GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Don't worry, it'll clear... and warm up. You may start the day with fog and even, in some spots, freezing fog, but the sun will burn through and temps today will get even warmer than yesterday, into the mid-60s. Winds from the south, upper 30s tonight.Boy, you don't see one of these very often. Maybe a rare helical cloud, maybe a rare helical contrail... But whatever, it was over Centerra in Lebanon yesterday, from Naomi Hartov.Contractor embezzled almost $600K from ValleyNet. You may remember that back in July, the nonprofit that operates ECFiber and Lyme Fiber announced it had found "financial irregularities." Turns out, reports the Valley News's John Lippman, that a Northfield VT man working as a bookkeeper and accountant for the organization allegedly funneled the money to himself and then used it to buy real estate. ValleyNet has filed a civil lawsuit seeking to recover the funds—but his family tells authorities they don't know where he is.Hartford names new acting town manager. And she's a familiar face: Finance Director Gail Ostrout. The selectboard voted Monday night to offer the position to Ostrout—and to name Human Resources Director Paula McNulty as acting assistant manager—to replace Tracy Yarlott-Davis. The circumstances of Yarlott-Davis's departure remain unclear, reports the VN's Patrik Adrian, who notes that the board met in executive session "to discuss pending or probable civil litigation or a prosecution, to which the (board) is or may be a party.”"Give your brain a break from the hostility and pick up a comic book." That's Melissa Cronin's advice in Seven Days, suggesting that a new guide to Vermont democracy from WRJ's Center for Cartoon Studies can serve as a tonic for the social-media-rattled. Freedom and Unity, created in partnership with VT Humanities and the Secretary of State's Office, has been adopted by a range of civic orgs looking for a way to build more common knowledge about what it takes to make democracy work. Vermonters "are losing touch with the basic principles of the democratic process," VT Humanities' exec director says.SPONSORED: Seeking adults from Sullivan County NH & Windsor County VT to participate in an education survey. Join Dartmouth Cancer Center’s online study about health and cancer. This survey will ask you to read health information, watch a video, and answer questions. Receive a gift card. Learn more here or contact [email protected] for more information. Sponsored by the Dartmouth Cancer Center.The story behind JAM. If you've been reading Daybreak the last few months, you know that what used to be CATV has gradually morphed into Junction Arts & Media, with a physical presence in what used to be the Newberry Market in WRJ. The VN's Alex Hanson profiles the changing organization—which will continue its longstanding role of recording town and community meetings, but is also determined “to create a media community,” in the words of executive director Samantha Davidson Green. So it is now stoking a community of video and audio creators in the region, offering equipment, training, and advice.So, what are you having for lunch (or dinner) at Lalo's Taqueria? That's the question for Eddie Moran, who a few years ago took a break from his highly popular food truck, Taco's Tacos... and then kind of moved it indoors on the Lebanon Mall. During the pandemic. Now that he's worked out some of the growing pains, he's looking to focus more on local food sources—starting with the corn flour he uses for tortillas. "This is like ancient stuff," he says, holding up a ball of dough made with corn meal from S. Royalton. "This is Aztec stuff!" More on that at the link—plus, of course, his go-to taco.Want to check out previous "So, What Are You Having..." items? The burgundy link takes you to a map of the nine restaurants covered so far in this joint project between Daybreak and Artful. Click a location and it'll bring up the restaurant. Hit "More Info" and you'll get taken to the article about it.NH details upcoming paid family and medical leave program. At a news conference yesterday, Gov. Chris Sununu laid out the all-voluntary program, which will be administered by MetLife and cover up to 60 percent of employees' wages for up to six weeks if they need to take time off to "deal with a health condition, care for a sick family member or look after a newborn," reports NHPR's Paul Cuno-Booth. Businesses can begin signing up next month, while people who are self-employed or work for a company that doesn’t join can sign up starting next year.Tallying votes is a public process—but also a "human process," says NH Secy of State. In an interview with NHPR's Rick Ganley, David Scanlan lays out what takes place once the polls close: both the printout from the voting machine and the hand-counting of absentee ballots received the day of the election, military ballots, and others. But, Scanlan notes, the process is run by local officials and a small army of volunteers: "Because there are so many individuals involved and because it's a human process, we would expect to see human errors involved," he says.Too little, too late, says Sununu administration about $2.5 million in rental assistance housing. The money is coming from the US Treasury, but it's a far cry from the $67 million the state had asked for, reports Ethan DeWitt in NH Bulletin. By not granting the full amount, Sununu and other state officials argue, the feds essentially pulled the rug out from under a program for tenants hurt financially by the pandemic. Meanwhile, NH Bulletin's Amanda Gokee reports, the state did just land nearly $110 million for energy rebates and fuel aid.The Covid trends:
In NH, hospitalization numbers continue to dip, with the NH Hospital Association reporting 119 people hospitalized with confirmed cases of Covid yesterday, down from 131 a week ago. On the other hand, that's up from 103 on Tuesday. Scroll down for the trendline. Meanwhile, last week the CDC reported mostly "Medium" community levels in the state, including Grafton and Sullivan counties; that map will be updated later today.
