GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A summertime heads up. Daybreak will be off next week and the first couple days the week after. And looking ahead, there'll also be a break in July and the annual not-publishing work week in August. More details as the time comes.Sky and clouds to start, chance of showers this afternoon. There's high pressure headed this way for the middle of the week, but right now, the air streaming in from the northwest still holds plenty of moisture, bringing us today's mix of clouds, sun, and possible showers. Highs today in the upper 60s or low 70s, some patchy fog overnight, lows in the upper 40s.After the rain... It was a fine weekend for rainbows, eh?
Or this full-on, deeply satisfying arc over the Hartland landscape. "The clouds streaming out of it look like dirt, but maybe it’s streams of pollen?" Susan Reid writes.
And down in Bradford, NH yesterday evening, another intensely satisfying arc framing Lake Massasecum in the setting light, from Jonathan Steiner.
At Dartmouth graduation, celebration, protest, Federer—and a sea of umbrellas. The celebration focused on the more than 2,000 students who got degrees on a rain-soaked morning yesterday, writes Christina Dolan in a Valley News wrap-up of events. The protests, aimed at President Sian Beilock in the wake of the May 1 arrests, came in the form of a march around the Green, some students refusing to shake her hand, and a walkout during her address. But for many attendees, Dolan writes, "Federer, much like during his 24-year pro tennis career, took center court." She recaps events.
Federer had three key messages for graduates, Charlotte Albright writes for Dartmouth News: “‘Effortless’ is a myth"; perfection is impossible; the world is a big place. (And, per Dolan, above: He's eyeing turning pro at beer pong.) Albright also recaps Beilock's valedictory: "Remember the humanity of your colleagues, friends, neighbors, and understand their points of view, even when they’re in sharp opposition to your own."
While we're on Federer for a second, he didn't just hang out playing beer pong. On Saturday, he also spent some time at Storrs Pond with the Hanover High tennis team—the boys' team won the state D1 championship a couple of weeks ago. Photo by Boris Menkov.
In the VN's weekend edition, Dolan also recapped Beilock's "trying, tumultuous" year, both the highlights and the controversies. Beilock notched a series of new initiatives, Dolan notes, including a focus on mental health on campus, resolving a festering debate over housing by shifting the focus for undergrad units to W. Wheelock, accelerating the college's retreat from fossil fuels, a renewed emphasis on financial aid, and more. The controversy, of course, stems from her approach to Gaza-related protests and the college's tack on labor activism by grad students and the men's basketball team.
SPONSORED: Advance Transit (AT) invites you to our 40th Anniversary Celebration! It's on Saturday, June 22, 11 AM to 2 PM, at the AT Operations Center (120 Billings Farm Road, WRJ). Enjoy activities that will delight transit lovers of all ages: a bus ride through our bus wash, exploring the inner workings of buses with touch-a-bus, or a guided garage tour. There will be craft projects courtesy of RePlay Arts and an array of tasty offerings from the Sustainable Eats food truck. It’s a day for family, friends, and fun. Details at the burgundy link or here. Hope to see you there! Sponsored by Advance Transit.James Parker released on parole. The move came on Friday, reports the AP, nearly two months after the man convicted in the 2001 killings of Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop was granted parole in April. His release conditions bar any contact with the Zantop family, and corrections officials, according to WMUR, say he will remain under supervision until 2098. There is “not an amount of time or things that I can do to change it, or alleviate any pain that I’ve caused," Parker told the parole board in April. His accomplice, Robert Tulloch, faces a resentencing hearing this month.At 91, Lois Moore keeps the art of letter writing alive in Sharon. It's how she stays in touch, not just with family and friends, but with an array of pen pals, writes Becky Sabky in the VN. Sabky is one of them—Moore first wrote her in 2015, after a column on snail mail, and then just kept going. Writing 20-30 letters a week, "she might be the Upper Valley’s most prolific living letter writer," Sabky reports. Her vibrant letters and unwavering dedication to personal correspondence are how she remains social—and connected to her own past. “If anybody asks me what I’d like for a gift, I say postage stamps."SPONSORED: