GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Heads up: No Daybreak on Monday (or the following Monday)—it's time to do some catching up. Back in your inbox as usual on Tuesday.Sunny, cool. Well, the rain's gone and the front that brought it has passed through, but the cold air behind it is still around—though not for much longer. We're going to have a pretty brisk north wind and temps won't get out of the mid-30s today, but the clouds will disappear early and it'll be bright and sunny straight through the weekend as temps start warming tomorrow. Teens tonight.Daybreak Where You Are: The Finale. For now, anyway. It's been almost a month and a half since I asked for daybreak photos from readers, and the response was awe-inspiring. They came in from all over the Upper Valley, as well as the US and abroad, and I'm not even halfway through running them. To everyone who sent one in: Thank you! It's been a huge pleasure looking at them. But it's time to put this winter crop to rest (though spring's arriving: don't put down those cameras). So to wind things down:
Here's the very first photo that came in that morning, ironically enough: "Sunrise over Daybreak HQ" from Jack Taylor. Even more ironic: I didn't catch that sky myself.
And here's every last one of them, in an album for you to lose yourself in. Some you've seen, many you haven't. Each is labeled with its location and photographer. There are some extraordinary photos in there, but the collective is even more remarkable: a reminder that daybreak, wherever it is, can take your breath away. I'll put a link in next week's issues, too, so you can always find them.
"Being in two places at once makes me..." "Thirsty?" It's Lost Woods Week 16 (amazing, right?), and Wally goes full-tech while Lydia paints the woods, among other things. Today, as every Friday, Lebanon author and illustrator D.B. Johnson brings his still-new comic strip to this spot, a week's worth at a time. Scroll right to see what happens, left to catch up on previous weeks.“It feels a little bit like the skies are parting and the sun is coming out." That's Lebanon High School social studies teacher Amanda Valliere, talking to WCAX's Adam Sullivan about the vaccination clinics for teachers that DHMC will hold this weekend and next. In all, Sullivan reports, about 1,500 teachers from the NH side of the Upper Valley will get shots there. The clinics are being organized by the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley.SoRo to get decorative. The town is moving forward with plans to bring some “visual poetry” to the Safford Street Underpass—that's the "craggy old railroad underpass" you drive through on your way to and from Worthy Burger, writes Susan Apel in her Artful blog. Once the underpass has a fresh canvas of smooth concrete, artists Elizabeth Billings, Evie Lovett, and Andrea Wasserman will start in on friezes depicting the region's land and water, blending graphics and words. The design will continue to be refined through the summer.SPONSORED: One year into the coronavirus, what have we learned? It’s been a year since COVID-19 turned our lives upside down. With the end of the pandemic in sight, we’re looking back at how the coronavirus has changed us and updating three lessons we learned early on in the crisis: security starts at home; safe investments pay you back; and the climate crisis is still ahead of us. Because the global tragedy of the pandemic is just a dress rehearsal for the even bigger global calamity of climate change...and the lessons we learned in the pandemic can help us prepare. Sponsored by Solaflect Energy.Veteran Orange County states attorney stepping down next week. Will Porter was first elected the county's lead prosecutor in 2002, and will retire March 26, reports the Valley News's Anna Merriman. “It’s time to be done,” Porter tells her. “I’ve been doing it a long time....You never really get away from anything. The demands of the job require a lot more than a 40-hour workweek.” Deputy State’s Attorney Dickson Corbett will become acting states attorney and Porter has recommended him for the permanent position, but the governor's office hasn't yet decided, Merriman writes.What if you're a comic and can see the audience laughing, but can't hear it? That's the odd position Whose Line Is It Anyway? comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood will find themselves in this weekend and next as they bring their virtual interactive show to S. Pomfret's ArtisTree. Sherwood is in Las Vegas and Mochrie's in Toronto, they tell WCAX's Scott Fleishman, and though their tech can make it seem as though they're in a room together, the feed only gives them a visual of their audience. "That was...a sort of an interesting adjustment we had to get through,” says Mochrie.Hiking close to home: The Appalachian Trail from the Cloudland Road Trailhead. This is a beautiful section of the AT in Woodstock, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. It climbs sharply in a few sections and, after about a mile, leads to a cleared lookout with views towards Killington. Stop there for lunch or sunset for a shorter hike, or continue on via a beautiful old farm road and a lovely view of Suicide Six. There is a small parking area on the right-hand (headed north) side of Cloudland Road. Maroon link takes you to the trailhead on Google Maps. Here's Trailfinder info on the AT.
