Daybreak Monday, 6/15/26

Clearing, back to sensible temps. The rain and the cold front that produced it are moving eastward, trailing pleasant, (relatively) cool air behind them. So we’ve got a mostly sunny day ahead, with breezes from the northwest, highs in the mid 70s, and lows tonight around 50.

A “great migration season.” Etna photographer Jim Block sums up his latest collection of bird photos, filled with warblers (don’t miss the black-and-white warblers or the yellow-rumped warbler in flight) or, farther down, thrushes, sparrows, and more. Basically, you could just use this post as a bird ID guide for the region.

Three seek Orange County Sheriff’s post. Incumbent Sheriff George Contois isn’t seeking re-election, and two Democrats and one Republican have filed for the seat. Michael Tkac, who worked for the Hartland PD, and Sean McRae, a Royalton police officer, will compete for the Democratic nomination in the August primary, reports Darren Marcy in The Herald. Jacob Held, a corporal in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, has the GOP field to himself, barring a write-in. Contois, you’ll remember, defeated longtime Sheriff Bill Bohnyak, only to have most of the deputies and staff quit afterward, and to face dire financial challenges for the department.

Police investigate death at Eastman Pond. Friday morning, Grantham police were called out to the boat launch after receiving a call about an overturned boat with a possible body inside, reports WMUR’s Kendra Broddus; they found a body with a capsized canoe. Multiple agencies—the Springfield Police Department, NH State Police and marine patrol, NH Fish & Game, and Eastman Security—spent well into the afternoon at the scene, but no details beyond the initial report have been released.

The complicated story behind what seems like simple road work. You forget sometimes that each road has a backstory stretching from its origins to whatever condition you find it in today. In Sidenote, Li Shen goes into Latham Road in Thetford, the connector between Route 113 right by I-91 over to Rt. 5 just south of N. Thetford. Neglected for years, its northern end finally got repaved—but not asphalted—around 2016, only to have the remainder of the work put off. Then, in 2022, the entire road was paved—only cracks appeared last year. So it was chip sealed—only now, parts are crumbling… Li recounts what’s going on. Expect road work in July/August.

SPONSORED: This Sunday, dads play free at Paddleworks Pickleball! Celebrate Father's Day on the courts at Paddleworks Pickleball Club, the Upper Valley's only dedicated indoor pickleball facility! This Sunday, all dads play free all day. Join us for a full day of programming including Learn-to-Play sessions, Open Play, and a Father & Child Challenge. Whether Dad is a seasoned player or picking up a paddle for the first time, there's something for everyone. Come check us out, all ages welcome! Sponsored by Paddleworks Pickleball Club.

Remembering a transformative DH leader who “saw relationship building and human connection as essential to the institution’s success.” Jim Varnum, who led the hospital system from 1978 to 2006, died at 85 last month. In the Valley News, Clare Shanahan profiles him—not just pulling together the old Mary Hitchcock hospital and clinic and Dartmouth Med School to create the current medical center, or the creation of DHART, CHaD, and the foundations of the current DH network, but a leadership style that included parking each day in a satellite lot and riding the shuttle in with employees. “He treated everyone with respect no matter what their position was,” says a former VP. Along with Varnum’s story, Shanahan tells DH’s.

And remembering a photographer who caught a vanishing America—and the Central Vermont Railway’s Locomotive Number 707 in WRJ. David Plowden, who died at 93 in early May, grew up in Manhattan and on a family farm in Putney, and in the NYT (gift link) Alex Williams details how he became renowned “for his haunting black-and-white paeans to steam trains and other relics of a fading industrial age.” “I love photographing gears,” Plowden once said. “I love photographing machinery that took people to run. There’s nothing more beautiful than a shovel. Did you ever watch anybody shovel coal in a locomotive, or shoveling wheat? It seems almost like a ballet.”