Meanwhile, VTDigger's Erin Petenko reports that VT's health department has dropped statewide levels back to "low" as hospitalization numbers fall. The state reported 44 patients hospitalized with Covid yesterday, compared to 69 a week ago. Meanwhile, last week the CDC reported mostly "Medium" community levels in the state, including Windsor and Orange counties; that map will be updated later today.
In VT, a "housing pileup" as aging residents want to sell their homes but can't find anywhere to move. Senior living communities are full up and have years-long wait lists, reports Rachel Hellman in Seven Days, while some older Vermonters hoping for a subsidized apartment are waiting just as long—if not longer. The result, says Peter Tucker, at the Vermont Association of Realtors, is that houses "that might be appropriate for families are kept from coming on the marketplace." Which means that young families are stymied, while some older residents are aging in larger homes that may no longer be safe for them.“I'd rather be a live lump than a cute corpse.” That’s military-trained survivalist Jessie Krebs, speaking frankly to students in her wilderness skills class for women about the heat-retention benefits of loose-fitting clothes versus spandex. For Seven Days, Marialisa Calta joined the group one chilly Sunday in Monkton as Krebs—who has crossed the Serengeti, among other feats—regaled them with cautionary tales while teaching essential tools and techniques for navigating uncertainty in the wild. The class, only for women, aims to fix a longtime gender disparity in wilderness skill-building.These synchronized TikTok dancers do not miss a beat. It’s called tutting, a dance style defined by “use of the arms and body to create geometric shapes,” the members of the Italian troupe Urban Theory tell ArtsHelp. The exactness of their movements, in lockstep at every turn of the elbow or wrist, is something like stop-motion animation. For Urban Theory, it’s about much more than the hours spent perfecting the motions: “Even when we walk down the street…we transmit an energy, an emotion. Here, the same thing happens for dance: the body becomes speech.” (Thanks, HG!)The Thursday Vordle. You can definitely do this.
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Today launches holiday market season, with the opening of the 50th annual Christmas show and sale by members of the Lebanon Art & Crafts Association in the Upper Valley Plaza. Tomorrow and Saturday comes the Christmas Market with a Difference hosted annually by the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College. There'll be plenty more in coming weeks. The Valley News has a full roundup here.
At 5 pm, Dartmouth's Irving Institute, Dickey Center, and others present a conversation on solving the problems presented by the world's burgeoning volume of plastic waste. Participants will be Fisk Johnson, CEO and board chair of the Wisconsin-based maker of household products, SC Johnson; Irving Institute director April Salas; and moderator Melody Burkins, who directs the college's Institute of Arctic Studies.
At 6:30 this evening, the Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, the Reverend Michael Curry, will speak at St Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover. His talk will focus on where we are two years after the national reckoning provoked by the high-profile deaths of people of color, and what those two years have taught the country about the challenges institutions face in trying to effect culture change on matters of race. Discussion and Q&A will follow.
Also at 6:30 this evening, The Sharon Academy hosts the second in its series of talks aimed at educators, parents and other community members, and young people on issues affecting youth. This evening's session, "From Debate to Dialogue: Listening to Understand," will be led by Giavanna Munafo, former director of training and educational programs in the Office of Institutional Diversity & Equity at Dartmouth and now a consultant on those and related issues. The event, geared toward teens and adults, will focus on how to discuss controversial topics with understanding and compassion.
At 7 this evening, the Norwich Conservation Commission hosts Vermont Fish & Wildlife biologist Nick Fortin for a talk on "The Effects of the Overabundance of Deer on Forest Health." Fortin, the department's head deer biologist, is responsible for all aspects of deer management in the state of Vermont, and will be discussing both forest health and options for controlling the deer population. In-person at the Norwich Public Library or online via Zoom.
Also at 7, both in-person (Filene Auditorium) and online, Dartmouth's Rockefeller Center hosts a panel discussion on "50 Years of Coeducation at Dartmouth: Student and Faculty Perspectives." Panelists will be former NH state Sen. Martha Hennessy, who was in the first class of women admitted to the college and who graduated in 1976; her classmate Jennifer Kemeny, daughter of former president John Kemeny, who went on to become a management consultant and partner at consulting firm Arthur D. Little; and former Dartmouth government prof Lynn Mather.
And also at 7 tonight, tomorrow, and Friday, Hanover High's Footlighters launch their adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. About which they write, "Come see our combat-and-music infused 100-minute version of this timeless tragedy."
And check out this week's highlighted videos from JAM, including the co-chairs of Native Americans at Dartmouth, Ahnili Johnson-Jennings and Aaní Perkins, talking about Orange Shirt Day, held to commemorate indigenous children sent off to government-run boarding schools; this summer's Junction Dance Festival; and the 2020 White River Indie Films series of talks on "Protecting the Vote."
And some music to start the day...
...from guitarist Marisa Anderson, who's as much a scholar of American blues, country, and folk music as she is a practitioner—though anyone who's honed her chops playing on the road in country, jazz, and circus bands is
definitely
a practitioner.
See you tomorrow.
The Hiking Close to Home Archives. A list of hikes around the Upper Valley, some easy, some more difficult, compiled by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. It grows every week.
The Enthusiasms Archives. A list of book recommendations by Daybreak's rotating crew of local booksellers, writers, and librarians who think you should read. this. book. now!
Daybreak Where You Are: The Album. Photos of daybreak around the Upper Valley, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the US, sent in by readers.
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