GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Fog, clouds, chance of showers. But also sun. Take your pick. Also, highs today getting into the mid or upper 50s, with winds from the west. Things should clear out overnight, allowing temps to drop into the mid 30s.Rivendell voters spurn school budget. Saturday's vote wasn't especially close, Christina Dolan reports in the Valley News, with the $15.7 million budget going down, 240-143. In comments from the floor of the school meeting at the Rivendell Academy gym, voters argued the budget was too large for the four-town district's declining student population—despite the school board's current proposal to cut teachers and eventually close one of the district's elementary schools. The vote puts the district in an awkward position: The deadline for renewing teacher contracts is today, Dolan writes.In Haverhill, "I’ve never seen this town in disarray like it is now.” If you've been trying to understand recent events there—the vote to axe the town manager position, the recent resignation of the selectboard chair—you'll want to read Frances Mize's piece in the VN digging into the turmoil. Its roots, she writes, lie in tension over allocations to the highway department in Woodsville, one of Haverhill's villages, and former town manager—and current town administrator—Brigitte Codling's efforts since 2019 to recalculate funding. It's “like the North and South during the Civil War,” says Woodsville's administrator."This is going to look so similar. But it’s where I’m from.” As singer-songwriter Hans Williams starts to garner more attention, it's inevitable that he'll also draw comparisons to another Hanover High grad with ties to Vermont, Noah Kahan. In the Burlington Free Press, Brent Hallenbeck profiles Williams, who grew up in Norwich and is in the back half of a 26-date national tour (he'll be at Higher Ground in Burlington Thursday). Williams reflects on his influences—one of the first concerts his dad took him to was the Average White Band at the former Tupelo Music Hall in WRJ—and on why he's different from Kahan.Another hiker injured on Mt. Cube. Thursday's incident—the fourth since last summer—involved a 56-year-old woman from Merrimack, NH, reports NH Fish & Game, who slipped near the summit. Rescuers reached her around 5 pm and carried her down on a litter: "At least half of the 2.2-mile trail was snow and ice covered with deep snow in some areas, causing rescuers to post hole through much of the higher elevations," the department's release reads. The woman and her companion, they add, "were well prepared for a winter day hike and were wearing micro-spike traction devices."SPONSORED: Work Opportunity at Advance Transit Office! Advance Transit is hiring an Administrative Assistant who will play a critical role in supporting operations, from providing exceptional customer service to collaborating with colleagues across departments. Enjoy competitive pay, benefits, and a friendly work environment. Learn more about this exciting opportunity and apply today. Visit our careers page here, call (802) 295-1824 x207, email [email protected], or hit the burgundy link. Sponsored by Advance Transit.As it grows, Blake Hill Preserves wants to double its current Windsor space. "In recent years, we’ve been bursting at the seams,” co-owner Vicky Allard tells the VN's Patrick Adrian. And small wonder: The jam and preserves company has grown from 10 to 45 people since it moved to Artisans Park in 2016, and has quadrupled its production; it produced over 1 million units of preserves last year, Adrian writes. Now, the company is close to sealing the financing it needs to add a 6,700-square-foot addition to its existing 6,000 square foot facility using bank loans as well as state, town, and nonprofit loans.Dartmouth study finds diets high in seafood may boost PFAS exposure. “Our recommendation isn’t to not eat seafood—seafood is a great source of lean protein and omega fatty acids," Geisel epidemiology prof Megan Romano tells Dartmouth News' Morgan Kelly. "But it also is a potentially underestimated source of PFAS exposure in humans.” In particular, Romano and her team found, shrimp and lobster contained the highest concentrations of the family of human-made toxins. At the same time, a survey found that Granite Staters eat more seafood than average for people in the Northeast.Pawlet, VT dismantles Slate Ridge buildings, court rescinds Banyai arrest warrant. The buildings were the un-permitted structures at the center of the dispute between the town and Slate Ridge owner Daniel Banyai; all but one, the town's attorney said last week, are now gone. Banyai, who was arrested last month, was still in prison Friday on an aggravated assault charge from that arrest, and also faces an extradition request from New York State following a 2023 contempt of court conviction there. Meanwhile, Pawlet says it will move for compensatory damages for the cost of dismantling the buildings.Okay, it's officially spring: Joe's Pond iced out yesterday morning. At 4:02 am, if you want to be exact about it—which you do, because whoever guessed closest to the actual date and time stands to walk away with all or part of $6,974 collected a dollar at a time by the Joe's Pond Association. Ice out last year—that is, the moment when a cement block tethered to a clock falls through the ice, stopping the clock—was at 10:18 pm on April 17. WCAX's Jessica Tara has more on the Danville, VT tradition.The Monday jigsaw. Remember Sarah Rooker's jigsaw puzzle of an old photo from the Norwich Historical Society's collection? It drew such a great response that she's doing more of them. She writes, "As I drive over the Ledyard Bridge, I am often flummoxed by the lack of lines. Are there two lanes or one plus a bicycle lane? I can't tell and it's a guess each day. This photo is of two people who also seemed a bit flummoxed about right of way at the end of the bridge. Photo taken ca. 1900 at the intersection of what is today River Road and the base of Ledyard Bridge."
No music today.Sorry about that—just a chance to refresh things. This space back Wednesday.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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