WELCOME TO THE WEEK, UPPER VALLEY!
More clouds than sun, mild. There's a wimpy cold front moving through west to east today, bringing a slight chance of rain in the afternoon and a chance tonight. Mostly, though, it'll be partly to mostly cloudy, temps rising toward 60, light breezes from the south. Down into the higher 40s tonight. And the colors were popping. Etna photographer Jim Block was out along the new Ottauquechee River Trail in Woodstock's East End Park the other day. He was on the hunt for some rare birds that were attracting birders from around the region, but unlike them he spent time exploring the trail as well. It opened on Labor Day weekend and is clearly a fine new addition to the Upper Valley's network. Oh, also, he got a lot of pics of sparrows.Rising to greet the dawn. This is as good a time as any to introduce all you newcomers to the work of William Daugherty. He was up early the other day as fog hugged the hillside in Plainfield where he launched his drone, up beyond the trees and the valleys beyond to the magnificent view south over the river. For you old-timers: It's just 30 seconds, and you should hang on 'til the end. Cases expand in Upper Valley schools. On Friday, Hanover Superintendent Jay Badams announced that there's now an active Covid case at Hanover High, in addition to the cases announced last week at the Ray School and Richmond Middle School. On Saturday, Lyme School principal Jeff Valence announced a positive test result "in a member of the Lyme School," and on Sunday followed up to say that the middle school will move to remote learning until Oct. 30. In addition, Oxbow High School was closed for cleaning over the weekend after a staff member tested positive.Mt. Ascutney school board makes it final, fires principal. The vote—announced Friday—came months after Windsor High principal Tiffany Riley's June post on Facebook opposing "the coercive measures" taken by Black Lives Matter protesters. Riley had been on administrative leave ever since. "It is unacceptable conduct for a principal to promote equality by day and then, on her own time, make a social media post...which undermines that work," the board wrote in its decision. Riley's lawyer says they'll appeal to federal court.Tuk Tuk to open W. Leb beachhead. Pannipa and Ken Pace, owners of the Thai restaurant in Hanover's Old Nugget Alley, have bought the former Dunkin' site on Main Street in Old West Leb by the intersection with 12A, reports the Valley News' John Lippman. They expect most of its business to be takeout and hope to be open in 3-4 months. Lippman also reports that Dunkin' franchise owner Sagris Enterprises wants to create a drive-thru location in the Miracle Mile Plaza parking lot.Plans firming up for new student housing complex near DHMC. The $84 million project will bring 309 apartments for up to 638 residents to Mount Support Road, just south of the hospital. Under a contract the college signed a few weeks ago with Michaels Student Living, of Camden, NJ, Michaels will construct, own, and rent out the apartments, while Dartmouth retains the land. Grad students get priority for the housing ($1,000-$1,400 per bedroom), followed by Dartmouth faculty and staff, DHMC employees, and the general public. It's expected to be ready in August, 2022.“These companies are absolutely destroying independent restaurants." It would be fair to say that Lou's owner Jarrett Berke does not have a warm spot for DoorDash, Grubhub, and other delivery apps. Nor does Salt Hill owner Josh Tuohy, who's refused to be included on their platforms. The apps can take up to 30 percent of an order's revenue, and they'll list a restaurant's menu even when it doesn't have a contract. Berke is trying to organize a cooperatively run Upper Valley delivery service to compete, Lippman reports.Hanover voters, others around NH worry about spoiled ballots. Town clerk Betsy McLain calls it "Sharpie-gate"—the calls she and other clerks have been getting from voters fretting that the ink from the Sharpies they'd used to mark ballots bled through and might have invalidated them. NHPR's Casey McDermott notes that as late as Oct. 7, the secretary of state's office was saying that it wasn't an issue, but that its elections website has been updated to advise using only a black pen or a pencil. If a machine can't read a ballot, McDermott notes, it'll be examined by hand, so ballots won't go uncounted.This could get fun. On Friday, NH Gov. Chris Sununu announced that the state will be suing Massachusetts in federal court over its decision to keep collecting income tax from NH residents who work for MA companies but no longer travel there for work. “The Commonwealth has launched a direct attack on the New Hampshire Advantage, attempting to pick the pockets of our citizens,” Sununu said. Other states, including NY, NJ, and PA, have similar rules, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman."It’s just a slightly rank mirepoix.” That, believe it or not, is food scrap hauler Isaac Colby, who runs the one-man Some Dude’s Compost Company