GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Okay, yeah, the wind chill's -5, but it'll be sunny! Those were some squalls last night, eh? But today, a quiet, mostly clear day, temps climbing into the upper teens before dark. They'll keep rising tomorrow and it looks like some major wet precipitation's headed our way over the weekend, so if you're a skier, today's a perfect day to get out there. Winds from the northwest and north.You'll notice something new below. Until now, Daybreak's relied solely on the incredible generosity of readers to keep going. It's been crucial, heartening support, but hasn't proven enough to keep the newsletter sustainable. So I'm happy to say that the Hopkins Center for the Arts has become Daybreak's first sponsor. Support from readers — and there are now over 3,000 of you — is as vital as ever, but Daybreak needs more than one stream of income to keep it viable and growing. I hope you'll welcome the Hop from time to time as I do.Suspect in Colson disappearance, murder sent to federal prison on firearms charge. Richard Whitcomb, of WRJ, was sentenced yesterday to 37 months for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The charges stem from the continuing investigation into his involvement in 19-year-old Austin Colson's disappearance two years ago. Colson's remains were eventually found in a Norwich barn in May, 2018. “He’s not sentenced for the crime we want at this point,” Colson's father, Dana, said after the sentencing. (VN)The Norwich Planning Commission is holding the first of two public meetings tonight on its new town plan. It's designed to put the town in synch with the Two Rivers Ottauquechee Planning Commission, the regional body that rejected Norwich's 2018 plan. But perhaps even more striking, the plan's only half the length of the 2018 version. Tonight's meeting is at 6:30 downstairs in Tracy Hall, as is Monday's. (Ignore that "Brattleboro Planning Commission" header that might show up in your browser. The internet is weird.)JAG announces JAGFest 4.0 lineup. Each February, the WRJ-based company devoted to exploring and nurturing African-American theater invites playwrights and actors to spend a week here showcasing and getting feedback on works in progress. This year's version will be the largest yet, with five plays — including one by Burlington's Isaiah Hines — getting readings before audiences at the Briggs and, for the first time, the Hop's Bentley Theater. SPONSORED: Move over, Wes Studi. You know him from his lead roles in Dances With Wolves and Geronimo, but Wes Studi may soon be eclipsed by his niece and fellow actor/activist DeLanna Studi. DeLanna has been garnering acclaim for And So We Walked, her solo show about her Cherokee heritage and the Trail of Tears. She comes to the Hop tomorrow and Saturday. You'll laugh and cry and wonder as she embodies dozens of different characters across ages, genders, and time periods. Sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Thanks, Hop!Just so you're aware of it, there's a chance of major icing this weekend to our north. At the moment, the map's not showing it reaching much closer than Chelsea, but keep an eye on things over the next day or so.Sunrise in Thetford. Susan Warner was on her way out the door first thing Tuesday morning when she caught this. Holy cow! Thanks, Susan! On its first day in session, NH House approves "red flag" bill. The controversial measure would allow family members and law enforcement to petition a court to confiscate a person’s firearms due to his or her mental state; the court would have final say. Meanwhile, the Senate by a voice vote backed legislation to expand net metering options for municipalities and others in the state, mirroring a House bill that was vetoed last year by Gov. Chris Sununu. NH "regional outlier" on clean energy and climate change. That's the thrust of a piece by Lisa Prevost for the Energy News Network, citing Sununu's declaration that the state will not participate in the Transportation and Climate Initiative, its reluctant participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, his veto of the net metering bill, and the state's modest renewable portfolio standard. She does point out, however, that NH is helping lead the way on offshore wind, and towns are forging ahead on their own clean energy plans.VT road deaths down 30 percent in 2019, officials puzzled. The Times Argus reports that 47 people died last year in 44 crashes. That compares to 69 deaths in 2018 and 70 deaths in 2017. Lt. Tara Thomas, commander of safety programs for the state police, says the reduction is “unexplainable.” "We wish we knew what the formula was to keep the numbers down," she tells reporter Patrick Mcardle. But adds, "47 is still too many."
Tim Ashe to run for lieutenant governor in VT. The dominos are starting to fall in the wake of VTDigger's report yesterday that current Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman intends to run for governor. Ashe, the Senate president, told Seven Days, “My plan is to run for lieutenant governor. It’s the right time for me to take on a different challenge and take some of my skills and bring them to [a] statewide approach to these issues.” Vermont Natural Resources Council, Scott administration propose to do away with Act 250 regional commissions. The environmental group and the state officials met through the summer to craft updates to VT's landmark land-use law, and unveiled them Tuesday before a legislative committee. In place of the commissions, whose members are appointed by the governor, they propose a professional board with regional reps. Some legislators are uneasy with the idea of axing what Newark GOP Rep. Paul Lefebvre called "basically what a lot of people say is the avenue where they can have some local say in projects."Brattleboro Retreat closure "not imminent." After meeting with the mental-health facility's executive team yesterday, Secretary of Human Services Mike Smith told Seven Days last night, "We all agreed that finding a path forward to return the Retreat to fiscal stability was the goal." The meetings came in the wake of a weekend of competing statements, including musings from the Retreat's leadership that they might close or sell the center if it does not get further state aid.How bees argue. An intriguing look on the blog OvercomingBias at how swarming honeybees choose a site for a new hive. It starts with scouts, some 300-500 of the most experienced bees in the swarm, who go off to check out the possibilities, then return to the swarm cluster to "dance" out directions and recruit other bees to go check it out and then tout it to still other bees. Eventually, one site gets enough bees interested in it that it wins, and usually — at least according to the book Honeybee Democracy — it's the best of the possibilities.
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SO, ABOUT TONIGHT...
Hart teaches history at St. Andrews, in Edinburgh, and though she's Scottish, she specializes in early American history and in particular in urban history and how the spatial and physical characteristics of early markets illuminate the different paths taken by capitalism in the British Atlantic world. 5 pm in Rocky 01 at Dartmouth.
Mares teaches anthropology at UVM, and last April published
Life on the Other Border
, a detailed look at the lives of farmworkers who help put food on Vermonters' tables. Because of their fear of the Border Patrol, they tend not to do their own shopping, relying on employers and in general eating more poorly as a result. "It's this big sort of contradiction that...individuals who are providing our food security themselves are having challenges accessing food," she told Seven Days last year. 6 pm.
. Renée Zellweger just won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Judy Garland in this first film of the Hop's 2020 slate. Most of the film is set in 1969, by which time Garland was broke and basically homeless, and reluctantly booked a gig at a nightclub in London. Zellweger, said Fresh Air reviewer Justin Chang, gives an "intensely felt, go-for-broke performance." 7:30 pm.
Or you could trade in that Ravensburger 60-piece "Puppy Party" for something a little more difficult and au courant.
You know those old jigsaw puzzles you look at from time and time and think, "I could use something different"? The Upper Valley Jigsaw Puzzle Exchange Meetup is meeting at the Kilton in West Leb to, well, exchange puzzles. "Bring all the puzzles you would like to trade in for new ones. I encourage you to let all your family and friends know about this event so they can trade their puzzles too," the organizer writes. 7 pm.
Have a fine day out there! See you tomorrow.
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