Daybreak Monday 1/11/21

WELCOME TO THE WEEK, UPPER VALLEY!

"Capping inversion." That's what's sitting above us, the weather service says, and it's trapping moisture and keeping the skies cloudier than they might otherwise be, given all this high pressure and fair weather we've been having. Today, mostly but not entirely cloudy, temps getting up to about 30 this afternoon, down into the low 20s tonight. Not much wind to speak of.Turns out, nature kinda likes a circle. Last week it was pancake ice. Now two Daybreak readers check in with more:

Police chiefs in Hartford, Windsor, Plainfield all resign. Citing "family and career," Hartford Police Chief Phil Kasten submitted his resignation Thursday, reports the Valley News's Anna Merriman. During his nearly six years in the post, he "made a 'relentless effort' to change the culture of policing in Hartford by creating a better connection with citizens and businesses," union reps tell her. Kasten joins Plainfield chief Paul Roberts, who retired last Wednesday, "citing his recent difficulty with a mandatory physical agility test," and Windsor's Bill Sampson, who's taking up the chief's position in Marshfield, MA. University Press of New England backlist passes into Brandeis's hands. In a deal Jan. 1, Dartmouth handed over the storied academic imprint's book list (except for Dartmouth Press titles). UPNE, founded as a consortium in 1970, shut down in 2018. Since then, former production coordinator Doug Tifft of Fairlee and production editor Ann Brash of Claremont have kept design, editing, and production management for the university presses at Brandeis and Wesleyan in the region, working with former UPNE staff throughout the Upper Valley. They'll continue to do so as Brandeis brings old titles back into print."A Brigadoon of telecom." That's how the VN's John Lippman describes Lyme, with its 826 households, lack of cable, funky DSL, and, until recently, lack of alternatives. Now, however, LymeFiber is 180 households into its plans to connect as many people in town as possible. Funded by locals who got tired of waiting for bigger companies to bring high-speed internet to town and banded together to make it possible, and built and operated by ValleyNet (which runs EC Fiber on the VT side), it's aiming to build out the network over 63 miles in town by spring. SPONSORED: Explore the magic and mystery of Belly Dance. Free online intro classes with Gina Capossela, Tuesday, January 12 - Saturday, January 16. All shapes, sizes, ages (12+) and ability levels welcome and encouraged. Learn an entire dance and become a belly dancer in just one hour! Over the past 20 years, Gina has taught thousands of Upper Valley women to belly dance and she can teach you, too. Hit the maroon link for details, or email [email protected]. Sponsored by Belly Dance with Gina.Ssshhh.... It's just a short mention, but Outside Mag puts Dorchester's Green Woodlands—known to everyone locally as just plain Green's—among the seven "best nordic trails in the US," along with far better known spots like Tahoe and Washington's Methow Valley. "There’s no fee to ski here—all that’s asked of you is a positive attitude on the trail," writes Megan Michelson, noting the system was designed by Thetford's John Morton. Northern Stage plows ahead with New Works Now. The company's annual festival of new plays may have been forced online by the pandemic, but that's given them a chance "to put more of our focus on commissioning new works from artists we love," says producer Jess Chayes. Readings start Saturday with Drive, Deborah Yarchun's 2020 Neukom Institute award winner; continues with Enough, a new play by Celeste Jennings, of Citrus fame; and ends with Shook, Northern Stage's first commissioned musical, about high school actors readying for a national Shakespeare competition. They'll all be streamed live.  Grafton County man among those charged in US Capitol mayhem.  Thomas Gallagher, of Bridgewater, NH, was charged with knowingly entering a restricted building or disorderly conduct with intent to impede government business, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, reports the VN's John Gregg. He was among a group “shouting and cursing” at Capitol Police near the door to the House Atrium, and was arrested at the time.In case you're wondering why flags on NH state properties are at half-staff... Gov. Chris Sununu ordered them lowered yesterday in honor of US Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who died last Thursday of injuries sustained during the events. Sununu's proclamation also includes officer Howard Liebengood, who died on Saturday, "and all Capitol Police Officers."State, Montpelier police prep for next week. With calls on social media for armed protests next Sunday, Jan. 17, and the following Wednesday, Inauguration Day, Montpelier police say they're on alert. “We’re looking at national trends. We’re looking for specific threats that may be here—we just want to make sure that we’re prepared,” Police Chief Brian Peete tells VPR. Says state Public Safety Director Michael Schirling, "With the heightened sensitivity right now, to the extent there are demonstrations, you’re going to see a much different, more vivid and visible posture than is typical.”Isolation to prevent the spread of Covid causing health declines, especially among older people and those with disabilities. VTDigger's Katie Jickling reports that as the pandemic wears on, people who have been isolated to protect them from the virus are suffering—both physically and emotionally—from lack of social contact, a paucity of visitors who might notice emerging health problems, and missing medical care by doctors who want to minimize exposure to the virus. Even worse, writes Jickling, "The people suffering the most may be the ones we don’t know about and aren’t tracking."Manna from the heavens. That, writes journalist and historian Mark Bushnell, is how Jericho's "Snowflake" Bentley saw the stuff that gave him his nickname. A farm boy with the soul of an artist and the mind of a scientist, Bushnell writes, he was obsessed with snow crystals, and somehow—“You can imagine, or perhaps you cannot, unless you know what the average farmer is like, how my father hated to spend all that money on what seemed to him a boy’s ridiculous whim," he later said—convinced his parents to get him a camera. The rest, as pretty much every schoolchild in VT knows, is 5,000 photos-worth of history.From Vermont to Alaska by EV during a pandemic? 7,600 miles, 20 states, two provinces, and a territory... Last summer, Tim Treuer had to get his Chevy Bolt from Burlington back to Anchorage. If you're on a long electric vehicle road trip in the US, he writes, "you spend a concerning amount of time at Walmarts." Also, you're "likely to end up sheepishly loitering at car dealerships, which often avail their chargers to the public for free use." Though he did get to check out the new Harley all-electric bike, 0-60 in 3 seconds, which felt "like astronaut training." Lots more adventures, all entertaining.So you're a bear cub, just minding your own business as you wander a golf course... and then you notice the flag marking a hole. What do you do? This actually happened a few years ago at Fairmont Hot Springs in British Columbia, but really, it's timeless... and sooo needed right now.

Time to catch up...

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Also uncategorizable: the Spooky Men’s Chorale, a group based in Australia with a fantastically whimsical approach to their work. A couple of weeks ago, they decided to channel what we're all feeling by doing the choral version of the Beach Boys' "In My Room."And yeah, that's a wombat the guy's feeding about a minute in... See you tomorrow.

Want to catch up on Daybreak music? Check out the Spotify playlist generously maintained by Sarah and Nelson Rooker!

Written and published by Rob Gurwitt         Banner by Tom Haushalter    Poetry editor: Michael Lipson  About Rob                                                    About Tom                             About Michael

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