GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Sunny and pleasant... during the day, anyway. A fine—if brisk—morning to start, leading us into the 50s this afternoon under bright skies. Then clouds will start piling in later in the day as a winter storm moves our way, building from the south. Things will start as rain tonight, mix for a while, become all snow for a time, and then—depending on where you are in elevation—probably transition back to rain in the morning. Snow will be wet and heavy, with strong gusts from the east overnight, so possible power outages.And what's all this going to amount to? Looks like a trace to a couple of inches around here, more in the mountains, zip along the coast.
Here's the expected snowfall for VT and the Adirondacks;
And for New Hampshire and Maine.
And as you can see in Mike Zwikelmaier's video, this pileated woodpecker in Sharon has absolutely been going to town on a fallen tree—and hoping someone notices.
Upper Valley food pantries seeing rising demand. It's pretty much across the board—LISTEN, the Haven, the Bradford food shelf, Vermont Foodbank—reports Nora Doyle-Burr in the Valley News. With federal stimulus and rental assistance help disappearing, plus rising gas, rent, and food prices, families are strapped, says LISTEN's Angela Zhang. Its food pantry saw 682 visits last month, up from an average of 550 visits per month beforehand.SPONSORED: Do we own our cars – or do they own us? Obesity, climate change, road and parking congestion, and high fuel expenses are just a few of the costs of our reliance on cars for getting around. How many car trips can you replace each week with bus, bike, e-bike, or carpooling? Find ideas on Vital Communities’ Earth Month page and in daily spots on 92.3 GLX-FM all this month. Next week, learn how investing in locally owned businesses helps the earth. Sponsored by Vital Communities.Sports venues on the docket.
"We’re not trying to build the TD Bank Garden, but [Campion] needs a facelift." That's former NHLer Ben Lovejoy talking to the VN's Tris Wykes about the Hanover Improvement Society's fundraising effort to reach a $5 million goal for renovating the venerable rink. It's got $2.8 million raised, and if it can raise another $1.2 million by the end of the year, has a promise of the remainder from the Byrne Foundation.
Meanwhile, Claremont's Moody Park is getting ready to open an 18-hole disc golf course this summer, writes the VN's Patrick O'Grady. The City Council agreed Wednesday to a $26K donation from Mike Lemieux, owner of Pine Hill Construction, for equipment and infrastructure to construct the course. It's been laid out, and volunteers will begin work in June.
"Younger, working, and first-time homebuyers are being priced and bid out of the housing market in Thetford and the Upper Valley." This is in sharp contrast to earlier decades, when the expanding Upper Valley job market went hand in hand with housing growth, writes Nick Clark in Sidenote. He gives a quick history of the region's growth and the rise of regulations to control it (especially Act 250 in VT). The result: A lot of people these days feel shut out of the market. (Extra reading: In the Canadian newsletter The Line, Jen Gerson gets scorching about why "a lot of young and merely young-ish people are incredibly pissed off" about the housing market.)"A danger to the community..." That was a federal judge on Friday ordering Wilder's William Hillard held in preventive custody pending future hearings. In case you missed it Friday or Saturday, Hillard had allegedly been making pipe bombs in his basement and "voicing threats of violence against neighbors, minorities and Democrats," writes the VN's John Lippman—as well as supposedly packing some of those bombs with screws and ball bearings, according to a police informant.National Guard copter airlifts injured snowboarder out of Presidentials. The 31-year-old Pelham, NH man had been snowboarding solo near the Great Gulf Trail on a run known as Turkey Shoot when he fell and slammed into rocks Friday. A nearby skier made his way over and activated an emergency beacon, and because the man was so badly hurt, NH Fish & Game requested helicopter help. He was taken to DHMC. "If not for the helicopter rescue, there would have been a distinct chance that he could have died from his injuries,” a Fish & Game official tells the Union Leader.As NH Senate takes up bill on exception to abortion ban, "testimony of the moms" looms large. In March, the House added an exception to last year's near-blanket ban on abortions after 24 weeks, allowing them in cases where an infant would not survive after birth. The reason, writes Annmarie Timmins in NH Bulletin: Testimony from women faced with carrying a pregnancy to term when they know the fetus has a "fatal anomaly." The Senate addresses the bill this week. "I’m a mother, and I can’t imagine the pain and the suffering some of these women are going through,” says one GOP senator.CSX/Pan Am rail merger approved. It's been a saga, but on Thursday the federal Surface Transportation Board okayed rail giant CSX's acquisition of Pan Am and its sprawling network of track throughout New England, including the CT River line south of WRJ. CSX has said it will spend more than $100 million over the next three years to improve Pan Am’s track, bridges, and yards "as well as its aging and failure-prone locomotive fleet," reports Trains.com. The board gave VT Rail Systems trackage rights between WRJ and Bellows Falls.Quick break here while I sneeze... If you're a spring allergy sufferer, you know already that we're headed into the thick of it. There may not be local pollen in the air yet, but there's definitely invasive pollen from down south, reports WBUR's Jack Mitchell (here via VPR). He's got tips. Best line, from a Boston allergist: "I can assure you that there have been thousands—or hundreds of thousands—of home antigen tests for Covid that have been burned through with people who wake up in the morning with a scratchy throat..."Back to woodpeckers... Just to bring things almost full circle. On her Naturally Curious blog, Mary Holland writes about Red-bellied Woodpeckers. "One of the best ways to determine if Red-bellied Woodpeckers have chosen to nest nearby is the presence of their persistent and distinctive kwirr call. It is given most often now, during the breeding season, when males try to attract a mate to their roost cavity or a partially completed excavation by calling to them."
Heads Up
If you have occasion to be on Spencer Street in Leb this week, its reconstruction is scheduled to resume. Sidewalk work, final paving, and improvements to the Rail Trail are all due to take place over the next few weeks.
And today at 5 pm, Dartmouth's Dickey Center hosts former CIA director John Deutch for a conversation about "America's Role on the World Stage." Livestreamed and also in-person in Filene Auditorium.
One more Monday tune? Oh sure, why not? Imagine Dragons with "Monday," released last fall. Sing it loud! "You are my Monday, you're the best day of the week..."See you tomorrow.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Writer/editor: Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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