GOOD TO SEE YOU, UPPER VALLEY!
All that wind yesterday had to be bring us something. And it did: colder temps and a dusting. But you knew that already. Now there's a dry slot as high pressure builds in... and then leaves. By tonight, a following low will be on its way, with clouds arriving and then, sometime after daybreak tomorrow, snow. Today, sunny but highs won't get out of the 20s. Mid-teens tonight."The Upper Valley might be the Rodeo Drive of resale outlets." That's the VN's John Lippman yesterday on the thriving thrift-store scene in the region. There's everything from Listen's Miracle Mile megastore to SEVCA's Good Buy stores to COVER's WRJ outlet and Gail Egner's new Uplifting Thrifting at the train station. Business is booming at both ends: buyers and donations. Listen staff recently found a $1,000 Tiffany brooch. Oh, and a jar filled with human teeth. They threw that one out. "I promise upfront that I will never post any videos of myself playing World of Warcraft in a chainmail bikini, no matter how well it pays." As the end approaches for HereCast Dec. 31, its bloggers are finding new homes. That's Eric Francis, ace crime and mayhem reporter, announcing his new YouTube channel. Meanwhile, arts and culture blogger Susan Apel this weekend launched a new blog and email newsletter, which you can find here.WRJ north's expanding food scene. The final slot in the old Kibby Equipment building across from Hartford Town Hall is going to a new butcher shop and deli. Norwich's Kevin Halligan (he also owned a specialty meat and seafood market in Laconia) is opening Funkalicious Market & Deli, joining the Royal Nutrition Juice Bar in the building, and, of course, the Co-op and Stern's just up the street. He plans to open in February, with beef, lamb, poultry and pork from local farms and seafood from Boston. (VN)Only in Vermont. We may have gotten a dusting, but on I-89 north of Montpelier it was sheet ice last night. Police reported dozens of slide-offs, traffic was at a standstill. Except for one guy who got out his snowboard and, well... Loons did okay across northern New England. You may remember a recent item on VT's record success this year with breeding loon pairs. The AP's got a full look at what happened in NH and ME as well: a slight increase in the former, a dip in the latter. Protecting nesting sites and creating floating nest platforms have helped make a difference. But in NH, recovery's been slowed by coastal development and lead poisoning from fish tackle. And small but growing numbers are dying from avian malaria.DHMC is NH's second-largest recipient of federal opioid treatment dollars. The Granite State News Collaborative, an effort by 17 media and educational outlets across the state, has been delving into NH's Doorway system for treating opioid addiction. The upshot: "There is widespread agreement that the investment has created a group of regional portals for those seeking treatment, but has done little to expand the availability of the treatment itself." Biggest recipients are Granite Pathways in Manchester and Nashua, and DHMC.Expect fireworks from NH Fiscal Cte's decision on charter schools. As you probably read, the joint committee on Friday turned down the first $10 million in federal funding to expand charters in the state. Republicans charge that Dems are kowtowing to teachers unions. Dems point out that expanding students going to charters would cost public school districts millions in state aid, plus more millions coming out of the adequate education funding pool. Really what the fight is about, says InDepthNH's Garry Rayno, is who sets public policy.It figures the demo would be in a pizza kitchen. VTDigger profiles a Burlington company that's pioneering a scent add-on to virtual reality: Yes, Olfactory VR is now a thing. It's a small add-on to the goggles that can be programmed to trigger "minuscule bursts of scent at precise moments." Among other things, it's being used to help treat PTSD among military veterans.Schools around VT are finding lead above state standards in their drinking water. According to Seven Days' Molly Walsh, 83 percent of the schools tested so far have found at least one faucet with elevated levels — that is, above the state's stricter-than-the-feds' standards. Most have been able to deal with the problem by changing the fixture. Only 17 percent of schools in the state have so far carried out testing, and you can find results here.Turns out boomers are good for something after all. A new report from Vermont's Tax Structure Commission says that as baby boomers retire, the state's tax revenues will take a hit. Right now, second-wave boomers provide about a quarter of the state's income-tax revenue; their income will drop, of course, as they leave the workforce. This is not, of course, limited to VT — some states may see per capita income tax dollars fall by as much as 10 percent; the commission expects the impact to be smaller in Vermont. 172 photographers, 127 musicians and singers, 113 writers and authors. Oh, and 28 actors. These are VT Arts Council figures on the numbers of each living and working in the Northeast Kingdom, cited by VTDigger's Erin Petenko as she looks at whether the "creative economy" can help revive NEK towns. About a third of creative employment there comes from design-related firms like furniture makers. The second largest sector: food and craft beer/alcohol."Back in my younger days I made some poor decisions, and I started out as an uncovered bridge." That's the Gifford Covered Bridge in Randolph responding to news reports that racy photos of bridges in various states of undress have been surfacing online, including an explicit photo of Quechee Covered Bridge being repaired. The bridges are urging people not to look at any pictures that surface. "Those pictures are illegal, a clear violation of the rights and privacy of the bridges, you would have to be a monster to look at them, and we have links below for anyone who wants to check out the slats on those babies," says The Winooski.If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
LOOKS LIKE IT'S MOVIE NIGHT...
Babe's, the Bethel bar that's fast become a go-to hangout, does Monday movie nights. Tonight: The very first of the
Peanuts
animated specials, from 1965, and Chuck Jones' equally classic take on Dr. Seuss from a year later. You know they're both back there, deep in your memory. Only when you were a kid you never got to watch them pint in hand. Starts at 7.
Tonight's Ciné Salon features George Stoney's 1953 portrait of midwife Mary Frances Hill Coley, her services to the black community of Albany, Georgia, and her prominence both within the community and with the white medical establishment. Though the film focused on "Miss Mary" — who also collaborated with Stoney on its scenes — it also captured African-American life deep in the Jim Crow era.
The author of
Tuesdays with Morrie
will be at the Capitol Center touting
Finding Chika
, his first non-fiction work in a decade. It's about a young girl, born just before the 2010 earthquake, whom Albom met at the orphanage he directs there, adopted, and — this is not a spoiler, it's on the first page — ultimately watched die of a brain tumor. His conversations with her after her death form the spine of this memoir. 7 pm.
Okay, here we go... Stay calm and centered this week, would ya? See you tomorrow.
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