GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
There may be some temperature records set today. With a ridge of high pressure above us and warm air flowing in from the south, today will mostly be cloudy and dry—though we may see a bit of last night's wetness first thing—with the high reaching toward 70. 50s tonight, rain starting up by dawn.Nothing to do with spring, but...
On a glorious day late last week, Lauran Corson decided to take her new zoom lens out for a spin at VINS. She stopped by the enclosure with the Great Horned Owl, which, she writes, "was wide awake at 12:30 and stared me down for several minutes. Then I think s/he'd had enough with the zoom moving in and out and gave me the eye!!" Yes s/he did.
Then, two nights ago, Ryan Scelza was out walking his dogs in Quechee when he looked up and saw... a moondog—the nighttime version of a sundog, that wide circle of light you sometimes see caused by sunlight refracting off ice crystals. Maureen Reilly saw it over in E. Thetford, too—those moondogs get around.
Former Randolph High principal pleads guilty to sexually exploiting teen. David Barnett, the school's former co-principal, accepted a plea deal yesterday in the long-running case. He pled no contest to a single misdemeanor charge (downgraded from an original felony charge in 2018) and will serve 30 days in jail and 18 months on probation. He also agreed not to teach or seek a job in an educational setting, reports the Valley News's Anna Merriman. The case began after a former student came forward in 2017.Montshire director heading back to New York City. Marcos Stafne, who took over 6 years ago, will step down at the end of April for a job with the Wildlife Conservation Society, which is headquartered at the Bronx Zoo. In a press release last Friday, the Montshire noted Stafne "led the museum through five years of financial growth and...[worked] with his team to adapt and to reimagine science programs and exhibition experiences" during the pandemic. Deputy director Jennifer Rickards will step in as acting director May 3. (Thanks to Chris Katucki for pointing this out on his Norwich Observer blog).Also moving on: Doug Heavisides. The Hartford School Board last night approved a move by the longtime director of the Hartford Area Career and Technology Center over to The Wilder School, which houses the school district's Autism Regional Program and the Regional Alternative Program for students with challenges in a normal school setting. "I love the HACTC, the students, and my teammates," he writes in an email, "but the deeper I get into my career, the more drawn I am to students with disabilities and the students with significant struggles. I could not pass up this opportunity."VT in talks with Amtrak to restore rail service. But it could be a few months. Both the Vermonter, which runs through WRJ on its way to St. Albans, and the Ethan Allen Line have been shut down since the start of the pandemic. Now, VTrans's public outreach manager tells the St. Albans Messenger's Cameron Paquette, "Restart of Amtrak discussions are underway at the state level and with Amtrak. We hope to make an announcement within the next several weeks as to what that timeline will look like." Stay tuned.
DHMC gearing up to study long-haul Covid. In a conversation yesterday with NHPR host Peter Biello, DHMC infectious disease specialist Jeffrey Parsonnet said the hospital has "had far fewer cases here and we've gotten started on this later" than elsewhere in the country. "So we haven't yet started collecting data, but we are starting up a post-Covid Syndrome clinic care pathway and we will be collecting data." The syndrome remains poorly understood, he noted, and "there are no specific therapies for any manifestation of long-term Covid."Hanover eyes end of spring break warily. After spikes at Dartmouth tied to Halloween parties and then to large off-campus parties in late February, Town Manager Julia Griffin tells the Union Leader's Damien Fisher "I am worried, particularly given the behaviors we’ve seen at some of these classic spring break destinations." In particular, Fisher writes, Griffin is pressing for vaccines for students and for Hanover restaurant workers, regardless of age. “The restaurant workers under 50 feel like sitting ducks,” she says. (Paywall.)
