GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Partly sunny, pleasant. Once the clouds and fog clear in a little bit, we'll be getting into the mid 70s under a mix of sun and clouds, with winds from the southeast. Cloudier overnight, chance of showers, low around 50.Happy, hunting weasel. On Erin Donahue's E. Thetford trail cam. Ted Levin writes: "Long-tailed weasels are not bloodthirsty... they're hungry, relentless predators that eat, on average, 40 percent of their body weight each day, enough to stoke a metabolic rate that makes gray squirrels look like couch potatoes. A flattish head, short limbs, and a long, supple body allow entry into burrows, stone walls, and anywhere mice can squeeze. With almost no body fat and a long torso that sheds heat, weasels eat, eat, eat ... think hummingbirds with teeth. In the age of tick-borne disease, weasels are our ally."Tunbridge land conflict gathers speed. The long-running face-off between landowners John Echeverria and Carin Pratt and town officials took a turn this week when the town's selectboard voted for the first time to begin cutting trees on public trails that cross the 325-acre Dodge Farm, which Echeverria and Pratt own. The pair have long argued the town has no right to conduct maintenance on the trails—which they've opened for foot traffic and horses, but not bikes or motorized vehicles. The selectboard's vote is virtually certain to draw a court challenge, Darren Marcy writes in the Herald. He details the state of play.In Woodstock, Maplefields owner tries to sink doughnut café across the road. You may remember that April and Ben Pauly, creators of the Farmer and the Bell doughnut popup, hope to open a restaurant and café at the east end of town, just where Route 4 makes its 90-degree turn. Their bid is before the village Development Review Board—where, Tom Ayres writes in the VT Standard, R.L. Vallee Inc., owners of the Maplefields chain, contend the café would violate a covenant preventing the lot's use for a "convenience store" and would create parking and safety hazards. There's more; Ayres explains.Royalton Hill Bridge likely to remain closed until next year. That's the upshot of a meeting with engineers and state officials this week, town administrator Victoria Paquin writes in an update on the town website; the bridge was deemed unsafe last month. Even with $500K-$750K in repairs, the bridge "would only allow for passenger vehicles (cars and small trucks)," and construction wouldn't begin until next year. The town is looking into a temporary bridge—but that likely wouldn't be until next year, either. Feast and Field fans (it starts May 30), start learning those back roads.SPONSORED: Upper Valley Baroque presents Bach's St. John Passion this weekend. Tickets still available. Upper Valley Baroque will celebrate the 300th anniversary of J.S. Bach's St. John Passion, which premiered in Leipzig, Germany in 1724. UVB's professional choir and orchestra, on period instruments, will bring this masterwork to life in two upcoming performances: Saturday, May 18 at 7 pm at the Lebanon Opera House; and Sunday, May 19 at 3 pm at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. Tickets at the burgundy link or by calling 203-240-1164. Sponsored by UV Baroque.The Romaine Tenney story, animated. You probably know about Tenney, the Ascutney farmer who, ordered in 1964 to leave his farm to make way for I-91, instead put his dogs out, barricaded himself in the farmhouse, and set it on fire. Now Travis Van Alstyne, who grew up in nearby Chester, has a new animated short out, Love of the Land, telling the story. It took him four years to make, with Waterbury Center filmmaker and farmer George Woodard narrating it as Tenney: "I'm not accepting any help," he says. "This is my home." Here's the film's backstory on VT Public; here's Howard Mansfield's 2013 piece on Tenney.SPONSORED: Race and identity at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. Are you interested in understanding how your personal history fits within the unfolding work on race and identity that’s going on all over the world? Would you like to gather with others to talk about it? If so, please join us at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, 40 College Street, Hanover, this Saturday, May 18 at 2 PM for a listening session led by national peace and justice leaders addressing how to build flourishing communities for all. Questions? Call 603-748-1431. Sponsored by CCDC.Birds of New Hampshire. Not quite all of them, but NH Audubon is working on it. Their new online guide is filled with a couple hundred species, a full write-up on each, conservation status, a chart of population trends, and a range map within the state. You can get lost in there: chimney swifts are declining, possibly because chimneys "are becoming less common and less suitable"; northern shrikes can take down pigeons five times their size. “This is the first time that N.H.-specific information on most of the species of birds that occur in N.H. is accessible in one place,” Audubon's Pamela Hunt tells Amanda Gokee.Hiking Close to Home: Mount Willard, Carroll, NH. This week, UVTA recommends this moderate hike, at least by White Mountain standards. It's about 3.25 miles out-and-back, gaining about 900 feet in elevation. Although the peak is under 2,500 feet, it offers incredible views of the surrounding mountains. It's a good idea to go early in the season and the day to try to avoid the peak summer crowds. Be prepared for some rocky and potentially muddy and buggy sections—depending on your timing and weather. Park at the Crawford Notch Train Depot: The trail crosses the tracks from there.Been paying attention to Daybreak? Because Daybreak's Upper Valley News Quiz has some questions for you. Like, can you pick out the eatery that's not coming to the 12A strip? And what item stolen long ago from WRJ is making a triumphal return (to Vermont, at least)? Those and other questions at the link.But wait! How closely were you following VT and NH?
