GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Oh gosh, another sunny day, what are we going to do? Remember that high pressure? Well, it's moving in, giving us humanitarian dewpoints and mostly sunny skies into next week. Fog and cloudiness in spots this morning, but it'll burn off; highs today in the mid-80s, down to around 60 tonight. Were you out around sunset last night? That was a heck of a sky, eh? William Daugherty got his drone up to take some stills looking west toward the river and down toward Ascutney.
And back on earth...
NH added 26 new positive test results yesterday, bringing its official total to 6,887. It reported 1 new death, bringing the total to 420. There are now 6,162 official recoveries (89%), and 305 current cases. Grafton County has 1 new case, for a cumulative total of 105; Sullivan gained 3, and now stands at 44, while Merrimack has 1 new case for a total of 467. Grafton County now has 6 active cases, Sullivan County has 8, and Merrimack has 12. Lebanon, Grantham, Claremont, and Charlestown still have between 1 and 4 active cases each, and Newport and Acworth have joined them.
VT added 6 cases yesterday, bringing its total to 1,478. There were no new deaths, which remain at 58 total, and one person is hospitalized. Windsor County gained a case to stand at 73 cumulative cases; Orange County remains at 15 overall.
The city council voted unanimously last night to join Enfield and Hanover on face coverings, requiring them as of today inside businesses and places of work—for both employees and customers—as well as on public transportation. It backed away from requiring them outdoors, but "strongly" recommends them on the Rail Trail, Greenway, and sidewalks.
In a pandemic-era do-over, voters in Norwich reversed their March decision to replace the town hall's fuel-oil heating and cooling system with geothermal, refurbish its ventilation system, and make other efficiency upgrades to town buildings. Unlike the first vote, this one wasn't close: 1,041-608. In Hartland, voters handily agreed to spend $510,000 on burying utility lines that might otherwise mar a park planned for a reconfigured Three Corners intersection.
(VN)
Heather Surprenant, a 29-year-old organic farmer from Barnard, beat Havah Walther 423-389 in the primary for the Barnard, Pomfret, W. Hartford, Quechee seat being vacated by Randall Szott. Meanwhile, Susan Hatch Davis lost to incumbent Carl Demrow and Chelsea Selectboard member Kate MacLean in the race for two Democratic slots on the fall ballot in her old Chelsea/Corinth-area district. They'll face GOP incumbent Rodney Graham and nurse Samantha Lefebvre. Link goes to
VN
legislative primary roundup.
That's former Plainfield tax protester Ed Brown in notes from a psychologist's interview as he awaits re-sentencing next month on his 2007 armed standoff with federal agents. His lawyer requested the telehealth evaluation to assess whether he's fit to be released. The psychologist concludes Brown would not pose a threat to the community, but noted, “He described a firm belief in the negative impact of the Federal Government on the lives of Americans and his desire to affect change. He described it as an ‘obligation.’”
Leb's hybrid model for school reopening "is actually more likely to increase risk for Covid spreading in schools." That's Erika Moen, an assistant prof of biomedical data science at Geisel, in a "Letter to Daybreak" about the petition Lebanon parents are circulating asking the school board to go to in-person classes five days a week. The parents worry not just about the Covid risk of kids being in other settings on days when they're not in school, but the mental-health toll and the effect on parents' jobs. The VN's Tim Camerato explored the ins and outs yesterday.RVC, UVAC set up school alternatives. Moving into the gap created by uncertainty around school reopening, the River Valley Club's Fitkids program in Lebanon (for early education) and the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in Hartford (for grades 3-5) have created programs aimed at parents leery of sending their kids back to school or looking for an option on non in-person days. Both are full-day programs with a mix of schooling and physical activity. And both, in their promotional material, emphasize cleanliness and separate entrances.“In these hot summer days, it’s nice to skate when the sun does go down a little bit." That's Leb rec and parks interim director Rick Desharnais talking to the VN's Greg Fennell about the new lights at the Rusty Berrings Skate Park on Glen Road. Over the weekend, Fennell profiled the work that Buddy and Ginny Kirschner have put into making the skate park—which bears their deceased son Tyler's skating name—such a draw for skaters of all ages. Why lights? “People skating there, they’d park their cars against the edge (of the ramps) and turn their headlights on,” says Desharnais. "Mask Up" event hands out thousands of masks over two days. Todd Allen, a Rotary member who helped organize last weekend's giveaway, checks in via email (no link). In two days, he reports, the effort handed out about 3,200 masks and took in over $2,000 in donations, which will go to LISTEN and the Haven. The masks themselves, he writes, "were produced in Honduras and delivered to the Port of Miami, where Plymouth Rotary Club members Alex Ray (owner of Common Man Restaurants) and Steve Rand picked them up and drove them to New Hampshire on a 24-hour straight through trip."You've got a day in the Upper Valley. What to do? Pamela Polston, the Seven Days co-editor who's bravely