Why does coronavirus coverage accentuate the negative? Dartmouth economist Bruce Sacerdote, along with Ranjan Sehgal, a senior at the college, and Molly Cook, a junior at Brown, recently published a study that finds national US media overwhelmingly focuses on stories about Covid that paint the pandemic in a grim light—giving less space to explaining, say, why cases are falling in some areas, or where vaccines are having a positive impact. In yesterday's NYT morning newsletter, David Leonhardt looks at their work—and what it means for journalists.Formella confirmed. Hanover High grad John Formella is NH's new attorney general after yesterday's 4-1 Executive Council vote to confirm him to the position. He replaces Gordon MacDonald, who moved on to become the chief justice of the state Supreme Court. The lone vote against Formella came from District 2 Councilor Cinde Warmington, who is also the only Democrat on the Council, writes InDepthNH's Nancy West.NH House budget writers slow-walk proposed higher-ed merger. Yesterday, they approved a plan to create a special commission to investigate Gov. Chris Sununu's proposal to merge the state's university and community college systems and, possibly, propose legislation next year to get it going. Sununu had wanted a single board of trustees for a merged system by July 1 this year, writes InDepthNH's Garry Rayno, but "that plan was criticized as being unrealistic." VT House makes its first move on pension reform. In what is likely just the start of a long debate, Bradford Rep. Sarah Copeland Hanzas yesterday unveiled the Government Operations Committee's proposal to deal with the state pension system's growing shortfall. In essence, writes VTDigger's Lola Duffort, it would ask teachers and state employees to "work longer, contribute more and benefit less." Said Copeland Hanzas, "Nobody likes the situation we're in," but added that the legislature can't continue to appropriate between $36 million and $60 million more each year to meet pension obligations.VT has "gambled the retirements of hard-working teachers, firefighters and other public employees on risky and high-fee Wall Street investment strategies." In what will likely be one line of pushback against the House pension proposal, union public-sector pension expert Matthew Cunningham-Cook writes in a VTDigger commentary that had state officials taken a lower-risk investment approach, the pension fund would be $1.5 billion better off. "It is an outrage that Vermont’s leaders are seeking to cut benefits before they know the facts about the investment management of the pensions," he writes."Elder Vermonters forced into seclusion face depression and declining health." That's the headline on the first of a package of stories by Seven Days' Derek Brouwer and VPR's Liam Elder-Connors looking at how pandemic lockdowns affected the mental and physical health of people in eldercare homes, and at how they robbed watchdogs and families of the chance to make sure care homes were living up to their responsibilities. Following up on an award-winning 2019 investigation, they write, "The problems that existed before the pandemic continued and sometimes worsened, only largely out of sight." As VT's daily infection rate remains comparatively high, is vaccine strategy the reason? State health experts say it's VT's early success, which means less of the population than in other states is naturally immune, and the oversized impact small blips have in a small state. But, writes Seven Days' Colin Flanders, Dartmouth researcher Anne Sosin also points at the age-band approach, which leaves many people in high-risk groups more vulnerable and the disease more likely to spread. "We should not expect vaccinations to have a measurable impact on transmission for some time to come," she says.And as it turns out, food service workers are definitely at risk. An analysis of the state's case data, Duffort writes in VTDigger (she's been busy), finds that since the start of the year, restaurant and bar workers have had the highest case rates of any occupation in the state. “When people come to my restaurant, it’s like there are no rules,” one of them tells Duffort. Not surprisingly, the state's move to relax dining and bar restrictions has some of them feeling vulnerable as they wait their turn with everyone in their age bracket for a vaccine.
Sometimes, stick-to-itiveness rewards all of us. For nearly 12 years, Finnish artist and astrophotographer JP Metsavainio took photos of the Milky Way from his observatory in northern Finland. These weren't just snapshots—he needed about 100 hours with the camera’s shutter open to capture the remnants of one supernova. The project required 1,250 hours of total exposure time, writes Alex Fox on Smithsonian.com. But the result, after stitching together 234 individual panels, is a rich, deeply detailed look at our own favorite galaxy.
What if they wake up mid-flight? It turns out, according to CNN, that it's better for rhinos' health to transport them upside down, hanging from a helicopter. The question arises because for species health, conservationists sometimes have to relocate black rhinos from one southern African preserve to another. They can either be sedated and put on a stretcher, or sedated and flown upside down, which is cheaper—and, a new study from Cornell's veterinary college says, safer for them. Also, it's so much more eye-catching.
