numbers...Daybreak reports Covid numbers on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Dartmouth's dashboard reports 1 active undergrad case, 5 among grad/professional students (no change), and 20 (+2) among faculty/staff. The dashboard also reports 24 combined new cases among students over the past seven days, as well as 33 among faculty/staff. 6 students are in isolation, along with 32 faculty/staff.
NH reported 861 new cases Tuesday, 1,132 Wednesday, and 1,126 yesterday, and is now at 181,660 total. There were 40 deaths over that time, bringing the total to 1,828. The state reports 9,607 active cases (+521) and 463 (+9) hospitalizations. It tallies 456 (+28) active cases in Grafton County, 358 (+4) in Sullivan, and 1,198 (+83) in Merrimack. In town-by-town numbers, the state says Claremont has 127 (+9 since Monday); Newport 105 (+1); Lebanon 90 (+14); Charlestown 38 (-2); Enfield 35 (+7); Haverhill 31 (+2); Canaan 28 (-5); Hanover 28 (-3); New London 19 (no change); Plainfield 14 (-2); Newbury 15 (-1); Sunapee 11 (-4); Cornish 9 (-5); Warren 8 (-5); Grantham 11 (+2); Grafton 10 (+4); Rumney 12 (+6); Piermont 9 (+3); and Wentworth, Orford, Lyme, Dorchester, Orange, Springfield, Wilmot, Croydon, and Unity 1-4 each.
VT reported 238 new cases Tuesday, 356 Wednesday, and 661 yesterday, bringing its total to 57,333. There were 16 deaths tallied over that time; they now number 448. As of yesterday, 60 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (-17), with 19 of them in the ICU (no change). Windsor County has seen 135 new cases over the last three days, for a total of 4,587 for the pandemic, with 782 new cases over the past two weeks; Orange County gained 41 cases, with 197 over the past two weeks for a total of 1,967 for the pandemic.
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If you go into Hanover today or tomorrow (or next Thursday and Friday), you'll probably encounter one of Hanover Rotary's bell-ringers, who are raising money for LISTEN's Heating Helpers program—over the last two decades, they've brought in over $100K, and the program itself helps hundreds of families stay warm through the winter each year. The efforts were all-virtual last year; this time around, they're both in-person and virtual—as is the ability to contribute.
Today at 3 pm, Revels North kicks off its weekend Christmas Revels Festival at Colburn Park and on the steps of (and, later, inside) Lebanon Opera House. There'll be roving singers, storytellers, mummers, and dancers, Antoinette Jacobson's fire organ, caroling, and each day at 3:30 and 5:30 pm a free performance of "Lighted Candles in the Winter Trees," a collaboration between Revels North and the No Strings Marionette Company. This evening and tomorrow and Sunday there will also be some high-profile guest performers at LOH.
Starting at 7:30 this evening with violinist, singer, and composer Eden MacAdam-Somer. Raised in Houston, now living in Boston (where she teaches at the New England Conservatory), she's equally at home with jazz, bluegrass, Debussy, American folk music, klezmer, Romanian songs, and Afghan tunes (she taught at the National Institute of Music in between Taliban bans on music). LOH rules on masking and vaccination/negative-test proof apply.
Then, tomorrow at 1:30 pm and again at 7:30 pm, Revels and LOH present Richard Antoine White for an evening of both music and backstory. He's principal tubist for the Santa Fe Symphony and the New Mexico Philharmonic, as well as the first Black American to earn a doctorate in music for tuba performance—after a homeless childhood on Baltimore's West Side. You may have heard him on "Fresh Air" or seen him on Trevor Noah around the time his autobiography, I'm Possible, was released in October.
At 7:30 pm tomorrow, Court Street Arts in Haverhill brings Roomful of Blues to the stage at Alumni Hall. The Providence-based band's been around (looks at wrist) for over five decades, and if you ever went to a BB King or Clapton or Santana concert back in the day, odds are decent you saw them. Plus, of course, backing jump blues stars doing their own gigs at venues large and small around the world. Blues, swing, stomp... If it's upbeat and raucous, they do it. Tix are $25, plus more if you want food from the Bailiff's Café. Masks, proof of vaccination required.
Sunday at 1:30 pm and again at 7:30 pm, Revels and LOH present the powerhouse Cape Breton group Còig. If you know Celtic music, you already know them—jigs, reels, strathspeys, step-dancing, everything from fiddle to bouzouki, all in exuberant, scorching style.
Sunday at 2 pm, Upper Valley Music Center is modifying its annual Handel's Messiah and Hallelujah Chorus singalong for this hybrid year. The overture and selected arias will be performed as usual inside the First Congregational Church of Lebanon. Then, everyone will move outside to the church's front lawn to sing the chorus together. Tix are $15, UVMC will provide sheet music.
Finally, from 4-7 pm Sunday, Still North Books & Bar in Hanover is holding a second-birthday bash with a bunch of local writers to help it along: Flynn Berry and cartoonist Liniers (4-5 pm); novelists Katie Crouch and KJ Dell'Antonia, and poet Vievee Francis (5-6 pm); and Lauren Groff and Alexander Chee (6-7 pm) will be at the shop signing copies of their books and offering expert guidance for any last-minute shopping needs. Masks all around.
So
much to choose from!
: Isrea Butler on trombone (he also heads the music department at Valdosta State U in Georgia); Eric Davis on French horn (which he teaches at Hofstra); Courtney "Doc" Jones on trumpet (and a music prof at Florida Atlantic U); Herb Smith on trumpet (and a member of the Rochester Philharmonic); and Richard Antoine White (who by now should need no introduction) on tuba.
See you Monday.
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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