GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Patchy fog to start, mix of clouds and sun, chance of showers. Not all that big a chance, even, except maybe in the afternoon. Otherwise, we'll be getting back into the mid 70s, with winds from the northwest. Tonight, back into the mid 50s, with things drying out again overnight.Pay close attention to your surroundings. And you might notice some cool things.
Like, this turkey in Plainfield doing a remarkable job of fitting into its surroundings, from Stephanie Berman;
And this toad in West Woodstock, doing likewise, from Thea Talento;
And this very determined flower in Norwich, not looking to camouflage itself at all, from Corlan Johnson.
New details in ValleyNet case: "Hey honey, I'm going to the bank," then silence. That's one of the revelations in new documents filed by prosecutors in the case of John Van Vught, who's charged with stealing some $560K over nine years from the broadband nonprofit while working for it as a contract accountant. In VTDigger, Alan J. Keays reports that after being confronted by ValleyNet leadership in July last year, he returned home, took $20,000 in cash, told his wife he was headed to the bank, and fled. He was located last month in Brunswick, GA. Van Vught yesterday pled not guilty to federal charges.Vast majority of residents in NH community power towns stick with it. Community power launched last month, with all ratepayers in participating towns—including Enfield, Hanover, Lebanon, and Plainfield—automatically enrolled unless they choose to opt out. So far, reports Frances Mize in the Valley News, only 1 percent have opted to do so in Plainfield and Enfield, even fewer in Hanover and Leb. The first bills with new rates will arrive this month. Meanwhile, Mize writes, Liberty Utilities is requesting a boost in its electric distribution rates—but, Hadley Barndollar reports in NH Bulletin, Unitil yesterday proposed an electric service rate of half what it's been charging.A muse called White River Junction. Amazingly, it shows up in songs by artists from Sweden to London to Nashville to Oregon and Ontario. And video artist Matt Mazur has put together a short collection—"Now That's What I Call White River Junction, Vol. I"—to give us all a taste. (Thanks to JAM for pointing it out.)SPONSORED: Typing at a computer from 9 to 5? Performing repetitive tasks on the job? Dr. Diane Riley of APD Orthopaedics offers carpal tunnel release with UltraGuideCTR and ultrasound guidance. With this minimally invasive technique, most patients return to work and normal activities within three to six days. Learn more here or at the burgundy link. Sponsored by Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital.NH ranks first, VT fourth in latest analysis of US children's well-being. The Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual Kids Count Data Book is out, and though NH didn't rank first in any of the four broad categories the report uses—economic well-being, education, health, and family and community—it was in the top four for all. Though, notes NH Bulletin's Annmarie Timmins, some 14 percent of its kids under 5 live in families "where someone quit or lost a job because they couldn’t find affordable child care." Utah and Massachusetts follow New Hampshire in the overall ranking, then comes Vermont.In a weird snow year, VT and NH ski industries saw big jumps in visitors. You remember, right? Nothing at first, storm in December, worrisome warmth, then bam! March! Turns out the ski areas had banner years, thanks mostly to March. The Vermont Ski Areas Association reports that business was up 10 percent over 2021-22, with 4.1 million skier visits—comfortably over the ten-year average and continuing its run as the top ski state in the east. Meanwhile, Ski NH reports that visits to alpine areas were up 13 percent, with over 2.2 million visits, putting the season in the state's top ten all-time.NH GOP state rep quits party. The numbers count in the closely divided NH House is getting pretty entertaining. Last week, a Keene Democrat became an independent. Now, reports Kevin Landrigan in the Union Leader (paywall), Bedford State Rep. Dan Hynes has announced he's leaving the GOP because of the parental rights bill and Senate Republicans' opposition to cannabis legalization. “It is clear they are out of touch with the overwhelming majority of their constituents, and that they do not respect or advocate for personal freedom,” he said. The House now stands at 199-196-2 R-to-D-to-independent.SPONSORED: Stretch your legs in the scenic Shaker 7 Road Race and three-mile fun walk on Sunday, June 25! Join us for the Enfield Village Association’s annual Shaker 7 road race! The seven-mile race starts and finishes at the Shaker Recreation Park on Route 4A in Enfield, NH, taking runners on a beautiful and picturesque route around the southern end of Mascoma Lake, down historic Main Street, over the Shaker Bridge, and back down Route 4A to the park. For more information or to register, hit the burgundy link or go here. Sponsored by the Enfield Village Association.