Daybreak Friday 4/16/21

GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

Looks different out there... Though goodness knows we need it. A low pressure system off the coast is in charge today, with a mix of rain and snow below 1500 feet for much of the day and heavy, wet snow above it—though even valley locations will see some accumulation. If you happen to be headed into the mountains or taking any gap roads, the going may be tough. Temps only into the mid- or upper 30s today. Precipitation will taper off tonight, though there may be some remnants around tomorrow.So let's just remember that it's actually spring.

Uh oh! A highway threatens Lost Woods. It's Week 20, Milo Flat has plans, and Henry and Lydia aren't quite sure what to do. As he does every Friday, Lebanon author and illustrator D.B. Johnson brings his comic strip to this spot, a week's worth at a time. Scroll right to see what happens next or left to catch up on previous weeks. And if you've missed a week (or more), check out the archive and synopsis behind the three little parallel lines at the top right.Cornish, Tunbridge, N. Haverhill fairs plan to return this summer and fall. “Listening to the governor (VT's Phil Scott) gave us courage to do it, and he says we’re going to be open by the first part of July,” Tunbridge World’s Fair president Alan Howe tells the Valley News's Liz Sauchelli. It's now scheduled for Sept. 16-19. Likewise, the Cornish Fair's Steve Taylor, of Meriden, says that when Gov. Chris Sununu gave the go-ahead for July 4 parades, "we took it as a signal that New Hampshire was going to be opening up." The Cornish Fair has set Aug. 20-22 for its dates. N. Haverhill, though, will come first: July 28-Aug. 1.SPONSORED: Learn why every adult should have a Basic Will and how to create one for less than $40. Register for this free webinar on Thursday, April 22 at noon to learn everything you need to know about why you should have a Basic Will and what information you'll need to create one. Hosted by Everything in Order, the Upper Valley company that helps people create essential legal documents easily and inexpensively—wherever you live in the US. Register now at the maroon link. Space is limited. Sponsored by Everything in Order.Wheeling or walking close to home: the Thundering Falls Universal Accessible Trail. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance checks in with a wheelchair-accessible trail with a waterfall reward. Starting at the River Road trailhead in Killington, VT, an impressive 900-foot boardwalk leads to the state's sixth-tallest waterfall. Other great, though not fully accessible, options are nearby, since the boardwalk is part of the AT and near the split with the Long Trail. There are two parking areas, with the wheelchair-accessible lot at River Road. “It’s not like you ask your kid if they have suicidal ideation while they’re eating their waffles.” Eleni and Pete Howe live in Tunbridge. Their daughter Sarah and her twin sister Sophie are standouts on Hartford High sports teams. For the last few years, Sarah has been struggling with depression and anxiety, marked by self-cutting, a suicide attempt, and three stays in a psychiatric hospital within a month. On his Octopus Athletics blog, Tris Wykes talks at length with the Howes about the family's experiences, and to Sarah and Sophie about what each is going through as the twins strive together to help Sarah heal. (In crisis? Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text 741741.)Dartmouth study finds global food security tied to income, not agriculture. The study was led by engineering PhD candidate Andrew Allee, with engineering profs Lee Lynd and Vikrant Vaze. Crunching the data from 65 countries, they found that "the amount of money that households were actually spending on goods and services was by far the most important determinant of food security," Allee says. The implication, Lynd adds, is clear: "If the real reason people are food insecure is that they're poor, the best thing you may be able to do for them is to give them a job."Sununu lets statewide mask mandate lapse. The original mandate expires today, and at a press conference yesterday, NH's governor said he wouldn't renew it—though businesses, towns, and cities are free to impose or retain their own. “We are really on the top in terms of the speed of vaccine,” he said, reports NHPR's Alli Fam. “And, really, what has happened over the past month has been an absolute game changer.” In addition, on May 7 the state will lift all restrictions on businesses such as capacity limits and cleaning requirements. "My students...work in grocery stores and retail, and they haven’t been able to get vaccinated. This puts them in harm’s way unnecessarily." As NH and VT lift restrictions, Anne