Daybreak Monday 11/23/20

WAIT, THANKSGIVING WEEK ALREADY?

Hey, thanks for this weather, Ohio River Valley! It's brought us low pressure and a cold front that gave us last night's mix and will produce rain this morning and a chance this afternoon, with temps dropping as cold air filters in. High in the mid-40s this morning then dropping to below 30 as the skies clear tonight.So, while you're in the kitchen this week baking or roasting or mashing or stirring... Sarah and Nelson Rooker have a gift for you. They've created a Spotify playlist of music featured on Daybreak over the course of this year. We'll add to it as time goes on, but there are over three hours on there already, which should get you through at least a couple of pies and a bout of potato peeling. A deep bow to you, Rookers! (At the link; you'll need Spotify to actually listen.)Even without a hint of sunset, the sky can still astound. Janice Fischel was over by the Dorchester/Rumney line on Route 118 on Saturday when the clouds made her stop and reach for her camera. "Clouds seem to fascinate me these days," she writes.Mink Brook land, E. Grafton mill, Haverhill library win grants. The money comes from NH's Land & Community Heritage Investment Program, reports the Valley News's John Gregg. $200K will go to help the Trust for Public Land turn 250 acres of woods along Hanover's Greensboro Road into a community forest. In addition, the Haverhill Library Assn got $47K to rehab its building in Haverhill Center, and Mascoma Valley Preservation won $62K toward restoring a mill and home that are part of a 175-acre donation in E. Grafton.Windsor's Alison Clarkson set to become VT Senate majority leader. Democrats chose her yesterday over two other candidates for the post, which is vacant because Brattleboro's Becca Balint won the nomination for Senate president pro tem. Meanwhile, Rutland's Cheryl Hooker was nominated for whip, meaning that after the organizing vote in January, the Senate will be led by three women. Meanwhile, in the House, a recount confirmed Mitzi Johnson's election-day loss and Woodstock's Charlie Kimbell dropped his bid to replace her, leaving Burlington's Jill Krowinski as the likely next speaker.10,000 pounds of basil, plus 2,340 pounds of pine nuts and 1,000 gallons of olive oil. That's what goes into Vegetaballs' artisanal pesto each year. The company is expanding, and along with two other firms owned by Jeff and Sarah Barrette, is moving into the old armory building in Claremont. "Once seemingly abandoned to thrift shops and other emblems of a hollowed economy after the closing of the city’s mills and factories," writes the VN's John Lippman, the city's downtown "is seeing a slow but steady rejuvenation."SPONSORED: Who's up for a nature boost? Time in nature reduces stress, anxiety... and pandemic fatigue. With the virus on the rise, you can bring a little nature indoors with a fine art print from Norwich nature photographer Brenda Petrella. Use the code DAYBREAK15 at checkout to get 15% off your order.  As a participant in the “19 Days," 1 percent of proceeds will go to The Haven.  Orders should be placed by 12/10 for Christmas delivery.  Thanks for keeping it local!  Sponsored by Brenda Petrella Photography.Remember that C-130 fuselage that rolled through the area last week? The Concord Monitor's David Brooks has dug into it more. It had spent some months at Pease, apparently being decontaminated after being used to test equipment at Ft. Detrick in Maryland, which is where the National Interagency Biodefense Campus is located. It was on its way to VT last week, then down to NC to a company that repairs and services old aircraft. The wings and stabilizers are being moved separately, and its ultimate fate is still a mystery."I was starved for skiing," as Killington opens for the season. It was only for season pass holders who certified they'd met VT's quarantine requirements, and despite a smattering of out-of-state plates in the lot, everyone the Rutland Herald's Gordon Dritschilo spoke with said they were living in the state, at least for the time being. Even so, one skier said, “There’s also a lot of people who aren’t" observing the quarantine requirements. "I am not saying that to be critical. It’s a fact. Some I know because I know them. Some I know from talking to them.” No one seems to be letting it keep them from the slopes.What to expect on vaccines. With the possibility that Pfizer's Covid vaccine could start becoming available in the Twin States by mid-December, the VN's Nora Doyle-Burr runs down where things stand. Health care professionals and those over 65 or with medical conditions that put them at risk will come first. State public health officials are making plans for how to pass along "accurate information about the vaccines with trusted community leaders of all types." Storage infrastructure remains an issue. And NH has to get its vaccine registry up and running; it's still the only state without one.  Dick Hinch on verge of becoming NH House speaker. The Merrimack Republican has led the GOP caucus as both majority and minority leader, and was chosen unanimously by the caucus this weekend, NHPR's Josh Rogers reports; the House meets Dec. 2 to choose its leaders formally. Meanwhile, Democrats used ranked-choice voting to pick from among four candidates for their leader. The winner was Hampton's Remy Cushing, who emerged with "a legitimate mandate" as a result, one Democrat tells the Monitor's Brooks.VT mulls adding multi-household gathering question to daily student/staff checklist. As VTDigger's Lola Duffort points out, schools have been given no guidelines for what to do if students go to a weekend party or spend time in a deer camp with people other than immediate family. School officials don't really want the responsibility for checking on what students do outside school, but faculty and staff are getting nervous as caseloads rise. Some superintendents are taking it on themselves to set policy; others are waiting for state guidance, which Ed Secy Dan French said on Friday they're exploring.State pushes to expand online access to groceries for low-income Vermonters. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the VT Foodbank and other service agencies have argued that the most effective approach to improving food security is through 3Squares VT, the state's food-stamp program. Which is fine, except that only Amazon and Walmart have signed up for a pilot program to allow recipients who don't want to shop in-person to do so online. Now 3Squares is trying to get Hannaford on board, and is hoping others will follow suit, writes VTDigger's Amanda Gokee."On one of our favorite trails, we knew we were about halfway when we reached the jettisoned dishwasher." In Outside, Krista Karlson makes the case for "hiking ugly trails," starting off her essay at what's probably the Elizabeth Mine superfund site in Thetford/Strafford. "It is itself an act of caring to visit the places that have been deemed ugly or not worth hiking on," she writes—"not just to pick up garbage or to beautify them, but to bear witness to the ways that these places are already beautiful."If you've gotta be known for something, it might as well be a 308-pound ball of stickers. It took three months for the folks at Sticky Brands, a Burlington-based company that makes promotional decals and pandemic-themed stickers, to slap it together using 250,000 misprints and defective stickers. Judging from the pic, it's about the size of a medicine ball. It easily wasted the old Guinness record holder, a mere whiffle ball of 231 pounds.So let's see, Chuck Berry's connected to Jerry Lee Lewis who shares space with Big Maybelle and Big Joe Turner... This is just straight-ahead cool. There's this British design firm called Dorothy that's created a map of the history of Rock in the form of a blueprint for the circuit board of a guitar amp. From the Delta blues and gospel forebears to the early pioneers to the Stones and the Beatles to Radiohead to the Frightened Rabbits... The thing's for sale, but nothing says you can't window shop. Now if only it came with a sound track.

Interesting weekend... 

News that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:

There are two ongoing efforts sponsored by local groups that you might want on your radar.

It's a fair bet the folks at Bösendorfer pianos didn't quite envision

this

... Peter Bence is a Hungarian pianist and composer who's also amassed a dedicated following for his reworkings of rock classics that make imaginative and athletic use of the piano's various parts. As in

that'll have you bopping into the week. 

(Thanks, PK!)

Over 300

pounds

of stickers? Can you imagine what a 5-year-old could do with that thing? 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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