Daybreak Monday, 2/16/26

Getting sunnier at some point. There was scattered light snow in some parts this morning, but still, high pressure’s in place and in theory we’re looking at a mix of sun and clouds today with highs reaching into the mid 30s. A disturbance is coming through tonight, bringing with it a chance of snow overnight—though with warmer air aloft, we’ll need to keep an eye on rain or freezing rain tomorrow morning. More on that then. Lows tonight around 20.

Snow halo. Over Holt’s Ledge from the Skiway last week, by Jean Miller.

Rabid bat in Strafford. Word went out about two weeks ago, reports Marion Umpleby in the Valley News, after state officials notified health officer Stephen Marx that a bat collected Feb. 4 after attacking a person in town had tested positive for rabies. State public health vet Natalie Kwit tells Umpleby the person’s being treated, but disclosed no details. “Since wild animals move and interact with each other, a rabid animal detection means there is circulation of the virus and a risk of rabies from wildlife in the greater town area,” Marx’s notice reads. Rabies has been on the rise in VT, Umpleby notes, with 2024 seeing a 74 percent jump in animals testing positive over the year before.

VT State Police investigate “suspicious death” in Corinth. Late Saturday night, the VSP writes in its release, police received a 911 call “reporting a man had been shot at a home on Richardson Road. State police responded and located a man unresponsive inside the residence. Emergency medical services personnel subsequently pronounced the man deceased on scene.” A preliminary investigation suggests the shooting “arose from a domestic dispute involving people who knew each another. Everyone associated with this matter is accounted for, and there is no identified danger to the public.” The VSP says it’ll release more details after further investigation and notifying relatives.

The Worthy cult. “Among the countless restaurants and bars across New England are a handful that veer off into cult status, places that inspire people to drive hours just for the type of memorable experience they offer,” Marc Hurwitz reports for NBC10 in Boston. So he made the drive to S. Royalton and Woodstock to check out Worthy Burger and Worthy Kitchen, and offers shout-outs to the burgers (“made with locally-sourced beef, cheese, and buns, along with various toppings and sauces”), friendly staff, “decadent” fries, and beer menus (“some of the best beers from some of the best breweries in the state”). “Chances are you’ll find it pretty hard to leave,” says Hurwitz.

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Haverhill appoints new town clerk, deputy. You may remember that last week, Carole Brooks-Broer abruptly resigned the post, with just weeks to go before town meeting elections. Her deputy had stepped down last year. After an emergency meeting Friday morning, reports Alex Nuti-de Biasi in today’s Journal Opinion newsletter, the selectboard has appointed Ivy Billard (who held the post in 2024-5) to take over for the purposes of the elections, with Dawn Burleson as deputy. "Please do not email the Town Clerk for any other purposes outside of the elections at this time," the announcement says. "They will not be monitoring other requests."

Safety concerns at proposed Twin Pines project atop Hartford selectboard agenda. The project is a 48-unit apartment building that would go up next to a much larger market-rate development just off Sykes Mountain Ave. But at a hearing Feb. 3, reports Clare Shanahan in the VN, residents citing drug use and other safety issues at current Twin Pines properties led the board to put off a decision on a $1 million grant to help finance the new project. Twin Pines director Andrew Winter told the board that issues at its Hartford Ave. property have “been among the most frustrating experiences of my professional career,” and that Twin Pines is evicting some residents and working with the Haven on addiction services. The board will take it up again tomorrow night.

CRREL scientists find 26 new species of microorganisms in ancient Alaskan permafrost. The microbes, which were in CRREL’s Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility in Fox, AK, were thawed and revived in Hanover: “There are these organisms that we didn’t even know existed that have been locked in frozen ice or permafrost,” says Robyn Barbato, leader of CRREL’s soil microbiology team. Or as the Miami Herald’s Ryan Brennan puts it, “These organisms survived the rise and fall of ice sheets, the extinction of megafauna and the entire arc of human history — all while sitting in frozen silence beneath the Alaskan ground.” CRREL press release here.

A look ahead at WRIF. As you might have noticed above, the White River Indie Festival starts up March 1 in WRJ, and in the Standard, Emma Stanton offers a preview of what’s coming—including Jim Zien and Samantha Davidson Green’s Meze on Main Street — A Love Story, a 30-minute documentary about the Tuckerbox and owners Vural and Jackie Oktay. There’ll be lots more, of course (here’s the schedule), including more local films, Hitchcock’s The Trouble with Harry, big-time films with Javier Bardem and Rose Byrne, and more. “I want folks to leave the theater saying, ‘Ah, movies — aren’t they magical?’” festival director Jordyn Fitch tells Stanton.

The NH Car Inspection Follies: More whiplash. On Friday, the state AG’s office announced that the state’s vehicle inspection program is “suspended until further notice.” This is because after the legislature ended the program and then a federal court said it must go ahead, the Exec Council said “nuh-uh” and refused to extend the state’s contract with the company that operates the program—meaning the state “has no approved vendor.” Mostly, reports Noah Diedrich in the Keene Sentinel, Granite Staters “agree that the recent flip-flopping is just plain confusing… ‘One day it’s one rule, then they change it the next day,’” says one Keene resident.

The Monday Jigsaw: Lake Hitchcock. That, of course, was the the long glacial lake that was left behind after the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated north starting about 15,000 years ago. It happens to be the subject of this Thursday’s Norwich Historical Society presentation, so the society’s Cam Cross is featuring it as this week’s puzzle. You can read much more about it in a Curioustorian post he did last fall.

Today's Wordbreak. With a word from Monday’s Daybreak.

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And for today...

A few months ago, jazz pianist and composer Hiromi Uehara—who usually just goes by Hiromi—was on Rick Beato’s YouTube show (“The Most Electrifying Pianist Alive”) he called her. That episode, while fun to watch, was over an hour. Here’s a much shorter segment, with Hiromi riffing on “Blackbird” and “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”—with the notes transcribed by Cornelius Tsen, who likes to do that sort of thing.

See you tomorrow.

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