WELL HERE WE ARE, THURSDAY...
Mostly sunny, highs mid-60s. Do we even need to discuss this further? Because if we do, we'd have to talk about what's headed our way overnight, which would bring us to tomorrow and then tomorrow night, and I for one am not going there.Buy a book, help a bear cub. Ben Kilham's bear center in Lyme is overwhelmed with cubs this spring -- 66 of them and more expected. So the family of bookstores owned by Phoenix Books, including Woodstock's Yankee Bookshop, is teaming up with "Vermont Wild" author Megan Price to donate part of the profits from sale of her books to the center. The books, in case you haven't run across them, tell true stories of fish & game wardens. And if that's not your thing, you can also ask any of the bookstores (they're also in Burlington, Essex, and Rutland) to donate change from any sale to the "Books for Bears" fund.Hanover restaurants giving new app for college students a go. "Snackpass," which is expanding on college campuses, just added Dartmouth to its list. It lets local restaurants post their menus, list discounts, get the word out about flash promotions, and make takeout ordering easy. So far, 10 restaurants in Hanover have signed on. The app began in New Haven, CT, as a food-ordering and rewards app for Yalies, and is on a handful of other campuses now, including Brown, RISD and Harvard. So far it's just for college students, but hey, there was this thing called Facebook that once was, too....Colatina Exit says one secret to its success is being a community player. The Bradford mainstay is one of seven restaurants featured in a Seven Days piece on long-lived Vermont restaurants. Karaoke got it through the winters a while back, and weekend bands help. Local sourcing and keeping up with trends -- like a cauliflower crust for its gluten-free pizzas -- matter, too. But co-owner Vin Wendell says that taking care of its employees -- six managers are about to become partners -- and giving goods and volunteer hours to local efforts have been key. "When we started focusing on giving back instead of profit, [the restaurant] became more profitable than it's ever been."Windsor Sen. Dick McCormack casts lone vote against VT anti-slavery bill. Okay, this take's a moment's explanation. The Vermont Senate yesterday voted 28-1 yesterday to update the state constitution to make it clear that Vermont prohibits slavery and indentured servitude. The state was the first in the country to outlaw them -- in 1777 -- but the historic language is a little equivocal. Hence the update. Since the change doesn't actually affect real life, McCormack, a senate veteran, thinks it's pointless. It's “putting a smiley face on history,” he says. There's a long way to go on this: the changed language won't get to voters until 2022.
Springfield Hospital expects up to $6 million in operating losses this year. Administrators told the Green Mountain Care Board yesterday that the struggling hospital is considering a partnership with DHMC, or maybe just declaring bankruptcy. The hospital is in debt, facing growing expenses and revenue shortfalls, and in January required an $800,000 bailout from the state to prevent its closure. It has lost 77 staff members since the beginning of February. “We know what we’re trying to do, but it’s tenuous as to whether we can pull it off,” its interim CEO told the board.Court, NH at loggerheads over police-wrongdoing list. On Tuesday, a superior court judge ruled that the so-called "Laurie List" of more than 260 police officers who've committed misconduct must be made public. But the state's solicitor-general has refused to release the list, saying that the state's reviewing its options, and that the order did not require the list be made public immediately. The case was brought by the state ACLU and seven news organizations.News flash: Vermont struggles with diversity. PRI's The World is up with a long story about Vermont's "not us!" response to President Trump's declaration that America is "full." But it's had trouble attracting newcomers, especially immigrants and people of color. It's recently made it easier for immigrants to transfer credentials from abroad, so that they can get jobs in the state. But racist incidents, Rutland's abortive effort to take in Syrian refugees, and its overwhelmingly white image work against it. The state needs to change its approach, says Curtiss Reed, Jr. “Vermont's marketing strategy for decades was white, heterosexual males with family incomes of $120,000 or more. That population is shrinking.”VT pot bill future in doubt, as guv wants saliva test and lawmakers say nothing reliable exists. The marijuana legalization bill had seemed a sure bet, but Gov. Phil Scott says he'll support it only if it includes a roadside saliva test to check for impaired driving. In theory, legislators say they've got no problem with that, but in practice they've been unable to find any tests that actually work.THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO TONIGHT!It's bats at VINS. Barry Genzlinger, president of the Vermont Bat Center, will be at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science to talk about why you should care about the furry little flying mammals. They're crucial to healthy ecosystems, and unless you've been... well, living in a cave for the last five years, you know they're in trouble. He'll be talking about the impact that white-nose syndrome has had on the bat population and what can be done to save them. Starts at 5:30.Seriously, just what is a Vermonter? In the final lecture of the Thetford Historical Society's "Migration Nation" series, historian Jill Mudgett looks at both the people who moved to Vermont and the people who started leaving for less rocky pastures as early as the 1820s. If you're not Abenaki, either your ancestors moved here or you did: settlers following the Connecticut River, Italians working the quarries in Barre, back-to-the-landers in the '60s. Here's Mudgett's answer to a reporter who asked her what it takes to be a Vermonter: "I think to be a good Vermonter … you need to be open to the ways the state will be changing and should embrace some of the changes of the 21st century. Diversity, for example, would be good for Vermont.” 7 pm at the Thetford Academy theater.Speaking of change in Vermont, if you happen to live in or care about Sharon, Strafford, Tunbridge, or Royalton, the future's on the docket tonight. This'll be the second "Our 4-Town Future" meeting. The effort got going after the towns' NewVistas wake-up call. Economic vitality, agriculture, forest lands, infrastructure, recreation: It's all up for grabs. Starting at 6:30 at the Tunbridge Central School.Or look, maybe you just need to bust out of your "Dancing Queen" shower routine? The Lebanon Opera House is showing Mamma Mia on the big screen. "It would be a charity to call the plot contrived," grumbled Roger Ebert. But come on... Meryl Streep? Pierce Brosnan? Amanda Seyfried? Colin Firth? You know you've gotta go. Starts at 7, but Three Tomatoes has crafted a couple of cocktails for the event you can check out ahead of time, including a Mmm-Mamma Mia (Amaro, Cointreau, vodka, orange bitters, lemon juice, Prosecco, club soda). Be a shame to let that go to waste.Hope you get out and enjoy the day! See you tomorrow.
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