WELL HEY, FRIDAY!
That sun yesterday was pretty nice, eh? Today, though, there's a weak clipper system moving across from the Great Lakes, bringing a slight chance of rain around here, though if anything does fall, it won't be heavy. Temps getting up toward 40, but dropping back into the low 20s or even teens overnight, with a very slight chance of snow this evening. Sunny but colder tomorrow, then some serious warming Sunday and Monday. Cool coif? Orange bill? Must be Woodstock's Crested Caracara. The bird's usual haunts are in Central and South America, but a few days ago the Vermont Center for Ecostudies' Nathaniel Sharp identified one hanging out right here, in our own backyard. Birders from all over are beside themselves. "It is extremely unusual to see up north, but at least in recent years, we've been seeing a pattern of these birds turning up in extremely unusual places," Sharp tells VPR's Mitch Wertlieb. "It's finding enough roadkill to survive on and potentially could stick around for a little while longer."Meanwhile, over in Norwich, Emily Meyers got some pics of a bald eagle hanging out. And flying around above the old Van Arman farm. Demo Sofronas has them up on his "About Norwich" newsletter."Exercise, try to be outgoing and uplifting." That's Trudie Nicholson, a Kendal resident, who turned 100 this week and follows her own advice: she's in exercise class on average twice a week. Oh, also, she says, don't smoke, don't drink, and eat properly. NBC-5 has a quick profile. Tuck cancels last day of classes for term; Tuck student has "flu-like" symptoms. In an email to the community yesterday, Dr. Lisa Adams and Joshua Keniston, who co-chair the college's COVID-19 task force, said the student was at Friday's Engine Room event attended by a DHMC employee who'd tested positive for the coronavirus. Tuck officials decided on the class cancellation out of "an abundance of caution"; remaining classes will be online. Maps we wish we weren't on. In case you want to follow the coronavirus outbreak, Johns Hopkins has a continually updating map of where it's occurring (thanks for the tip, FB!). And there's a really intriguing almost-real-time effort by geneticists to track the virus as it mutates, which allows them to trace its evolution, understand its spread better, and see where containment measures have failed and which countries have faced multiple introductions of the virus. Croydon to vote on articles funding police department that the selectboard disbanded. In its "advance" on Croydon town meeting, the VN notes that the budget proposal includes $46,000 and a 15 percent pay raise for the police department... while the selectboard last month (you remember! the former chief's trek home in his underwear!) voted to dissolve the department. The chair of that board, Russell Edwards, faces a challenger for his seat.Now that Hartford and Norwich passed "welcoming ordinances," they have to figure out how to put them in place. The VN's Anna Merriman notes that both measures were advisory, and will have to be adopted by the towns' selectboards. And even then, officials will have to sort through how the departments deal with federal laws requiring local police to share immigration information with federal authorities. Hartford Police Chief Phil Kasten says he is "optimistic all legal nuances will be addressed.” "To characterize one group as 'clamorous' and the other as 'collegial' seems a bit unfair." John Freitag checks in with a gentle reproach for the wording of yesterday's item on selectboard results in Thetford. "Those who you characterized as more clamorous also have long histories and records of service to the community of Thetford and perhaps deserve better." All true. Full "letter to Daybreak" at the link.Also in response to a town meeting post yesterday: a pic of Euclid Farnham. Michael Sacca took it just before Tunbridge's town meeting started and Farnham handed off the gavel to the town's first new moderator in well over a generation. Another Tunbridgeite writes: "It's definitely the end of an era. They do not make them like Euclid anymore."NH lawmaker asked to self-quarantine after trip to Italy. Rep. Judith Spang of Durham went to the State House on Tuesday, the day after she returned, but then on Wednesday, the CDC advised anyone who'd traveled to Italy, Iran, South Korea or China to stay home. That's when Spang got a call from House Speaker Steve Shurtleff: "The speaker said, 'I don't want to see you in the state house for 14 days,'” she tells NHPR. She says she'll use her time at home to clean the basement.NH House passes bill automating voter registration at the DMV. The measure, which was already passed by the Senate last year, implements a system that registers people when they apply for or renew a driver’s license; it allows them to opt out of being registered if they wish. The DMV would transmit their information to the secretary of state. The bill passed 202 to 146, and now heads back to the Senate.VT "gun sanctuary" proposals fizzle on town meeting day. Gun Owners of Vermont had hoped that 11 towns would take up nonbinding resolutions declaring themselves "2nd Amendment sanctuaries" from government restrictions on firearms. In the end, only four did, but it was voted down in Cavendish, while townspeople in Northfield voted to keep it from coming up for discussion and voters in Newport Town seemed happy not to let it advance beyond a straw poll. It was approved in Lowell.Now, here's a job for a reporter: Get out and have fun for a living! Lisa Gosselin Lynn and Abagael Giles (you may remember Lynn's amazing piece earlier this week on the Army mountain school rescue in Stowe) put out both VT Ski + Ride and Vermont Sports, and Margaret Grayson of Seven Days is up with a profile and Q&A. "Last night," says Lynn, "Abagael was in a pool learning how to do a kayak roll." Key pro tips: Keep your phone close to your body, bring lots of pencils, and waterproof paper doesn't hurt.No spin, just news that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
IT'S A BUSY NIGHT OUT THERE
Meadowlark at Big Fatty's, Dave Clark at Oodles, Nancy Cardenuto at the Upper Valley Food Co-op, a jazz invitational at Café Renée, and more music and food to keep you drifting all around town, popping in here and there, and taking in the vibe.
This is an onstage conversation ahead of tonight's performance of
Citrus
, with Northern Stage staff, Rachel Hemphill Dickson of the Ensemble Theater in Houston, and JAG Productions' Jarvis Green. They'll be talking about producing contemporary African-American theater both here in the Upper Valley and out in the wider world. 6:30 pm, RSVP at: (802) 296-7000 or [email protected].
Three nights this weekend and three the next, with eight storytellers each night telling true tales. This weekend's storytellers include trail designer (and Vietnam vet) John Morton on his "dining experiences" while in South Vietnam,
Wonders of the Shiny Dome
performer Alan Haehnel, Jerry Brightman, Sally Bacon, Ken Burchard, Steve Cornish, George Spencer, and Ford Von Reyn. 7:30 tonight and tomorrow, 3 on Sunday. A slightly different lineup next weekend.
But wait! Over at the Lebanon Opera House, it's Buster Keaton's The General with live accompaniment.
Keaton's Civil War action flick is both epic and personal, comic and romantic. “What you have to do is create a character,” he once said. “Then the character just does his best, and there’s your comedy. No begging.” Keaton did not beg: The astounding physical comedy, athleticism, and acrobatic brilliance you see on screen was all real. Accompanied by South Pomfret's Bob Merrill, who for decades now has been composing scores for silents. 7:30 pm.
Historian and singer Linda Radtke celebrates the passage of the 19th Amendment 100 years ago. Accompanied by pianist Cameron Steinmetz, she traces Vermonters’ efforts from 1840-1921 as they lobbied in churches, at “parlor meetings” at town halls and at the State House. Just as an aside, 90 Tunbridge women voted in 1920, though Vermont didn’t ratify the amendment until early the next year. 7 pm, Tunbridge Public Library.
Erlewine's a musical fixture around Traverse City, Michigan, and has built a strong following all over the Midwest for her deeply felt, poetic, and politically pointed brand of balladry. She wraps it all in traditional folk, Americana, old-time country swing, and soul. 7:30 pm at Seven Stars Arts, in partnership with MountainFolk on Royalton Radio.
And to usher us toward the weekend, here's May Erlewine,
Have a fine few days. See you Monday.
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