TIBBAR TIBBAR, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly cloudy, cooler, slight chance of rain all day. That cold front swung into place last night, and things could stay drizzly today. Temps will stay in the 40s today, colder the higher up you get, then drop into the upper 20s tonight. There's a slight chance of some snow overnight. Winds today from the west."Extremely intelligent and obviously fearless (unfortunately)." That's Thetford Center's Jack Sammons talking about Black Mouth Curs (yep, look 'em up) after Percival, his 15-month-old rescue from Mississippi, treed a black bear the other day.The Montshire's moose is looking pretty darn sporty. But just for the weekend. They're calling it a moose-icorn.Lydia paints. Henry writes. "Doesn't anyone have fun around here?" Wally wonders. It's Lost Woods Week 70, and Lebanon's DB Johnson continues to chronicle the doings there. Plus, he writes on his blog, he's pondering the differences between Henry and Wally—writers with very different approaches to life. He offers up a sketch of a future strip that sums up the differences.Bethel, W. Windsor, White River Partnership, Randolph land state grants for outdoor recreation. The money goes to a wide array of efforts to promote outdoor activities, especially as a way of attracting visitors and boosting economic vitality. Bethel will get $331K to plan and develop a network of parks and trails; W. Windsor, Ascutney Outdoors, and the Ascutney Trails Assn will see $262K to build a trail between the village and the mountain, construct new mountain bike trails, and upgrade the rope tow; and Sharon and other White River towns will get improved whitewater access. For Randolph, see below."A great opportunity to provide places where people can stop at a café, grab a bite to eat and then head on out back into the backcountry..." Randolph and the VT Huts Association will receive a $141K grant to plan the Velomont Trail, the Huts Association's effort to connect 485 miles of new and existing bike trail networks from the Massachusetts border to Canada. VPR's Grace Benninghoff talks to the association's Angus McCusker about the plans, why the proposed trail dips into towns along the way, and the timeline. In brief: It'll take a while.SPONSORED: Electric Bikes Rule! They’re practical, fun, offer great exercise, and reduce our reliance on gasoline. Finding the right new/used e-bike can be challenging, but Vermont Bike & Brew is here to help! Plus, there's a $200 rebate for GMP customers. Test rides available or take one of our self-guided Upper Valley tours and visit local breweries, farm stands, cafes and more—what better way to explore the area with your summer visitors? Mention “Daybreak” for 10 percent off rentals only, through May 27th.Hiking Close to Home: The CCBA Riverwalk. The last few suggestions from the Upper Valley Trails Alliance have also been in Lebanon, but, writes UVTA's Kaitie Eddington, that's where you'll find "some of the most mud-season-friendly trails and walkways" in the region. The Riverwalk is a paved walkway that starts behind the rec center in Lebanon and runs along the Mascoma river. This short walk passes parks and playgrounds, making it an enjoyable experience for families with small kids, and it's also wheelchair accessible. Been paying attention this week? The News Quiz folks have some questions for you. Like, are VT officials discouraging schools from following CDC guidelines on masking? What's going in next to the Nugget in Hanover? And what happened to that church in Perkinsville? You'll find those and others at the maroon link.WRJ's Trail Break to cut wages, ask customers to make up difference. "Restaurants are feeling pinned" between rising costs that are driving up menu prices and the need to pay workers higher wages in order to keep them, writes owner Topher Lyons in a Facebook post this morning. So starting today, Lyons says, the popular taco spot is cutting staff wages 20 percent and asking customers to look for a new QR code on their check that will allow them to contribute an additional 20-30 percent on top of their usual tip, "so that our crew feels a more empowered and direct sense of accomplishment through your specific, targeted allocations." Explanation next to video at link.