GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly sunny today. Enjoy it while it lasts. We'll have more sky than clouds for a good bit of the day, temps reaching the mid 80s, before an approaching warm front clouds things over and brings a chance of rain this evening and a likelihood overnight—with a chance of thunderstorms mixed in. Right at the moment, the weather folks expect rainfall tonight to be "rather lackluster," but it does usher in a week of showery weather. Lows in the mid 60s.It's gotta be a good omen, right? A striking rainbow cloud in Meriden the other day, from Jill Marshall.Hanover prosecutor charges 20 more in May 1 arrests, opts not to charge four. Altogether, reports Nora Doyle-Burr in the Valley News, Thursday's filings by police prosecutor Mariana Pastore bring the number of protestors charged to 55 out of the 89 arrested at the demonstration on the Dartmouth Green. Of the rest, 32 won't face charges—including Dartmouth prof Anneliese Orleck. “I am of course personally relieved to no longer be facing criminal charges,” she wrote Doyle-Burr last week. "But that does not erase the trauma of what happened to students, faculty, and community members."Woodstock schools settle bullying lawsuit. The agreement brings to an end a lawsuit filed by the parents of a boy who, the suit alleged, was repeatedly bullied, punched, and teased over four years based on other students' "perceptions of his sexual orientation and gender conformance"—and without staff acting "to deter, much less put a complete stop to, the harassment." The schools will pay $97,500 to the family without admitting wrongdoing, reports Mike Donoghue in the VT Standard. "The District disputes the allegations but is not interested in protracted litigation with families,” its lawyer says in an email. "Something’s fishy": Questions linger over Hartford schools' agreement with former superintendent. That assessment came from a Wilder resident at a school board meeting last week, in which attendees peppered board members over their decision to give former Supt. Tom DeBalsi $200K after he left the position earlier this month with a year remaining on his contract. The board, citing personnel matters, did not explain. At the burgundy link, the VN's Christina Dolan chronicles last week's testy meeting. Over the weekend, a VN editorial laid out a timeline and a raft of questions the agreement raises."We judiciously declined the bread board, only to change our minds mid-meal..." As you know, REDCAN opened in the former Trail Break space in early July, and as Susan Apel writes in Artful, reservations are already hard to come by. Still, she managed to snag one—at 5:30 pm on a Thursday—and reports that though the place has been "spiffed up a bit...it retains that come-as-you-are vibe that is part of White River Junction." As for the food: "Small plates, beautifully presented and tasty, with many vegetable-forward options. Pick a few to hoard or to share, and keep the menu at the table..." In Concord, Sununu signs bills affecting rights of transgender youth. In particular, reports Ethan DeWitt in NH Bulletin, the governor agreed to bills passed by the GOP-dominated legislature that bar students in grades 5 to 12 from participating on girls’ sports teams if they were labeled male on their birth certificates, and that prohibit medical professionals from performing gender-affirming surgery on minors. He also signed a bill allowing parents to keep their schoolkids from any instruction in public schools that features LGBTQ topics.In VT, free summer meals sites expand. Interestingly, reports VT Public's Lola Duffort, that's because a 2023 law requiring all public schools to offer free lunch during the school year has given schools a more accurate count of low-income students—which then lets them draw on federal funding for summer meal programs. Meal sites are now open at schools, libraries, community centers, and churches across the state, including at the Bradford and W. Fairlee public libraries, Tunbridge Central School, Bethel School, Hartford High, Sharon Elementary, and S. Royalton School. Full list is here.Jeezum crow! It's a show about "Jeezum crow"! Over the years, says VT Public's Mikaela Lefrak, Brave Little State has gotten any number of questions about the origin of the phrase—and now, finally, Lefrak is tackling it. Turns out it's something called a "minced oath"—and the earliest printed reference seems to have been in Vermont History mag in 1959. It was obviously in use before that, but despite some deep oral history research, including with former journalist Bill Mares, Lefrak can't find the origin—though "bird diva" Bridget Butler does suggest it might actually have to do with crows. Go figure.The Monday jigsaw. This week's puzzle from the Norwich Historical Society is actually of downtown Quechee in the early 20th century—with a water tower that's no longer there and a covered bridge and mill building (these days, it goes by "Simon Pearce") that still are.
Heads UpRockefeller Center hosts 2nd Congressional District Democratic candidates. The forum with Maggie Goodlander and Colin Van Ostern, who are running for the Democratic nomination, begins at 5 pm, both in-person in Filene Auditorium and online. There'll be a meet-and-greet starting at 6 pm.
And for music today, a follow-on from last week...
In last Monday's Daybreak, you might have noticed a history item by Mark Bushnell about Samuel Morey's less-than-successful efforts to commercialize the steamboat. That brought in an old song by local musician and historic map explorer Bob Totz—
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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