“Some crimes defy understanding." Maybe read this one after breakfast. That quote's from a US Attorney in Pennsylvania, after a Goffstown NH couple was charged—along with several others—with trafficking in human remains. To be precise: Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Med School, was indicted yesterday with his wife for allegedly stealing portions of heads, brains, skin, and other human remains from cadavers donated for research and then selling them to others, including the owner of Kat's Creepy Creations in Peabody, MA. Feds' release here.VT maple sugarers saw a 20 percent drop in production last season. It was still the country's largest producer by far, with over 2 million gallons under its belt, reports Keith Whitcomb in the Rutland Herald—almost half of the US's entire production, according to new federal numbers. In general, Whitcomb writes, syrup makers in the southern part of the state had a better year than those in the north, though specific location mattered a lot: December's big storm took down a lot of trees, there were heavy snows in March, "and other places saw their snowpack stick around for much longer than normal."Two new laws in VT: online sports betting legalized, universal school meals.
Yesterday, Gov. Phil Scott signed into law a measure legalizing online sports betting, a step he's long supported but the legislature had long stalled, reports VTDigger's Sarah Mearhoff. Proponents had argued that it would just make legal—and allow the state to supervise and possibly make money from—activity that was already going on. Opponents worried about its addictive appeal. The new measure limits platforms' ability to advertise to Vermonters under 21.
Meanwhile, Scott yesterday also allowed a measure making school breakfasts and lunches free to all students, regardless of family income, to become law without his signature. The move continues a program that began during the pandemic and was funded by the state last year, and that drew support from anti-hunger advocates, reports Seven Days' Alison Novak. In his message, Scott said he hoped the legislature would "rethink this sincere but regressive policy in the future, so working Vermonters are not paying for the meals of families who could better afford it."
New drugs are deadly—to more than people. A few years ago, it seemed VT was making progress on the drug crisis. Its “hub-and-spoke” treatment model was working, fatal opioid overdoses had dropped, and record numbers of people were in treatment. But things have taken a dark turn. In Seven Days, Colin Flanders reports on the people struggling to gain—or regain—stability, the chasm between addiction experts and policymakers, and how a deadlier supply of drugs is outpacing treatment systems. There’s an all-out effort to save lives, but there aren’t enough resources. “By the time a bed opens up, people are often back on the streets — or dead.”In Newport VT, a mayor's abrupt resignation offers a case study in civic turmoil. At heart, Beth Barnes' departure just 75 days after taking office was about a newcomer bumping up against well-worn habits. In Newport's council-manager government, true power rests in the city manager's hands; the mayor just runs the council. When Barnes tried to meet department heads or make progress on recovering from the EB-5 scandal that left a giant hole downtown, she was pushed back by fellow council members and the city manager—who, separately, has just retired. VTDigger's Hannah Cho tells the story.I’ve been working on the (really small) railroad… At the Shelburne Museum, a team of experienced engineers gathers every Monday morning to work on model-train tracks, locomotives, and anything else that needs adjusting to get it to run smoothly, including a miniature cow that ambles (unscathed) across the tracks. In Seven Days, Ken Picard writes about “Electra’s Engineers,” all volunteers and all in their 70s, their love of trains, and their eagerness to share it with visitors of all ages. (Shout out to NEH, which gave the museum a grant some 20 years ago to reconstruct the museum’s original model train setup.)Some Guinness records are SO not worth pursuing. Take, for instance, Robert Fedrock, of Paris, Ontario, who noticed a vine six inches in diameter growing around a tree on his property, suspected it might be poison ivy—and began digging for a better view. It turned out to be 68 feet long, good enough for a world poison ivy record and for one heck of a rash on his hands, arms, face, and stomach. "Some hazards are inescapable, and the cause was worthy,” he tells Guinness World Records' Aliciamarie Rodriguez. Nope. Wrong.Sheep dog trials. Guys? Guys? Wait up!!! (Thanks, AFG and JG!)The Thursday Vordle. With an excellent word from yesterday's Daybreak.