“People have moved into our town for school choice, and now we’re the laughing stock." “[That money] would actually be better used if we took the money and just burned it for heat.” The debate over Croydon's school budget has only grown more fiery in the weeks since about 20 people voted at the town's floor meeting to cut it in half. NHPR's Sarah Gibson explores the ins and outs of the debate, talking to the motion's supporters about their desire to limit government and looking at other residents' fears that, as one puts it, “They’re playing a game of experimental politics with our children.”Keep an eye out while you're driving: Amphibians are on the road. Last night was a "big night"—the first warm rain, when frogs and salamanders start making their move to reach vernal pools and other waterways. These upcoming warmer nights are a good time to drive slowly and even avoid roadways that pass near bodies of water. But they're also a chance to get out and look for crossing spots—and, if you see one, report it, since the info can be helpful for assessing wildlife corridors and amphibian distribution. Link takes you to Lebanon's page on the subject, with plenty of helpful links.NH House approves amending last year's abortion ban for fetal abnormalities. The bill, writes the AP's Holly Ramer, would limit the use of ultrasounds and add an exception for cases in which the fetus has been diagnosed with “abnormalities incompatible with life." "This is not about allowing a back door into abortions of convenience, this is about letting the medical profession treat their patients,” said one Republican who'd favored the original total ban. The measure, which now goes to the Senate, does not include exceptions for rape and incest.NH Senate passes bill to void the ballots of voters who can't prove their domicile in the state. The measure, writes NH Bulletin's Amanda Gokee, would "create a new kind of ballot called an 'affidavit ballot,' requiring voters to mail in a copy of the missing documentation within 10 days of an election in order for their vote to count in the final tally." GOP Sen. Bob Giuda argued the measure is needed to keep people who don't live in NH from signing an affidavit, voting, and having their votes count; the secy of state's office has said repeatedly that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud.One-third of this VT legislative nickname isn't true: "tampon tax bill." You know that VTDigger's Lola Duffort had a good time with this. "The only thing lawmakers won’t talk about as they hash out their differences on a bill until very recently called 'an act relating to exempting feminine hygiene products from the Vermont Sales and Use Tax' is tampons." That's because that measure passed in a different form last year; this bill is just a convenient container for all sorts of tax tweaks. The House and Senate are currently hashing out differences on corporate taxes, mutual fund fees, and other issues.New VT legislative district maps move to guv's desk. The House yesterday sent redistricting plans for the House and Senate to Gov. Phil Scott. Though there are small changes to House districts, reports WCAX's Calvin Cutler, the new map is substantially the same as the last one, preserving a mix of single- and multi-member districts—including the Windsor-Orange district that joins Sharon, Strafford, Thetford, and Norwich. Meanwhile, the Senate map costs Caledonia County a senator and adds one to Chittenden County. Senate map here, and House map here.VT Senate advances pension deal. You may remember that a first effort last year came to naught after it drew heated blowback from public unions. Yesterday, reports VTDigger's Lola Duffort, the Senate unanimously advanced a bill that would gradually increase pension contributions from teachers and state employees while also committing the state to a $200 million one-time contribution to the system. It's "ultimately expected to cut the state’s future debts by about $1.7 billion," Duffort writes. The bill gets a final Senate vote today, then moves to the House, where it's not expected to face opposition.It may be rain out there, but ski season's still going strong in some spots. Killington, of course, has no plans to close any time soon. Some ski areas have closed, others plan to do so this coming week. The ski-scene site Unofficial Networks has a page of projected closing dates for VT ski areas.“Vermont…might not necessarily be the best physical place to run out an apocalypse.” Take it from a VT National Guardsman, we guess. Because while VT might have the advantage of being insulated from more volatile parts of the world, outlasting a nuclear winter ain’t like enduring a normal one. VPR’s Marlon Hyde explores survival techniques for a variety of cataclysmic scenarios: war, plague, flooding, zombies. Basically, if the grid goes down and it’s January, says the guardsman (who’s spent time in the Arctic), be sure to have “a stove, some fuel, some food, and a couple changes of clothes.”There’s gazing at the moon on a clear night, and then there’s this. It’s been with us since time immemorial and was a pretty big deal in the 1960s, but somehow the moon—an actual space rock floating right above us—is easy to take for granted. Unless you’re Andrew McCarthy, an astrophotographer who saw another side to our lunar companion. My Modern Met’s Jessica Stewart spotlights McCarthy’s recent achievement: he spent 26 days taking 2 million lunar photos, merging them into a GIF to create the delightful illusion of a moon that shimmies and shakes—a phenomenon called libration.
