GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Clouds moving in, a bit warmer. We'll still remain in the 40s today, but at least it'll be the high 40s—or maybe even 50. That's because the cold air mass that settled over us early this week is moving out as low pressure approaches and warmer air from the south starts filtering into the region this afternoon. We should stay dry for most of the day, but a chance of rain starts up this evening, possibly mixing with snow overnight as temps drop into the lower 30s.Nuthatches, waxwings, woodpeckers, ducks: the birds of early spring. Jim Block has been roaming with a camera recently—Hanover Center, Lyme, Enfield, Thetford, Norwich—and in his latest blog post he shares the results. Including American kestrels and a bald eagle in flight, grackles and juncos, bohemian waxwings cozying up to a crabapple, ring-necked ducks and mergansers along the rail trail, chickadees and titmice hanging out in the ice storm, and lots more as our woods, fields, and riversides fill up.Time for Dear Daybreak! In this week's collection of tales and poems from around the Upper Valley, Terry Munson takes us back to the ice storm's impact on trees and plants in Grantham—"New Hampshire plants," she writes, "who have seen it all before"; Danny Dover perches poetically on a stool in a diner, taking it all in; and Aleah Sommers reflects on the ever-changing remains of a dead fox she passes every day on her walk to work. And Dear Daybreak's larder could bear restocking. If you've got an anecdote or a memory or a reflection to share, please do send it in!West Leb's "dry bridge" reopens to vehicles. It happened yesterday around midday, once the New England Central Railroad—which owns the tracks the bridge crosses—gave its approval for temporary work to shore up the bridge and the work was done. "A New Hampshire professional bridge engineer was on-site during the work to oversee the repairs and confirm the structural safety of the bridge," the city said yesterday. The bridge closed abruptly on March 6, after a state inspection revealed that it couldn't safely carry traffic.Judge to order feds to reinstate visa status for Dartmouth grad student. For the moment. US District Court Judge Samantha Elliott's move will allow Xiaotian Liu, who's from China, to pursue his computer science research for two weeks, while the case continues, reports Ethan DeWitt in NH Bulletin. The college had notified Liu Friday night that his visa's status had changed abruptly, without explanation. In court yesterday, a lawyer for the federal government had no explanation, either. “I don’t have the facts to establish why the change in status happened,” he told the judge. DeWitt fills in the legal background.VINS gets a pair of bald eagles—but not in an enclosure. As WCAX's John McMahon reports, "Just a short walk away from the raptor enclosure, onto the canopy walk and up the treehouse," there's a wild bald eagle nest. “VINS has had exhibit bald eagles for a long time—more than 20 years," says director Alden Smith. "But this is the first time that we know of that we’ve had a nest of nesting bald eagles... “We expect the female is sitting on eggs right now and that by about May, those eggs should hatch."SPONSORED: “My life demands fortitude as well as physical strength." Farming isn’t just a job—it’s a way of life that demands strength, resilience, and a body that keeps up. After multiple injuries over the years, Liz Guenther found not just recovery, but a “foundation for healing” that made each comeback stronger and faster. Read her full story at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy.With elbow grease, Bradford VT volunteers restore the Old Church Theater. For NBC5's weekly "This is Our Home" series, Ben Frechette visited the 200-year-old former church, which for nearly four decades has hosted the theater. It's undergoing a renovation right now—"This is a little bit of a mess," says volunteer Robin Keith as she shows Frechette around. He checks in with Melissa Mann, who teaches English at Oxbow High and is vice president of the theater board, who tells him, "There are kids who are looking for something, and they find it on the stage." Then he visits River Bend Career & Tech Center.Coming next month to Northern Stage, "a farm to stage musical." The Vermont Farm Project was dreamed up by director Sarah Wansley, musician and actor Tommy Crawford (her husband), and writer Jessica Kahkosa (dramaturg for Broadway's Good Night and Good Luck). Vermont Explored's Tara Schatz offers a quick preview. "We began by asking farmers how they got here, what keeps them up at night, what fuels their love for the work, and how they envision the future of farming in New England," says Wansley. "We were in awe of the joy, the heart, and the humor of these conversations."SPONSORED: Experience the joy and heartache of Palm Sunday at St. Thomas! Join us as a live donkey leads children in a vibrant procession into the church, marking the powerful beginning of Holy Week. Hear again the story of the Passion, the execution of a teacher of peace by the politician Pilate and the powerful Roman empire. Sponsored by St. Thomas Episcopal Church.Norwich Farm Foundation petitions Dartmouth to buy creamery. Yesterday, reports Charlotte Hampton in The Dartmouth, Norwich Farm Creamery owners Chris Gray and Laura Brown announced they'll go out of business in 60 days—but the foundation, which owns the farm buildings and a small amount of land, has proposed that the college buy the property, "return cows to the farm and support the production of dairy products for campus," Hampton writes. College officials "did not respond to multiple requests for comment." The creamery currently imports its milk from Billings Farm.For the first time, Hartford hires a housing and development specialist. Lexi Webster, who arrived in the Upper Valley from Tennessee at the start of the year, will focus on both housing and economic development, she tells the VN's Emma Roth-Wells in an interview. "Hartford lacks a population that is growing enough to sustainably develop the economy. Living in the town has become unaffordable for many," she says. "Without affordable housing, it is very difficult to grow the economy; without a growing economy, there is less desire from developers to provide affordable housing." She outlines her plansNH arts, humanities squeezed by state, federal cuts. As you probably remember, the state's arts community is trying to stave off the elimination of the State Council of the Arts in the House-proposed budget. “Please don’t sit here and tell me this is a want and not a need. We are actually an economic driver,” says the director of Concord's Capitol Center for the Arts. Meanwhile, New