Daybreak Friday 3/26/21

GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

Just a reminder: No Daybreak on Monday. Back to normal on Tuesday.Let it rain. And, maybe, thunder. The rain last night and this morning was courtesy of a warm front. The rain and possible thunderstorm later today are thanks to a cold front. Both are associated with a storm system that started out in the plains yesterday. The upshot: Rainy all day, though maybe with an occasional dry slot, gusty winds, and a chance of thunderstorms. Temps today hitting the low 60s, high 30s tonight along with strong gusts before midnight.  Though on the eye candy front, things are looking up... On a gray morning, what better than a Passiflora caerulea—that's a Blue Passionflower to the likes of me and you—that just decided to bloom in the late winter light streaming through Barbara Woodard's window?"Artists are so temperamental." It's Lost Woods Week 17, in which Lydia finally gets Cubism, Henry invents an absolutely foolproof recyclable can, and Awk and Wally take out the recycling—in both senses. 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.Hartford police unveil new website. It grew out of a collaboration between the department and students in a consumer neuroscience course at Dartmouth. Designed by Hanover's Chameleon Studios, the site aims to lower barriers to communication between the HPD and the town's residents, making it much easier to give feedback, lodge complaints, request records, find crime reports and emergency alerts... and theoretically look into how the department operates, though the "transparency" page is still under construction.All NH permanent residents over 16 will be able to register for vaccine over the next week. In an announcement yesterday, Gov. Chris Sununu said that residents 40 and older can register starting Monday, 30+ next Wednesday, and 16+ beginning on Friday. Sununu also said that college students from out of state will not be eligible, reports The Dartmouth, arguing that many wouldn't get second doses until after school ends in May or June. "If you are a resident of Colorado, but going to school here, no, you cannot get the vaccine," he said. "You can go to Colorado and get the vaccine.”SPONSORED: Sharon Academy nurtures intelligent, independent, and creative thinking. Are you looking at options for middle and high school? Discover how The Sharon Academy knows, values, and challenges students to reach their potential at its Virtual Information Event for Prospective Families: this Sunday, March 28, from 4-5:30 pm. More at the maroon link or email Amber Wylie at [email protected]. Students and families are encouraged to attend. Looking forward to seeing you there! Sponsored by The Sharon Academy. "There's a catastrophic shortage / of bagpipe players, tombstone sculptors and tightrope walkers." Robert Frost would be 147 years old today, and in his honor Dartmouth's communications office produced a set of five videos of poets at the college reading from their own work. The line above comes from English lecturer Matthew Olzmann's poem on advice to job-seekers; he's joined by Left Bank Books owner Rena Mosteirin, Spanish lecturer Kianny Antigua, English and writing prof Ivy Schweitzer, and Safety and Security director Keysi Montás, who is also a poet and publisher. “I’m looking at things that no one has looked at before, and that feels pretty cool.” You may remember earlier this year, when a team led by Dartmouth physics and astronomy prof Elisabeth Newton announced that it had found a young planetary system about 404 light-years away. In the Valley News, Dartmouth student Frances Mize profiles how Newton's effort came about and evolved. Most earlier exoplanet discoveries, Newton says, were of older planets. "By looking at young planets, we’re trying to understand how this older population came to be," she says.Hiking close to home: Gile Mountain. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance checks in with a pointer to the well-known Norwich trail, which offers an easy hike with an absolutely stunning view from an old fire tower. The trail starts with a meandering stroll through the Norwich woods, then heads up along a stone staircase built over several seasons by volunteers from the town trails committee. This hike is perfect in any season, but especially when the trees are just starting to leaf out—though the road is often closed in mud season, so watch for warning signs when you turn onto Turnpike Road.And if you're in the mood for an art-focused day trip... On her Artful blog, Susan Apel's got two suggestions. The Brattleboro Museum and Art Center is up with this year's Glasstastic, which for ten years has paired kids' imaginations with adult glass artists who turn their drawings into vibrant, often whimsical sculpture. And in Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art just reopened with, in Susan's words, "a bold and colorful site-specific installation" by Eva LeWitt.Or maybe you'd prefer one that has you thinking about 231 mph winds. Over in Concord, the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center has just unveiled a replica of the "Shaky Shack," the spot from which a hardy group of weather scientists atop Mt. Washington in 1934 recorded the highest wind speed ever measured. Though David Brooks notes on his Granite Geek blog that the exhibit is missing the ice casing that probably kept the shack from being blown to smithereens, as well as the nine cats who were living in it at the time.Almost 51 years ago. That's when VT's labor department first began using its mainframe system, the one now being blamed for big problems getting unemployment checks out to people who need them. It's programmed in a language—F COBOL—that barely anyone knows how to use anymore. And it's one big reason state CIO John Quinn is pushing to create a $53 million tech modernization fund that the state could use to pull that system, the DMV's, and others out of the 20th century. In Government Technology, Jed Pressgrove looks at why the fund would help and the politics of making it happen."We will be looking at a deep post-mortem analysis at what went wrong here.” Legislators and advocates in VT are getting impatient with the Scott administration's refusal to vaccinate the state's prisoners, despite prison outbreaks and their overall vulnerability. They took the administration to task for its approach at a press conference yesterday, reports VTDigger's Ellie French. Scott's press secretary responded, “Which Vermonters at highest risk (of) death do they believe should have been made to wait to get their vaccines so younger and healthier incarcerated individuals could have been vaccinated?""Even though your lungs are burning and your legs are burning and you can't even really think or breathe..." That's newly minted World Cup xc champion Jessie Diggins on "The Vermont Conversation," talking to host David Goodman about coming out of the final curve in the 2018 Olympics team sprint and forging ahead to secure the first-ever US gold medal in xc skiing. She talks about that race, training, training during the pandemic, starting the World Cup tour last year with just six hours of classic training on snow, why she opened up about her eating disorder, pre-race rituals, and respecting your competitors."Breweries have lost sight of themselves in a sea of wealth and success." Shaun Hill, the founder and guiding spirit of Hill Farmstead, in Greensboro, has been in New Zealand and spent two weeks in enforced isolation, pondering things. Seven Days' Sally Pollak caught up with him after he emerged to talk about beer, the odd directions some brewers are taking—though "many of us do love beer that is still beer. Beer-flavored beer," he says—the pressures of success, and how he's rethinking his approach. Hill Farmstead reopens for curbside service April 7.Has Vermont been unfairly maligning ex-turtle-owners? Wildlife biologists in the state have always figured that the populations of box turtles in central and southern VT grew from pets released by heedless owners. But now, reports WCAX's Cat Viglienzoni, herpetologists aim to collect tissue samples so they can do a genetic analysis testing an odd theory: maybe the turtles are actually native to the state. Still to come: figuring out how to change a species listing from non-native to native, if that proves to be the case. Maybe it's just got something it really wants to say. So, there's this swan in Northampton, England, that's been wandering the streets opening—and insistently rattling—the letter slots in people's doors. His name, apparently, is Cedric, and no one's clear on what he's up to. Asserting dominance? Looking for food or bugs? One local whose door's been targeted says none of the explanations make sense. "It is a flipping nuisance," he says, but "it certainly gives the postman and paper boy something to think about." Weekend's coming, so naturally, it's Poker Night at Olive and Mabel's. And turns out, Olive's a pretty shrewd player...

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Seems like it's time: The Doobies, Frampton, from lockdown,

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