Daybreak Thursday, 3/12/26

A mix. Today’s high-temperature mark was before dawn, and as cold air continues to arrive temps will drop slowly but steadily to around or below freezing by sometime this evening. There’s a slight chance of showers today, with whatever falls out of the sky shifting over to a slight chance of snow showers around midday. Winds today from the west, overnight lows in the low 20s.

Birds in winter. Two on the move, one very much not.

It’s time for Dear Daybreak! In this week’s collection of photos and Upper Valley anecdotes from readers, we start with Herb Swanson’s sublime photo of a Jacob’s Ladder—beams of sunlight streaming through a break in the clouds—and then move on to Beth Hilgartner’s tale of a visitor trying to make her way to Orford who ended up, remarkably, in Plymouth; Sheldon Novick’s history lesson on why the Norwich Post Office is still in the center of town and not out on Route 5; and Christine Hoskin’s defiant gesture honoring the arrival of spring—whenever it actually gets here.

Grafton rejects appointed police chief, Charlestown turns down land for fire station, and more NH results. Tuesday marked the second time that voters in Grafton have said “no” to a move to switch from an elected police chief to an appointed one; the vote was 184 to 122 against, and voters went on to elect Jeffrey Cogswell to a one-year term as chief. Meanwhile, voters in Charlestown shot down a proposal to buy 3.2 acres of land as a site for a new fire station, 641-232. Lyme and New London voters approved sets of zoning changes, and as you saw yesterday, Claremont voters definitively nixed a proposed school budget cap, 1,345-560. Those and more at the Valley News’s helpful roundup of results, town by town.

And in other voting, the burger battle honors go to… Poor Thom’s Tavern in Plainfield, which came out on top of the dozen restaurants that participated in the Upper Valley Business Alliance’s Upper Valley Burger Battle last month. Nearly 1,000 votes came in, the UVBA announced yesterday, with the honors going to Poor Thom’s Rise and Shine Burger (“a 6-ounce patty topped with a hash brown, over easy egg, ham, and hollandaise sauce on a toasted Portuguese muffin”).

SPONSORED: Bert Davis Gets Back to the Mountains. For Bert Davis, skiing isn’t just recreation — it’s a way of life. A lifelong skier and coach, he’s spent countless days on the slopes helping others discover the joy of the mountains. But after years of persistent back pain, even walking 100 yards became difficult. Through focused rehabilitation, clear goals, and a shared vision for returning to the activities he loved, Bert worked his way back. At the link, read about how he got back to coaching “Ripping Over 50” camps and skiing up to six days in a row. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy. 

Longtime Upper Valley high school sports reporter Lawrence “Poody” Walsh gets New England news hall of fame nod. Walsh, 84, “wrote thousands of game stories and coached numerous young reporters in writing about local sports” at the Eagle Times and then the VN and the Rutland Herald, reports the VN’s Patrick O’Grady. He’ll be inducted into the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s hall this weekend in Portsmouth. Walsh grew up in N. Walpole and got into newspapering after he got out of the Army, eventually getting hired by the Claremont Daily Eagle. O’Grady talks to editors and area coaches about him.

As Dartmouth grapples with AI, talk of democratization and a “slow-to-market approach.” You may remember that Globe article from last week that focused on unease at the college as it adopts AI. But now, for MassLive, Hadley Barndollar (who used to write for NH Bulletin) offers up a wide-ranging look at how scholars and students at AI’s “birthplace” are actually using it—and, in particular, are both alive to the risks and determined to mold its future: creating models that reason like humans with fewer “anti-social tendencies”; bringing back endangered Chinese and Native American languages; emphasizing “trust and safety” in mental health chatbots.

SPONSORED: Upper Valley Baroque performs Bach’s Easter Oratorio & Magnificat. Two of Bach’s most powerful works usher us into the season of renewal and hope. Come experience UVB’s professional chamber orchestra and chorus led by Filippo Ciabatti, Artistic Director. Tomorrow at Grace Church in Rutland at 6 pm, Saturday at 3 pm at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph, and Sunday at 3 pm at Lebanon Opera House. Hit the burgundy link for tickets and more information. Sponsored by Upper Valley Baroque.

“Chaos” at ICE arrest scene in S. Burlington. It came after an all-day standoff that began when federal agents sought to detain a Mexican man who, report Seven Days’ Sasha Goldstein and Lucy Tompkins, had been charged with criminal trespass in Texas five years ago and faces a pending driving-under-the-influence charge in Middlebury. It ended yesterday evening when ICE agents and Vermont State Police officers in tactical gear pushed their way through the crowd and into a house, where the ICE agents detained three people. The crowd then blocked the agents’ vehicles from leaving, “leading to arrests and violent clashes.” Goldstein and Tompkins give a blow-by-blow.

VT ski lift worker: “We’re resorting to things like peeing in soda bottles in the engine room.” Over the last six years, reports VTDigger’s Greta Solsaa, ski lift workers have filed 18 complaints about working conditions—including extreme weather and being forced to work a lift alone, with little respite—to Vermont’s version of OSHA. “Only one of the complaints resulted in a citation.” And though a bill’s been drafted that might offer some protections, it’s gone nowhere in the legislature. Solsaa reports on where that’s left lift workers, how the industry’s responded, and slight signs of movement.