Rail tracks south of WRJ feature in freight company set-to. You may remember that freight giant CSX plans to buy Pan Am Railways, the regional hauler with trackage rights on the Connecticut River Mainline down into MA. Not so fast, says Vermont Rail System. It's filed an objection to the sale with the federal Surface Transportation Board, contending that a part of the deal would reduce freight competition along the Conn River line, thus harming Vermont Railway and its sister company, Green Mountain Railroad. Vaccines for all NH adults "just weeks away." At a press conference yesterday, Gov. Chris Sununu said that with its new VINI scheduling system in place, “Things are very progressing very, very quickly here in the state.” Over 100,000 people signed up in the first 24 hours after the system started up Wednesday, the AP's Holly Ramer writes. People over 50 can start signing up on Monday. The state is still deciding what to do with college students, part-time residents, and people who got their first shots in other states but want to get their second in NH, Sununu says.Drought can raise arsenic to unsafe levels in private wells. That's according to a new US Geological Service study led by Melissa Lombard of the USGS in Concord. It found the risk especially high in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Maine, and New Hampshire, reports NHPR's Annie Ropeik. Arsenic in well water has been linked to NH's high rate of bladder cancer. The study's results suggest that home well testing is especially important during droughts, Lombard says—and forecasters are predicting a spring drought, especially in the West. Here's NH's water testing page, and here's VT's.
DEA warns NH of meth posing as Adderall. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency issued the urgent warning after seizing pills across the state that are designed to look like the prescription drug used to treat ADHD, but that actually contain methamphetamine, reports WMUR. “They’ve shown up all over New England, but specifically New Hampshire, all four corners of the state are seizing these pills and they are deadly, and we need to get the message out there,” says DEA Special Agent in Charge Jon DeLena.NH Senate advances school voucher bill, rejects funding-formula change to help property-poor districts. Both votes fell along party lines, reports InDepthNH's Garry Rayno, with Republicans holding the majority. The voucher bill would give parents between $4,500 to $8,500 per pupil to spend on tuition to any private, religious, or alternative school, as well as on other educational costs, including home schooling. The funding-formula vote was on a measure that would have accepted the findings of last year's Education Funding Commission, including its recommendation for a statewide property tax. "Grandpa's grid has got to go." Using the case of a so-far-frustrated project to turn wastewater from a cream cheese plant in Enosburg Falls into renewable energy, Seven Days' Kevin McCallum dives deep into the debate over remaking VT's electric grid: Limitations, especially in rural northern VT counties, are hampering the state's development of renewable energy and its clean energy goals. The problem: Fixes are expensive and no one wants to pay for them. The result: The state and various of its big energy players actually discourage renewable projects if they're in an area with inadequate power lines.Scott to State Department: Please send us more refugees. In a letter sent earlier this week, reports VTDigger's Kit Norton, Vermont's governor is asking the feds to triple the number of refugees they plan to send to the state next year. “Refugees are an integral part of our efforts to grow Vermont’s economy, which include a workforce development strategy to attract new workers and meet the demographic challenges faced by a declining population,” he wrote. Under the Trump administration, the state saw a "marked decrease" in refugees arriving for resettlement, Norton writes.Is there a Vermonter on the "Jeopardy" team? Reddit user saint_of_thieves noticed something about the final three categories in yesterday's Double Jeopardy round. "For those who haven't tried any creemee yet, the first choice you make should probably be one of the maple variety." There's an utterly disarming sub-genre of international travel writing devoted to pointing out the quirks of life in northern New England...and here, amid its guides to clubbing in Berlin and Ireland's pilgrimage hikes, comes TheTravel.com waxing rhapsodic about ice cream. "The creemee is so ingrained in Vermont's culture and lifestyle that they don't say 'we're going out for ice cream' or 'we're getting some soft-serve.' The proper term is 'we're going for some creemees.'" There you have it.Remember the goats of Llandudno? Sure you do! They became early-pandemic breakout stars after they were photographed taking over the deserted streets of the Welsh town that lies below their grazing territory. Well. It turns out that though they're wild, they get contraceptive shots every year to keep their population down. Only... not this past year. Now there's a goat boom, and authorities are worried that as the pandemic eases and road traffic picks up again, some Llandudno goats might not make it out of town.
