Daybreak is brought to you this week with help from Billings Farm’s Woodstock Vermont Film Series.
Tickets are now available for nine compelling documentaries exploring resilience, artistry, and human connection. The series kicks off December 6 with a Celebration of Vermont Filmmakers. Learn More Here
GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sunny, brisk. We’ll be getting up to about 20 or a bit higher today, but heck, that’s balmy compared to our below-zero start to the day. Clouds will drift apart and skies will remain mostly clear until after midnight (still good moon viewing!), with temps dropping back into the single digits by dawn.
What the nose knows. A black bear on Erin Donahue’s E. Thetford trailcam. Ted Levin writes: “Footfalls in brittle leaves. Like childhood cereal ... snap, crackle, pop. Then, snow, graceful and soft, dims sound, compromising hearing. But black bear, unaffected, reads the world with a nine-inch nose. Eyes and ears? Mere accessories. Bears possess a remarkable sense of smell—exceeded only by that of African elephants. A black bear's olfactory bulb is five times the size of ours; its sense of smell is two thousand times better. Seven times better than a bloodhound. Memory-conscious bear smells black oil sunflower seeds a mile away, farther if the wind is right.”
A cold scene on a cold night under the Cold Moon. Over at the Oak Hill cross-country ski area in Hanover, snowmaking was on full blast last night. Michael Holmes caught the view late at night.
As for the last supermoon of the year itself? Here’s what it looked like earlier in the evening, rising over the NH hills as seen from Union Village Road in Norwich by Tony Luckino.
Judge overturns former Woodstock police chief’s demotion. In a two-page ruling Tuesday, reports Mike Donoghue in the VT Standard, Judge H. Dickson Corbett held that Woodstock Village trustees erred last spring by failing to evaluate whether “cause” existed to remove Joe Swanson from office and demote him to patrol officer. “Vermont law provides that municipal police chiefs may only be ‘removed’ from office ‘for cause,’” he wrote. The issue now goes back to the trustees—though Swanson’s lawyer, Linda Fraas, argues, “Clearly Chief Swanson can no longer lawfully be required to work in his demoted position as patrol officer.”
Which may be why, Colin Flanders reports in Seven Days, Swanson texted police officers in the wake of the ruling to say it was unclear whether the trustees would seek to remove him again, but “In the meantime call me with any questions about calls and cases.” That brought a letter from the village’s attorney arguing that Swanson had “dangerously created confusion” and that he continues to hold the rank of patrol officer. To which Fraas in turn responded that the ruling means Swanson should immediately resume his former role. “They cannot simply deny that he is Chief,” she wrote. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, it turns out that Woodstock’s municipal manager is a finalist for Montpelier city manager. Montpelier Mayor Jack McCullough broke that news in a press release and on the city’s Facebook page late Wednesday, reports the Standard’s Tom Ayres. Eric Duffy is the only one of three finalists currently in a municipal management post in New England. Both the village and town selectboard chairs tell Ayres that they learned of Duffy’s candidacy for the post only recently. “I think it would be a loss for the town, but he [needs to] do what’s best for himself and his family,” town selectboard Chair Ray Bourgeois says. Duffy couldn’t be reached for comment.
SPONSORED: DEAR JACK, DEAR LOUISE at Shaker Bridge Theatre. Two-time Tony Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig tells the heartwarming story of his parents’ courtship during World War II and the results are anything but expected. U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig, a military doctor stationed in Oregon, begins writing to Louise Rabiner, an aspiring actress and dancer in New York City, hoping to meet her someday if the war allows. But as the war continues, it threatens to end their relationship before it even starts. Starring Tommy Crawford and Allie Seibold. A joyous story for all to enjoy this holiday season! Tickets at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Shaker Bridge.
Arrest made in Bethel library computer theft. In a press release last week, reports Darren Marcy in The Herald, the VT State Police announced that Ashley Osmer, of Bethel, has been cited for possession of stolen property after police searched her home and found one of two iMac desktop computers that were taken in the October break-in—along with The Pig, a donation jar. “More details on the case will be released January 13 when Osmer is scheduled to be arraigned on the charge in Windsor County Criminal Court,” Marcy writes.
Film series aims to capture “new momentum” in VT’s film scene. Billings Farm’s Woodstock Vermont Film Series, curated by veteran VT filmmaker and local film-industry advocate Jay Craven, opens this weekend with two films with VT connections: La Liga, about a soccer league created by migrant farmworkers in the state; and Stories to Save Us: The Saltmarsh Sparrow, by two VT filmmakers. In the VN, Marion Umpleby looks ahead at the series, which includes a documentary about a Guilford, VT commune, and more. The Mountain Times has the full list.
SPONSORED: Support Hanover Rotary Bell Ringing! Join us on Main Street Friday evening to kick off Hanover Rotary's Holiday Bell Ringing for LISTEN's Heating Helpers program and Hanover Rotary Charities. Heating Helpers assists neighbors in need with rising energy costs. Hanover Rotary Charities supports local nonprofits, Hanover HS exchange students, and college and technical school scholarships. The Byrne Foundation, Dartmouth College and Hanover Rotarians will match donations up to $30,000! Hit the burgundy link or see us on Main Street and at the Coop Food Store. Thank you! Sponsored by Hanover NH Rotary.
