GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Partly sunny, breezy, cold. We get a jolt of arctic air today on winds from the northwest, with temps maybe getting up to around 20. It could get gusty out there in the late morning or early afternoon. Back down into the low teens or even lower tonight.
Lords of all they survey. Turkeys hanging out in crabapple trees in Lebanon, from Elizabeth Borowsky.
Fairlee’s Broken Hearts Burger closing for the winter, maybe for good. In an Instagram post on Thursday, owner Matt Walker wrote, “Our final day of service for the foreseeable future will be January 10th and we want to make the next weeks special.” You may remember that early this year, Walker shut down to reboot his popular burger spot and then reopened as a “punk dive bar meets steakhouse meets tropical cocktail bar,” as he put it at the time. Now, he writes, “Thank you everyone for the support over the years, it’s meant the world to us. We’ll miss you.” He hadn’t responded to a query as of yesterday; we’ll keep you posted. (Thanks, JH!)
Piermont wants residents to test wells for arsenic. As Lukas Dunford writes in the Valley News, the town began offering test kits to residents—”especially those in the area between Four Corners and the Haverhill town line along Route 10”—after one townsperson reported high levels in their well water. Arsenic occurs naturally in soil and bedrock; it’s impossible to detect without testing, and has been linked to higher risk of lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and reproductive disorders. As Dartmouth’s toxic metals research program writes, “In some parts of [NH], about one in five private wells contain high levels of arsenic from naturally-occurring sources.”
Vershire road signs get home safely. Late yesterday, members of the Vershire Selectboard alerted the VT State Police that several road signs around town had been stolen—and were now being listed for sale on social media. Troopers got in touch with the seller—later identified as 37-year-old Barre resident Robert Jackman, and posed as a potential buyer. When they met up, the VSP writes in its press release, “Jackman was observed leaving the scene after abandoning the stolen road signs. He was detained, and all the road signs were recovered.
SPONSORED: Compassionate psychiatric care in the Upper Valley — thoughtful medication support for teens and adults. Hanover CBT now offers psychiatric evaluations and medication management as part of our collaborative care model, where therapists, assessment clinicians, and prescribers work together to support each client’s needs. Our team provides warm, evidence-based care in a comfortable, non-emergency setting. Sponsored by Hanover CBT.
Windsor deputy cleared of assault charges. Back in the summer, sheriff’s deputy Kristinnah Adams had been placed on administrative leave after being charged with domestic assault and interference with access to emergency services. Now, reports John Lippman in the VN, prosecutors have dropped the two misdemeanor charges against her; she’ll be returning to duty. The case was being handled out of Windham County, where a prosecutor tells Lippman, “Given the information and evidence available to the state, we are confident that the resolution is in the interests of justice, and in the best interest of the victim and those involved.”
A brief history of the Thetford listserv. It matters because it was the first of the family of listservs that grew out of the old ValleyNet (the actual first was Lyme’s, which has always been separately hosted by Dartmouth). In Sidenote, Li Shen outlines how the old Thetford Forum, started up by former software developer Stuart Blood on New Year’s Day of 2003, outgrew its early platform and shifted over to ValleyNet with the help of the late Bob Raiselas. That platform stuck, and other towns quickly piled in—as, eventually, did Upper Valley farmers, transportation afficionados, and others: In all, Li writes, there are over 50 groups.
SPONSORED: Upper Valley Community Gathering Place Needs Your Help! To help in our quest to restore and revitalize the historic Norwich Grange Hall, the Norwich Community Collaborative has created The Angel Fund. This fundraising effort honors one of Norwich’s most beloved traditions: the annual Norwich Pageant. Support of The Angel Fund will help restore the Norwich Grange Hall into a vibrant, welcoming place for potlucks, performances, meetings, and memories for years to come. To learn more, hit the burgundy link or go here. Please also join us at the Norwich Pageant on Thursday, December 18! Sponsored by the Norwich Community Collaborative.
Stockbridge native’s show about wild foods to air nationally next year on PBS. Kevin Chap spent a decade working in NYC’s film industry, then returned home to work at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller as an educator. “He started making videos of fishing, foraging, and cooking,” writes Justin Bigos in the VT Standard, sent a few clips off to a friend at PBS—and the result is now a full-on show, Wild Foods. Half the show’s early episodes focus on VT—its pilot follows him as he forages mushrooms. “We’re blessed here in Vermont because we have the highest concentration of local foods in our food system, organic foods in our food system, and wild foods in our food system,” he says.
Faculty eye candy. You can certainly appreciate Dartmouth’s intro to the 30 newest members of its faculty for its wide-ranging sketch of human scholarship, with the profs studying everything from the history of science in South Asia and electric grid digitalization to gene regulation and four-dimensional space. But what may be most striking aren’t the words at all, but Katie Lenhart’s photos, some of them posed head shots, some of them works of art.
NH Fish & Game is ticked. Friday night, rescue teams were called out to find two Massachusetts men who’d gotten off trail below the summit of Mt. Lafayette in 10-degree weather and deep snow above tree line. One had a leg injury. A copter rescue was cancelled due to low clouds, so a rescue party headed out at 11 pm. What’s striking about the writeup, though, are the asides: “The two hikers lost their composure and would not listen to any advice being given to them.” “The earlier reported leg injury was not as significant as had been reported.” “If hikers can not adhere to the hiker responsibility code…they should consider staying home.”
Ever wonder what the difference is between hibernation, torpor, and brumation? All of them are ways that wildlife makes it through winter, and VT Fish & Wildlife went up last week with a quick guide. Hibernation is “a deep, low-energy state where they drop their heart rate and body temperature remarkably low,” and there are only a few true hibernators around here, like woodchucks. Torpor is used by black bears, raccoons, skunks, and chipmunks, and they can wake quickly if the weather warms or they’re disturbed. Brumation is what reptiles and amphibians do as they slow their metabolisms and cut back on movement and eating. More at the link.
The Monday jigsaw: The interior of Union Station in WRJ. Among other things, it had a restaurant, with an inviting countertop surrounded by stools for travelers to perch on. The current building, writes the Norwich Historical Society’s Cam Cross on his Curioustorian blog, was constructed in 1937 on “the foundations of Union Station, which had been built in 1880 and burned in 1911.” During that 26-year gap, he writes, the railroads appear to have used a freight barn as a station.
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from Friday’s Daybreak.
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The sound quality’s terrible and the video quality’s not much better, but even so, the vibe comes through loud and clear: Last night at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, Springsteen dropped in to join Stevie Van Zandt on stage, including for spirited renditions of “Merry Christmas Baby” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”.
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