GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A quick word about Mondays... First, thank you for indulging me with Daybreak-less Mondays in January. The experience taught me something: Two-day weekends are fantastic! So for February we're going to try something new: CoffeeBreak Mondays. Daybreak will come out around 10 am and look more like it did when it first started, with fewer and shorter items. The rest of the week will be as usual. It's worth a shot, right?Well, it got here at last. Snow continues today, at least through morning and probably into the later afternoon; it may be heavy at times and power outages are a possibility. Thankfully, temps will remain in the mid-20s, with light winds from the north. Things will taper off gradually, and we're back into the freezer tonight, with lows into the single digits by daybreak. Updated snow total projections are here for VT and for NH. For a sense of what this morning holds, hit the "6-hour snowfall forecasts" tab.No widespread outages at the moment, (around here, anyway) but if they become an issue later in the day...
WMUR has a page with links to NH utilities' outage dashboards;
And in VT, here's one run by the Dept. of Public Service... and here's GMP's.
New England's native fox. Nope, not the red, but the gray. And, as Erin Donahue writes, "They are gorgeous creatures." She caught one a couple of nights ago on her trail cam in E. Thetford, up close (for a moment). From naturalist Ted Levin: "The only native fox in New England, the gray fox is the fox nobody knows, and fewer people see. A tree climber. An eater of melon and mice, squirrels, frogs, and snakes, with a taste for carrion. Gray fox range from the deciduous East to the desert Southwest, and south through Central America into the jungles of northern Colombia.""How come everytime you throw something we get into trouble?" It's still summer in Lost Woods, and Auk and Eddie are out doing what they do best while Henry and Lydia listen to crickets. As he does every Friday in this spot, 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 to head right back to the beginning.SPONSORED: The Ford F-150 Lightning is a game-changing ‘virtual power plant’ that unlocks solar's potential. This electrified pickup truck could forever change how power works on the grid—and where it comes from. That's because it will be the first vehicle sold in America that’s basically a portable battery and generator on wheels, capable of charging pretty much anything, anywhere. Hit the maroon link to see how the vehicle in your driveway can augment solar in your backyard. Solaflect Energy is your home energy-management partner! Sponsored by Solaflect Energy.UV high schoolers headed (virtually) to world's largest general science conference. Sponsored by the NH Academy of Science, they'll be presenting original research at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference later this month—from Hanover High's Laura Schaner looking at Lady Slipper genetic diversity to Lebanon High's Anya Rendahl on agricultural runoff's effect on the Connecticut to Hartford High's Olivia Merrill on the impact of intermittent fasting on fat production... and lots more. Names at the maroon link, details on their research here.As town meetings take shape... Hartford's tired, Enfield's looking at some big renovations, Newport's considering a tech center overhaul... The maroon link takes you to the Valley News's "Local Government" page, where you'll find early coverage of upcoming sessions and ballots as they come into focus.Blue Sparrow Kitchen? Coulda been in W. Leb. Tuckerbox? Coulda been in W. Leb.... Fairlee developer Jonah Richard's latest Brick + Mortar post draws attention to something I missed in the West Leb report Daybreak linked to last week. As he puts it, one of the pages "rips the bandaid off and spotlights six proposed projects that were rejected by the city for one reason or another." A few, he notes, went elsewhere "and found resounding success." The point, the committee says, is to look at city policies and see whether different approaches might have "led to successful outcomes in West Leb.""How ya doin' bud?" That's the friendly opening to each episode of a new podcast from Bradford, The Full Vermonty. It began as a joke, writes Monique Priestley in Sidenote, but now Travis Gendron (you may know him from Vittles Espresso & Eatery, in what used to be The Local Buzz) and Luke Campbell (who works at Crossmolina Farm in Corinth and helped create its Cookeville Market) are full-on podcasters. Episode 2, in which they discuss fruitcakes and chainsaws with trail-builder and former Corinth state rep. Carl Demrow, then play word games, just went up.