Out there this first week of December: ice. Well, and snow, of course. But this is a time for needle ice and ice skims, writes Northern Woodlands’ Jack Saul in “This Week in the Woods”. Needle ice forms “in wet, saturated soil when air temperatures drop below freezing” but the ground hasn’t completely frozen: “water freezes near the soil’s surface, where it meets the cold air, and more water moves up from deeper in the soil, freezes, and attaches to the ice above…” Meanwhile, lakes and ponds are starting to freeze over—from top down, for reasons you’ll just have to read about. Also out there: wood ferns, trailing arbutus, and moose rubs.
“I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t biking.” That’s because Bond Almand learned to ride a bike when he was 2. Now he’s a senior at Dartmouth and a professional ultra-distance cyclist who, last year, came to widespread attention after he used a semester off to break the world record for cycling the Pan-American Highway—from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina in 75 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes, unsupported. In a short new video profile created by Dartmouth communications office video intern Tobin Yates—with plenty of footage of Almand on the road—he reflects on cycling, meeting people, the environment’s he passed through, and more.
Hiking Close to Home: Winter. These two bouts of snow have brought perfect conditions for winter hiking, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. Their Spike Hikes guide features eight trails selected for accessible winter parking and ideal snowy conditions, from easy walks to more challenging ones, and from Norwich and Hanover to Woodstock, Orford, and Grantham. You’ll find it all at the burgundy link.
And doesn’t this make you want to get out there? With spikes on, of course. From Wildly Responsible NH’s FB page.
Were you paying attention this week? Daybreak’s Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you, like: Where is the Norwich Farmers Market hoping to put up a new, permanent building and expand its outdoor space for vendors? And how many quart bottles of eggnog does Strafford Organic Creamery fill each day at the height of the season? Meanwhile, you’ll find both NHPR’s New Hampshire quiz and Seven Days’ Vermont quiz at this link.
For NH, a nearly $15 million “Oops.” Construction work on the state’s new secure psychiatric forensic hospital in Concord is now well behind schedule after the discovery that a design error miscalculated the building’s 400 support piles—bringing work to a halt and, eventually, requiring more piles and beams, reports the Globe’s Steven Porter (no paywall). The results is that the architectural firm on the project will pay $9.9 million to the state without admitting fault, but the state may be on the hook for $5 million more. That led to several “testy” exchanges at Wednesday’s Exec Council session, but in the end, Gov. Kelly Ayotte said, “We want to make sure that project is built.”
VT’s legislative leaders: Ignore that school district task force proposal. You’ll remember that last week, the school redistricting task force that had been meeting for months issued a report urging that a school consolidation mandate stemming from Act 73 be set aside in favor of cooperative sharing agreements. Now, reports VT Public’s Peter Hirschfeld, “Democratic leaders in the House and Senate say it’s full steam ahead for a plan to dramatically reduce the number of school districts” in the state. “It’s not within your purview to say, ‘No, we’re going to do something completely different,’” Senate President Phil Baruth says to the task force.
Trying to understand what all this is all about? VTDigger’s Libbie Sparadeo and education reporter Corey McDonald sat down to talk over Act 73, and Sparadeo’s up with both a recording of the conversation and 10 key takeaways diving into what the act does, what’s behind the consolidation push—and why evidence on whether or not it’ll work is scant—and what legislators will have to decide once they reconvene.
Hey, Upper Valley libraries in VT will help you check your firewood’s moisture. Why does this matter? Because burning wood that’s got a moisture content higher than 20 percent is a waste of energy, says the federal EPA. So now, VT’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation has made moisture meters available to 63 libraries around the state to lend out to patrons. Among them: Bradford, Hartford, Norwich, Quechee, Randolph, Springfield, Strafford, Wells River, and Windsor. Information on the program at the burgundy link.
People tend to commute for about an hour a day—current people, ancient Greeks, cave dwellers, everyone. Sure, travel’s faster now, but that just means we go longer distances, writes former journalist (now electronic musical instrument designer) Tom Whitwell. It’s one entry in his wonderful annual “52 Things I Learned” list (with links to all). Another? A little device called a ceremonial bugle tucks into a real bugle so a non-musician can play at a funeral. Also, 51 percent of the animals in farms across the world are shrimp. Researchers have developed a machine-washable computer. And households with someone on a GLP-1 drug spend 10 percent less on savory snacks than before, though they do spend more on yogurt.
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak. If you want Wordbreak all weekend long, just use the same link tomorrow and Sunday.
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HEADS UP
There’s a lot going on out there this weekend, from First Friday in WRJ and “Celebrate the Season” in Hanover to the VT Comedy Festival, concerts, holiday markets and open houses, films, gift and ornament-making… No reason to stay home. If you didn’t see yesterday afternoon’s Weekend Heads Up, here’s where you’ll find it.
And for today...
Earlier this year, the Chicago-raised, LA-based singer-songwriter Natalie Bergman released her sophomore album, My Home is Not In This World. It was a wholly spirited shift from her debut album, which she’d recorded in the wake of her father’s sudden death—in part because in between, she’d gotten married and had a son. “Everything is kind of playful," she told an interviewer when this year’s album came out. "I look at birds in a new way. I look at trees in a new way. I feel like I'm looking at things for the first time." Some things, though, haven’t changed, like her love for Motown. You can find a great, live-in-the-studio version (at Fordham U’s WFUV) of “Gunslinger” here, but really, it’s the weekend, so we also need to go with this…
See you Monday for CoffeeBreak.
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