Daybreak Monday 7/6/20

HEY, WELCOME BACK, UPPER VALLEY!

Warm but drier. A weak cold front came through last night, trailing somewhat cooler, drier air in its wake. Which should add up to a pretty darn nice day today: maybe some fog to start, but turning sunny, temps reaching the low 80s, low humidity, winds from the north. And enjoy tonight: It may be our last one with decent overnight lows—high 50s—before the week's heat and humidity start building in.Hats off to you, Travis's dog. Late last week, Lebanon photographer Travis Paige was taking his dog out for its before-bed rounds when he looked up and noticed the moon and its light having a serious conversation with the clouds. He charged back in, grabbed his camera and a tripod, fiddled with the shutter speed, and played around until the mosquitoes finally drove him indoors. But not before he got these...Okay, back to earth...

Windsor principal sues school board. Tiffany Riley, the principal placed on administrative leave after objections to her Facebook post on the Black Lives Matter protests, contends the board made defamatory remarks and violated her free speech and due process rights, Katy Savage reports for the VN. Part of the case will revolve around whether or not Riley's been fired. “It is pretty difficult to file a wrongful termination suit when someone hasn’t been terminated,” school superintendent David Baker tells Savage. “I will leave that up to the lawyers to figure that out.”Northern Stage. Salt Hill Pub's wait staff. Town greens. The drive from Thetford to Chelsea... The other day, Katie MacRae started up a thread on the Upper Valley VT/NH FB group asking people what they appreciate about the Upper Valley. The answers flooded in. Local nonprofits. The region's incredible trail network. The "many wonderful, giving and kind people who sacrifice time or money to help add value to our community." Farmers markets. Town road crews. The night sky. You'll have to be a member of the FB group to see the thread, but not to come up with your own list.Enfield food scene shifts. Ziggy's pizza is expanding beyond its West Leb and Sunapee spots to open a new spot in Enfield, the VN's John Lippman reports, based on a June Facebook post from owner Dan Proulx. It will be on Route 4, near Pellegrino's, in the spots once occupied by Movie Market video and the Family Pharmacy. Meanwhile, Lippman also notes that the Baited Hook, which never opened for the summer, appears to be closed for good: Its website has vanished and the phone's disconnected. (2nd & 3rd items)"Why Ghislaine Maxwell chose New Hampshire." Aargh, this one's paywalled, but it has to be one of the most deliciously harebrained pieces of Granite State reporting ever produced. It's in The Telegraph, the UK paper. "If there is such a thing as an American aristocracy, New Hampshire is its go-to spot," the author writes. Also, JD Salinger grew up in NH. People on vacation like "crawfish dipping." Power boats and jet skis "are forbidden in most places." "The state is home to political bigwigs including Republicans [Mitt] Romney and Kelly Ayotte." "Strike out on a direct route east from Ms. Maxwell’s home in Bradford and you arrive at Kennebunkport, seaside location of the Bush family compound" and "a discreet haven for boat lovers." Oh, and the state's "very limited dining-out options are for basic, traditional diner fare." Ouch."Figuring out how to handle difficult situations is what grown-ups do. And at the moment, New Hampshire is looking pretty grown up." That's the Monitor's David Brooks, summing up the last week of coronavirus stats for the state. Yes, masks, social distancing, etc need to continue. The average number of new cases is falling, and the positive rate of tests remains below the 5 percent warning threshold. He notes, though, that the number daily tests is falling short of the goal for the state.  Don't make life harder for search and rescue teams. That's the summer message out of NH Fish & Game. “This summer, people hiking must be aware of safe social distancing, their physical limitations, weather conditions, and they must know when to turn back,” Law Enforcement Chief Colonel Kevin Jordan writes in a statement. “This is not the time for challenging hikes or dangerous backcountry adventures in ever-changing weather conditions." Also, you know this already, but bring a map, warm clothing, extra food and water, etc...Is VT's "masks recommended" stance responsible public policy? Face masks are not mandated in the state; Gov. Phil Scott instead wants a campaign to "encourage" Vermonters to wear them. But that's "shunting it down to the local level,” says Democratic candidate Rebecca Holcombe, and putting the onus on local businesses who are faced with customers "who assume that if it was important to public safety, the governor would have said so.” Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman argues that Scott is "trying to have it both ways, but I don’t think that’s acceptable in a pandemic.” VTDigger's Colin Meyn parses the argument.First it was bikes, now it's everything outdoors. Retailers of canoes, kayaks, fishing tackle, hiking gear, camping equipment, guns, and pretty much everything else people use outside are having a banner year, VTDigger reports. “It’s a flatout gangbuster,” says Joe Henry of Umiak Outdoor Outfitters, the canoe/kayak store in Stowe and Williston. “We’re dancing everywhere we can to try to find product to bring in the store because the demand is there." So, what to do with that brand-new fishing tackle? Well, for the first time, VT Fish & Wildlife this summer is offering a series of "Fish With a Warden" sessions. "These informal Q&A sessions will begin at water’s edge with an overview on the ecology of the lake and its fishing regulations as well as the species of fish present and how to find them," they say. Closest one to here is on July 23 on Baker Pond in Brookfield. Ticklenaked Pond to come off "impaired" list. That's the list of Vermont water bodies harmed by phosphorus runoff, and the pond in Ryegate—just up the Boltonville Road, not far from the P&H Truck Stop at the Wells River exit—will be the first to come off, thanks to years'-worth of efforts to reduce runoff and nutrient pollution. Nature's already weighed in: Fish populations have improved, and loons returned a few years ago. And what the heck, since we keep talking about water, why not look at some? William Daugherty and his drone were out above the sparkling Connecticut around Sumner Falls in Hartland over the weekend, flying fast and low."I thought you might enjoy seeing Clara-Belle the Calliope in action," Thom Wolke writes. The former Claremont Opera House director and current artists' manager took her out for her own Fourth of July parade down Main Street in Plainfield after the town had to cancel its long tradition. "She brought a few smiles to people hanging out there, before she headed over to the neighborhood of Meriden on the east side of town, and then down to the Cornish Flat before she tuckered out and took a well-deserved nap." How often do you get to start your week with a calliope?How could a star just disappear? So there's this massive star in a different galaxy that astronomers have been studying for decades, and one day last year they noticed it wasn't there any more. Ordinarily, of course, you'd expect it to go out in a flash of brilliance as a supernova. But in this case... nothing. One theory: It turned into a black hole without all the drama. Or it's obscured by cosmic dust. Or maybe it wasn't a star, but the afterglow of an older supernova. It's a fine little mystery, and pretty soon the Hubble will be on the case. News that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:

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Here's Joni MItchell, Roger McGuinn, and Bob Dylan, hanging out at Gordon Lightfoot's house in 1975 during Dylan's Rolling Thunder tour,

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