WELCOME TO A SHORT WEEK, UPPER VALLEY!
A heads up that Daybreak will be off for a bit starting Wednesday. I figure we could all use a break from the hurly-burly (and from our inboxes) so we can focus on important things like family and cookies, so there'll be no Daybreak from 12/25 through 1/1. Back on Thursday, 1/2, a little later than usual that day and the next.It's just a blip. There's this interesting thing going on above us called a "subsidence inversion," which is when a layer of air descends, compresses, and heats up as a result. Which is all to say, we're getting temps well into the 40s today, with sunny skies and a calm wind from the south. There's a cold front coming through tonight, though, so back into the 20s overnight and then a return to normal tomorrow. Hanover, Lebanon agree to accept refugees. Last week's moves may be symbolic, as NH agencies have no plans to resettle refugees here soon. But Hanover town manager Julia Griffin says, “At any time, when it seems viable to begin to place refugees beyond those core service areas, we stand ready to step in.” And River Valley Club owner Elizabeth Asch is working with one agency as she staffs up its expanding child care center. NH's top two refugee populations? Bhutanese and Congolese. (VN)Police investigate E. Thetford death. A one-car crash discovered early yesterday morning left a Fairlee man dead and his car a burnt ruin. He was identified as 53-year-old Brian Stephens. The car was off the side of the road on Route 5, where Sanborn Road comes in just up the hill from Pompanoosuc Mills and next to Childs Pond. WCAX says police believe the death was accidental, but spent yesterday trying to determine what caused the fire. Charter school ABC's. As the controversy continues over the decision by legislative Democrats in NH to turn down federal funding to expand charter schools, the VN's Sarah Earle is up with both an explainer on the statewide maneuvering and a look at how Leb's Ledyard Charter School fits into the picture. In the end, the issue comes down to how NH will deal with a fragmenting school landscape as its student population shrinks.A minute over the Ottauquechee. William Daugherty had his drone up over the river yesterday, with its ice floes and the winter landscape spread far below... Mary Newman to take over at Sharon Academy. Longtime head of school Michael Livingston is stepping down at the end of this school year, and Newman — a Spanish teacher and currently dean of the faculty — has been picked by the board of trustees to take his place. Chosen after a national search, she was the “clear choice to carry (the school) forward into the future,” says board president John Roe. (VN)At 17,000 Christmas trees cut this year, Lyme's Bill Nichols is one of the biggest tree farmers in the northeast. At 74, he still puts in 12-hour days seven days a week over the last few months of the year, and his crews are cutting 700 trees a day. Nichols has about 250,000 trees on 2,800 acres of timberland across Lyme, Orford, Piermont, and Bath. The VN's John Lippman profiles him.Ski local! With the big ski areas increasingly falling under distant ownership and offering multi-resort passes for the mere price of a year in college (okay, I exaggerate), the small independents are banding together. Meghan McCarthy McPhaul details the Freedom Pass and the new Indy Pass, both of which offer skiing in VT and NH (and elsewhere) at a budget rate. The Skiway and Whaleback are part of the Freedom Pass; the Indy's got Pats Peak, Bolton, Suicide Six and others.Sununu's decision not to participate in transportation pact elicits... a shrug. Last week, the NH guv said the state would withdraw from planning for the regional Transportation Climate Initiative, a multi-state effort he hadn't signed onto in the first place. MA energy secretary Kathleen Theoharides — whose GOP governor, Charlie Baker, has put his state in the forefront of TCI planning — said NH is not essential to TCI's success. "We certainly don’t think of this as a financial boondoggle,” she said in response to Sununu's criticism. “It’s states working together to achieve a significant, multi-generational goal."Meanwhile, across the river... Gov. Phil Scott's been less clear on where he comes down, which seems at the moment to be somewhere between Sununu and Baker. Vermont's been a full participant in the TCI negotiations, but Scott's let it be known he's suspicious of anything that will raise gas prices. Dems in the legislature will try to force the issue soon: In the upcoming session they and Progressive legislators will push TCI and a “Global Warming Solutions Act,” which would put teeth into a requirement that Vermont reduce its carbon emissions by 2025.So, just what do constables do in Vermont? That's the entirely reasonable question posed by a visitor from England, and VPR's Emily Corwin looked into it. Until eight years ago, elected constables had full law enforcement authority, whether they were trained or not; now, they have to be certified. Only about 15 percent of the 250-odd town constables have taken the 190 hours of training, though. The rest? They can serve court papers, collect taxes, remove disruptive people from Town Meeting, and kill injured deer. Though in practice...
Right. I know. It's not even close to sugaring season. But a few VT maple farmers are experimenting with early tapping. Old-timers shake their heads, but new technology makes it possible to keep taps fresh for months. Stewart Maple in Cuttingsville already has 5,000 taps in and has made 150 gallons of syrup so far. “We’re feeling good to be where we’re at so far but it does seem a little weird to be out here this early,” says Elliot Stewart.
The
Burlington Free Press
's April McCallum sat down to watch a passel of recent Christmas-themed movies allegedly set in Vermont, then rated them for accuracy. The upshot? Well, for starters, why do so many of them seem to be filmed in British Columbia? And how is it that every town seems to have a mayor? Does your town have a mayor? Of course not. Only eight do. And then, one town's "so far north that on clear days you might be able to see the North Pole," as one film puts it, despite the fact that, oh right, there's an entire country in the way...
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WE'RE DEFINITELY WINDING DOWN FOR THE YEAR...
Though still filled with traditional music and dance — as the title,
“
An English Celebration of the Winter Solstice,” suggests — this year's version is set during the Industrial Revolution. It's business as usual at a small-town textile mill on Christmas Day... until it's not. Just a handful of seats left, mostly in the balcony. At the Lebanon Opera House at 2 pm.
For all ages... but you're welcome to wear pajamas. Milk and cookies on the menu. Starts at 6:30.
Have a fine day out there, whether you're winding down or not. See you tomorrow.
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