And the numbers...
Dartmouth case numbers are going up, with 126 active cases reported yesterday (compared to 79 on Monday). The college's dashboard reports 39 undergrad cases (+24), 79 among grad and professional students (+24), and 8 among faculty/staff (-1).
NH cases are generally holding steady, with a 7-day average now of 125 new cases per day, compared to 126 on Monday. The state on Monday reported 62 new cases, 131 on Tuesday, and 143 yesterday, bringing it to 302,541 in all. There were 5 deaths reported during that time; the total now stands at 2,452. Under the state's new rubric of people actively being treated for Covid in hospitals, it reports 7 hospitalizations—no point comparing to numbers earlier this week, which counted hospitalized people with Covid. The state reports 1,122 active cases statewide (+102), 125 of them in Grafton County (+2 since Monday), 29 in Sullivan (-2), and 87 in Merrimack (+1). In town-by-town numbers, the state says Hanover has 59 (+2), Lebanon has 19 (-5), Claremont has 14 (+3), New London has 5 (-3), Haverhill has 6 (+1), and Piermont, Warren, Orford, Wentworth, Rumney, Lyme, Enfield, Plainfield, Grantham, Springfield, Sunapee, Newport, Newbury, Unity and Charlestown have 1-4 each. Cornish is off the list.
VT's rising a bit, reporting 92 cases Tuesday, 212 Wednesday, and 171 yesterday, bringing it to 116,639 total and up to a 7-day daily average of 135, compared to 131 Monday. There were 2 deaths during that time; they stand at 617 all told. Hospitalizations have held steady: As of yesterday, 13 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (no change), with no one in the ICU (-2). Windsor County has seen 31 cases since Monday and 150 over the past two weeks, for 8,721 overall, while Orange County had cases reassigned and is down to 4,884 overall, with 52 in the past two weeks.
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Another local food mainstay is asking for the public's help. Elena Taylor and Julie Samanis, whose JUEL café began as a renovated camper five years ago and took up its spot on the corner of Bridge and N. Main in WRJ in 2018, have launched a GoFundMe campaign. "We love what we do but that doesn’t come without doses of reality. We have done our best navigating these turbulent times, but operating during a global pandemic has continued to make running a business difficult," they write.
Speaking of WRJ, it's First Friday, of course, and now that it's April, downtown's going to be bursting—with a music lineup back in action, art openings, and more. Among other things, starting at 5 pm there's a singers and songwriters showcase in the Newberry Market (the large space you get to between Piecemeal and Tuckerbox) with Tommy Crawford, Allison Fay Brown, and Matt Seiple; a roots jam with Jakob Breitbach & Steve Hennig at Two Rivers Studios in celebration of the opening of Jes Raymond’s art print show, also at 5; and jazz sessions starting at 6 with Dave Richard & Cannon Labrie and DeWitt Mallary, Janine Waldron & Jim Musty...but you'll have to show up at Two Rivers to find out where.
You'll also find an opening reception at Kishka Gallery for Halifax, Nova Scotia-based artist Miya Turnbull's "Face to Face" exhibition of masks and a free introductory Ashtanga yoga session at Open Door.
And at the Main Street Museum, this week's piano concert, which starts at 6 and is themed "April in Paris," features Stevie Pomije playing live, then switches over to French piano rolls on the MSM's 1930 Aeolian Stroud player piano. If you've been in the museum lately, you can't have missed the couple thousand old piano rolls that founder David Fairbanks Ford has been collecting. In the Valley News, Alex Hanson has the backstoryon the piano and the weekly concerts that feature it.