in Chittenden County, describing the mix of vegetables he collects from customers and dumps into plastic containers in the back of his pickup. VT's composting law is producing a lot of food scraps, report VPR's Howard Weiss-Tisman and Liam Elder-Connors. Transfer stations are struggling to keep up, and private haulers have their hands full. Colby went from a dozen customers before the law kicked in July 1 to 380 now.No "one-dimensional portrayals of Black people as either victims or unreachable heroes." Dr. Lydia Clemmons, who runs the Black-owned Clemmons Family Farm in Charlotte, is spearheading an effort to launch a new K-12 remote learning platform focused on a rounded view of African American and African diaspora history and culture. The team of 18 educators and artists hopes to pilot it this month with schools in Chittenden and Windham counties, then make a portion available to VT students this school year before eventually bringing the program to northern New England more broadly.Even if it is done with mirrors and some strategic wallpaper, I want to go there. Talk about upping the book-selling ante. There's this new bookstore in Dujiangyan, China, designed by Li Xiang and her architectural firm X+Living, that's got the design press digging deep for metaphors. "The designers aimed to create a whole indoor scenery, introducing the magnificent spirit of mountains and rivers into the interior," says DesignBoom. Me, I'd say a 21st-century Hogwarts for hip urbanites, but whatever, it's pretty mind-blowing.
Okay, let's catch up...
Dartmouth has just 2 active cases among its students and none among faculty/staff. In all, 4 students and 8 faculty/staff are in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 2 students and 11 faculty/staff are in isolation as they await results or because they tested positive.
NH reported 90 new positive test results Friday, 112 Saturday, and 70 yesterday, bringing its official total to 9,694. There were 4 new deaths over the weekend; they now number 467. The state's current cases have basically doubled over the last two weeks; they now stand at 971 (up 142 over the weekend), including 27 in Grafton County (up 2), 5 in Sullivan (down 1), and 142 in Merrimack (up 29). Hanover now has 7 active cases (up 2), while there are 1-4 cases each in Lyme, Lebanon, Plainfield, Canaan, Enfield, Grantham, Springfield, New London, Sunapee, and Newbury. Unity is off the list.
VT reported 13 new cases Friday, 9 on Saturday, and 11 yesterday, bringing its official total to 1,937, with 190 of those still active (up 30 over the weekend). Deaths remain at 58 total, and no people with confirmed cases are hospitalized. Windsor County gained 3 of those new cases to stand at 108 over the course of the pandemic, with 17 cases in the past 14 days. Orange County gained 1 and is now at 28 cumulative cases, with 3 new cases in the past 14 days. In town-by-town totals released at the end of last week, Hartford gained 4 cases to stand at 28 over the course of the pandemic, Norwich gained 2 and is now at 8 cumulatively, Springfield and Windsor each now have 6 cumulative cases. Meanwhile, Killington remains at 20 over the course of the pandemic, Woodstock at 13, Randolph at 8, and Royalton at 6.
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At 7 this evening, the Howe's Cinė Salon is featuring Nat Chediak, six-time Grammy-winning producer of Cuban greats Bebo Valdés and Chucho Valdés, who also happens to have been the co-founder and longtime legendary director of the Miami Film Festival, which hosted some of the first US screenings of directors like Pedro Almodóvar, Wim Wenders, Bertrand Tavernier, and others. He'll be playing music, showing clips of some of his favorite films, and talking about it all. Via Zoom.
And here's your chance to get your own name up on the small screen. Rather than an in-person Christmas Revels this year, Revels North is producing a film that'll be available to stream starting in mid-November. It'll be on CATV and various social media platforms, and they've raised most of the money they need to make it. But not all. They've joined forces with Vital Communities to raise funds, and if you contribute at least $75 by today, they'll include your name in the closing credits.
And speaking of fundraising, the annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot, which is the chief event helping to keep Zack's Place in Woodstock going, is going virtual next month. $25 to enter, and on Thanksgiving morning, as they say, "you safely gather your friends and family and go for a 3.2 mile walk or run, or just sit on the couch and think about it."
Okay, now
this
is a mash-up, though it's only a single piece of music:
performed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the Hovedøen Social Club. And it works! Though the head spins.
(Thanks, GF!)
Have a great start to your week. See you tomorrow.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Banner by Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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