Hiking Close to Home: Moody Park in Claremont. Moody Park is a winding network of trails located in the heart of Claremont, NH. The various tracks and trails throughout, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, are perfect for snowshoeing and winter 'spike hiking' for both novice and seasoned hikers. The trails are designated for foot-only traffic in the winter but in the warmer months, mountain bikers can access the trails for some fun, challenging biking tracks. You'll find the entrance on Moody Park Road, off Maple Avenue.Been paying attention this week? The guys who run The News Quiz have some questions for you. Like, what is it that NH legislator are proposing a year-round hunting season for? And what may Tunbridge see two of that it didn't have a year ago? And what would at least one VT legislator like to allow to be composted? You'll find those and others at the maroon link."If you want an idea of what it means to be American in the 21st century, see this show." In the Valley News, Alex Hanson profiles the Hood's "This Land" show, which draws on—and often juxtaposes—the museum's extensive collection of American art, from well-known works from the 1800s to contemporary comments on Native American and other experiences. "What the Hood has discovered, and has committed to exploring, is that among the familiar landscapes are countless perspectives we know little about, and should understand if we’re to know our country in all its fullness," Hanson writes.NH Senate "clarifies" pre-abortion ultrasound mandate, rejects efforts to create exceptions for post-24-week abortion ban. The GOP majority beat back efforts by Democrats to narrow last year's ban by adding exceptions for rape, incest, and fatal fetal diagnoses, reports InDepthNH's Paula Tracy. The original bill sought to repeal the ban entirely; instead, Republicans amended it to limit its scope to clarifying that an ultrasound is required only when a physician believes the fetus is close to 24 weeks in age.How a textile company laid the groundwork for Manchester's divided neighborhoods. In the latest installment in "Invisible Walls," an ambitious reporting project by a group of NH news outlets to look at how exclusionary zoning laws reinforce poverty, Johnny Bassett lays out how the Amoskeag Company built housing for its more skilled workers while forcing unskilled Irish, French Canadian, and other immigrants to cluster in separate neighborhoods around the center of the city. By the 1920s, Bassett writes, "the city’s neighborhoods were sharply delineated by ethnicity and economic class."VT legislators tackle bill to regulate fossil-fuel heating companies. It’s baked into the state’s Climate Action Plan, which requires lawmakers to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heating oil. The bill would set a “clean heat standard,” reports VPR’s Abagael Giles, creating “a marketplace where [heating fuel] companies could buy and sell so-called ‘clean heat credits’”—pushing them to provide low-carbon options. But for many homeowners, switching fuel sources just isn’t affordable, so lawmakers also want to focus on making greener heat “profitable and attractive.”And VT Senate votes to close so-called "Charleston loophole" on gun purchases. The 21-9 vote (with all seven Republicans and two Democrats in opposition) would end a provision allowing people to buy guns if the FBI hasn’t finished a background check within three days, reports Kevin McCallum in Seven Days. Sen. Phil Baruth noted that 90 percent of background checks are done in minutes, and 97 percent within the three-day window, McCallum writes. The measure goes back to the House, which approved an earlier version. Gov. Phil Scott has been opaque on whether he'll sign or veto it.Why you want to make a trip to Waitsfield, VT. "If the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is America's attic, the Madsonian is America's garage," writes Steve Goldstein in Seven Days. The Waitsfield museum houses a collection devoted to industrial design amassed over decades by David E. Sellers, a sort of "anti-Marie Kondo," as Goldstein puts it. The latest exhibition: "The History of Sledding." Gravity is limitless, Sellers tells Goldstein, and any hill is a design lab. "So, the whole idea of this product is designed around just laughing your butt off and having a lot of fun," he says.
Sorry to burst your bubble: Chewing gum doesn’t take 7 years to digest. It passes through you just like any other food. Also, there’s no real proof that Thanksgiving turkey makes you drowsy. If you’ve ever wanted to be that person at the party—or are snowed in—check out Wikipedia’s expansive “List of common misperceptions” to find virtually every category of old wives’ tale thoroughly debunked. No, George Washington did not have wooden teeth. Bats are not blind. And Vikings didn’t name it “Iceland” to mislead people—they found ice there. But Greenland? Yeah, that was definitely false advertising.Okay, cool, you got the Wordle in three. But how ace are you at Lordle of the Rings?
And the numbers...
Dartmouth's numbers continue to fall, down to 266 total active cases (from 319 Monday). The college's dashboard yesterday reported 197 active undergrad cases (-48), 33 among grad and professional students (+2), and 36 among faculty/staff (-7). There have been 591 combined new cases among students over the previous seven days, as well as 90 among faculty/staff. 168 students are isolating on campus, 62 are isolating off-campus, and 43 faculty/staff are in isolation.
