Daybreak Thursday 1/14/21

GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

Pretty much more of the same. There's water vapor above and a weak disturbance passing through, yielding the faint possibility of a snow shower this morning. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, temps getting into the mid-30s again. Down into the low 20s tonight, no wind to speak of.Leb cemetery trustees back fence to keep out cyclists; turn down proposed path. You'll remember there's been some controversy over pedestrians and bike riders using Sacred Heart and Valley cemeteries as a cut-through between Pine Tree Cemetery Rd. and the Mascoma Greenway. City rec director Paul Coats and mountain bike advocates had proposed a path to steer people away from graves. But Tuesday night, reports the Valley News's Tim Camerato, the board of trustees voted to build a permanent fence along the Greenway side of the cemeteries and to axe the path idea.With students due to start arriving Sunday, Dartmouth warns it may impose "more restrictive" living conditions. The news came in an email to students yesterday from Provost Joe Helble, who tells The Dartmouth that it depends on where Covid cases go from here. "The possibility that things might have to change is higher at this point than it was a month to two months ago," he said. "We just thought it was the responsible thing to do to let everyone know conditions have changed.” Possible changes include closing common spaces, shutting down outdoor activities, and going fully remote for classes.Randolph jeweler adapts, expands during pandemic. Tom Ward owns Red Door Jewelers, and for much of the past four years he mostly sold wholesale to other jewelers; his shop, writes Ken Picard in a Seven Days profile, "was tiny and located on a one-way side street with ...virtually no foot traffic." He bumped along during the pandemic, but in October moved to much bigger space on Main Street. "I've seen more people in three months than I did in two years," he tells Picard. He's also become a licensed pawnbroker, which means his shop is a "financial institution" and, therefore, an essential service. SPONSORED: High school sophomores: Are you starting to think about college and/or career pathways? Many juniors and seniors across the Upper Valley spend half-days engaged in learning at the Hartford Area Career and Technology Center (HACTC), focusing on program-specific curriculum in their area of interest. Hit the maroon link or talk to your school counselor for more information about program offerings. The HACTC will accept student applications for the 2021-2022 school year starting March 5, 2021. Sponsored by the HACTC.About that ice skating... After two skaters fell through the ice on Canaan Street Lake recently, officials have warned people to use great caution. Safer venues include the trails on Mascoma Lake and Lake Morey. "On wild ice," a reader cautions, "conditions vary widely and can change abruptly, and there are potential risks on any water body including inlets, outflows, warmed rocks, drain holes, open water areas, and pressure ridges. On wild ice never skate alone, check conditions yourself, and carry a full set of safety gear, including self-rescue claws, testing pole, throw rope, flotation, and helmet." Here's more from the Mascoma Lake Skating Association and a video on checking thickness.“You don’t get to the Ivy League by being a fly-off-the-handle dummy.” That's Carey Gandy, "as far as can be discerned" the only Black player in Dartmouth varsity hockey history, explaining to Octopus Athletics blogger Tris Wykes his reaction to racist taunts he faced during his time on the ice in the early 1980s. Wykes profiles Gandy, who grew up in Alabama, captained his high school football, hockey, and baseball teams, and went on to become a triathlete after college. "I always thought it was more interesting that I was from Alabama and played hockey, not that I’m Black,” Gandy tells Wykes."A play is really just a blueprint. It takes actors to embody the characters you created." That's Deborah Yarchun, whose play, Drive, is about to get a staged reading as part of Northern Stage's New Works Now festival. Artful blogger Susan Apel talked to Yarchun about the play (about a community of truckers in Iowa who lose their jobs to self-driving trucks), readings, and Drive's larger themes. Yarchun says she's "become both fascinated and terrified by artificial intelligence and automation and how it’s going to affect society."Year over year, homes in Sullivan County saw biggest price increase in NH in December. The median price there rose 42.3 percent, to $222,000, reports NH Business Review's Bob Sanders. Of course, residential real estate in the whole state was hot last month. Normally, Sanders writes, things slow down in December. Instead, sales volume rose by nearly 50 percent. For 2020 as a whole, the median price of a single-family home statewide was $335,000, an 11.7 percent increase from 2019 and the biggest jump in price since 2002.Could Norway spruce become a songbird standby? This is interesting. On his Granite Geek blog, David Brooks notes that a US Forest Service study in Massachusetts has found that Norway spruce, an