GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Believe it or not, slight chance of snow showers—mixing with rain this afternoon. There's already been some snow today at the highest elevations, and whatever does fall won't amount to much below 2,500 feet. Otherwise, we're looking at a mix of sun and clouds the rest of today, with temperatures maybe getting to 40. Winds from the west, mid or upper 20s tonight with a chance of snow showers overnight, as well.Body of missing Leb woman with Alzheimer's pulled from river. You may have gotten an alert yesterday morning sent out by the state police. It involved 76-year-old Mardrey Swenson, who was discovered missing by her husband in the early morning hours yesterday. Lebanon police quickly began a search, which was joined by fire department personnel, wilderness rescuers, NH Fish & Game, other agencies, and many neighbors. Around 1:30 pm, a fisherman alerted police to "a sighting" near the water treatment facility on S. Main Street. Rescue personnel retrieved her body about an hour later. Release at the link.Friday Leb school lockdown ends peacefully. The incident began when a woman whose child goes to Hanover Street School notified the VT State Police and then Lebanon police that her former partner, who lives in Vershire, had made "alarming statements" about harming himself, had firearms, and might be headed to the school—where, Leb police said in a press release, he went every Friday for a weekly singalong. Police saw his vehicle there Friday afternoon, with weapons, and spent two hours coaxing him out; both Hanover St. School and Leb High School were placed on lockdown, though many students had already left for the day. The man was taken to DHMC for evaluation, and later charged with two misdemeanors, the VN reports.Newbury won't get juvenile facility after all. In a letter last week (at the link), VT's Dept. of Children and Families notified town officials that, despite a ruling from the state supreme court allowing it to site a secure facility in town, it won't. Instead, DCF commissioner Chris Winters wrote, the agency is considering a program to offer a "home-like setting" for children with developmental needs who would not be involved with the state's criminal justice system. As John Lippman wrote in the Valley News over the weekend, "The sigh of relief in Newbury sparked by the DCF decision is palpable."SPONSORED: Free organ recital by Joy-Leilani Garbutt at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, Friday, April 5th at 7pm. Works by Nadia Boulanger, Cécile Chaminade, Joséphine Boulay, and other French women. Dr. Garbutt is an organist, musicologist, and ardent advocate for gender equity in music, and the co-founder of Boulanger Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting music composed by women. Hit the burgundy link or go here for more information. The concert is free and open to the public, 40 College St., Hanover. Sponsored by the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College.At DHMC, nurses launch union effort. "Over the years, nurses have been asked to do more and more with fewer staff and even fewer resources," birthing nurse Liz Joseph tells the VN's Frances Mize. "We are collectively coming together to have an equal seat at the table with administration." Though the hospital “respects the legal right of our nurses to decide whether or not they want union representation,” its chief nursing officer wrote Mize, executives, including CEO Joanne Conroy, are arguing that a union would stand in the way of "collaborative dialogue"—a concern nurse union reps at Springfield Hospital and UVM Medical Center dispute.Student mental health is "incredibly dynamic—there’s nothing that’s steady state through the term, let alone through the year." That's Dartmouth computer science prof Andrew Campbell, lead researcher on a team that tracked over 200 Dartmouth students for four years, amassing data on their activity, self-esteem, and moods. The study found that female students experienced greater stress and lower self-esteem than male students, and that self-esteem was lowest among new first-years, but rose over the course of their years at school. Dartmouth News' Morgan Kelly dives into the findings.SPONSORED: Scout Hair Design in WRJ throws a birthday bash to mark five years! Scout Hair Design owners Cori Skogerboe and Danielle Casa are inviting the community to cut loose, let their hair down, and help them celebrate five thriving years in business in White River Junction at their anniversary party on Saturday, March 23, from 6 to 8 pm in the salon at 129 South Main Street. Everyone is invited. Music by DJ Genderender, salon giveaways, delicious food, and specialty drinks and mocktails served up by Wolf Tree cocktail bar! Find out more at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Scout Hair Design.Ocean off NH part of area chosen for offshore wind development. On Friday, reports the AP's Patrick Whittle, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management delineated about 2 million acres off ME, NH, and MA for wind-energy growth that “avoids important areas for lobster fishing, North Atlantic right whale habitat, and other important fishing areas and habitats.” The ME Lobstermen's Assn says too many unanswered questions remain; environmental groups lauded the plan for avoiding "the most sensitive areas."Meanwhile, in NH, large solar projects languish as they wait for utilities to connect them to the grid. Utilities, writes Sarah Shemkus for Energy News Network (here via NH Bulletin) create "their own process for approving interconnection requests for projects larger than 100 kilowatts." With "no real obligation to hurry," as Sam Evans-Brown of Clean Energy New Hampshire puts it, solar panels installed by large companies are lying dormant and firms considering adding them are putting it off. “There’s just a complete lack of clarity and predictability around the process,” says one lawyer.As VT's "community schools" experiment gains traction, its funding may dry up. The idea, writes VTDigger's Ethan Weinstein, is to fund schools to take "an expansive understanding of the role [they] serve in the lives of students and their families" by doing whatever it takes—buying a mattress for a student without a bed at home, say, or standing up new project-based programs—to improve learning. A three-year pilot launched in 2021 supported five schools, including Bethel's White River Valley Middle School, and results, Weinstein writes, have been encouraging. The legislature's weighing whether to extend it.Yeah, yeah, Ryan Gosling. But did you catch the Savannah Bananas' second baseman? Today's music will be up here, rather than down below, because late last week, the legendary Savannah Bananas barnstorming ball club, a team known more for its choreography than its ball-hitting, were in Baton Rouge and, once again, went viral. Jackson Olson, the Bananas' second baseman and lead singer, started out in the stands for the game against their touring partners, the Party Animals. But then he launched into "I'm Just Ken"... Here's the play-by-play, in case you need it. The Party Animals won, 5-4.The Monday Vordle. With a word from Friday's Daybreak.
Heads Up
At 6:30 pm, both in-person at the Woodstock Inn and online via Zoom, there's a UN Commission on the Status of Women panel on the "challenges, achievements, and prospects encountered by women and girls in the post-pandemic era across Vermont." Organized by commission delegate and TedX-Hartland Hill director Deborah Greene, it will include state Senate Majority Leader Alison Clarkson, the past and current directors of the Vermont Women's Fund, and others.
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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