WAIT, SERIOUSLY... MONDAY?
Because today's weather bears an uncanny resemblance to last week. (Though gosh, this weekend... Magical, right?) There's a trough of low pressure that's moved into the region, bringing light snow overnight and this morning, probably mixing with rain for a bit and then a chance of rain into the afternoon. Temps reaching the high 30s by mid-afternoon. Lows tonight in the mid-20s.What lies behind the Norwich Selectboard's town manager set-to. In the SB packet for tonight's special meeting to discuss its decision a few weeks ago not to seek a contract renewal with Town Manager Herb Durfee, Norwich Observer blogger Chris Katucki found a list of "areas of improvement." They include: a lack of adequate monthly reports; an inability "to spot accurate vs. inaccurate financial reports"; the need for a stronger bead on real-time spending; "unprofessional remarks" about town officials that have created an atmosphere of mistrust at Tracy Hall.Fogg's, Oakes Bros. agree to be acquired by Bethel Mills. It's a merger of three longtime family-owned building-supply businesses, as Alan Fogg gets ready to retire and Bradford's Neil Oakes plans for the future — though he'll stay on to run the kitchen and bath design department for a few years. "Both Fogg and Oakes said the sale of their businesses to Bethel Mills will also provide their employees an opportunity to continue with a stable, locally-owned family company that holds similar values," the VN's John Lippman writes.Henniker shooting cancels NE College classes, Deval Patrick appearance. The shooting took place early yesterday morning, and injured three people: two current and one former New England College students. They were treated and released, but the town and college were placed on lockdown for much of the day while police searched for a suspect. The college will be closed today, and a scheduled visit by presidential candidate Deval Patrick has been cancelled.When Toms Tangle. Reeve Williams and Sandie Anderson were headed down the road yesterday morning in Norwich when they saw two turkeys circling one another, necks entwined. They backed up, snapped some pics, and sent them on to Demo Sofronas for his "My Newsletter About Norwich" blog. It looks endearing, but that's how male turkeys fight for dominance.Dartmouth researchers aim to fine-tune fossil records on past climate through acid-loving microbes. Who knew? Counting the number of rings in preserved lipids in deposits of a domain of ancient life known as Archaea can let researchers determine past ocean temperatures. The Dartmouth team shifted the spotlight beyond temperature to look at food and energy availability, with an eye toward helping geologists and climatologists fine-tune records of past sea surface temperaturesAnd speaking of energy... NH Consumer Advocate Don Kreis checks in with a letter about Friday's item on the "forward capacity" auction. The Granite Geek column suggested the "cost of making power" would come down; actually, Kreis writes, it's the cost of adding extra capacity that might be needed. And he's not a fan of the thing: "The capacity market...resembles a Rube Goldberg machine and its rules are jiggered to prop up legacy generators of the fossil and nuclear variety." More at the link. Twin State bragging rights. Elle Purrier, who grew up in Montgomery, VT (waaay up north) and went to UNH, set a new American women's record in the mile on Saturday. She outkicked the world's best at the Millrose Games in NYC (you can catch that final lap at the link), posting not just an American record of 4:16.85, but the second fastest indoor time ever. The previous American record was Mary Decker Slaney’s 38-year-old time of 4:20.5.NH has a new artist laureate. She's Amanda Whitworth, who directs the dance program at Plymouth State. She's also a co-founder of Articine, which helps artists and medical professionals collaborate to incorporate the arts into diagnosis and treatment, and is the first dancer to hold the position.The "political godmother" of the modern right. In the annals of conservative political history, former Union Leader publisher Nackey Loeb is usually over-shadowed by her husband and predecessor as publisher, William Loeb. But, writes Northeastern prof Meg Heckman, Nackey was a potent force in her own right, and not just in New Hampshire. She "is a reminder of the ways in which women, most of them white, Christian and financially secure, have shaped the conservative movement," Heckman writes in Politico.Stage, drapes, subwoofers, folding chairs... oh, and two spare podiums, just in case. The NYT's Marc Tracy goes deep behind the scenes to profile Chris Malloy and his company, Malloy Events, which has pretty much cornered the market for NH primary campaign events. "Few things better illustrate the distinctiveness — advocates might call it charm and detractors, absurdity — of the New Hampshire primary than the fact that this all-important contest is decided in a state so small that one determined small business can handle most of the events work during the busiest week in the year."
VT teachers union puts off joining OneCare. The decision by the Vermont National Education Association "deals a blow to OneCare Vermont, which needs the 19,000 eligible NEA members to come close to hitting its scale goals for the year — it’s already below its targets," writes VTDigger's Katie Jickling. Members of the state employees' union are also hesitating."Brave Little State" digs deep on Vermont's small-college crisis. VPR's "you ask, we answer" series is up with an engaging transcript of its look at why small colleges in the state — and, in fact, around the country — are struggling. Part of it is the "demographic cliff," a dropoff in the sheer numbers of students, which is going to be getting much worse. And more of them have grown up in cities than in rural areas. Lots more at the link.Three VT towns take a leaf from "2nd Amendment Sanctuary" towns, strive to become "Meat Sanctuary" towns. On town meeting day, they'll take up resolutions to ban vegetarianism and veganism within town borders. “If we let these kale nuts take over, there’ll be no cows left, no cheese, no farms, I mean, will it even be Vermont anymore? Someone’s got to do something, before it’s too late,” Sheldon town council member Meddy Amrayer tells... oh wait... The Winooski.
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IF IT'S MONDAY, IT MUST BE MOVIE NIGHT
In 1977, Bell Telephone let a small group of artists in Chicago experiment for a half hour with its new Picturephone, a chance to test it out as a medium of expression. Tonight, Bruce Posner, who curates the Howe's Ciné Salon series and who was there in 1977, reconvenes the two lead artists in the experiment, Kendal's Sonia Sheridan and Aldo Tambellini, who lives in Cambridge, MA. The original footage, plus their who-knows-what-will-happen reprise, 7-9:30 at the Howe.
According to Wikipedia, it's the 15th most expensive film ever made, and the most expensive in the Harry Potter series. Death Eaters run rampant, Voldemort (oops) is on the ascendant, Harry's got more on his mind than the future of the universe, Dumbledore... well, let's just leave it there. Except that you get to watch it in the comfort of a bar. Starts at 7.
You've actually got two chances: tonight at Woodstock Town Hall, thanks to Pentangle; and
. 7:30 at both.
Okay, let's plunge into this week together! See you tomorrow.
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