GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
If you liked yesterday afternoon, you'll like much of today. A cold start, but it'll be mostly sunny today, highs in the upper 50s, winds eventually coming from the southeast. We'll see clouds build in during the afternoon as a low pressure system approaches the region from the west, but air filtering in from the east should keep things dry. Into the upper 30s tonight.Occom Pond bookends...
First up, a photo across the pond from Paul Tuhus of the shuttered Outing Club house that sits at the pond's northern end. It's shuttered because Tuhus and fellow alums in the Class of 1969 raised $3 million to renovate it: "The DOC House grabbed my attention due to its seriously worsening condition," he writes. "It was being 'loved to death' and needed maintenance had been long deferred." Among other things, it's getting a new dining room that faces the pond instead of the driveway, energy-efficient lighting inside and out, and a new skate/ski rental facility.
Meanwhile, at the other end... A sea of daffodils. "They make everyone who passes smile!" writes Janice Fischel, who was out walking by yesterday, smiling.
When Auks fly. So what do you do when your mother's an Auk and your father's a Dodo? Auk tries to find out. It's Week 23 of Lost Woods, as Lebanon writer and illustrator D.B. Johnson checks in with his next set of strips. 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.Outside inquiry finds Dartmouth prof "not responsible" on hunger striker's allegations. You may recall Maha Hasan Alshawi's hunger strike last summer. It ended when the college agreed to hire investigators to look into her sexual harassment allegations against computer science prof Alberto Quattrini Li. Their report's out, writes Anna Merriman in the Valley News, and it finds that Li was out of the country when one of the incidents allegedly occurred, that Alshawi made a similar allegation against a professor in Cairo but did not disclose it to them, and that there's insufficient evidence to back up her claims of retaliation.SPONSORED: Want to go solar but don't have a good site for installing panels? Many houses in our region aren’t ideal for installing solar on the roof—due to shading, condition, or direction. Or maybe you rent a home, apartment, or condo and can’t install panels directly. Norwich Solar Technologies has the answer to your problem with a Community Solar Membership. Signing up is easy! Just hit the maroon link to join our next Vermont project! Sponsored by Norwich Solar Technologies.What should go in the Canoe Club space in Hanover? A restaurant! That, at least, is the opinion of two-thirds of the 136 people who responded to the question in last week's We The People news quiz for the Upper Valley. The quiz (not related to the We The People theater troupe) is the work of two Hanover residents, Bill Miles and Kevin McCurdy, who are building a platform for local civic engagement. You may have seen their posts the last two weeks on one of the listservs. Maroon link goes to a Daybreak Interview on what they're up to. If you want to weigh in on what kind of restaurant, here's this week's quiz."The goal was yarn and wool and sheep and fiber, [but] the reality is cold, hard metal, grease, heaviness, sharpness, things that could take your arm off." That's Amanda Kievet talking to Seven Days' Margaret Grayson about the milling equipment that she and Peggy Allen have been dealing with in WRJ as they get their new yarn-making venture, Junction Fiber Mill, up and running. Both are knitters, Allen runs a sheep farm, but milling is new to them. "I'll be honest with you," Allen says. "I'm 63. What the hell am I doing learning all this equipment?" The mill opened May 1.Hiking close to home: Big Rock Nature Area in Lyme. This week’s walking suggestion from the Upper Valley Trails Alliance is an easy, half-mile hike along the banks of Grant Brook, just south of Lyme Village. The brook itself, which falls from Smarts Mountain, features lots of aquatic life, including beaver, otter, and mink, and the preserve is part of the longer Grant Brook Trail. The main trailhead is located on the east side of Route 10, a quarter-mile south of Lyme School, and just above a bridge over the brook. Claremont schools plan vaccination clinic for kids 12 and up. Though the FDA hasn't yet officially approved the Pfizer vaccine for children 12 to 15, it's expected to soon. So the Claremont School District has scheduled a clinic for next Friday, with a deadline to sign up by May 11, reports WMUR's Kristen Carosa. Students will be accompanied by teachers who can identify them, since many won't have IDs. The district has a plan B if FDA approval doesn't arrive in time, but, says assistant superintendent Donna Magoon, “We are starting to see a very bright light at the end of the tunnel."