GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Cloudier, but still warm. High pressure's continued to build in, but there's a weak low off the coast to the south and an upper-level disturbance approaching from the west, which will bring high clouds and more filtered sunlight than we saw yesterday. Still, winds remain from the south and temps will be a smidge warmer—around 80. Low 60s tonight.What you see by the side of the road...
Equine social distancing, Joel Teenyanoff sends in from E. Thetford;
And a message on a barn siding along Quechee Main Street, Janice Fischel writes, that seems especially apt for "getting to the other side of the past year and a half."
"Did you know they call this skying?" Henry and his invisible self wander Lost Woods, bantering and studying the clouds. It's Lost Woods Week 30, and writer and illustrator DB Johnson chronicles Henry & Henry's doings: Scroll right to move on to the next panel or left to catch up on previous weeks. If you've missed a week (or more), check out the archive and synopsis behind the three little parallel lines at the top right.A Miracle Mile construction heads up... On Monday, construction will start on about 1000 feet of sidewalk running from the LISTEN plaza west to the Terri Dudley Bridge. This follows up on last summer's shorter sidewalk addition and crosswalk in front of the plaza. The project, which will last into September, will close the westbound bicycle lane and may affect traffic patterns.SPONSORED: Are "climate refugees" flocking to our region? Vermont's recent home sales data sure suggests so, with a whopping surge over 2020 of home buyers coming from out of state. While Covid drove many of them, our region’s four-season climate may keep them here to stay—especially as global warming ravages other parts of the country. To see where out-of-staters bought homes in VT, check out the maroon link. You'll also find a ranking of the most climate-resilient counties in America, with many Vermont and New Hampshire counties topping the list. Sponsored by Solaflect Energy. As pandemic ends, student anxiety and depression levels "remain elevated," Dartmouth app finds. An effort spearheaded by computer science prof Andrew Campbell has been using an app he began developing in 2013 to track mental-health data—including sleep patterns and social interactions—on members of the class of 2021. In a new paper, reports The Dartmouth's Caitlin McCarthy, Campbell and his fellow researchers found increased stress and depression at the very start of the pandemic, with peaks around the time of the murder of George Floyd and as Covid cases grew, and that it has persisted.“We’re fed up with crime in our community. We stand with Wayland.” That's what the red, blue, and white signs in yards around Chelsea say, as residents show their support for automotive store owner Wayland Childs. Last month, reports Anna Merriman in the Valley News, Childs went to a motel in Barre and held at gunpoint a man he believed had broken into his shop until police arrived. Childs was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon—bringing to a head Chelsea residents' frustrations about what they perceive as rising crime and a lack of adequate policing in the community.“It’s hard to think of just stopping because of an event at a statehouse." VPR has picked up the United Church of Thetford bell-ringing story first highlighted in Sidenote. Long after most congregations have stopped their pandemic-era ringing, the bell-ringers in Thetford are tolling on. VPR's Lexi Krupp joined them shortly after VT lifted its emergency restrictions, and the consensus was: They're not ready to stop, because people in the region are still struggling. “It doesn’t feel like we just ended this," says Jesse White."Instead of writing what I knew, I was going to write what I was willing to learn." That's Hanover novelist Jodi Picoult on Joni Cole's most recent Author, Can I Ask You? podcast. "I had grown up in a really happy home with parents who were still married and loved each other... I didn’t have anywhere near the amount of angst that I was supposed to have if I wanted to be a writer," Picoult tells her. It's a wide-ranging conversation about writing, Picoult's move into writing musical theater—her adaptation of The Book Thief opens next year—and how a bad first experience with Hollywood wound up giving her clout.Hiking close to home: the Bill Ballard Trail. This trail in Norwich, says the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, offers a wilderness experience for hikers less than 2 miles from I-91. The mostly level trail follows Charles Brown Brook for almost 4 miles, crossing numerous seasonal creeks—including the "Grand Canyon'' across the upper half of the trail. There are three trailheads and multiple connections to other trail networks. You'll find bike racks, picnic tables, and grills near the trailhead off Beaver Meadow Road near downtown Norwich. The trail is