GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Well, that was enough of that! Not much sunshine, if any, for a few days, thanks to a slow-moving low pressure system and a flow of air off the Atlantic that's going to keep temps lower here than to the west. The result of all this is clouds and some gusty winds today, with a chance of rain all day rising to a likelihood in the late morning and again overnight. Temps may just get out of the 40s today... but then, they won't drop more than a few degrees tonight.Just a heads up that there'll be no Daybreak tomorrow. It's been quite the time the last seven weeks, eh? It's also been both a pleasure and a privilege to have you reading, signing up, contributing, sending in suggestions and thoughts. Thank you for all of it! Time for a day off, though, and when better than May 1? Back as usual on Monday.Oh, and while we're doing some housekeeping... If you've signed up since mid-March (or even before) and haven't yet added Daybreak to your contacts list, that would help keep it from getting shunted unceremoniously into your spam folder. Here's how to do it in Gmail, here's Yahoo, and for the rest of you, just search the name of your email provider and "whitelist" or "add contact."Okay, okay, let's get to the numbers...
NH is now at 2,054 positive test results, up 50. Meanwhile, 980 have recovered (up 44 since yesterday's report) and 66 have died (up 6), bringing the total current caseload to 1,008, of whom 107 are hospitalized. Grafton and Sullivan counties remain at 48 cases and 11 cases, respectively, and Merrimack County is now at 145 (up 1). Hanover and Lebanon remain at 15 and 11.
For the first time since March 13, Vermont reported no new cases yesterday. Note, however, that it's also been doing far less testing than even a few weeks ago; 214 Tuesday compared to 1,300 a day at the end of March. Still, the news leaves the cumulative total at 862. Of those, 11 are hospitalized (down 1), with 47 deaths (no change). Windsor and Orange counties remain at 40 and 7 cases, respectively.
VT, NH both fall far short of contact-tracing needs. Estimates of how many contact tracers the country needs in order to keep the coronavirus in check range from 100,000 to 300,000. NPR asked all 50 states where they stand, and got 41 responses. The national total: 7,602 on staff now, with the most optimistic hiring plans getting us to 35,000. They've got state-by-state details: Estimates are 30 needed per 100,000 population, and NH has 5.1 right now, with uncertain hiring plans; VT has 7.7, with no hiring plans reported. A conversation about Lou's with owner Jarrett Berke. Like restaurants all over the Upper Valley, the Hanover mainstay is doing its best to roll with the times. It's shifted to takeout; started a new line of business (takeout family dinners); is looking into an entirely new concept, a "virtual brand" with a very un-Lou's-like cuisine; and is cooking for frontline workers and families in need. Still, if students aren't back for the fall, he says in a Daybreak Interview, "it's going to be really difficult." Oh, also, Berke's got a new office: Table 16. Oops. On Monday night, Tunbridge therapist Jory Innes got a call from someone wanting help with an unemployment insurance claim. She went out for a walk, and returned to find a dozen more on her answering machine. Turns out, the Dept of Labor had accidentally given out her phone number to people calling for help. She's had conversations with people all over the state who are in the same boat: trying to get through to the DOL's helpline to no avail. “It would be humorous if there weren’t real people involved who have now spent more time talking to someone who can’t really help them,” she tells VTDigger. Dartmouth to announce plans by June 29. In yesterday afternoon's "Community Conversation," Provost Joe Helble said the college will be open in some fashion this fall: fully remote, fully residential, or most likely a combination of the two. The challenge, he said, is "for us to figure out in the next two months...the appropriate model that allows us to bring the maximum number of students safely back to campus." He also said Dartmouth expects a $100 million operating loss by the end of June. "Dear Governor Sununu..." Over the last few days, West Leb hairdresser Vanessa Perron has gotten a fair bit of coverage for her petition to reopen barbershops and hair salons in New Hampshire. But she also wrote a letter to the governor detailing what she has in mind, and her approach is more nuanced than much of the coverage suggests. She details 13 points to ensure safety (#4: A new cape for every client, no reusing) and adds that some other hairdressers are already seeing clients at home, with no accounting for sanitation (or income). The whole thing's at the link.Another antibody-testing option. Yesterday's item about local clinics drew a letter from Mary Stevens, a nurse practitioner from Norwich, who points out that as of Tuesday, Quest Diagnostics, the lab that does the testing for the two offices mentioned in the Valley News, is offering direct testing. "According to Quest, you can purchase and schedule the test online without a medical provider referral or office visit," she writes. And adds, "People should inquire about testing procedure wherever they go to avoid as much exposure to COVID as possible, and be informed of the type of test they will receive, since many tests, including the ones mentioned, are not yet FDA-approved." Quest has guidelines at the link on whether a test makes sense for you. The re-opening state of play across New England. NECN looks at all six states and what they're saying at the moment. The long and short of it: Very few have specifics, though Maine plans to re-open hair salons, drive-in theaters, dog grooming, stay-in-your-car church services, auto dealerships, and carwashes as soon as tomorrow.NH community colleges seek $29 million in aid. Most of that money, the system's CFO told a legislative advisory committee yesterday, would go for tuition assistance. "Right now many are on the financial edge,” he said. “We are asking you to help us to help them. . . Relief and recovery for our students are relief and recovery for the state.” At its hearing, the committee also heard from dentists and optometrists, who say they'll need to invest heavily in protective equipment in order to reopen safely.How are New Hampshire libraries adapting? NHPR's The Exchange today will be talking to Amy Lappin, who is deputy director of the Lebanon Libraries and president of the state library association, and Lori Fisher, assistant state librarian. It airs this morning at 9:20. Meanwhile, Daybreak next week