“It’s not going to be like a light switch. It is going to be more like a dimmer switch." NH lifts its Covid restrictions on businesses at midnight. But, NHPR's Todd Bookman reports, they aren't exactly in a rush to throw caution to the winds. “We are just keeping everything the same,” says Jay McSharry, who owns 12 restaurants on the Seacoast. Portsmouth Music Hall will ease its seating restrictions over the course of the summer. One manufacturer is lifting its mask requirement, but that's all: “I had one person say to me that there are two places he felt safe: at work and at home,” says the CEO.Federal money starts arriving in NH next week, Sununu outlines plans. At a press conference yesterday, the AP reports, he said money will be going out to the hotel and lodging industry and live venues, and that the state plans to make infrastructure investments in four areas: clean drinking water, broadband expansion, mental health services, and state parks. He also said money recouped from small businesses that did not lose money because of Covid will go right back out the door to small businesses to reimburse them for Covid-related expenses.Think navigating the pandemic transition is hard? Try being a nursing home. That's the upshot of what NHPR's Allie Fam has been learning this week. She talked it over yesterday with colleague Peter Biello. Among other things, new guidance from the feds was different from the state's; on a public call yesterday, the state public health department told facilities to use the looser federal guidelines. Meanwhile, a lot of residents are vaccinated—but they're still a vulnerable population in lots of ways, and homes are trying to weigh safety against the high emotional and health costs of continued isolation."I’m not a first responder or a doctor, so, it’s something I could do.” That's Sarah Briggs, who at the time the pandemic hit was a fellow at Middlebury's art museum. And what she could do, along with a colleague, was launch Vermont Art Online—an effort to make it possible for museums and galleries, even tiny little galleries like Glover's Museum of Everyday Life (curated by an ICU nurse), to show their holdings online. On his Omni Reporter blog, Gareth Henderson profiles the effort. "What better way to expand the community’s borders and welcome more people into it?" he writes. "Shoutout to the absolute warrior king who brought his own quart of syrup to IHOP." Vermont Reddit post. Pretty much says it all, doesn't it?Yeah, yeah, there may be rain this weekend. And after a couple of days of sunshine, it's pretty tempting to whine, right? So let's just put things in perspective. A few years back, mountaineer Peter Maier was on a hotel terrace overlooking Lake Milstatt, in Austria, when what's known as a "wet microburst"—think of it as a burst of wind-driven water cascading out of a thunderstorm—moved across the lake. He managed to film it, calling it "Tsunami from Heaven." That sounds about right.What, more perspective? Okay. This one's more recent—last Sunday, in fact, when a tornado moved in south of Yazoo City, MS. Brian Emfinger, a storm chaser and aerial videographer (he's won several Emmys for his news work), sent his drone up to capture the approaching funnel, which it did. Until, as Emfinger tweeted, "I had to make a quick getaway and drone didn’t make it as it got caught in the inflow and I lost connection as tornado was cutting me off from the drone." This is actually two different takes: first a close up, then a longer one as the tornado approaches from far away.
Last numbers for the week.
Dartmouth has 3 active cases among students, with 3 among faculty/staff (down 1 for both). There are 9 students and 7 faculty/staff in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 5 students and 14 faculty/staff are in isolation awaiting results or because they tested positive.
NH reported 269 new cases yesterday for a cumulative total of 96,134. There were 3 new deaths, which now number 1,311, while 88 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (up 3). The current active caseload stands at 1,849 (up 35). The state reports 121 active cases in Grafton County (up 5), 63 in Sullivan (up 1), and 156 in Merrimack (up 3). In town-by-town numbers, the state says Claremont has 26 active cases (up 1), Lebanon has 19 (no change), Hanover has 13 (no change), Charlestown has 11 (up 2), Newport has 10 (up 1), and Haverhill has 7 (down 2). Warren, Wentworth, Rumney, Lyme, Canaan, Orange, Enfield, Plainfield, Grantham, Springfield, Sunapee, New London, and Unity have 1-4 each. Newbury is off the list.
