WELL HI THERE, UPPER VALLEY!
Yeah. Cloudy. But warmer! And maybe some sun later, highs into the 70s, but there's another cold front coming through tonight, so it'll eventually cloud over again and there's a chance of showers tonight. If you're wondering about yesterday not turning out as promised: There was "a strong subsidence inversion" (a downward movement of air) that kept low clouds across the region, which in turn kept temps below normal for, and I'm quoting, "yet another day." Does it sound like even the weather folks are getting tired of this?Global Rescue's Dan Richards was on NPR's Morning Edition yesterday talking about the Everest traffic jam. Remember that photo you saw last Friday? And the fact that people died on their way down? "Every minute that you are delayed because somebody is in your way, or where you're having some kind of a technical problem with your equipment or your ropes, increases the risk," says Richards, who founded and runs Lebanon's Global Rescue. "Above 8,000 meters, your body cannot get enough oxygen to sustain itself, and you slowly start to die." Nepal needs to get its act in gear, he says.Federal judge lets Dartmouth, plaintiffs go to mediation. The college and the nine women accusing it of failing to address years of sexual misconduct in the psych and brain sciences department will get their chance to sit down -- with a mediator -- and talk things out. There'll be no court-ordered deadlines or rulings until July 31, or three days after an agreement, whichever comes first.The White River Indie Festival is coming up this weekend, and Seven Days has a roundup of what's on tap. In particular, it highlights Little Beeri's March, UV director John Griesemer's "weird and wonderful" film loosely based on Brecht's Mother Courage. "It feels at once like an epic and a folk tale with a cutting edge...[with] moments that are beautiful, cruel, funny and technically impressive." But, of course, there's so much else on tap as well.Statewide conference on racism in VT schools pulls over 100 students, teachers from all over state to Randolph. Yesterday's event was organized in part to respond to reports of racist incidents at Randolph Union High and other schools. "It started a huge conversation,” says humanities teacher Emily Therrien, one of the co-organizers. “Students are actively seeking more information, teachers are seeking support on how to integrate this work into their courses and people are talking and asking questions, which I think is the first step.”It's morel season. So how the heck do you find them? If you've ever had freshly gathered morel mushrooms, maybe just sautéed in butter and garlic, you know why they're an obsession. Bob Totz shares it, so he read up on where they can best be found and took off yesterday to go look--particularly in areas with dead or dying hardwood trees like ash, elm, or apple. He chronicles his hunt through the woods, with plenty of photos. Did he find any morels? Well, let's just say that, as any mushroom hunter knows, the journey is the destination.Looking for a dinner spot in the Upper Valley? Natalie Hoyt's got the list. She and her husband were trying to figure out where to get dinner and a drink, and decided to write down the possibilities. By the time they were done, they'd come up with 61 spots, by location. She's posted it on FB, and people are adding to it as we speak. And speaking of the Upper Valley, just what the heck is it? For years, Leadership Upper Valley kicked off with a talk by farmer and former NH ag commissioner Steve Taylor and economic development maven Kevin Peterson about what ties us together as a region. It comes down to geology, the river, the highways and, of course, marketing. “When you get right down to it,” Taylor says, “the term 'Upper Valley' is a preposterous term.” (Full disclosure: this recap of their presentation was written by a former colleague of mine, so this could be seen as a shameless promo of his work, but it's entertaining and informative, so I hope you'll read it anyway.)Two new summer music series starting up in Leb. One will be the Pop-Up Music Series on the pedestrian mall on Friday and Saturday nights. It's organized by jazz guitarist Billy Rosen, but will be a mix of what he calls "dinner music" -- which seems appropriate, since it'll be between the outdoor seating areas at Three Tomatoes and Salt Hill. The other is the Anonymous Coffeehouse at the First Congregational Church, starting up a week from tomorrow. "We're going for more of a listening-room experience," says its organizer. (VN, subscription reqd)The winner in the Democratic-controlled VT legislature's less-than-stellar performance this session? Republican Gov. Phil Scott. That, at least, is how a decent number of legislators see it in the wake of yesterday's Senate adjournment (as you'll remember, the House left town last Friday). Scott “looks like he’s the only adult in the room,” says Progressive Sen. Anthony Pollina. “I think it’s unfortunate, but true. He sat quietly in the corner and watched the Democrats self-destruct.”This morning, the NH Senate is due to take up its override of Gov. Chris Sununu's death-penalty-repeal veto. (I know, sounds like a legislative tongue-twister: the legislature repealed the death penalty; Sununu vetoed it; the House has already over-ridden his veto; now the Senate's going to try, too). Dems probably have the votes to pull it off. Ahead of the action, the Concord Monitor has a nicely detailed recap of the death penalty's history in the state, and the state of play as things get underway this morning.NH sues 3M, Dupont and other companies for damage caused by consumer-goods coatings. The substances, known as PFAs, line pizza boxes, fast-food wrappers and other goods, and have made their way into the water and our bodies. “As alleged in the lawsuits," the state's AG said yesterday in announcing the move, "the defendants possessed unique knowledge of the dangers of PFAS chemicals but continued to make or sell them without warning the public of their health risks.”Well, it's over: Killington announces skiing and snowboarding will end this weekend. Saturday will be its final operating day. There was skiing into June in 2017, but the last time before that was in 2002. Overall, it'll have offered skiing and riding for 211 days this season. That's a crazy good snow year by any measure. And hey, really, at this rate the first snowfall's probably just around the corner.I jest.SO, WHAT'S DOING TONIGHT?Maybe you're in the mood to be contemplative and lifted up by music? In that case, St. James' Episcopal Church in Woodstock is doing an Ascension Day Evensong, performed by a 10-piece orchestra with trumpets, timpani, and organ, a choir of 14, and a quartet of soloists. They'll be doing Marc-Antoine Charpentier's "Te Deum" and Henry Purcell's "Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis." Starts at 7 pm.Or maybe you just want some fantastic beer and a few rounds of cornhole, in which case: River Roost is doing a tap takeover at The Engine Room. There'll be food and darts as well. This is your chance to check out Morilla, and Glimpse, and Object M31, and oh gosh, Unfallen(!), and some barley wine aged in apple brandy barrels, and... Starts at 5:01 pm.Have a terrific day out there. See you tomorrow.
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