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Today at 4 pm in Woodstock, you get a chance to do something you may never get again: watch three podcast masters at work. Hub & Spoke, an independent audio collective, is bringing three of its members—Vermont's Erica Heilman, creator of Rumble Strip; Tamar Avishai, whose The Lonely Palette "return[s] art history to the masses"; and tech journalist Wade Roush, whose show Soonish "explores the places where the future crosses into the present"—to the Norman Williams Public Library. They'll each be performing passages from an episode live, and then talking about the art and craft of narrative podcasts.
Today at 5:30, a broad collection of organizations, both local and regional, host an evening focused on immigrants and refugees at the Briggs Opera House in WRJ. It starts with a reception, then at 6:30 a screening of the film Utica: The Last Refuge, a 2021 documentary about that city's astounding effort, over decades, to resettle refugees from Myanmar, Somalia, Bosnia, and elsewhere—who, in turn, have helped the once-dying industrial city turn its fortunes around. After the film, there'll be a post-screening discussion. It's sponsored by Cornerstone Creative Community of VT, Vital Communities, Mascoma Bank, and others. Sign up here.
This evening at 6 in Barnard (gate at 5:30), Feast and Field brings in Beecharmer, the Wilder-based duo ofJes Raymond and Jakob Breitbach, with their blend of flatpicking, clawhammer banjo, ripping fiddle, tight harmonies, and mix of bluegrass, old-time, jazz, and pop.
At 7 this evening, the Norwich Bookstore hosts Randolph-based poet, writing professor, and former state legislator Marjorie Ryerson, reading from and talking about her new—and first—poetry collection, The Views from Mount Hunger. As her publisher writes, "The summit of that mountain allows hikers to witness breathtaking views in all directions. Similarly, these poems look in a broad array of directions"—not just focusing on the natural world and her own experiences here, but elsewhere.
At 7:30 pm in Woodstock, Pentangle Arts hosts two highly popular local members of the Barbershop Harmony Society for an evening of a cappella harmonies: the North Country Chordsmen, with their vast repertoire of traditional barbershop; and VoxStars, a mixed voice chorus that does contemporary a cappella. At the Woodstock Town Hall Theater.
The fourth year of the Upper Valley E-bike Lending Library has gotten underway, and today it takes up residence in Hanover. You can borrow an e-bike overnight or take one for a one-hour Demo Day ride: The fleet includes commuter, conversion, cargo and mini foldable e-bikes. Free to borrow, but you'll need to reserve here. All borrowing opportunities are free but reservations are required. Runs through June 26 in Hanover, then in Hartland 7/5-19, Rockingham 7/19-26, Claremont 7/26-8/2, New London 8/9-16, and Cornish/Plainfield 8/16-30. September dates haven't been settled yet.
Finally, any time, you can check out JAM's highly eclectic video highlights for the week: an episode of Peggy Allen and Amanda Kievit's Millcast, which delves into the intricacies of the hard work that goes into turning wool into yarn at the Junction Fiber Mill; an episode of the VT Center for Ecostudies' "Suds and Science" series, with host Jason Hill talking to colleague Nathaniel Sharpe about winning the World Series of Birding—spotting 186 species during a 24-hour South Jersey birdathon; and Amanda Rafuse, host of the SPARK series on creative life in the Upper Valley, kicking off season two in a conversation about burlesque with Johanna Evans, formerly of Hop Film, now with a cloud-based cinema platform.
And to take us into the day...
We're going to turn to Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck,
The instrumental that starts it out is pure Beck, a masterclass in soulful electric guitar. Clapton released it as a single about a month ago. Come for the music, but the video's pretty darn great, too.
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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