Hampshire Humanities and its programs are reeling after DOGE cut millions from the National Endowment for the Humanities—which funds half of the NH council's budget. The Monitor's Rachel Wachman reports on the impact.In a Boston court, NH argues "divisive concepts" law should be restored. You probably recall that a year ago, a US District Court judge in NH struck down the controversial state law barring teachers from endorsing certain ideas related to race and gender. On Tuesday, reports Ethan DeWitt in NH Bulletin, the case went before the First Circuit Court of Appeals. DeWitt recounts the arguments: the state insists that it can constrain teachers' speech when it's directly related to their teaching—but that plaintiffs could name no specific case of constraint; ACLU lawyers contended the law is unconstitutionally vague.Cabot Creamery recalls butter in VT, NH for potential fecal contamination. Yesterday, reports Stacey Leasca in Food & Wine, the FDA and Cabot's parent company, Agri-Mark, initiated the voluntary recall in seven states after 8-ounce Cabot Creamery Extra Creamy Premium Butter, Sea Salted tested positive for elevated levels of coliform bacteria. If you're going to your refrigerator right now, the two-bar boxes carry a best-by date of September 9, 2025, and have lot number 090925-055 printed on the label. To be sure, the FDA has classified this as “a situation...not likely to cause adverse health consequences.”VT communities will lose millions in disaster preparedness funds from FEMA. All told, reports VT Public's Peter Hirschfeld, the state will lose $2 million from a FEMA fund dedicated to preparedness, and nearly $3 million in funding FEMA had awarded to flood-resilience projects around the state but not yet paid for. The cuts come after the Trump administration said it's canceling the disaster preparedness program as "yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program.”Back-to-the-landers are, well, back. VT is seeing a jump—or at least a hop—in homesteading. It’s not the first time, writes Hannah Feuer in Seven Days: There were waves in the '30s and ‘40s (prompted by the Great Depression) and the '60s and ‘70s (the “hippie invasion”). The current trend is prompted by the notion that "old-school self-reliance can be at least a salve, if not always a cure, for modern ills.” Feuer visits both native Vermonters and transplants to learn about the realities of the lifestyle, including working daytime jobs, running Airbnbs, and parlaying farm life into Insta sponsorships and t-shirt sales. Here's an idea: Sheathe the Bennington Battle Monument in copper. Unlikely as it sounds, that might be cheaper than current plans to rescue the monument from the estimated 66,000 gallons of water that have seeped into its limestone. The copper idea comes from state Rep. Shawn Sweeney, who owns a building design company; he says it would cost about $10 million to wrap the monument then use a heat pump to dry out the limestone, reports VT Public's Peter Hirschfeld. The state's plan to save the monument would cost an estimated $40 million. The monument is expected to open May 16.A social network of "pretend chicken friends.” You know how you’re supposed to devote your sabbatical to writing a book and instead spend time doing not-at-all-serious stuff? Procrastinating is exactly how Erika Hall came to paint chickens. Soon, her oeuvre was so full of portraits that she renamed her kitchen Chicken Town. Now she’s created a way for the rest of us to avoid the news and duck our own work: Clickens. Two chickens, one adjective, and you decide which fits the word best. Don’t worry, we can always call your editor for you and plead for extra time. The Thursday Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak.
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Daybreak tote bags! Thanks to a helpful reader's suggestion. Plus, of course, the usual: 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!
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.
Rondeaux, who teaches at Arizona State and also runs a program at New America that's "an open-source public intelligence service for next-generation security and democratic resilience," will give the inside story of the Wagner Group and its place in Kremlin power struggles. 4:30 pm in Haldeman 41 and livestreamed.
Sustainable Woodstock is hosting Hartford Salamander Team member Ben Fletcher, who'll talk about the team's work and what goes into becoming a volunteer crossing guard when salamanders, frogs, and other species are migrating on wet spring nights. 6 pm.
As LOH writes, "F3T is a one-of-a-kind experience that’s sure to get you fired up for the season ahead. Each year fishy folk of all ages gather to soak up gorgeous short films from around the world, spin a few years amongst friends, and dream about casts yet unmade." $1 per ticket will go to the Greater Upper Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited and another dollar to the NH and VT Chapters of Native Fish Coalition. 7 pm.
This is the second of three talks hosted by the Thetford Conservation Commission and the Thetford Historical Society. Freeman is the climate forester for VT's Dept. of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, where she works "to incorporate climate-smart strategies in state forest management planning." 7 pm at the New Suns Center (former United Church of North Thetford).
The Nashville-based singer songwriter takes a leaf from James Taylor and Neil Young for his songs, tells stories, and has a reputation for writing songs on subjects "that others don’t explore," as
American Highways
put it. 7:30 pm, you'll need reservations.
The three-day festival highlighting "the rich diversity and depth of student art at Dartmouth" will take place at Sawtooth, the Black Center, and elsewhere. Screenings, group exhibitions, and, at Sawtooth, live music, including Afro-Ensemble, "an eight-person collective whose music draws on its members’ home countries of Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Somaliland." That quote's from
8 pm.
And to drive us into the day...
Sam Fender, who grew up in a working class town in the northeast of England and, these days, is a
very
big deal on his home turf, has just kicked off a North America tour—including, this weekend and next, taking the stage at Coachella. It's his first US tour since he cut short a tour three years ago to deal with mental struggles and burnout. “[Songwriting] was therapy before I could afford therapy,” he told
People
this week. “It’s the first cathartic practice that I had.” His new album,
People Watching
, came out in February.
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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