GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Okay, so... The headline is snow and then, depending on where you are, freezing rain or drizzle. There's low pressure and a cold front coming through, along with a secondary low coming up the coast, but there's also likely to be warmer air up in the atmospheric levels where it counts—even though today's high will only be in the mid or upper 20s. The upshot is that we're looking at 2-4 inches of snow, with a changeover at some point in the afternoon or evening to freezing rain with some glazing possible, then maybe snow showers toward dawn. Lows tonight in the mid 20s. Here's what the weather folks are saying...
That would be the opossum that showed up in Polly Cole's backyard in Thetford Monday evening. "I hope he found a warm place for the night after his bird seed snack!" she writes.
Time for Dear Daybreak! In this week's collection of readers' posts about life here, Sue Lin finds a hint of summer in midwinter's bleakness; Morgan Haynes takes us inside Royalton Community Radio's studio in SoRo—both what you see and the spirit behind what you hear; and Phil Bush reflects on a warm winter's day. Got your own story? Send it in!Filming local with the White River Indie Film Festival. WRIF takes over downtown WRJ starting next Thursday, and while there's plenty of non-local film fare on offer, writes Matt Golec for Daybreak, there's also a definite Upper Valley flavor; it's tagline is, after all, "The best of independent global and local cinema." Matt offers a look at what's coming and talks to filmmakers from Wilder, Bellows Falls, Windsor, Claremont, and Lebanon about not just what's going to be up on the screen, but about how a local festival can bring onlookers together for films "you won't find in your Netflix queue."DH reviewing whether its vaccination policies violate NH state law. Last month, the hospital network reversed a policy requiring patients to be vaccinated against Covid before receiving a kidney transplant, after the AG's office intervened. The policy had violated a state law mandating that all patients be given medical care regardless of vaccination status. Though DH is reviewing the rest of its policies, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman, at an Exec Council meeting yesterday the GOP majority of the council voted to block temporarily an unrelated state contract with the health care system until the review's done.SPONSORED: Move that snow: tips for a clear walkway or driveway. Are you shoveling the right way? Poor technique can make the job harder and more painful than it needs to be. This snow shovel guide offers practical tips and tool recommendations to help you clear the snow without straining your back, courtesy of Physical Therapists at Cioffredi & Associates. Don’t let heavy snow slow you down! Read the full guide here. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy. Gun charges for resident of Bradford home searched in missing persons case. The VT State Police were at the home on Old Post Road for a second day in a row yesterday after deeming the January disappearance of 43-year-old Corey Crooker to be suspicious. Late last night, WCAX's Kiana Burks reported that the search "could result in possible charges for homicide," and that one resident, a convicted felon, was found to have several guns in his possession; he now faces federal charges. His girlfriend told police "that Crooker had been at her house, but...he left with an unknown woman in a dark-colored SUV."On Hartland's town meeting agenda: Should the town sell the old N. Hartland school building? The town took ownership of it from the school district in 1972, reports Christina Dolan in the VN, and it's been vacant for years. It sits in a town-owned park that also includes a baseball field, basketball and tennis courts, and playground equipment; town leaders want to sell the school and land immediately around it, but keep the rec facilities. Given how much work it'll take to rehab the building, they expect any buyer to tear it down—and are hoping for new housing, Selectboard Chair Phil Hobbie tells Dolan.SPONSORED: Thank you! Hanover Rotary is delighted to thank the sponsors, donors and volunteers who contributed over $65,000 to make our 2024 Holiday Bell Ringing Campaign a huge success. All proceeds benefit LISTEN's Heating Helpers program and Hanover NH Rotary Charities. Hit the burgundy link or here to see our Thank You to the community and to the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation for their generous support! Sponsored by Hanover Rotary.At the Hood, an exhibit of contradictions: "specific and vast, constructed and natural, devastated and funny." Seven Days reviewer Alice Dodge actually walks us through Cara Romero's exhibit of 60 photos, both small and large (like, 8' by 27' large), going room to room as she explores Romero's images of Indigenous life, "real and mythic, both in and out of time." There's that huge photo, for instance, "The Last Indian Market," which riffs on da Vinci's "The Last Supper" with Indigenous artists in the place of the Apostles; "First American Dolls", a slant on American Girl dolls; and plenty more.In second NH chair lift incident in three days, Cannon Mountain evacuates dozens of skiers after a quad lift fails. Some 64 passengers were on the lift mid-morning yesterday when a bolt failed on the lift's power take-off shaft, bringing it to a halt. "Ski patrol and mountain operations personnel performed a rope evacuation, a process that involves attaching skiers and snowboarders on the chair lift to a rope and slowly lowering them to the ground," reports NHPR's Dan Tuohy. Here's video. As you'll remember, a chair at Attitash fell off its cable on Sunday, with a passenger on board. That incident is still being investigated.