WELCOME TO THE WEEK, UPPER VALLEY!
So here's my question: If it's a new week, then why the heck does it feel like last week out there? This time it's low pressure over Buffalo, and another low down to our south, and they're headed our way. We won't see much of anything until Atlantic moisture associated with the second low reaches us this afternoon or this evening or, maybe, overnight. The forecast says clouds all day, but I'm looking out the window and that's definitely sunshine and singing birds. Still, highs only getting into the low-to-mid 50s, dropping into the 30s tonight. We should see mostly rain overnight, but there could be some snow toward morning and there's a decent chance of snow on the peaks tomorrow when you wake up. Dartmouth student missing since Saturday on Mt. Moosilauke. Arun Anand, a senior, never made it back to the Ravine Lodge after a college-sponsored hike. Search teams, including K-9 Search & Rescue, the Upper Valley Wilderness Response team, and helicopters from D-H and and the Army National Guard, combed the area overnight Saturday and all day yesterday. They called the search off last night, and will resume this morning.VT State Police shoot, kill wanted Bethel man in Tunbridge Saturday night. Jeremy Potwin had been on the run in recent days, after violating conditions of release stemming from a conviction in a fatal 2017 car crash. State police learned he was in a home in Tunbridge, surrounded it, and began negotiations. After several hours, Potwin emerged with a hostage, pointed a gun in the direction of officers, and was shot. (VN, subscription reqd)Junction magazine needs a new guiding spirit. For three years or so, James Napoli put out his highly personal take on arts and culture in and around White River Junction. It was a mix of interviews, photographs, quirky asides about the news, and actual events sponsored by Junction. He wanted it to grow, but as he wrote in a newsletter post to readers yesterday, "life, as it often does, had other plans: a divorce, an autoimmune disease, a new love, a new job. And now I'm leaving Vermont to start a new chapter at Minnesota Public Radio." He doesn't want the mag to die. Anyone?Lebanon Farmers Market goes sustainable. If you've ever been to the popular Thursday market (and if you haven't, what on earth is keeping you?), you know what those trash bins look like after a few hours. As Pat McGovern writes in a FB post, the market's mission is "to support local growers and producers . . . not to fill the landfill." So Jessica Giordani, the market's manager, and Marc Morgan, the city's solid waste manager, have taken matters in hand. There'll be no styrofoam containers, and take-out containers will be compostable -- food and paper waste will head to compost as well. There'll still be disposable cups, but they'll eventually become outdoor furniture. They're trying to put together a team of volunteers to make this all work.Sunrise on Mt. Washington. You may remember yesterday as nothing but clouds, but just as the sun was coming up, from atop Mt. Washington you could see it passing through a narrow ribbon of clear sky between the horizon and the morning's low-hanging cloud layer. The observatory caught it. As they said, "When you only get to see and maybe 'feel' the sun for a few minutes before it rises above the clouds, you don't miss it!" Here it is on their Instagram feed. (Thanks to Jonathan F. for the tip.)Border agents being transferred to US-Mexico border; NH, VT, NY businesses worry about crossing delays. Canadian tourists coming south form a big part of the summertime economy throughout the region. But Customs and Border Patrol is sending some 730 agents to the southern border to deal with the influx of Central American families there. Businesses worry about the effect just as the season is getting underway, and members of Congress have gotten in on the act. "Moving Customs and Border Protection personnel away from our northern border has the potential to impact U.S.-Canadian commerce and tourism just as we enter the busy summer months," says NH's Rep. Annie Kuster.Meanwhile, NHPR is going to spend the week looking at the state's worker shortage. There are something on the order of 900 unfilled positions in the D-H system, and the problem is not just in healthcare, nor just in the Upper Valley. New Hampshire has a workforce shortage, and all this week on The Exchange, host Laura Knoy will host a series of guests looking at healthcare, manufacturing, tech, and why Granite Staters stay or leave. It airs from 9-10 am and again 7-8 pm on weekdays.Just in case you're anywhere near Concord this afternoon: The Pats' Super Bowl trophy will be on display at the Statehouse. Did you know the thing goes on tour? It'll be in the Executive Council chambers from 3 to 5. VT plastics bill hits "trifecta," would be toughest in country. The measure, passed by the House on Friday, would ban single-use plastic bags and polystyrene takeout containers, and require restaurants to refrain from using plastic straws unless asked. The bill passed 124-20, and supporters, like VPIRG, are delighted. "It would be the greatest single law in the country to really address this problem of single-use plastic pollution,” says the group's director. Opponents worry that it'll harm small businesses and, as one says, "put the sign up, in neon this time, saying we’re not open for business here in Vermont.”VT tourism department tackles state's diversity problem in new series of ads. You saw last year's SNL skit, right? Seems like it struck a nerve. Vermont's not only the second-whitest state in the country (after Maine), but it has a reputation for not always being welcoming of people who, as VTDigger puts it, aren't "able-bodied white people striding across mountaintops." So the state's tourism and marketing department is rolling out a new series of ads across the country. “The spectrum of physical abilities, ethnicity, skin color, family unit, sexual orientation, etc. … you’ll start to see some of that represented in our advertising campaign moving forward,” says the commissioner. The state's also trying to figure out ways of getting some of those visitors to stay.SO WHAT'S ON FOR TONIGHT?You could decide to learn how to make round things out of metal. Tonight's the first of four "Metals 101" classes at the League of NH Craftsmen in Hanover that are focused on rings of all kinds. Silver stacking rings, earrings, forming, forging, soldering... If it's round and adorns the human body, you could learn to make it. Just a handful of spots left. 6-9 pm.Or you could go see Dark Money at Mascoma Valley HS. I don't want to be the bearer of bad tidings, but it turns out that money plays a role in US elections. The film, which began life last year as a PBS documentary, starts off with a legislative candidate in Montana who's the victim of a mysterious, vicious leafletting campaign against him, then dives deep into the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, the plight of reporters trying to trace corporate influence on campaigns as their newsrooms are shuttered, and just how hidden that influence is. The evening's sponsored by Upper Valley Democrats and Mascoma Forward, and the film is followed by a panel discussion. 6:30 pm."A Brigadier General's War to Remove Mental Health Stigma." You may remember last week's item about the opening of the "99 Faces" exhibit at DHMC. Army Brigadier General Donald Bolduc, a Green Beret, served eight combat tours and tried to tough out PTSD. It didn't work. He and his wife, Sharon, eventually became evangelists, as the NYT put it a few years back, "for letting soldiers know that it is all right to get help for brain injuries and mental health problems." This evening, the Bolducs will keynote the "99 Faces" opening, along with remarks by former NH Sup. Ct. Justice John Broderick (now a director of external affairs at D-H) and U.S. Rep. Christopher Pappas. 5-7:30 pm at DHMC.Whatever you do, have a great start to your week. See you tomorrow.
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