shouldered the burden of traveling Vermont for the weekly's "Staycation" series, crammed a lot into her visit: King Arthur, the Norwich Bookstore, and Zuzu's in Norwich; "arty AF" WRJ, where she and her companion toured the Main St. Museum ("White River Junction's answer to the Library of Congress," per Peter Welch) with David Fairbanks Ford, checked out the Tuckerbox, Scavenger, Revolution, and Little Istanbul; and Quechee, where, tuckered out, they stuck to the antiques mall. Mystery deepens on misdirected NH GOP mass mailing. Remember last week's mailer encouraging voters to apply for absentee ballots—pre-printing a return address in Durham, not the voter's actual town clerk? The GOP blames a printing error. Turns out the mailing went to an unknown number of registered Democrats, including some who are dead. The state Democratic Party wants the AG's office to investigate and wonders why Durham—which tends to vote Democratic—was chosen, given the impact the mailing might have on its clerk's ability to process legitimate ballot requests.VT primary sets new turnout record. Though official results aren't in yet, preliminary numbers have over 157,000 voters casting ballots in Tuesday's election, far greater than the previous record of about 120,000. Plenty of people showed up at the polls on Tuesday, including a group on horseback in Dorset, VTDigger reports, but by far the majority (114,000 so far) opted for mail-in ballots. “The mail in has been awesome. People have loved it,” says Milton's town clerk. “We got thank you notes, smiley faces.” "I don't think there's ever been a forecast with greater uncertainty than we have right now." Vermont's two chief economists—one for the legislature, one for the administration—testified to the Joint Fiscal Committee yesterday. The state's revenues aren't as abysmal as they'd first projected in April, they said, and in fact came to $181 million more than expected once the July 15 payment deadline had passed. Any forecast in the face of the pandemic and huge uncertainty in Washington, though, is at best precarious, they warned.Four-month-old lawsuit over VT prisoners in Mississippi, ignored at the time, moves back into limelight. The suit was filed in April by the VT Prisoners' Rights Office on behalf of a Springfield inmate housed at the private prison in Mississippi where there's been a Covid outbreak. The outbreak "would seem to confirm [the] allegations that Vermont's inmates there were receiving less protection from the virus than those serving their sentences back at home," Seven Days' Kevin McCallum writes, and has helped spur legislative scrutiny of the state's contract with the company running the prison.Looks like the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail might be done in 2022. Only about a third of the 93-mile trail across northern VT, from St. J to Swanton, has been finished. But the legislature's approved $2.8 million, which will be matched by some $11 million in federal funds, to complete it. The state has contracted with VAST (the VT Association of Snow Travelers) for construction and maintenance, and the organization's been working on a section in Hardwick this summer. When finished, the LVRT will be the longest rail trail in New England."There is such promise in cookbooks yet to be used, a palpable excitement to see if they live up to expectation." English writer Gemma Croffie has found comfort in cookbooks during the pandemic, and on the Vittles blog she runs through the volumes that have been keeping her company and why they've mattered. It's a paean to cookbooks and the very human needs they fill. Of baking book Midwest Made she writes, "Baking requires a focus that allows me to lose myself in the actions. No one really needs to bake, so it feels like something just for me."
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Well let's see. Today at 5 you could go wring those isolation knots out at a Bikram Yoga of the Upper Valley outdoor fundraiser for JAG Productions. The class will be at Ratcliffe Park in WRJ (that's the one between Latham Works Lane and the river, on the other side of the tracks from most of downtown WRJ). At 5 it'll still be in the 80s, and it's Bikram, so, you know, you'll be sweating for a cause.
And speaking of causes, the Upper Valley Pipeline Coalition, the folks behind the campaign to stop the Liberty Utilities pipeline through Lebanon, are celebrating the proposed pipeline's demise on Zoom tonight. It's at 8 pm, and as you might expect, there'll be speakers on local fossil-fuel and renewable energy issues. Register at the link.
Meanwhile, at 7 this evening writer and illustrator David Macaulay will be hosted online by the Norwich Bookstore, talking about his freshly published book Mammoth Science: The Big Ideas that Explain Our World. His mammoths tackle quantum physics, magnets, bone structure, combustion, and a pile of other topics in their own quirky, accessible way. Link instructions at the link.
Amythyst Kiah was born in Chattanooga and lives in Johnson City, TN, and her commanding presence, guitar and banjo chops, powerhouse voice, and deeply researched knowledge of roots music have made her a rising star on the old-time circuit. You've probably seen her before: in the "Wagon Wheel" ad run by Bank of America before each episode of Ken Burns' Country Music. Here she's doing "Darlin’ Cory." (Thanks, AFG!)
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Banner by Tom Haushalter Poetry editor: Michael Lipson About Rob About Tom About Michael
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