invasive species, supports as much songbird diversity as eastern hemlock. This matters, because the ever-advancing wooly adelgid has hemlocks in its sights. Researchers think the spruces' short needles, which are similar to hemlocks', make them more suited to mimicking hemlock habitat."We can gather people. We do logistics. We have ticketing systems that can be put to use." In a call with US Sen. Maggie Hassan and Rep. Annie Kuster yesterday, Nicolette Clark, director of Concord's Capitol Center for the Arts, told them performing arts venues are ready to serve as vaccination sites, reports WMUR. This came amid much concern that the new federal Save Our Stages funding may not be enough. Said LOH's Joe Clifford, "We're the home for up to 12 different community arts organizations in the Upper Valley. They call our stage home every year, and I don't know if they'll make it through."Meanwhile, NH hospitals and medical practices, already strapped, worry about what will happen when they help with the public vaccination effort. This was on a call with US Sen. Jeanne Shaheen yesterday, reports NHPR's Jordyn Haime, noting that as new groups of people become eligible for their first shots, hospitals and primary care providers will do much of the heavy lifting—and will have to divert staff. "What we're trying to avoid is shutting down our clinics and not offering that care, because [that will] lead more people to the emergency room, and cause more of an issue for the hospitals," says one doc.VT health department hopes to launch vaccines for older Vermonters next week. The state's vaccination effort, after shifting messages on priorities, is coming into focus, writes Derek Brouwer in Seven Days. Although its online reservation system probably won't be ready until the end of the month, it wants to launch vaccination clinics for people over 75 on Monday, and eventually start working backward by age. In the meantime, the state still hasn't completed the first phase, and some frontline workers—notably teachers—want better answers on when they'll be in line.“The Board has concluded that there could be some safety concerns with sending its own investigators..." That's Evan Meenan of VT's Natural Resources Board, explaining why it so far has not sent anyone to look into whether Slate Ridge, the now-notorious weapons training facility in W. Pawlet, needs an Act 250 permit to operate. Following up on VTDigger's original reporting about neighbors' fears about Slate Ridge and its owner, VPR's Nina Keck and Peter Hirschfeld take a long, deep look at the history of Slate Ridge, the state's concerns, and its owner, Daniel Banyai.VT GOP rifts go back a long way. In his first "Fair Game" column for Seven Days, Dave Gram uses the fight within state Republican ranks over the 2020 elections and the response to last week's violence at the US Capitol to explore the history of feuding between conservatives and moderates and to argue that it's getting harder to patch things up. "For the VTGOP, the marriage between moderates and conservatives has hit the rocks," he writes. "That may not mean the union is over, but some pretty tough couples counseling lies ahead." Does this mean Fair Haven won't have a pet mayor next year? You no doubt recall that Fair Haven, VT, first elected Lincoln the goat and then, last year, Murfee the therapy dog as "pet mayor." It was a fundraising effort for a new playground. Lincoln brought in $10K and Murfee raised $20K; the town says it's reached its goal (with some additional help from the state). It hopes to have the new playground in place by summer, reports WCAX's Olivia Lyons.“The level of athleticism that is demanded, and the sheer level of consistency and resiliency it requires, is just incredible." That's VT's Zach Caldwell, a member of the Caldwell family xc ski dynasty in the twin states, describing the Tour de Ski—"the Tour de France of skiing." It may have flashed past you this week that American Jessie Diggins won it (former Dartmouth skier Rosie Brennan came in 6th). But you might not really appreciate what went into that achievement. Outside's Ariella Gintzler lays it out. (Second item.)"The feeling of elation while shooting a photo like this is unmatched." You get why. Austin O'Connor captured a stunning photo of Yosemite from Taft Point last year, and it's one of the winners of the 2020 "best photos" contest by Strava, the California-company-born-in-Hanover that's a beloved part of bicyclists', hikers', runners', and general outdoors-people's lives. Winners and runners-up are on the company's blog, and there's plenty to get you ready to venture out there right now. What on earth are you sitting around reading Daybreak for? (Thanks, RW!)

So, about the numbers...

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Okay, vegetable soup, sure. But let's not forget chicken soup. Or to be more precise, chicken soup with rice. Or to be even more precise,

Carole King and Maurice Sendak's 1975 masterpiece for

Really Rosie

, the musical based on Sendak's Nutshell Library.

(Thanks, JG!)

In January it's so nice,While slippin' on the slidin' ice

To sip hot chicken soup with rice...

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