limited to foot travel; dogs are permitted on leash.Should restaurant employees who are vaccinated continue to wear masks for the time being? That's the "big question" in this week's news quiz from Hanover-based The News Quiz—the new name for local quizmeisters We The People. There are plenty of others, like what's the most expensive home listed for sale in WRJ? Meanwhile, in an interesting result from last week, about 60 percent of the roughly 100 Hanover residents who responded to the quiz preferred that the former golf course be allowed to grow wild with mowed paths, rather than go all wild or be completely mowed.It's baaaack... NH highway traffic, that is. Recent traffic levels, reports NHPR's Samantha Coetzee, are "inching closer to those from before the pandemic." There were 2.35 million vehicles on the state's roads the second week of June, compared to 2.56 million the same week in 2019. Truck traffic's back, and so are commuters—though, says state traffic engineer Bill Lambert, with people working from home "I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to that commuting traffic volume that was pre-pandemic.” NH legislature passes budget, policy changes. "In the end," writes Ethan DeWitt in New Hampshire Bulletin, "the threats of Republican rebellion fizzled." On mostly party-line votes, the House and Senate approved the state budget and its attendant policy bill, enacting, among other things, business tax cuts, an abortion ban at 24 weeks, the "divisive concepts" measure on teaching systemic racism and implicit bias in schools, voluntary paid family leave, school vouchers, new legislative authority to hem in a governor's emergency powers, and a new state department of energy. Gov. Sununu says he'll sign them.NH House tables "2nd Amendment sanctuary" bill. The measure, which would have blocked enforcement of gun control measures put in place by the Biden administration, had passed the Senate. In the House, though, it drew opposition not only from Democrats, but from gun-rights supporters on the Republican side who felt the final version made it too easy for state and local law enforcement to get involved in federal investigations where the subject was also suspected of violating New Hampshire law.VT Senate overrides Gov. Scott vetoes on non-citizen voting, sends rental registry bill to his desk. The vetoes involved bills allowing Winooski and Montpelier to change their charters to permit non-citizens to vote in local elections; the House voted to override on Wednesday, so the measures will now become law. Meantime, report VTDigger's Xander Landen and Kit Norton, the Senate also approved a measure requiring owners of rental properties to register with the state. Supporters argue it gives the state more understanding of the rental market; Scott says it "creates more bureaucracy."VT Human Rights Commission finds state troopers discriminated against Clemmons Family Farm director—then keeps it quiet. In March, reports Seven Days' Matthew Roy, the commission voted to support the findings of a three-year investigation arguing that state police discriminated against Lydia Clemmons on the basis of both her race and gender after she turned to them repeatedly for help with a tenant who'd vandalized the property—and who was later charged in a separate case involving the theft of thousands of dollars worth of silver coins in Hartford. The report became public only after Roy requested a copy. The VSP's response, including redacted documents, is here.VT Board of Libraries rejects move to rename Negro Brook. In a fascinating look at how good intentions can get walloped by human give and take, Seven Days' Derek Brouwer recounts the effort by two Burlington activists to change the name of the stream running through Townshend, VT, northwest of Putney. They wound up alienating not just some residents of Townshend, but, more importantly for their purposes, Jason Broughton, Vermont's first Black state librarian, and several members of the library board, which has to approve changes to geographic names in the state."A gargantuan tax-exempt piggy bank." Local journalist James Bandler is part of a three-reporter ProPublica team that yesterday published an exposé that, as soon as it broke, began drawing national (and congressional) attention: How ultra-wealthy Americans, including Peter Thiel, Warren Buffett, and various hedge fund managers, have used the humble Roth IRA to amass millions and even billions in tax-free fortunes. "Rather than a way to build a nest egg for old age," they write, "the accounts have morphed into supercharged investment vehicles subsidized by American taxpayers.""Low to the ground and choosing her moment, the hunter moves in on her prey.... Who just doesn't care." You know those nature documentaries with the hushed-voice narrator recounting the action as a predator moves in for the kill? So, what if the two animals in question are Olive and Mabel?
Last numbers for the week.
