GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sunny but cold. We'll be about 10 degrees below normal today, with highs in the upper 40s or maybe hitting 50 and winds from the north. Conditions are quite dry out there, at least for today (more on this below). Tonight's likely to be the coldest night of the week, with lows reaching the low 20s.Fall on the water:
A wind-roiled Eastman Lake, by Terri Munson;
And the river framed, by Bill Gallagher.
Smoke from Barnard fire "may be visible for several days." A forest fire on Morgan Hill Road broke out yesterday morning, destroying two camps and injuring the owner of one of them, Richard Keating; Vermont fire investigators believe it was caused by improper disposal of ashes from a wood stove. "The public should be aware that fire suppression efforts will be ongoing," the VSP said yesterday in a press release—hence, the possibility of visible smoke. "Dry and windy conditions have added to the difficulty in fire suppression efforts."Dry, windy conditions also produced fires around NH. Including in Grafton. The state from Lebanon south was under a red flag warning yesterday, and brush fires broke out both Saturday and Sunday, WMUR reports: in Troy, New Ipswich, Litchfield, and Danville, as well as Grafton. That fire burned a roughly 100' x 100' area on Kinsman Road, the Canaan Fire Department said in a Facebook post.
With conditions remaining dry into tomorrow, Vermont lists fire danger as "High" in Windsor County, and "Moderate" in Orange County.
NH doesn't produce daily fire danger maps, but in its fire weather forecast this morning, it ranks fire danger as High throughout the state "for areas without snow cover." Here's where you can sign up for the daily email.
New VA Cutoff bridge opens to traffic. Also known by the melodious name of Bridge #7, the bridge spanning the White River has been under construction since last spring; the old VA Cutoff Bridge closed to traffic on Oct. 14 as its replacement—and a new alignment toward Christian St. on the Hartford Village side—was prepped for opening. As WCAX reports, construction continues in the area, so expect minor delays.In Enfield, new coffee shop gets go-ahead. The planning board last week approved the bid by Thomas Morrill, an Enfield resident who is pastor at Leb's Calvary Baptist Church, to open Carpenter’s Cup Coffee on Main Street, reports Liz Sauchelli in the Valley News. The name, Sauchelli writes, "is inspired in part by the hardware stores that used to be located downtown, Morrill’s own job as a carpenter and Jesus, who was a carpenter." In a separate piece, Sauchelli also reports that the town has sold its old public works HQ and three acres of land to Oakes Bros. for a 48-unit apartment complex.Guides to legislative contests in Grafton and Sullivan counties. Over the weekend, the VN published its capsule previews of general election House and Senate face-offs in Upper Valley towns in the two NH counties, featuring brief statements from each of the many candidates about their top priorities. Schools and school finance, abortion, affordability, housing, economic development... They're quick and helpful rundowns of what candidates are thinking about.
And in case you missed it last week, here's Orange and Windsor counties.
In S. Royalton, turning "the real into the ethereal." Tunbridge artist and sculptor Elizabeth Billings doesn't think small, writes Dave Celone on his Upper Valley VT/NH Musings blog. In a new exhibition at VT Law & Grad School, she's turned portions of trees into images, then cut them into thin strips and painstakingly sewn them back together. "These large-scale, almost accordion-like Roman shades of blue and white hang well above head height and greater than our arms span wide to dominate the gallery just as trees, monolithic and beautiful, inhabit the landscape," Dave writes.Hey, guess who this headline's about: "The idyllic northeastern state being ravaged by drugs, crime and homelessness: 'People don't feel safe'". That would be Vermont, in a story by James Reinl in the UK's Daily Mail that went up Saturday. Reinl runs through the issues confronting Burlington, Brattleboro, and Montpelier, including homelessness, visible drug use, and fear of crime—along with the boost to the state's homeless population with the end of the pandemic-era motel housing program and the state's housing crisis. Quotes come from GOP candidates, including Orange County's John Klar: "Native and young Vermonters are fleeing the state in droves."The risks to VT's wood turtles. Demand on the international black market, the spread of knotweed, repeated flooding, cars and farm equipment—all have raised the threat to the state's native wood turtles, writes Klara Bauters in VTDigger. State officials are "watching the species closely before more serious intervention is required," Bauters writes—and follows two naturalists on a central VT data-collecting expedition. The turtles can live to be 80 and mature slowly, so "their populations are sensitive to any threat that kills adults or removes them from the population," Bauters writes.The Monday jigsaw. As the Norwich Historical Society's Cam Cross writes, this week it's in honor of the World Series. He adds that if you look toward the top of the Green, "you can see the ruins of Dartmouth Inn that was consumed by fire in 1887." Here's the original photo.
And to take us into the week...The trail-blazing South African cellist and singer Abel Selacoe, who's got a new album coming out next year. The first single just went up: Here's "Emmanuele".See you tomorrow.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Associate writer: Jonea Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Michael
If you like Daybreak and would like to help it keep going and evolve, please hit the "Support" button below and I'll tell you more:
And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to hit the blue "Subscribe" button below. And thanks! And hey, if you're that friend? So nice to see you! Subscribe at no cost at:
Thank you!