will have an interview with Howe director Rubi Simon on the same question.NH health department sets up five new mobile testing centers, including in Claremont. It's part of a bid to expand testing around the state, not just in the southern tier, where Covid-19 has been most prevalent. "The program," says health commissioner Lori Shibinette, will allow us to track containment of the disease to inform plans to re-open regions of the State.” Testing will be available to any resident whose health care provider requests it. VT to roll out new testing plan. Gov. Phil Scott and health commissioner Mark Levine said at a press conference yesterday that the state will be able to conduct 1,000 tests a day—more than they've been doing, but fewer than some state officials had suggested in recent days. Starting immediately, the state will do follow-up testing at nursing homes and assisted living facilities that have had at least one confirmed case, and will start testing all health care workers who have come in contact with Covid-19 patients. UVM plans for students to return in the fall. In a statement and video released yesterday, university president Suresh Garimella said in-person education will resume with the start of the fall semester, though with changes. "Return to an in-person campus will require more testing, tracing, and improved protocols developed through collaboration across sectors and around the globe,” he wrote in the statement. “And it will require additional precautions on campus, in our classrooms, and in our residence halls and dining facilities.” He did not elaborate."With the lack of traffic that's been going on...bears have felt a little bit emboldened to venture into the downtown area." That's Dave Taddei, a state game warden in Bellows Falls talking to Vermont Edition's Jane Lindholm about a young bear that's been taking in the sights of downtown Bellows Falls on recent evenings. First it was bird feeders, then some beehives. "The best thing that you can do is to keep your yard clean," he says. And an electric fence around beehives wouldn't hurt.Speaking of emboldened... Remember the Llandudno goats in Wales? Andrew Stuart, the reporter who rocketed to global stardom by chronicling their wanderings, went to his front door yesterday to discover... they're baaaack.
Former Hartford High teacher accused of “inappropriate conduct” with a student. Michael Landau, who taught English at the high school, resigned last fall, reports the VN's Anna Merriman, and now the state department of education says he's surrendered his teaching license. The state is providing no details. Nor would Windsor County Assistant State’s Attorney Heidi Remick, who looked into the allegations and decided not to bring charges.I-93 off-ramp for I-89 will be closed next week. Just a quick heads up in case you're planning to be headed home next Tuesday or Wednesday. NHDOT will be fixing a drain pipe, and the off-ramp from I-93 north that leads to 89N will be closed from 5 am Tuesday until about noon Wednesday.VTDigger agrees to recognize union. The announcement came in a statement posted on the nonprofit site's website Tuesday night. Lawyers for the umbrella Vermont Journalism Trust and the newly formed VTDigger Guild reached an agreement this week over the bargaining unit's membership, Seven Days' Paul Heintz reports. "This is great news, and I'm really proud to work at Digger," says education reporter Lola Duffort, a member of the organizing committee. "We are trying to create a model for sustainable nonprofit news, and our employers showed they believe that's absolutely compatible with creating a good workplace for employees."NH is "the New England state with the least baggage...When someone hears you’re from New Hampshire, you get a noncommittal nod." That's transplanted resident JW Ocker, who's decided to fix that with a new column in NH Mag exploring what makes New Hampshire weird. He starts with Andover, which hosts the grave of the first American-born magician, Richard Potter. Who was also, Ocker writes, "the country’s first black celebrity entertainer," famous "for resurrecting chickens, dancing on eggs without breaking them, and throwing his voice into various objects."
News that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
#UVTogether
Staying Sane
You could talk books with the Howe today at 5:30—both what you're reading now, and ideas for what you might want to read next. And next. And maybe next. Librarians Jared Jenisch and Megan Coleman will lead the discussion. Email [email protected] to sign up.
Or at 6, you could get a virtual tour of Mill River Brewing in St. Albans—and shoot out beforehand for some Bodie's Rescue Stout or Lake Days APA. The Vermont Brewers Association is streaming these "virtual exbeeriences" every Tuesday and Thursday, each one with a different host.
If you missed the livestream last weekend of the Broadway extravaganza (and nearly two-and-a-half-hour-long) tribute to Stephen Sondheim, it's here on YouTube. It's got a seriously big-name cast (Lea Salonga, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone...), all performing from their quarantined spaces. You can dive in, or just dip in from time to time.(Thanks, CJ!)
Or you could try a different kind of listening entirely. Bernie Krause is a musician and "soundscape ecologist," who in 1968 founded an organization called Wild Sanctuary to record and preserve natural soundscapes. They sell these, but you can also just transport yourself for a bit by visiting the store, choosing an album ("Distant Thunder" or "Songbirds of the Rocky Mountain Foothills" or "Amazon Days, Amazon Nights"), and then listening to the little 90-second snippet that comes with each album.
Reading Deeper
There's much more on the ins and outs of antibody testing than the item up in the main news section could detail. The NYT yesterday went up with a good rundown of the issues, from how they work to whether they're accurate (only three of 14 tested, in one study) to whether the presence of antibodies means you're immune (the short answer: no one knows).
On a day like today, we have to go out with some full-on musical sunshine. Cainã Cavalcante is a Brazilian guitarist who's decided to do something with his days in confinement: he's jamming with, and hosting, other musicians (many of them Brazilian, but some from elsewhere) and putting them up on Facebook and Instagram as QuarantenaSessions. They're unreal.
, featuring accordianist Mestrinho, drummer Léo Rogrigues, and four others. Then spend some time checking out Cavalcante himself and
. They'll make you very happy.
(Thanks, NS!)
See you Monday.
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