So....
Dartmouth remains at 9 active cases among students and none among faculty/staff. There are 4 students and 2 faculty/staff in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 10 students and 8 faculty/staff are in isolation awaiting results or because they tested positive.
Colby-Sawyer is down to 19 active cases among students, none among faculty or staff. In all, 19 people are in isolation, 71 in quarantine.
NH reported 360 new cases yesterday, for a cumulative total of 81,521. There were 10 new deaths; they now stand at 1,228. Meanwhile, 70 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (up 6), and the current active caseload stands at 2,590 (up 114). The state reports 106 active cases in Grafton County (no change), 32 in Sullivan (up 1), and 193 in Merrimack (down 11). In town-by-town numbers, the state says Hanover has 14 active cases (no change), New London has 10 (down 9), Claremont has 10 (up 1), and Sunapee has 7 (up 1). Haverhill, Rumney, Orford, Lyme, Canaan, Lebanon, Enfield, Grafton, Plainfield, Springfield, Wilmot, Cornish, Croydon, Charlestown, Newport, Newbury, and Unity have 1-4 each. Grantham is off the list.
VT reported 89 new cases yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 18,028. It reported 2 new deaths, which now total 220. Meanwhile, 23 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (down 4). Windsor County gained 3 cases and stands at 1,138 for the pandemic, with 56 over the past 14 days, while Orange County added 2 new cases and is at 540 cumulatively, with 10 cases in the past 14 days.
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At noon today, longtime Vermont Edition host Jane Lindholm will do her last episode in that role, followed by an Instagram Live Q&A with listeners at 1 pm. Lindholm is moving on to focus on her VPR podcast for kids, But Why? Her spot will be filled starting this summer by Hanover High grad Connor Cyrus and Mikaela Lefrak.
At 6 pm, AVA Gallery hosts local architect Andrew Garthwaite talking about how the pandemic is changing design at home, at work, and in the buildings we encounter around us. Via Zoom. (Scroll way down for the registration link.)
At 7, Bookstock and the Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock host a webinar with master gardener Bill Noble. He'll be talking about his new book, Spirit of Place: The Making of a New England Garden, in which he writes about both the aesthetic and mundane pleasures and challenges of creating a garden that reflects and is rooted both in its place and its creator's vision.
Also at 7 pm, the Hartford Salamander Team is holding a training session for anyone interested in joining the crew of volunteers who help frogs and salamanders safely cross the roads of the Upper Valley on warm, wet nights during the spring. The session will be led by Zac Cota-Weaver, a naturalist at the North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier. Lebanon's Amphibian Crossing Program, which does the same kind of work, held a training session last month that it's now put online—you'll find a link to that and to the city's map of known amphibian crossings where you can help out on what are known as "Big Nights," when it's raining, temps are 40 degrees or higher, and amphibians by the hundreds head for the water.
And also at 7, a new effort gets under way to help formerly incarcerated New Hampshirites "successfully walk the path from prison to prosperity" by offering job training, life coaching, and other services. Called Felon to Freeman, it's being spearheaded by Anthony Harris, the business manager at Rootz hair salon in Manchester and a former gang member. He'll host a Zoom launch focused on former inmates who are working to transition to life outside, including Anthony Payton, a life-after-prison columnist for Manchester Ink Link.
Finally, at 7:30 this evening, the Upper Valley Music Center and JAG Productions join forces to host voice teacher and coach Nyla Watson. She'll be coaching a master class for four voice students at UVMC in a session that's open to the community to watch—as they perform musical theater selections and get pointers both in technique and artistry.
"The only thing better than one kora is two koras," writes a YouTube commenter, and you know what? They're right. Sona Jobarteh is the first female virtuoso on the West African 21-stringed instrument; Ballaké Sissoko is a Malian Kora virtuoso (you may vaguely remember his name from just before the pandemic hit, when he accused the TSA of dismantling his kora when they inspected it as he boarded a flight from NYC to Paris.)
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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