NH reported 30 new cases yesterday, bringing it to an official total of 99,392. Deaths remain at 1,369, while 14 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (down 1). The current active caseload is at 185 (up 5). The state reports 4 active cases in Grafton County (up 2), 13 in Sullivan (up 5), and 11 in Merrimack (no change). In town-by-town numbers reported by the state, Claremont has 9 active cases (up at least 5), while Lebanon, Canaan, Grafton, and Cornish have 1-4 each.
VT reported 7 new cases yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 24,385. There were no new deaths, which remain at 256, while 6 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (up 3). Windsor County saw 2 of those new cases and stands at 1,516 for the pandemic, with 16 over the previous 14 days, while Orange County remains at 822 cumulatively, with 2 over the previous two weeks.
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No link, but the VT Dept of Health today is setting up a pop-up vaccine clinic at the Co-op Service Station on Route 5 in Norwich from noon to 4 pm. They'll do the same next Thursday, June 30, at the Quechee Club from 9 am to 2 pm. "Convenient for local vaccine seekers and stragglers," a vaccinator writes.
Today and tomorrow from noon to 7 pm, the Red Kite Candy shop in Hanover is staging an ice-cream pop up with their own toppings—including, not surprisingly, caramel sauce and toffee. They'll have sundaes and à la carte items "for your own customizations," owner Elaine McCabe tells Artful blogger Susan Apel.
Today at 5, Greensboro VT's Highland Center for the Arts continues its outdoor, picnic-ready street-performing series with the Cate Great! Show. Catherine Flaherty, who juggles, hand-balances, and all-around performs as Cate Great, is a veteran circus artist and street performer (including the demanding and tough-to-break-in-to Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston). Hosted by Vermont Vaudeville creators (and street performers) Maya and Brent McCoy. No charge for tix, but it helps to order in advance.
This evening at 6, the Hop and the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts present NYC-based drummer Tomas Fujiwara and guitarist Mary Halvorson, along with the Coast Jazz Ensemble's Taylor Ho Bynum on the cornet, at Union Church in Claremont. They'll also be performing tomorrow in the Hop Courtyard in Hanover—the 3 pm performance is sold out, there are limited tix for the 5 pm show. No charge, but you'll need to reserve.
Also at 6, RockFire kicks off its 10th annual festival, a fundraiser for the Millstone Trails network in the quarried hills above Barre. There are molten metal and fire performances, dancers, a two-mile FireWalk heritage tour, Upper Valley artist Antoinette Jacobson's pyrophone, music on various stages—including, tonight, Hilde Ojibway (yes, who's also AVA's new interim director) and, tomorrow night, Bow Thayer. It's a serious extravaganza at Millstone Hill, in Websterville.
And at 6:30, BarnArts launches its seven-performance run of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Feast and Field (the original location) in Barnard. Directed by Linda Treash and with a large cast of kids, teens, and adults, it runs tonight and tomorrow, and then afternoons and evenings next weekend. "This is Shakespeare at his most lyrical, in his most perfectly structured play," they write.
Tomorrow at 8 pm, Here in the Valley finishes its season with a flourish at the Briggs Opera House, which you can see either live and in person or live-streamed. Hosts Jakob Breitbach and Jes Raymond will be joined by local and regional songwriters, poets, musicians, comics, and filmmakers, including Marc Shapiro and Billy Corbett, Laura Jean Binkley, Alex Kelley, and Raoul Biron.
Finally, on Sunday, the 2021 season of Sculpture Fest in Woodstock formally gets underway. This year's crop of new artists have been installing their work on Charlet and Peter Davenport's land, and will be on hand to talk about it starting at around 2 pm (weather and the vicissitudes of travel permitting). The land is open to wander every day from dawn to dusk.
On May 29, 1938, local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians threw what is widely considered the first outdoor jazz concert ever, on Randall's Island in NYC: The Carnival of Swing. It lasted almost six hours and brought together over 23,000 swing enthusiasts, both Black and white, to listen to performers like Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Vincent Lopez, Kay Kyser, Artie Shaw, and Ella Fitzgerald. The music (Count Basie) in this footage is dubbed in, but the real star here is the infectiously jubilant crowd. Have a great 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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