This evening at 7, the Norwich Bookstore holds an in-person reading and discussion with novelist Edith Forbes about her new memoir, Tracking a Shadow: My Lived Experiment with MS. She first began to experience symptoms in 1993, when she was 38, and in the years since has delved deep into the research on the illness, charting her own approach to deal with it. Writes Kirkus, "Forbes presents a compellingly textured, informative memoir that lucidly examines the medical decisions facing MS patients and encourages a proactive mentality."
And if you don't feel like going out tonight, at 7:30 Middlebury Arts presents a livestream of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han at home in Westchester playing a French-inspired program of cello sonatas by Saint-Saëns and Franck, with commentary to go along with it. No charge, but you'll need to reserve tix.
From 11-2 tomorrow, Trail Break in WRJ—working with Doc Black Gaming and The Bearded Pastor—will be providing free meals to veterans in need. There will also be resource tables set up by the White River Junction Vet Center, Project New Hope, LISTEN, the Haven, and others.
Tomorrow at 4 pm, Upper Valley Music Center faculty put on their annual showcase at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon and on YouTube. It's a cool program: duets by Beethoven, Bartok, and Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Ten Blake Songs” arranged for clarinet and soprano; original waltzes by Jeremiah McLane on accordion; brand new music from singer-songwriter Lisa Piccirillo; and traditional contra dance music, bossa nova songs, and a percussion ensemble featuring a typewriter used as an instrument. Donations will support UVMC's tuition assistance program.
On Sunday at 3 pm at Hanover's Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, Counterpoint Vocal Ensemble presents "Tintinnabulations," with a program of works by Bernstein, Stravinsky, and Eric Ewazen—a renowned composer whose 1983 composition setting Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Bells" to music left a lasting impression on Counterpoint artistic director Nathaniel Lew, who sang in the piece's premiere. The chorus will be joined by pianists Samantha Angstman and Alison Cerutti, and VSO percussionists D. Thomas Toner and Nicola Cannizzaro.
Also at 3 pm Sunday, Seven Stars Arts in Sharon presents the Boston-based Scottish fiddle and cello duo of siblings Elizabeth and Ben Anderson, who root their sound in traditional Scottish music—but then make it their own. Among other achievements, Elizabeth is the 2020 US National Scottish Fiddle Champion.
At 4 pm Sunday, Hop Film gathers together all of this year's Oscar-nominated live-action short films in one place: Spaulding Auditorium. Five films, of which the NYT says, "All show situations ranging from mildly uncomfortable to downright terrifying, yet the quality of the filmmaking takes center stage."
And at 5 pm Sunday, The Listening Room at East Coast Van Builds in Bradford is back with its Sunday Music Series, a running benefit for the Bradford Parks & Rec dog park. This week, they're featuring Geoff Goodhue, mandolinist and vocalist in Beg, Steal or Borrow and the Bryan Bowers Band, along with guitarist and songwriter Danville Dan for an evening of traditional old-timey and original string music.
Finally, this isn't until April 15, but the Hop is going to host Nikole Hannah-Jones, the creator of the 1619 Project, for a public talk and panel discussion about the project, the issues it raised, and its reception. The event has been moved to Spaulding after all the seats in Moore Theater were claimed soon after it was announced—no charge, but you'll need to reserve a seat.
The banjo- and guitar-playing singer/songwriter Molly Tuttle is on tour through these parts (if you define "these parts" broadly enough to include Portsmouth and S. Burlington) with her bluegrass band Golden Highway. Tuttle, who grew up in northern California, is based in Nashville now and she's been cutting a swath through the roots world pretty much ever since she went to her first bluegrass festival when she was 11. A few years back, she joined progressive bluegrass band The Infamous Stringdusters on eTown, the syndicated radio broadcast, and for their finale they, along with eTown's
Nick and Helen Forster,
went off in an intriguing direction:
It starts with a brief intro on how it came about.
(Thanks, JS!)
See you Monday for CoffeeBreak.
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.
The Enthusiasms Archives. A list of book recommendations by Daybreak's rotating crew of local booksellers and writers who want you to read. this. book. now!
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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