IT'S OFFICIALLY SPRING, UPPER VALLEY!
Which means -- right on time -- a late winter storm. But at least we get the day to get used to the idea: It's just going to be cloudy, hitting mid-40s, until things eventually get started. Then we get rain in the evening, and then rain mixed with snow -- and in the mountains, heavy snows. Tomorrow, it changes back to rain, then maybe snow, then... oh well... Hey, we got yesterday's spring day. Even though it didn't tick over to spring until 5:58 pm. Kikkan Randall will be at Omer & Bob's today from 3-5 pm. If you follow cross-country ski racing, you know who she is: five-time Olympian and World Cup champion from Alaska. At the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, she and Jessica Diggins became the first Americans to win gold in xc skiing, in the team sprint. She'll be talking (around 4 pm) about the Olympics, her fight with breast cancer, and whatever else you want to bring up. Sorry, no link, but you can email [email protected] for more, well, info. Thanks to Jonathan F. for the tip.Carol Folt named first female president of Univ. of Southern California. The former Dartmouth provost and biology prof had led the University of North Carolina until she was forced to resign in January in a controversy over the statue of a Confederate soldier. USC is dealing with its own turmoil -- think college admissions bribes. Folt takes over July 1.It's official: Board votes to close Springfield Hospital birthing center. The CEO says the hospital doesn't have the reserves it needs to operate a service that does not support itself. Board expresses regret.USA Today profiles Worthy Burger. Local writer Larry Olmsted has to have one of the greatest gigs in journalism: the "Great American Bites" restaurant column in USA Today. Yesterday he offered a glowing tribute to SoRo's Worthy Burger, both the quality and the options. "Choices include everything from kimchi to whipped goat cheese and fried egg to avocado spread. They claim 117 million possible combinations, but I was too busy eating to double-check the math."Local jam sessions raising a generation of musicians. The VN's David Corriveau has a nice feature on the area's jam sessions, from the The Filling Station's bluegrass-inflected version on Tuesdays in WRJ to the Celtic/Quebecois version that just started up at Barrett Hall. They serve as "a mix of group therapy, community bonding, festival-style workshops and rehearsals." (VN, subscription reqd)What's it sound like when someone's stepped on by a giant? Macaroni and cheese. Will Maresco is the sound designer for the Dartmouth theater dept's production of Into the Woods -- the first student in memory to hold a design role on a mainstage production. "I needed some good squishing sounds," he says, "and the thing that works really well for that is macaroni and cheese, especially the instant stuff.” For twigs cracking in the forest? Walnut shells.Trader Joe's is getting closer... It's setting up its third NH store, in Bedford. Doors scheduled to open a week from tomorrow.NH House sends paid family leave plan to gov's desk. It passed a measure already approved by the Senate that would impose a 0.5 percent payroll tax to fund the benefit. Gov. Chris Sununu says he'll veto -- he backs a voluntary alternative.NH House majority leader decries lack of civility. Douglas Ley, the Democratic leader, took to the podium yesterday "with a heavy heart" to call his colleagues to task for being less than well-behaved with one another, citing such choice moments as one lawmaker telling another, "Go back to Massachusetts with all the other Communists.” In a statement afterward, the House Republican leader responded, "He should stick to dealing with his own fractured caucus...."Vermont grappling with shortage of Meals on Wheels drivers. Older volunteers are having trouble managing the load, or now need deliveries themselves; younger volunteers aren't stepping forward. Ever wonder how Casella came to dominate waste-hauling in the region? It started with a single trash truck in the 1970s in Rutland. Now it has 1,400 trucks, 90,000 dumpsters, and covers six states. It also owns the only open landfill in Vermont, and wants to expand. Critics chastise it for environmental violations and anti-competitive practices. Seven Days has the company's back-story.Today's Vermont moment: Why would someone pay to go on "a forest bathing excursion with a forest therapy guide?" Good question. VPR's Jane Lindholm went on one to find out. "It's to pick up on a lot of the subtleties we miss when, literally, we're moving fast," her guide explains.SO, WHAT'S IT GOING TO BE TONIGHT?Well, you could see Gideon's Army at the Briggs in WRJ. The White River Indie Festival is airing this multi-award winner about three public defenders struggling against low pay and backbreaking hours to pursue justice in an unthinkably overburdened system. Panel afterward on what public defenders go through, organized by VLS's Center for Justice Reform. "Gideon’s Army is a bare film with no narrator and a minimal soundtrack," Stephen Holden of the NYT wrote when it came out in 2013. "That’s all it needs to grab you by the throat."Or you could vicariously spend some time in the Whites, learning how to become a White Mountain National Forest volunteer. They need everything from trailhead stewards to wildlife biologist assistants to... you ready?... bat census-takers. There's an info session tonight at the main Lebanon Public Library, 6:30-7:30. Hmm. So, like, do you knock at the cave door, clipboard in hand...?Once again I'll say I love youWhile the birds sing all the dayWhen it's springtime... What? Oh! Sorry about that. See you tomorrow.Daybreak is written and published by Rob Gurwitt Banner by Tom Haushalter
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