WELCOME TO THE WEEK, UPPER VALLEY!
And enjoy today, because the rest of the week gets more... interesting. Surface high pressure wanders eastward through the region today, bringing dry weather, mostly sunny skies in the morning, and temps in the 40s. Clouds start building in this afternoon, ahead of a weak front headed our way tomorrow. Winds from the south.Push for broadband districts starts to take hold in NH. The model, of course, is ECFiber. "Folks have finally realized that...if they want something in their town they’re going to have to do it themselves," says Carole Monroe, who led the high-speed internet provider until earlier this year. She now runs LymeFiber, which is working with ValleyNet to bring fiber optic to the NH side. The Monitor's David Brooks looks into that effort and others in the state.Pedestrian struck crossing 12A last night. The 60-year-old woman was part of a group of visiting French-Canadians who set out from the Kohl's Plaza for the McDonald's across the way. "A number of passersby immediately stopped their vehicles and rushed to render first aid and divert traffic around the accident," reports Eric Francis, who was on the scene with his camera. The woman was taken to DHMC with what appeared to be head and arm injuries.Randolph hotel project neighbors get to weigh in on Act 250 process. "A minor thorn in the side or a torpedo that threatens to sink another development project near the scenic Exit 4 interchange along Interstate 89?" asks John Lippmann in his VN overview yesterday. The same group that fought an earlier proposed development across I-89 has been given "preliminary party" status in Act 250 Commission hearings on the bid to bring a Hampton Inn to the interchange. Their concerns focus on traffic, "aesthetics," and water use.A pointed question about the Norwich email scam: Why didn't anyone actually talk to the town manager? On his Norwich Observer blog, Chris Katucki points out that despite clear worries something was amiss in the financial transfers, Town Manager Herb Durfee wasn't informed until weeks after the first was made. "Apparently, the Treasurer was reluctant to talk to the Town Manager by herself," Katucki writes, noting the recent "Burgess Report" says the two don't have a good relationship. In an earlier post, Katucki wonders why hasn't Comerica returned $95,000 that it put on hold?As good as ever or filled with stumbling blocks? Hartfordites disagree on footpath behind The Village in WRJ. The old Carriage Path, which people living on the hill overlooking downtown WRJ have used pretty much since the Pleistocene to get down into town, was closed during the senior living facility's construction. It's now reopened with runoff-diverting stones across the path, and some older residents complain they're having trouble. (VN)The golden hour by Ascutney. A nice late-afternoon shot yesterday of the slanting light through what's left of the leaves, the mountain off in the distance...Nighthawks have lost their non-profit status. It actually happened this past spring, when the IRS revoked the baseball team's 501(c)(3) status for failing to file tax returns for three consecutive years. But the VN's Pete Nakos says that even afterward, "the Nighthawks were still promoting themselves as a nonprofit in search of charity dollars." The team also failed to file with NH's charitable trust unit. Team general manager Noah Crane tells Nakos that he didn't find out about the IRS revocation until August, and has hired an accountant to "fix our issues." "This story is completely unnecessary,” Crane emails Nakos.VT asks FEMA for preliminary assessment on storm damage. Towns all over the state, including Thetford, reported major damage from the post-Halloween storm. The assessment is an early step toward getting a federal disaster declaration, which would help pay for road and other infrastructure repairs.New USDA rules throw VT hemp growers into "panic." The proposed regs, two years in the making, were released on Thursday and would keep farmers from harvesting hemp with a THC concentration of more than 0.3 percent. State officials estimate 70 percent of the state's hemp crop would exceed that limit. Current Vermont law allows farmers to cultivate hemp with a THC concentration under 1 percent. "What the USDA has just released looks like they’re taking a very hard line approach that is going to completely squash the industry," one grower tells VTDigger.NH: "The Arkansas of New England, minus the possum pie." Ouch, Granite State! Thrillist, the hipper-than-thou food, drink, and travel website, is out with its 50-state rankings for "best food" and barely gives the state the time of day. Vermont does better, at #25. "We're not medically advising you to subsist solely on a diet of maple syrup, boutique ice cream, and artisanal cheeses, but if one WERE to pursue such a diet, Vermont would be the place to do it," they write. Maine's #12, thanks largely to the Portland food scene. Of course, these are also the people who rank Texas #1. The whole thing's a romp.
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Amb. Balton, a former deputy assistant secretary for oceans and fisheries in the State Department, has a long history of helping coordinate and negotiate policy on the Arctic and Antarctic. The changing climate is spurring a new era of "Great Power" competition, undoing decades of cooperative relations. Balton tackles what needs to be done next.
Renée Zellweger's drawn mostly raves for her full-on portrayal of Judy Garland in decline, but critics split on the film. "Zellweger can’t replicate her singing, but what she does is lovely and just as impressive — she evokes the spirit of a Garland performance, all rich voice and richer emotion," writes Alison Willmore in NY Mag's
Vulture
. But the film itself is "enraptured by her tragedy — the alcoholism and the breakdowns, the terrible taste in men and the bursts of self-loathing all put on display over a condensed stretch of time." Woodstock Town Hall, 7:30.
Here's Nancy Cardenuto with the week's pub & small venues listings.
Have a lovely day out there. See you tomorrow.
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