Because Seven Days wants to know if you know where the now-paused USPS consolidation plan would move sorting operations from WRJ and Essex Junction.
And NHPR's got a whole set of questionsabout doings around the Granite State—like, what major astrological event appeared in the skies over New Hampshire last week?
The measure, reports the AP's Holly Ramer, would "require schools to designate all teams as either girls, boys or coed, with eligibility determined based on students’ birth certificates." It passed the Senate 13-10 on a party-line vote yesterday after clearing the House in March. Proponents argued it was a matter of safety and fairness; opponents that the number of transgender girl athletes in the state is tiny. As of yesterday, at least, Gov. Chris Sununu hadn't indicated whether or not he'll sign it.
That measure, which had also passed the House, would have instituted a process similar to Vermont's, allowing "individuals over 18 with a prognosis of six months or less to end their lives through self-administered medication," writes the
Concord Monitor
's Sruthi Gopalakrishnan. Instead, the Senate voted 17-7 to send it off for "interim study". Opponents cited ethical concerns and "warned that it could pave the way for future legislation lacking sufficient safeguards," Gopalakrishnan reports.
Randolph schools' electrical failure highlights VT schools' infrastructure issues. An underground electrical switch connected to a generator failed Tuesday afternoon, reports VTDigger's Ethan Weinstein, cutting power to the high school and forcing all of the district's schools to close Wednesday. Most reopened yesterday, but not the high school. Meanwhile a water main break flooded Orleans Elementary, and Glover Elementary had to seal a classroom because of mold. The state hasn't funded infrastructure for years, and school districts trying to raise money have struggled to pass bonds, Weinstein writes.Guess what got around the new truck barriers at Smugglers Notch! Looks like it might be an interesting summer on the infamous Notch Road after all. Late yesterday morning, reports WPTZ's Tyler Boronski, a tractor trailer managed to skirt the "chicane" installed on the Cambridge side of the twisty road through the mountains by using the left-hand lane. Instead of getting stuck, however, the driver eventually realized his mistake and used a parking area to turn around. "Our engineering team is considering a variety of options to address the use of the left-hand lane," a VTrans official says.Yours for just $6.6 mil: a small California town. Campo is an unincorporated patch of land about an hour's drive east of San Diego, with upwards of 100 residents and 28 buildings, many of them WWII-era Army barracks turned into homes and apartments. Owned since 2000 by Las Vegas real estate investor John Ray—“Why do I buy anything?" he told the Orange County Register last week. "I don’t know. To make a profit, I guess"—it's actually been for sale off and on since 2019; Ray recently jacked up the price. One thing to know if you're interested: average July temp is 94 degrees.
“If you have the choice, you want to fall into a supermassive black hole.” The folks at NASA are making excellent use of their supercomputer by taking us on an impossible voyage, straight into the center—singularity—of a black hole. Ten terabytes of data (equivalent to half of the text in the Library of Congress) went into the visualization, allowing us to pose as a camera heading into a black hole millions of times the mass of the Sun. We rush toward the singularity, where “the laws of physics as we know them cease to operate." Video includes explanation. You'll want your biggest screen. Background here.
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Just in time for spring, two additions to the Daybreak swag store. We may be the middle of nowhere to everyone else in VT and NH, but
we
know what's good! Strong Rabbit's Morgan Brophy has come up with the perfect design for "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Plus you'll find the Daybreak jigsaw puzzle (in case you're hankering for the affordable variety), as well as sweatshirts, t-shirts, a fleece hoodie, and, as always, the fits-every-hand-perfectly Daybreak mug. Check it all out at the link!
Anyone getting around Leb by bike, foot, bus, or carpool is welcome at Colburn Park from 7 am to 8:30 am for refreshments, bike checks by Omer & Bob’s, and information. Hartford's doing something similar at Town Hall, same hours. And Hanover's got a temporary divided bike lane on Lebanon Street north of Greensboro Road for the whole day.
(son of electronic music pioneer Jon Appleton); no cover. Then, at 9 pm, the Burlington-based
jamtronic space rock quartet The Edd takes the stage with their own brand of electronic-infused rock.
Classicopia's weekend of "Fabulous Females" concerts kicks off this evening at 7:30. Elizabeth and Emmanuel Borowsky, Dan Weiser, and mezzo-soprano Laura Compton will perform "truly passionate pieces that deserve to be a regular part of the chamber music repertoire." Tonight at the WRJ home of Andrew Bauman, tomorrow at 7:30 at Windsor's Old South Church, Sunday at 2 at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon.
Saturday
Starting with recitals at 9 am tomorrow at Upper Valley Music Center and the First Congregational Church of Lebanon, then moving outdoors to Colburn Park and outside LOH at 10 am with a busking tent, arts and crafts, and an instrument petting zoo. Recitals, jams, dancing last all day in and around Colburn Park.
