GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Don't be fooled. Sure, we're getting up into the high 50s or low 60s today—running 15-20 degrees above normal—but we'll be back in the 30s by the weekend. So grab it while we've got it. The morning will get sunnier as it goes along, though it looks like it will cloud over again later in the afternoon. Winds today from the south, 40s overnight.This place we live...
You know that feeling when the sun's just coming up and you're the first person out on freshly groomed tracks? Here's daybreak up at Green Woodlands in Dorchester not long back, from Jay Davis.
Meanwhile, the mail brings not one, but two bald eagles as they settle in for a fine spring and summer. One, looking about as iconic as can be, standing and gazing out at the river from the NH side, from Quechee photographer Lisa Lacasse; and the other, one of a pair of eagles nesting north of Newbury village, on the wing and equally iconic as photographer Ian Clark was out with his dogs yesterday.
This place we fly... On Sunday morning, Ebben Whitehair and a friend were skating south on a glasslike Connecticut (more on that in a moment) and were just opposite the River Road Veterinary Clinic in Norwich when a small plane appeared, flying low over the ice headed north. You definitely do not see this every day. And though you know this by now, Ebben, who's an EMT and firefighter, adds: "Remember, no ice is safe ice. Venture out only with proper safety equipment and training in both self-rescue and rescuing other people.” Dartmouth raises tuition for undergrads, engineering; med and business schools hold steady. The 2 percent increase for tuition, room, board, and fees raises the cost of an undergrad education to $78,010 a year, the Valley News's John Gregg writes. That's after a 3.9 percent jump last year. Meanwhile, Thayer School tuition will also grow 2 percent, but Tuck and Geisel costs will remain the same. At the trustees meeting that approved the changes, the college also noted that one-third of the faculty, fellows, and postdocs it hired last year identify as Black, Latino, Native American, or Pacific Islander.In 1902, you could take one of five trains a day north or four south from Lewiston. That's the old settlement at the Norwich end of what's now the Ledyard Bridge, and that fun fact is in a new comic-book history of the town's mills and rivers. Drawn by recent Center for Cartoon Studies grad Emily Zea, it's just been published online by the Norwich Historical Society as part of its driving-tour series. Though specifically about Norwich, it could be about many towns in these parts, running from the days of the glaciers to water-powered mills to transportation to log drives to the dams."If I had known 95 was gonna be so much fun, I would have done it years ago." Jim Hasson turned 95 on Sunday, and to honor the retired Cavendish-area plumber and veteran of both WWII and Vietnam, Cavendish threw him a surprise parade of more than 50 fire trucks, police cars and passenger vehicles. "Those inside waved, honked and yelled birthday greetings. Some, wearing masks, stopped to greet Hasson and deliver cake and cards," writes Seven Days' Sasha Goldstein. "If you want to be a hero, the secret is: You have to outlive everybody else," Hasson tells him.Okay. Ahem. Sure, it's a radio station poll. And the radio station's in Portsmouth. But still: "The 10 Best Ice Cream Spots in NH Decided by Granite Staters" and not one of them is even close to the Upper Valley? What's up with that? Clearly, these so-called Granite Staters have never had a Mac's Maple creemee coated in maple bits. Or hung out at Dairy Twirl or Fore-U or Twice on Sundae on a warm evening. It's never too late to generate a little outrage on behalf of home, Granite Staters of the Upper Valley!Community-stoked plans for new Randolph-area child care center move ahead. The center, which would serve 80 to 90 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, is slated for a vacant building in the VTC outpost along Route 66 by I-89, reports the VN's Nora Doyle-Burr. It springs from area residents' and employers' belief that a lack of child care capacity has been holding the region back. Plans call for WRJ's Green Mtn Development Corp to buy the building and Tunbridge's Orange County Parent Child Center to run the center, which could open as soon as summer, 2022.NH turns down Murray family request for historical marker. You may remember that after the "blue-ribbon" tree honoring Maura Murray was cut down recently at the roadside spot in Haverhill where her car crashed and she disappeared in 2004, her family asked the state to replace it with a marker. In a "sorry" letter to Maura's sister, Julie, the state's Division of Historical Resources says that markers note events at least 50 years old, that NHDOT wouldn't support a marker at that spot, and that Haverhill and Woodsville "have clearly expressed a desire" not to have a marker. Julie Murray disputes each point.February in NH was warmer than normal, but colder than average. That paradox, David Brooks explains on his Granite Geek blog, has to do with how the weather folks define the terms. "Average" is based on the 30-year trend. "Normal" takes in all of the 20th century. And last month's official temp was 1 degree F below the 30-year average but 2 degrees above the 20th-century norm. Even better, Brooks points out, we can add our own perceptions to the mix: What seems like "normal" cold is shifting as the climate changes. NH legislative committee votes to kill bill on permanent remote access to hearings. It will still go to the full House and Democrats say there may be a floor fight, but the move bodes ill for people who thought that remote access to legislative hearings might outlast the pandemic. Supporters say Zoomed hearings have broadened public participation. Opponents among GOP members of the Judiciary Committee argued that Zoom hearings are less organized and more work for members, writes InDepthNH's Paula Tracy.On the other hand, GOP bid to shift date of state primary moves ahead. Since 1910, voters in New Hampshire have gone to the polls in September to choose their parties' candidates for state offices. Yesterday, the House Election Law Committee voted along party lines to move the primary to late June. The bill's sponsor, Joe Sweeney, who's also executive director of the state GOP, argues that the earlier date would give general election candidates more time to organize. Secy of State Bill Gardner opposes the measure, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman, saying the current date maximizes voter turnout. "A year of being marooned in a 1,200-square-foot apartment with a toddler, a prepubescent boy and no dishwasher." The pandemic, writes Chelsea Edgar in Seven Days, "has undone generations of progress for women in the workforce," and for no subset has that been more true than single moms. She profiles three Vermont women for whom the pandemic has been "a year of unimaginable exhaustion and angst, of rage and regret. Of holding it together, somehow, while everything else is falling apart."The Cordyceps cutting edge. You may know of the fungus because it turns insects into zombies and is kinda the stuff of horror movies. But it is also at the center of "a fast-growing domestic market for medicinal fungi," Doug Bierend writes. He's got a new book published by WRJ's Chelsea Green, In Search of Mycotopia, and Outside mag yesterday excerpted his chapter on William Padilla-Brown, a 25-year-old, self-taught "bona fide mycological influencer" and author of the first English-language book on cultivating Cordyceps. It's a beguiling tour through the literal DIY underground of mushroom tinkerers.So let's say you could pop up anywhere in the world but didn't get a choice where. Would you do it? Sure you would, because all you've got to lose—fair warning—is half your morning. That's what Random Street View gives you. As its tagline goes, it "does what it says": uses Google Street View to take you at random to, say, the Tsirang Highway in Bhutan, then to roadsides or cart tracks or neighborhood streets in Estonia, Israel, Spain, Swaziland... You can do the same with Mapcrunch, which is less helpful with location but has a striking gallery of the previous day's best views collected by users.