“Honest to gosh, 5,000 stories, I mean, that’s a pretty good novel": NH Chronicle's Fritz Wetherbee to retire. WMUR's veteran broadcaster is now 88 and has been on the Granite State storytelling beat for decades—and at Chronicle since 2001. The multiple Emmy winner has also written several books and "built an unmatched tie collection," WMUR's Sean McDonald reports. "You say I'm an icon. Yeah, I am. I’ll take that. It is a surprise to me, having a face for radio,” Wetherbee says. Here's a Wetherbee funk mixtape.Over four years, at least 82 homeless people have died in VT. Interestingly, report VT Public's Liam Elder-Connors and Seven Days' Derek Brouwer in a joint investigation, exposure to the cold appears to have played a minimal role; the state has provided wintertime shelter to 95 percent of its homeless residents. Instead, using death certificates, police reports, interviews, and other information because the state doesn't track homeless deaths, they found the leading cause of death was drug overdoses, but people were also hit by cars or died of health conditions; three were found at recycling facilities. They dig into local efforts to prevent deaths, and tell the stories of people who died.Any subject, anywhere, all amazing. Possibly the most varied photo competition out there, the World Photography Organisation has announced its national and regional awards. Its aim is to showcase "local talent to an international audience,” and entries came infrom around the globe and photographers at every level. The breadth is astonishing: people and creatures soaring and swimming. A cascade of sparks, a field of ice, a mountain, a head of lettuce. All glorious representations of their countries and cultures. Literally, the world is at your (scrolling) fingertips.
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Fleece vests, sweatshirts, head-warming beanies... Strong Rabbit has updated the Daybreak page to keep up with the changing weather. Plus, of course, the usual: t-shirts, long-sleeved tees, the Daybreak jigsaw, those perfect hand-fitting coffee/tea mugs, and as always, "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Check it all out at the link!
. Part of the Cleopatra Mathis Poetry and Prose Series, the celebrated novelist (
House of Sand and Fog
, among others), memoirist, essayist, and National Book Award finalist will be at the Sanborn Library today starting at 4:30 pm.
Azar, a 1988 Dartmouth grad, was health secretary in the first Trump administration. He'll be talking with Dartmouth profs Carrie Colla and Charles Wheelan about "current priorities in national healthcare, and how policy can help shape better health outcomes in America." 5 pm in Filene Auditorium, registration encouraged.
. "Compared to white patients, Black patients' pain is twice as likely to be underestimated; Black children with appendicitis are 10 times less likely to receive pain medicine; Black birthing people are dying at four to five times the rate and their babies twice the rate," the Center notes. Zha will talk about her archival research into "the hidden history of American medicine." 5 pm in Haldeman 41 and online.
Local filmmakers Greg Stott and Nick Natale will screen and talk about their short documentary about the last ice age and its impact on the Connecticut River Valley. 6:30 pm in the library's Mayer Room as well as online via Zoom.
VT Humanities presents UVM grad and Boston Public Library staffer and scholar Katherine Mitchell for this talk on serial river photographs, which were meant to be seen in a particular order and which, she argues, both "celebrated and promoted the nation’s expansion." 7 pm, you'll need to register.
: US Sen. Peter Welch's roundtable last Friday with VT service providers on the Trump administration's envisioned federal funding freeze;
Dena Rueb Romero's and Richard Neugass's presentations to a live JAM audience a couple of weeks ago on their work keep their families' histories and archives alive; and WRJ's 1/26 marathon back in January—"
It's just like any of the big city marathons you hear about, just 1/26th the length. Your favorite racers battled adversity for one whole mile! Live sports coverage provide by JAM Senior Producer Chico Eastridge and lots of other people..."
And today's brought to you by...
Cymande. Unless you're deep into the '70s British funk scene or an aficionado of musicians in the Caribbean diaspora, you've probably never heard of them. But odds are really good you've heard them—because although they made only three albums in the early '70s and then split up, their music became "one of the building blocks of hip-hop, house, garage and more, sampled by the likes of De La Soul, Wu-Tang Clan and the Fugees," as
The Guardian
wrote a few years ago. They tried a comeback album in 2016 that didn't really capture their essence, but now they've got a new album out,
Renascence
, and though they're 50 years on, it turns out they can still find their groove.
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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