VT reported 44 new new cases yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 23,296. There was 1 new death, bringing the total to 249, while 19 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (up 4). Windsor County gained 5 new cases and stands at 1,379 for the pandemic, with 84 over the past 14 days, while Orange County added 6 cases and stands at 767 cumulatively, with 64 cases in the past 14 days.
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Today at 11 am (and again May 20 at 6:30 pm) a new effort to help refugees and asylum seekers in the Upper Valley is holding a virtual open house for people interested in becoming a volunteer. The group, SHARe (for Supporting and Helping Asylees and Refugees) grew out of earlier efforts by the United Valley Interfaith Project’s Immigrant Support Network and the Upper Valley Refugee Working Group. They're looking for people to host individuals and families or connect them with services, as well as for help with fundraising, communications, and translation. For more background, here's Liz Sauchelli's Valley News profile.
First Fridays in WRJ return! Starting at 5 pm, White River Indie Films kicks off Light River Junction with music, buskers, food, and, above all, film—projected on buildings and in spaces around town. Quinn Tomashow leads a "camera-less filmmaking" workshop, local musicians—including Rob Oxford and Jakob Breitbach—will be out and about, you'll find films in shop windows and at the Coolidge parking lot with live accompaniment, at 8 pm there'll be a recorded performance of Here in the Valley, at 9 a "projection mapping performance" on the Bell Building by Lana Real. Times, places, and details at the link.
At 6 pm, the Green Mountain Club hosts a "Long Trail End-to-Ender's Panel." It's a chance to learn about hiking the trail from people who've done it and who can answer your questions about everything from how to find a good lightweight tent to how to plan for food along the way. Free, but there's a suggested $8 donation.
Starting today and running through May 28, a bi-state collaboration—including New England College, the Abenaki Trails Project, the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, and the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum—mount the show, "Abenaki People Emerging from the Ashes" at the Two Villages Art Society in Contoocook, NH. It features works by a large collection of Abenaki and non-native artists in a wide range of media. Show and sale opens today, and there's an opening reception tomorrow at 11 am.
Sunday starting at 10, it's Draft Animal Day at Billings Farm. Draft horse harnessing demo, plowing with horses, ox-hoof trimming and shoeing, a chance to try your hand at plowing in the fields, and at 4 pm, a parade of ox teams. A full day of hanging out with large working animals, plus a reading of Huck’s Way Home, samples of shoofly pie and switchel, and Trail Break's taco truck will be on hand from 11-4.
Also on Sunday, the Stowe Jewish Film Festival starts its three-week run, with one film available online each Sunday-Tuesday. It starts this Sunday with Mekonen, about an Ethiopian-Israeli soldier who returns to Ethiopia. Films are free to watch, but you'll need to register.
And all this month, it's the May slate for Hop Films on Demand, including a Peruvian drama about a woman whose baby is stolen from her, a French drama about a teenage ski prodigy, the Vertical Life Film Tour—a collection of shorts about climbing—and more. Free to Hop members, $8 for the public.
You know that bust-loose feeling you get on Fridays? Even classical musicians can channel it. This is L'Arpeggiata, a European early-music ensemble that focuses on Italian, French, and English music from the 17th century, often pairs up with jazz musicians, and is led by Austrian theorbist and harpist Christina Pluhar.
, with male alto Vincenzo Capezzuto, mezzo Giuseppina Bridelli, soprano Nuria Rial, and renowned counter-tenor Jakub Józef Orliński—that's him in red, throwing down break-dancing power moves, "a skill singular among opera singers," as
The New Yorker
once put it.
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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