Now is the time to sign up for a family membership to Storrs Pond. Situated in a beautiful outdoor natural setting, only minutes from Main Street in Hanover. Come enjoy all the area has to offer! Whether it's swimming in our heated pool, fun for the younger ones on the splash pad and playgrounds, canoeing, tennis, hiking, or simply relaxing by the pond or poolside—SPRA has something for all ages! Early-bird rates end on Friday, June 14th so don’t miss out! Sign up today at the burgundy link or here, or call 603.643.2134 x3. Sponsored by the Hanover Improvement Society.In Norwich, a new bridge gets dedicated. Not for cars, though. Last year, a group of volunteers led by Norwich resident Don McCabe mounted an effort to replace a span over Blood Brook that would make it easy for kids to get from downtown to the town rec fields at Huntley Meadow. The original bridge—built in 1992 as an Eagle Scout project by Scott Miller—was destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene. Yesterday, the new bridge had its grand opening—and helping with the ribbon-cutting: Scott Miller. Demo Sofronas was there to photograph.Delving into the Post Mills landfill. "Townspeople are so accustomed to the existence of the landfill that we don't question why it came to be there," writes Li Shen in Sidenote. Last week, though, hydrogeologist John Brabant gave a presentation on just that: how what was once a gravel pit became a landfill in 1971 for trash from Thetford and nearby towns—and eventually from much of VT. "Anything from chemicals like paint stripper to barrels used for pesticides were undoubtedly deposited," Li writes, and since the '90s groundwater has been testing positive for contaminants. The town's discussing what to do.Speaking of threats, as cyanobacteria blooms become more common, here's what to know. For one thing, writes Claire Sullivan in NH Bulletin, you should assume they're producing toxins—toxins that can kill pets and in humans cause everything from rashes to liver damage and, in rare cases, seizures. “If you’re preparing to go camping out in the West, you learn about grizzly bears,” says a UNH biologist. “If you’re preparing to recreate on the waters in the Northeast...you have to familiarize yourselves with what these cyanobacteria look like.” Sullivan offers a quick tutorial. Still no warnings around here, but the number for NH lakes and ponds is on the rise.How a new database is helping VT understand how—and exactly where—species move across the state. In VTDigger, K. Fiegenbaum profiles Vermont Conservation Design, a project begun over a decade ago by Fish & Wildlife to map every block of interior forest, wetland, natural community, and vernal pool in the state, and how species inhabit and move through them. “The goal," says Fish & Wildlife's Jens Hawkins-Hilke, "is: These places function. They provide benefits to plants and animals and to people. Let’s maintain those functions in those places.” Fiegenbaum details how that knowledge is being used.A bizarre little mystery in Montpelier: Why did a legislator keep pouring water on a colleague's tote bag? Here's what's known, according to Seven Days' Kevin McCallum: Over more than a month, Democratic Rep. Jim Carroll of Bennington would hang his bag outside a committee room, then return to find it soaked. Eventually, he put up a video camera—and it caught images of GOP Rep. Mary Morrissey of Bennington pouring water on the bag. "It was jaw-dropping," says a colleague who's seen the footage. "It was bizarre. Why?" Morrissey now faces an ethics investigation. McCallum recounts the story.The Monday jigsaw. In keeping with yesterday's Dartmouth graduation, the Norwich Historical Society's Sarah Rooker offers up a photograph of how students arriving on the train in the old Lewiston section of Norwich, down by the river, would get to school. The photographer's back is to the river.
Heads Up
Back to class with engineering prof Vicki May.
In a talk that's open to the public as part of Dartmouth Reunions, May will offer up a discussion of how music, engineering, and earthquakes are related, and the power of building unexpected connections. She's known at Thayer for an approach to teaching that asks students to identify any problem they want to solve, regardless of topic or field, then works with them to figure out the engineering piece. From 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Filene Auditorium, Moore Psychology Building. No link.
And to ease us into the week...
Guitarist Spencer Lewis on the Seven Stars Arts stage in Sharon at last fall's
4 Guitars
Filmed by Chad Finer.
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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