Town meeting, in pen and ink. Natalya Zahn, an illustrator and graphic designer, grew up in Woodbury, VT, and at town meeting there last week, she took photos and notes, then hurried home to start sketching. The result, writes Sasha Goldstein in Seven Days, “is like a modern-day Norman Rockwell piece, if the famous illustrator had made graphic novels.” Though the faces she wound up with are specific to Woodbury, the scenes and images could be any floor meeting in VT or NH.

Soaring cathedrals become luminous visions. On My Modern Met, Sage Helene brings us the photos of Peter Li, a London-based photographer who creates incredibly detailed images of churches and cathedrals across Europe. Using “meticulous stitching techniques” to weave photos together, Li adds another dimension to jeweled stained-glass windows, webs of arches, “the full sweep of a nave rising into celestial heights.” Incredibly detailed, the photos put the viewer smack in the center. By piecing together multiple photos, says Li, “I get to unveil the 3-dimensional space the architect envisioned and portray it as some sort of tapestry.”

The Thursday Crossword. It’s puzzle constructor Laura Braunstein’s “midi”—slightly longer and harder than her Tuesday minis, but perfect with breakfast. And if you’d like to catch up on past puzzles, you can do that here.

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

Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:

THERE'S SOME GREAT DAYBREAK SWAG! Like Daybreak tote bags, sweatshirts, head-warming beanies, 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!

HEADS UP
The Rumney Sessions at Fable Farm in Barnard bring in Zach Nugent. The Dead Set guitarist and member of the Jerry Garcia Band “strips things down to their essence—warm guitar work, intuitive interplay, and songs that breathe” in his acoustic performances. Doors at 5:30, music 6 or 6:15, and they add: “Mud Season Alert: The section of Royalton Turnpike from Stage Road is in good condition, so it will behoove folks to come the way of most pavement.”

The Hartford Conservation Commission sponsors “Environmental Stewardship Mix & Mingle” at the Bugbee Center, open to everyone. The event brings together 27 environmental organizations from around the region—from the Montshire to VINS to the UVTA to Northern Woodlands and the Grafton County Conservation District and plenty more—to connect volunteers with groups, whether it's for hands-on efforts like amphibian road rescues or broader initiatives. 5:30-7:30 pm.

At the Rauner Special Collections Library, “The Rise of the Book: A Revolution?” Special Collections Librarian Jay Satterfield and recent Dartmouth grad Sophie Chadha lead a hands-on session on the impact of moveable type in the late Middle Ages. “Was it a revolution, as it is often portrayed, or a smooth transition from one familiar form to a new form? Using manuscripts and early printed books from the 15^th century, we will examine the shift from a manuscript tradition to a culture of print.” 6:30 pm, registration required, and just a few spots are left.

The Lyme, Canaan, and Plainfield libraries host “Perennial Muses: Flowers in Art” with Jane Oneail. This is the third and final installment in the art historian and educator’s online series of talks, focusing on how flowers in paintings over the centuries have “served as powerful symbols, carrying secret meanings known to artists and their patrons.” 6:30 pm via Zoom.

Ashley Gutermuth and friends start a three-night run at Artistree in S. Pomfret. The winner of the "Seinfeld Challenge" and a favorite on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Gutermuth and her high-energy stand-up will be joined on stage by NYC-based comedian Helen Wildy and singer, storyteller, and comedian Justin Gonzalez. 7 pm tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday.

Edith Forbes and The Lawnmower Lady at the Norwich Bookstore. The local author’s fifth novel focuses on “sharp-tongued Fay Kirkwood, [who has] lived most of her life on a north country farm, raising pigs and fixing lawn mowers. After she drops dead, the unorthodox disposal of her body launches a pinball succession of events which, much to her dismay, she cannot escape witnessing… A comedy about death, New England culture, small-town entanglements, and a green burial decades before its time.” 7 pm.

The Mudroom at AVA Gallery: “Showing Up”. The regular live storytelling event is, indeed, “one of the Upper Valley’s hottest tickets,” as AVA says. A handful of your neighbors get up and tell true stories around their common theme. 7 pm, and for audience members 18 and older.

The Celtic Tenors at Lebanon Opera House. With Matthew Gilsenan, Daryl Simpson, and newest member George Hutton, “the trio shares a love for music, harmony, and laughter on every stage,” says LOH. “From haunting Celtic ballads and breathtaking classical arias to contemporary favorites, The Celtic Tenors deliver performances full of heart, soul, and a dash of Irish mischief.” 7:30 pm.

At the Flying Goose Pub in New London, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem. The New England folk quartet has taken the stage from the Newport Folk Festival to the California World Music Festival and beyond, and its “steadfast brew of wit, camaraderie, and musicality leaves audiences everywhere humming and hopeful, spirits renewed,” the pub writes. 7:30 pm, reservations required.

And for today...

On Saturday, the gifted and endlessly inventive guitarist Yasmin Williams was supposed to give two concerts at Lebanon Opera House. But LOH announced yesterday that she’s postponed her tour until October for health reasons. So instead, here’s a taste of what Pitchfork once called her “tautly, gracefully composed songs, which she approaches with a storyteller’s eye for setting and specificity.” This is “Cliffwalk”, with folk great Don Flemons on rhythm bones.

See you tomorrow.

Looking for all of the hikes, Enthusiasms, daybreak photos, or music that Daybreak has published over the years? Go here!

And always, if you’re not a subscriber yet:

Written and published by Rob Gurwitt      Poetry editor: Michael Lipson    Associate Editors: Jonea Gurwitt, Sam Gurwitt

Thank you!