Sosin, who teaches at Dartmouth and Colby-Sawyer, says it's too soon. NH's daily case rates are higher than when its mask mandate went into effect; VT's have been the highest of the pandemic. While older, vaccinated people may be okay, schoolkids and young adults in public-facing jobs are at increasing risk, she says, though she expects numbers in VT to start dropping; NH is less predictable. Full Daybreak interview at the link.Suspicious about your internet provider's speed promises? So's the FCC. They don't actually come out and say it, writes David Brooks on his Granite Geek blog, but the agency has a new app that let's you test the speed of your home's internet connection. These are live issues in both VT and NH, of course, as the two states ponder the best approaches for broadband expansion. Among other things, the FCC writes, the app will be used "in the future for consumers to challenge provider-submitted maps..." Here's the FCC's explanation of what it's up to.Eversource becomes first utility in Northeast to join effort for national EV fast-charger network. The NH utility, the largest in the state, has signed up with a group formed last month by utilities in the Southeast, Gulf Coast and Midwest, reports NHPR's Annie Ropeik. Their goal is to make it easy for EV drivers to drive long distances without worrying about where they'll get a charge. Eversource clean energy strategy manager Kevin Boughan tells Ropeik he thinks the network will be built out in three years.Thinking about hitting the peaks? The Green Mountain Club really doesn't want you to right now. "We're asking folks to maybe look at some different springtime activities for the next five, six weeks during mud season, and really let the trails dry out," the GMC's Mike DeBonis tells VPR's Henry Epp. The underlying soil is saturated, DeBonis says, and when it gets stepped on and compacted, it stays that way, making it more susceptible to erosion. The GMC has posted a set of suggestions for lower-elevation trails and other things to do outdoors while the trails dry out."It's very, very tense on campus right now." Students at VT colleges—or, at least, at UVM and St. Michael's—are rebelling against tight restrictions that they believe treat them unfairly. VPR's Epp talks to the executive editor of the St. Mike's college paper and a reporter for UVM's Vermont Cynic about what's going on. "Even though people are wearing masks and they're social distancing, there are some restrictions that people just really don't want to follow, especially ever since the [health department] allowed for multi-household gatherings [but] the college did not adopt that policy," says one.New bottle bill moves forward in VT. The measure would add bottled water, juices, sports drinks, wine, and certain craft alcohols to the state's 1973 law on redeemable beverage containers. It's drawn fierce opposition from the state's businesses and waste-disposal groups. But yesterday, the House voted 99-46 to move it forward; it will get a second vote today, then head to the Senate, reports VTDigger's James Finn. Ravens know an easy mark when they see one. And apparently, their targets tend to frequent the Costco on Dimond Boulevard in Anchorage, Alaska. Ravens there, reports Samantha Davenport in the Anchorage Daily News, have been brazenly grabbing steaks, short ribs, and other choice meat cuts when shoppers wheeling their groceries out to the parking lot aren't paying attention. “Ravens do very well in this city, but they much prefer—I would guess if I was thinking like a raven—a package of short ribs from Costco to half of a hamburger bun from McDonald’s,” says wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott.Watch the last four decades go by on Earth. Okay, sorry, time-sink. But hey, it's the weekend, almost. Google Earth has created a new time-lapse feature that lets you zero in on any point on the planet and watch what's happened over the last 37 years. The feature uses satellite images—24 million of them—to make visual cities' sprawl, glaciers melting, lakes and seas drying up, forests receding, rivers shifting course. There are preset options over on the left, or you can just zoom to wherever. Around here? Not much has changed.

Last numbers for the week.

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Cissie Redgwick is the electro-swing alter-ego of Rosie Doonan, a British singer and musician who's toured with Peter Gabriel and led her own band (Rose & the Howling North). But she grew up, she says, on the music of the Andrews Sisters, which her grandmother (the original Cissie Redgwick) played her...

isn't such a long step.

Have a fine weekend. See you Monday.

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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