Daybreak Thursday, 10/1/26

Patchy fog, some sun. Once the fog clears, the morning looks most promising today for at least a little sunshine, with clouds building in later as a disturbance moves through from the west. But at least southern air began taking over yesterday as high pressure moved in from the Mid-Atlantic, so we should see highs getting into the low 70s. Lows tonight somewhere around 60.

Sometimes in the fall, it pays to look down. Two colorful views of the ground at our feet: Ferns, moss, and fungi in Lyme, from Sara Kate Moore, who writes that the recent chillier temps and rains “are no deterrent”; and the play of fallen leaves and sunlight on the ground in Strafford, from Annemieke McLane. Both at the same link.

In Lebanon, workers need almost double the statewide hourly wage to afford the median rent. In plain numbers, Ethan DeWitt writes in NH Bulletin, that’s $47.06 an hour—more than nurses and electricians average, and well more than the statewide average median hourly wage of $25.29 (as of June, 2025). Those stats top DeWitt’s article on an unsettling statewide phenomenon: “As median home prices continue to hit record highs, workers in the Granite State are increasingly being priced out of the cities they serve.” In fact, in all but two of the state’s cities, according to a new report, median rent exceeds median wage. DeWitt digs into the issue and why it’s arisen.

With Hartford police spread thin, Gory Daze Parade organizers look to arrange safety coverage themselves. In the past, writes the VN’s Sofia Langlois, two HPD officers have bracketed the Halloween parade through WRJ, which typically attracts about 1,500 participants and onlookers. But at Tuesday’s selectboard meeting, town officials made clear they have little appetite for it, given coverage needs elsewhere—and co-organizer Chico Eastridge tells Langlois that the cost has gotten too high. Instead, organizers are hoping to find traffic barricades on their own and to get volunteers trained and certified as flaggers. “I think we can pull it off,” Eastridge says.

Speaking of police… and the courts, and fires, and mayhem in general, the VN is introducing a new monthly roundup of the various cases that reporters Alex Ebrahimi and Sofia Langlois are following. The first one went up last night, and it gives quick rundowns of everything from a car crash and an attempted murder/suicide in Newport, NH to the ongoing mysteries of antisemitic graffiti in Lebanon and the Hartford Point Cemetery car fire and death to a grand jury indictment for a January kidnapping case to a human trafficking investigation. Plenty more at the link.

SPONSORED: Connecting the Upper Valley through art. Art connects, inspires, and deepens community ties. This season, UV Arts For All, powered by the Upper Valley Arts Alliance and the Upper Valley Business Alliance, is making it easier than ever to experience the region's vibrant creative scene through free and affordable programming. Explore upcoming events and discover local art opportunities at the burgundy link or uvarts.org. Sponsored by the UVBA.

Lab fire at DHMC put out quickly, but effects could linger. The fire in the Williamson Research Building triggered an alarm yesterday morning around 6:26, and Lebanon firefighters arrived shortly afterward. They found a fire involving lab testing equipment. “The building's automatic sprinkler system activated and contained the fire to the area of origin,” the LFD says in its press release. However, as Alex Ebrahimi writes in the VN, the lab, which tests patients’ blood samples and swabs, sustained damage from water and smoke, and the hospital is still assessing whether and which samples may have been contaminated.

Sheep, wool, weaving, herding, shearing, lambs, alpacas, scarves & socks, fiber art of all sorts, shepherd talks… They’ll all be at the Tunbridge fairgrounds this weekend, as the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival settles in for its 38th annual appearance, writes Dave Celone on his Upper Valley VT/NH Musings substack. He caught up with Peacham weaver, dyer, and part-time Honey Field farmworker Jane Woodhouse, one of the festival’s co-organizers, to talk about what’s ahead, including lots of demos, food from 11 vendors, live music coordinated by Royalton Community Radio (which will also supply the parking volunteers), and plenty more.

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Democratic NH lawmaker challenges House GOP leader to fistfight; won’t resign. The reason Portsmouth Rep. Ned Raynolds gives is that House Majority Leader Jason Osborne didn’t condemn last week’s call by a group that controls the X account of the Libertarian Party of NH (not to be confused with Granite State Libertarian Party) for Democrats’ assassinations. “No weapons, no posse — just you & me,” Raynolds wrote to Osborne. “We’ll stop traffic, and I’ll put you on the ground and rub gravel in your face.” GOP leaders have called on Democratic leader Alexis Simpson to condemn Raynolds, who is not running for reelection. The Globe’s Steven Porter reports.

NH drivers could lose licenses for out-of-state violations. That’s because six weeks ago the state DMV joined a national Driver History Record platform run by the association of state DMV administrators. The system alerts the DMV of court defaults, convictions, license suspensions and other “unresolved” matters, reports the Monitor’s David Brooks (here via NHPR)—and as a result, the NH DMV has now sent notifications to over 700 NH license holders that they’ve got 30 days to resolve the issue with the other state if they want to keep their license.

