Daybreak Monday 2/26/24

GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

Partly sunny, upper 40s. That pretty much sums it up. We've got high pressure in place for a couple of days, along with temps rising well above normal—45 to 49 or so. A mix of sun and clouds, winds from the south to start, then shifting to come from the west. Down to the upper 20s tonight.The silhouette of things to come. Like a lot of people right now who have apple trees, N. Thetford's Jack Kruse has been out pruning. Only he's trying something different. Usually, the trunk splits into four or five branches about a yard up, aiming to keep the center of the tree open to air and light. But Kruse worries that also makes trees prone to splitting. "I'm trying to get the branches to stem from a central leader," he writes. "Though I'm no expert."Thetford police make arrest in gun incident. You may remember that almost three weeks ago, the department requested the public's help after a gunshot incident involving a "full-sized truck" at the intersection of Routes 5 and 113. Well, with help from witnesses and video—and police in Fairlee and Bradford, as well as the VSP—police on Friday arrested 68-year-old Steven Duffy of Fairlee after searching his truck and home. In a comment on their FB page, the Thetford police add that "the investigation revealed that the parties [in the incident] did not know each other." Duffy's due in court March 6.And while we're talking about police reports... The VT State Police are looking for help figuring out who shot "multiple houses, vehicles, and businesses" in Bethel with yellow paintballs late Saturday night.After last week's VT school funding changes, area districts postpone votes. Mt. Ascutney, Strafford, and Hartford have already done so, Christina Dolan reported in the Valley News on Saturday, and Hartland and Weathersfield—and no doubt others—are expected to follow suit this week. Other districts, meanwhile, have been finding ways to trim their budgets. It's all in response to H.850, which Gov. Phil Scott signed on Thursday, after a budget season "plagued by skyrocketing education costs and unprecedented levels of uncertainty about the tax impacts of school spending," Dolan writes."Mistaken identity" leads to online abuse, threats against DH physician. In an unusual press release, the hospital network reported Saturday that Andrew Spector, an ear, nose, and throat specialist at the DH clinic in Manchester, was "falsely accused of being a man who used a racial slur against a woman of color in a video clip that has gone viral on TikTok." Spector says that as a result, he and his family are getting threatening messages, and that "while I can appreciate that people rallied to support the woman who was targeted...the repercussions of spreading false accusations have been devastating."Somehow, that fake Biden robocall story manages to get even weirder. Last we checked in, a Silicon Valley startup and two Texas companies had been identified as being involved in the pre-NH presidential primary effort to interfere with the vote. Then, on Friday, NBC News—which has been pursuing the story—reported that a New Orleans magician "who holds world records in fork-bending and straitjacket escapes" says he was hired by a consultant working for the campaign of Democratic challenger Dean Phillips to make the imitation of Joe Biden's voice. Impossible to summarize: details at the link.Lebanon: "A small city bursting with creativity." WMUR's Chronicle late last week dedicated itself to Leb's art scene. Karen Meyers toured the redone Lebanon Opera House, which she calls the city's "anchor of the arts"— "The whole idea is to bring you into the theater, where the magic of the live performing arts happens," director Joe Clifford tells her; talks to city historian Nicole Ford Burley; swings by Linda Copp's Lebanon Ballet School—and City Center Ballet as dancers rehearse Giselle; visits AVA Gallery and its high school art show and other galleries; and talks to Kristine Flythe, the city's arts liaison, about Leb's goal to "let artists know this is the place to come."At the Hood: exhibitions "awash in sumptuous color". If you're looking for a jolt of visual inspiration as the weather continues to do this wavering not-winter-not-spring thing it's got going, Susan Apel's got some recommendations for you. In Artful, she visits two exhibits at the Hood: Gilded— Contemporary Artists Explore Value and Worth, with its collection of works that explore gold "and a sense of alchemy"; and Homecoming: Domesticity and Kinship in Global African Art, which offers "much to see and learn about quilting and the indigo plant responsible for the color blue."Hey, Peg and Amanda! How do you knit a stone wall in the middle of the woods? So... You know WRJ's Junction Fiber Mill? Well, it features in the syllabus for a new class at Bennington College, "Reading and Knitting the Forested Landscape". The name's a play on Tom Wessels' classic about how to read the forested landscapes of New England, and the class is exploring the "lasting impact of sheep on the Vermont landscape." It'll involve a field trip to Junction Fiber Mill—which, of course, turns the wool of VT and NH sheep into yarn—and knitting one of their knit-cap designs. Burgundy link goes to Peg Allen and Amanda Kievit's latest "Millcast" episode, where they announce this (at 21:15); here's the course description. (Thanks, LB!)The Monday Vordle. With a word from Friday's Daybreak. 

Heads Up

And to start off the week, we'll pound the keyboard.

Actually,

we

won't. The Boston Typewriter Orchestra will. Though the name's self-explanatory, here's how they describe themselves: "A collective endeavor which engages in rhythmic typewriter manipulation combined with elements of performance, comedy and satire. BTO aims to entertain the masses while providing an outlet for the creative urges of its members." They perform all over New England, and though they've been on national television, they've never cracked NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts, though they keep trying.

: For the first time ever, they use a Selectric.

See you tomorrow.

Written and published by Rob Gurwitt   Associate writer: Jonea Gurwitt   Poetry editor: Michael Lipson  About Rob                                                                                                  About Michael

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