Rubin, the bestselling author of Dragons Love Tacos and other picture books, will be at the Norwich Bookstore with cartoonist and illustrator Liniers to talk about their new collaboration focused on everyone's favorite item of furniture and its hidden history.
The Orford Conservation Commission launches a monthly series of hikes along with the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, starting at 10 am tomorrow at the Sunday Mountain trailhead on Dame Hill Road (just off 25A in Orford). It's four miles round trip, with 1,000 feet of elevation gain. Bring water, snacks, and appropriate footwear.
If you happen to be within striking distance of Concord tomorrow between 10 am and 4 pm,
Montpelier-based former election lawyer Eve Jacobs-Carnahan is leading volunteers in the penultimate event in her Knit Democracy Together series of conversations and knitting by assembling
knit pieces created by NH students into a model of the NH State House. Sign up for a time slot at the link. At the
Elegant Ewe Yarn Shop, 75 S. Main St.
Guided tours in Mandarin and Spanish, an
informal group of Bangla (Bengali) speakers, self-guided prompt cards that can be used for conversation between people or for an individual experience, and a button-making machine
so you can make pins
showcasing which language(s) you speak
—and find others who do, too.
Tomorrow starting at 1 pm, it's the final talk in the Thetford Historical Society's series on family history, with Vermont Folklife's Mary Wesley answering questions and teaching participants how to gather those wonderful/interesting/sometimes hard stories we all carry. At Thetford Hill's Latham Library. Limited space, you'll need to register at the link.
Dartmouth's Dickey Center hosts three economists—Chad Bown from the Peterson Institute; Tuck prof and recent State Department chief economist Emily Blanchard; and the IMF's Michele Ruta—to talk about geopolitical tension and its impact on the world economy. Tomorrow at 4:30 pm in Haldeman 41.
Next Stage Arts kicks off its Bandwagon Summer series at 6 pm with Persian composer, singer, violinist, and Kamancheh player Rastegari, a regular on the world music festival stage; and the Brooklyn-based Habbina Habbina, which plays what Next Stage describes as Mediterranean surf music. Outdoors at the Putney Inn.
The much-lauded ensemble from all over the country gathers under the direction of Filippo Ciabatti at 7 pm tomorrow to perform JS Bach's
St. John Passion
. They'll also be performing Sunday at 3 pm at the Chandler Music Hall in Randolph.
The two-man show was created by and features Alex Joseph Grayson (you might have seen him here in
Choir Boy
, or on Broadway in
Parade
) telling stories about his journey on stage and performing hits from Luther Vandross, Soundgarden, Michael Bolton, and others. Tomorrow at 7 pm (still some seats left, but not many) and Sunday same time.
The group formerly known as the Thetford Chamber Singers set up at the United Church of Strafford at 7 pm tomorrow and at the First Congregational Church of Thetford Sunday at 7 pm, under the direction of Kevin Quigley, with songs in Czech, English, Estonian, and German exploring both sides of their theme.
At 7:30 tomorrow, the Cambridge MA-based collective takes the Alumni Hall stage to celebrate two decades on the road and making albums (the latest came out in February), channeling its raucous rock/Americana roots with an array of top-tier regulars and guests.
The coffeehouse at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley in Norwich welcomes in the trio of Rose Baldino, Brian Buchanan, and Caroline Browning, who also happen to be three-fifths of the current lineup of Toronto-based Celtic rock stars Enter the Haggis. Lush harmonies, Celtic, neoclassical, indie folk, and other influences. Check 'em out in the music section below.
Sunday
It'll run from 12:30 to 3:30 pm each Sunday until mid-September at 27 Vershire Center Road. Teas, plant starts, baked goods, medicinal herbs, crafts, and more. And the markets are coming fast and furious: Lebanon began this week, Canaan starts Sunday, Newport and Chelsea next Friday.
.
Fishere, a former Egyptian diplomat, is a visiting lecturer in Dartmouth's Middle East Studies Department. Sunday at 7 pm, he'll be kicking off a new series at the Upper Valley Jewish Community, speaking in-person at Dartmouth's Roth Center as well as online via Zoom about the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its ongoing dynamics, and the mayhem it creates, especially now.
The teams will have been working around the clock since Friday evening to write, direct, and produce their short films, or as JAM puts it, "Beleaguered Filmmakers vs. The Very Concept of Time Itself." At 7 pm Sunday comes the payoff: the screenings, the awards, the glitter and hoopla!
And as promised...
Here's House of Hamill (appearing tomorrow night at Roots & Wings coffeehouse), with two recent pieces: the classic doomed-love folk ballad "Silver Dagger",
, rather than the better known Joan Baez "Don't sing love songs" version; and
See you Monday for Coffeebreak. Have a fine weekend out there!
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, writers, and librarians who think you should 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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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
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