SPONSORED: Nordic-Celtic chamber folk ensemble Skye Consort & Emma Björling coming next week! Chandler Music Hall in Randolph will host Skye Consort, featuring vocalist Emma Björling, on Thursday, Oct. 8th. Blending Swedish, Québécois, and Celtic traditions with baroque flair, this award-winning ensemble delivers whirling polskas, groovy reels, and passionate love songs on nyckelharpa, cello, bouzouki, and fiddle. Take a quick listen here, and don't miss a night of lush vocals and trans-Atlantic chamber folk music. For details and tickets, hit the burgundy link or click here. Sponsored by the Chandler Music Hall.

VT housing market cools, letting buyers be more picky. But don’t expect prices to drop. There are more active listings these days than at any time since the start of the pandemic, reports Colin Flanders in Seven Days, houses are staying on the market longer, and even move-in-ready houses are generally getting just a few offers. That’s in part, he writes, because “a persistent affordability crisis—driven by high prices and unfavorable interest rates—continues to sideline many potential buyers.” Yet even though realtors are now advising sellers to cut prices after a few weeks, the state’s still not producing enough homes to meet demand, which will keep prices high.

Flights—and dives—of fancy. Shift your mind from the skies to the water for this year’s overall winner of the Bird Photographer of the Year. Henley Spiers’ “Sunball Rocket” catches a northern gannet as it rips through the ocean surface faster than an Olympic diver: “wings tucked in tightly, the gannet shape-shifts into a pointed torpedo.” More than 24,000 images were entered in the competition, and the winning shots—like 16-year-old Parham Pourahmad’s beautiful image of a great horned owl silhouetted against a full moon—are spectacular. The competition supports Charity Birds on the Brink, which makes small grants to fund grassroots conservation work.

The Thursday crossword. Well this should keep you busy for a few minutes, thanks as always to Dartmouth librarian and ace puzzle constructor Laura Braunstein.

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

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HEADS UP
Santee Frazier reads at Dartmouth. Frazier, a visiting professor at Colgate, is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a poet, with two collections under his belt. Part of the Cleopatra Mathis Poetry & Prose Reading Series, 4:30 pm in the Sanborn Library.

Dartmouth’s Dickey Center hosts two former US ambassadors on “Cuba and the United States: What Lies Ahead?” Jeffrey DeLaurentis and Peter DeShazo will talk over the recent evolution of the US/Cuba relationship, increased sanctions and pressure, and where it all may lead. 5 pm in Haldeman 41 and livestreamed.

Christine Hadsel and Real Vermonters Don’t Milk Goats at the Yankee Bookshop in Woodstock. Hadsel is the widow of Bill Mares, co-author with Frank Bryan of the 1983 humorist classic, which has just been re-issued with an update by Hadsel. She’ll be talking about the book and what it took to get it back in print. 6 pm.

At the Dartmouth Organic Farm, “Is One Tree As Good As Another? The Incipient Extirpation of Ash Trees From New England Forests.” The Howe and the Hanover Conservancy host Dartmouth biology prof Matt Ayres on the destruction wreaked by the Emerald Ash Borer and what his and others’ research has found about the forest impact of losing huge stands of ash trees. 6:30 pm, outdoors but under cover.

At Still North Books, Kimberly Tait reads from and talks about Bright Stars. Subtitled Four Young Hearts at The End of the World, Tait’s coming-of-age novel looks at what it meant to do so in the wake of 9/11. A Dartmouth grad and Sunapee-area resident, she’ll be talking with New School and Bard lit prof Anne Margaret Daniel. 7 pm.

Poets James Gage and Marjorie Ryerson at the Norwich Bookstore. Gage has a new collection out, True If Not Destroyed; Ryerson, who also happens to be a former Vermont state rep, will read from her two collections, The Views from Mount Hunger (2023) and the soon to be released Life’s Library. 7 pm.

Ordinary Elephant at the Flying Goose in New London. The band is the married duo of Crystal Harin-Damore and Pete Damore—who, Pop Matters wrote when their first album came out, "are a great songwriting pair, capable of quiet, poignant observation in one moment...and the sly gut-punch of directness in the next." 7:30 pm, call for reservations.

And this week from JAM: The arts. Their highlights this week include the 2024 version of TWIST, the Twin State Comic & Zine Fair, which returns tomorrow; the 2025 Vermont Fall Studio event, in which five Norwich artists opened their studios to visitors, just to get you revved up for the 2026 edition this weekend; and the Lampshade Poets last month talking about their work and history.

And for today...

Eanáir is January in Irish. It’s also a Celtic quintet based in France that plays traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and the Isle of Man. Their haunting new song, “The Old Man From Over the Sea,” features lead vocalist Morgane Cadre, surrounded by the rural southern French countryside. Well, it’s haunting until the last minute, when Elise Oden and Guilhem Centurion suddenly go to town on the fiddle and bodhrán.

See you tomorrow.

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