NH's new cases continue to drop, with a 7-day average now of 1,093 new cases a day, compared to 1,312 at the start of the week. The state reported 417 on Tuesday, 935 Wednesday, and 840 yesterday, bringing its total to 279,842. There have been 30 deaths reported since Monday; the total now stands at 2,239. Hospitalizations continue to trend downward: 257 people are currently hospitalized (-46 since Monday). The state reports 9,312 active cases (-1,124 since Monday) and that there are 836 (-111) active cases in Grafton County, 378 (-36) in Sullivan, and 989 (-169) in Merrimack. In town-by-town numbers, the state says Hanover has 259 (-57), Claremont has 160 (-10), Lebanon has 105 (-27), Newport has 73 (-24), Haverhill has 43 (-3), New London has 28 (-15), Enfield has 30 (-10), Grantham has 37 (-2), Canaan has 37 (no change), Charlestown has 35 (+7), Sunapee has 20 (+4), Plainfield has 9 (-5), Grafton has 8 (-2), Newbury has 5 (-2), Orford has 10 (+1), Rumney has 6 (-2), Cornish has 5 (-1), Lyme has 5 (no change), and Piermont, Warren, Wentworth, Dorchester, Orange, Wilmot, Springfield, Unity, and Croydon have 1-4 each.
VT's cases have bumped up slightly from the end of last week, but remain lower than most of January. The state reported 363 new cases Tuesday, 691 Wednesday, and 574 yesterday, to bring it to 106,174 total. It reports 12 additional deaths since Monday, bringing it to 548. Hospitalizations have dropped a tiny bit: as of yesterday, 91 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (-5 since Monday), with 23 of them (-3) in the ICU. Windsor County has seen 103 new cases since Monday, with 6,958 for the pandemic and 484 new cases over the previous two weeks; Orange County gained 44 cases during that time for a total of 3,078, with 267 over the previous two weeks.
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At noon today, Dismas of VT kicks off its 2022 lecture series on "Women's Voices in the Criminal Justice System" with Ashley Messier, a former Dismas resident who now runs the Women's Justice and Freedom Initiative, which advocates for women, girls, transgender, and others caught up in the criminal justice system.
And this evening at 8, Dartmouth's Theater Department brings a staged reading of Gina Femia's The Virtuous Fall of the Girls from Our Lady of Sorrows to the Hop. It follows a group of adolescents at an all-girls Catholic school as they try to stage an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure—and deal with their own foibles as well as those of the various authority figures who want to weigh in. No charge, but you'll need tix.
Okay... tomorrow's the day for the Billings Farm Film Series showing of Storm Lake, Beth Levison's 2021 documentary about the Cullen family and its heroic efforts to keep publishing the Pulitzer-winning, twice-weekly Storm Lake (Iowa) Times as the small-town news publishing world crumbles across the country. Showings at 3 pm and 5:30 pm, and between them, at 4:30, there'll be a Q&A with Levison and Phil Camp, owner of The Vermont Standard. Apologies to anyone who was misled by last Friday's gun-jumping listing. (Thanks, DC!)
And at 7 pm tomorrow, the Chandler in Randolph presents a livestream of Bengisu Gokce, a Turkish-born violinist and singer known for combining music rooted in Turkish tradition with Eastern European and Middle Eastern influences. She'll be joined by Boston-based Nacho Gonzalez Nappa, a Latin Grammy-winning composer and producer.
And at 7:30 tomorrow evening, the Coast Jazz Orchestra takes the stage in Spaulding celebrating birthday anniversaries that slipped by during the pandemic: Charlie Parker, Dave Brubeck, and Anthony Braxton, the longtime mentor of and collaborator with orchestra director Taylor Ho Bynum. The orchestra will be joined by Brazilian ensemble Gonçalves's Trio, with bandleader, pianist, and accordionist Vitor Gonçalves, bassist Eduardo Belo, and drummer Vanderlei Pereira.
Hmm...
the title song from the debut EP by the LA-based trio Gabriels—which Sir Elton called "one of the most seminal records I’ve heard in the past 10 years.” The band's fronted by gospel singer Jacob Lusk (if you've got a really long memory, the name might sound familiar:
American Idol
, 2011), along with producers and classically trained musicians Ryan Hope and Ari Balouzian, and for a self-professed "social media unsavvy trio" they've been building impressive traction...for reasons that'll be obvious.
See you Monday.
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.
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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