Last numbers for the week.
Dartmouth is at 8 active cases among students (up 1) and remains at 1 among faculty/staff. There are 20 students and 6 faculty/staff in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 8 students and 9 faculty/staff are in isolation awaiting results or because they tested positive.
Colby-Sawyer has 56 active cases among students, none among faculty or staff. In all, 56 people are in isolation, 92 in quarantine.
NH reported 347 new cases yesterday, for a cumulative total of 79,702. There were 5 new deaths, which now stand at 1,207. Meanwhile, 75 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (down 4), and the current active caseload stands at 2,340 (up 128). The state reports 125 active cases in Grafton County (up 19), 26 in Sullivan (down 2), and 232 in Merrimack (up 4). In town-by-town numbers, the state says New London has 51 active cases (down 2), Hanover has 17 (down 2), Lebanon has 6 (no change), Canaan has 6 (up 1), Claremont has 5 (no change), and Charlestown has 5 (up at least 1). Haverhill, Orford, Lyme, Enfield, Plainfield, Grantham, Grafton, Croydon, Springfield, Sunapee, Wilmot, Newbury, Unity, and Newport have 1-4 each.
VT reported 139 new cases yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 17,247. It reported no new deaths, which remain at 217. Meanwhile, 21 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (down 3). The state corrected some county totals: Windsor County gained 9 cases and stands at 1,119 for the pandemic, with 63 over the past 14 days, while Orange County added 4 new cases and is at 535 cumulatively with 17 cases in the past 14 days.
News that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
This evening at 7:30, UVM's Lane Series is featuring a livestream of the Vermont Mandolin Trio—Matt Flinner, Jamie Masefield, and Will Patton, all acoustic-music veterans, along with bassist Pat Melvin—doing an evening of jazz, bluegrass, and improv. Tix are $21, which gets you access for 24 hours.
Tomorrow at 4 pm, sculptors Christine Hauck, Ellen Keene, Amanda Sisk, and Heather Szczepiorkowski will give a talk about their work for "Sacred Encounters," their collective exhibition that's currently at AVA Gallery. Scroll down for info.
Also at 4 pm, Upper Valley Music Center presents its annual faculty showcase concert, which this year includes Bach, traditional folk tunes, Joni Mitchell, original music on guitar, piano, and strings, as well as for voice. The concert will include a virtual ensemble performance, bringing together the voices and instruments of over 20 UVMC teachers in one song. It's a benefit to raise funds for a new ventilation system to bring fresh air into every room in its building.
Tomorrow at 7 pm, Spruce Peak Arts offers up Beg, Steal, or Borrow, originally formed in 2013 to revive the music of the legendary Grisman-Garcia-Clements bluegrass band Old and In the Way. Now BSB has its own repertoire, just cut their first full-length album, and is revving up for the concert season. In-person tickets are sold out, but you can catch the livestream for $15.
Tomorrow at 8 pm (and also next Saturday), ArtisTree's Grange Theatre presents Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood's livestreamed, interactive comedy show, "Stream of Consciousness." The two vets of Whose Line Is It Anyway? riff off audience suggestions as they careen through an off-the-cuff evening of improv. Tix are $35 per device.
Okay! It's Friday! Let's go out on a high note. About ten years ago, following on the heels of his hugely successful "Duets" album working with (somewhat) younger artists, Tony Bennett recorded "Duets II." The first song on that album, which fortunately was videotaped as well as recorded,
Rodgers and Hart's sardonic look at the cramped expectations New York high society in the '30s placed on women. It was pure, spontaneous performing chemistry; it's a wonder the place didn't explode. Bennett and Gaga enjoyed each other so much they went on to record an entire album together, the Grammy-winning "Cheek to Cheek."
And with that, have a fine weekend! See you Tuesday.
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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Banner by Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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