SPONSORED: “Raise the Roof: 40 Years Strong” with UVLT on Saturday, June 27! The Upper Valley Land Trust invites everyone as it raises a beautiful new pavilion at the Ely Mountain Conservation Area in Thetford, VT. Join naturalists for guided walks, family-friendly activities, and hands-on exploration. Enjoy live music and bring a picnic; we’ll provide beverages and strawberry shortcake. We’ll even have free tethered hot air balloon rides, assigned by raffle. We know you love the Upper Valley and we do, too! There’s no admission charge. Sponsored by the Upper Valley Land Trust.

A quick guide to Upper Valley museums. In the VN, Liz Sauchelli pulls together days, hours, and addresses for everything from the American Precision Museum and Billings Farm & Museum to VINS and the Woodstock History Center Museum—with stops along the way at the Hood, the Montshire, various historical societies, and more.

SPONSORED: Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity thanks Oakes and Son Construction for generously providing all drywall installation for our Nutt Lane build in WRJ. Bob and Bobby were eager to support Habitat's efforts and their crews completed the work with top-tier quality. Their craftsmanship, professionalism, and commitment to our mission helped bring us one step closer to creating an affordable home for a local family. UV Habitat also thanks New England Gypsum for donating all the materials needed. We highly recommend both organizations for your next drywall project! Sponsored by Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity.

NH judge upholds allowing cellphone search that helped convict Logan Clegg. You probably remember that to find the murderer of Stephen and Wendy Reid in 2022, Concord police used a warrantless search to “ping” Clegg’s cellphone, thus tracking him down and finding the gun used in the murder. Back in March this year, the state Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court to consider whether allowing a warrentless search was justified. On Friday, Merrimack Superior Court Judge John Kissinger said it was—and that police would “inevitably” have found the evidence that led to Clegg’s conviction. The Union Leader’s Jonathan Phelps reports.

In a Mt. Mansfield rescue, a little lesson in calling for help early. Nothing dramatic happened in Saturday’s rescue of a woman in her 70s, as recounted by Stowe Mountain Rescue: Her digital mapping technology failed, she got confused, and “a combination of disorientation and exhaustion and the [late] time of day led her to play it safe and call for help.” A pair of rescuers “took an enjoyable hike along the ridge to go help her out.” But as they point out, “If she had held off from calling and soldiered on to the point of collapse, it would have been a full-team litter carry in the dark.” They raise two other points: always carry a battery pack and a paper map.

The Monday Jigsaw: Commencement at the Bema. Actually, it’s not one, but two puzzles this week from Cam Cross. They’re photos from the Rauner Library’s files, taken around 1910, when Dartmouth’s graduation ceremonies could still fit in the natural amphitheater. On his Curioustorian blog, Cam outlines the history of Dartmouth commencements—including the first, in 1771, to which Governor Benning Wentworth and a party of about 60 took “a wildly roundabout route” from his estate at Wolfeboro, camping for several nights. “It was that miserable trip that sent him home determined to cut a near-straight route from his Wolfeboro estate to Hanover,” Cam writes.

Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.

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HEADS UP
For starters, you might want to know that rePlay Arts is soliciting quilt squares. It’s part of a national 250th project in which artists and crafters are contributing to community quilts with a simple prompt: “My hope for America is….” rePlay writes: “This is a project for all of us — non-partisan, open-hearted, and rooted in hope. Whether you're a lifelong fiber artist or someone who's never made a quilt before, your voice belongs here.” They’ve got kits available. Squares due July 15.

At Dartmouth, “How to Protect Humans from AI.” In this “Back to Class” event that’s open to the general public, computer science prof Adam Breuer will delve into a key question: “How do we design cutting-edge AI tools that empower you without endangering your privacy and security, leaking your private information like your emails and medical records, or plagiarizing the writing and art you've shared on the internet?” He’ll get into new thought on legal frameworks, research, tech, and more. 4 pm in the Murdough Center’s Cook Auditorium.

Mel Allen hosted by Friends the Dunbar Free Library in Grantham. The longtime Yankee editor and writer tells stories from his new book, Here in New England: Unforgettable stories of people, places and memories that connect us all. Refreshments at 6:30, talk at 7 in Grantham Town Hall.

And for today...

Emma Björling and Skye Consort with “Körepolska”—and video of their tour last year, including through New England.

See you tomorrow.

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