Meanwhile...
Dartmouth numbers drop to 36 active cases among students (down 21), and remain at 4 among faculty/staff. Meanwhile, 21 students and 9 faculty/staff are in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 36 students and 9 faculty/staff are in isolation awaiting results or because they tested positive.
NH reported 267 new cases yesterday for a cumulative total of 77,463. There was 2 additional deaths, which stand at 1,187. Meanwhile, 75 people are hospitalized (down 6). The current active caseload stands at 2,003 (up 6). The state reports 111 active cases in Grafton County (down 17), 34 in Sullivan (down 5), and 174 in Merrimack (up 12). In town-by-town numbers, the state says Hanover has 41 active cases (down 21), Claremont has 8 (down 1), Plainfield has 7 (down 3), Lebanon has 6 (no change), and Newport has 5 (no change). Haverhill, Piermont, Orford, Rumney, Canaan, Enfield, Grantham, Springfield, Wilmot, New London, Sunapee, Cornish, Charlestown, and Newbury have 1-4 each.
VT reported 80 new cases yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 16,371. It reported no new deaths, which remain at 211 all told. Meanwhile, 32 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (up 2). Windsor County gained 6 cases to stand at 1,082 for the pandemic, with 59 over the past 14 days. Orange County added 5 new cases to reach 527 cumulatively, with 28 cases in the past 14 days.
News that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
Today at 1 pm, the Vermont Land Trust hosts a virtual wildlife tracking tour through the woods. The VLT's lead forester, Pieter van Loon, and VT Fish & Wildlife biologist Chris Bernier will talk about how knowing animal behaviors, identifying habitat, and recognizing gaits can help you figure out who's been out there in the woods with you. No charge, but they wouldn't turn away a donation.
At 6 this evening, the Hood hosts "Virtual Maker Night: Hard-Edged Abstraction." They provide the inspiration from their collection. You provide the materials from home and the creativity. Via Zoom.
Meanwhile, at 6:30, the Green Mountain Audubon Society hosts birder and conservationist Maeve Kim and "Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You: Spring Migration!!" She'll be talking about all the migratory birds headed our way and what to look for. Via Zoom, no charge.
And on the other side of the river, at 7 pm NH Audubon hosts Pam Hunt talking about the newly released report, State of New Hampshire’s Birds: A Conservation Guide. She'll cover population trends and threats, information on the birds that pass through or winter in the state, and threats they face elsewhere on their migratory paths. $10 for members, $15 for non-members.
Also at 7, the Plainfield Library hosts Pamela Weeks, curator at the New England Quilt Museum, talking about quilting around the world, quilt history, women's history, industrial history, quilt stories, quilts in the Civil War... and whatever else quilt she fancies. Email [email protected] to register.
At 7:30 pm, the Congregational church in Richmond, VT hosts a livestreamed concert by Boston-based mandolinist Ethan Setiawan (originally from Indiana) and fiddler Louise Bichan (from Scotland's Orkney islands), with traditional melodies influenced by Scotland, Appalachia, Scandinavia and Canada, along with original tunes. $5 minimum.
Finally, this isn't until Saturday but slots are filling up, so you should know about the introduction to electric fat-biking at Norwich's Brookmead Conservation Area being offered by the Upper Valley Land Trust and Vermont Bike & Brew. Tix are $40, all of which goes to the UVLT and trails stewardship, and get you a one-hour bike ride and intro to fat-biking if you need it, along with coupons to Blue Sparrow Kitchen, First Branch Coffee, and the Norwich Inn. If you're interested and are shorter than 5'8", act fast: smaller-frame bikes are mostly spoken for. If you're taller, there are more available.
Polish percussive guitarist (you'll see) Marcin Patrzałek drew rock world attention last month when he did a scorching cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," filmed while standing in an underground parking garage making his Ibanez sound like an entire band. But he'd actually started coming to guitarists' attention earlier, at the age of 16, when he began releasing solo videos to YouTube, and cemented it in 2018—at the ripe age of 18—with
As one commenter says, "Just looked at my guitar after watching that. I swear it's laughing at me."
(Thanks, PN!)
See you tomorrow.
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