GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Today's one of those "slight chance of" days. A cold front's moving through this morning, which might or might not bring some showers. Behind it, temps drop and air will get drier. The result: It should be partly sunny most of the day, except when it's not (so good to be definite, isn't it?), and temps will get up around 80 in the afternoon before starting their slide to the 50s overnight. Then we're in for some cooler, clear days.Pete Buttigieg will be in Cornish, Hanover on Saturday. I was wrong yesterday! Joe Biden doesn't have NH to himself. Mayor Pete will be at a public meeting at Peter and Jean Burling's at 2:45 pm on Saturday (doors open at 1), then at the Hanover Inn at 6 pm. Link in maroon is to the Hanover event. And thanks to those of you who wrote yesterday to point this out.The milk we drink comes from as far away as Salt Lake City. Dartmouth student Janice Kai Chen went on FB last night looking for help collecting "dairy sourcing" data — ie, where milk sold locally is processed. She's put together an interactive map from the data she's already collected. Not surprisingly, the Co-op's got the most local producers, but also sells milk from as far away as Minneapolis-St. Paul. The Salt Lake milk goes to Hannaford's. Play at the link...NPR uses Springfield VT case to look at how Vermont's "red flag" law keeps guns out of the hands of people at risk of self-harm. Melissa Block reports on the case of Sean Laskevich, a 28-year-old from Springfield, who last month fired multiple shots from a handgun in his neighborhood, pointed the gun at his own head, got into a standoff with police, and ultimately surrendered. Block notes that suicide prevention wasn't the catalyst for VT's red flag law--it was aimed at preventing mass shootings. Hanover, Lebanon move toward solar. There's a ribbon-cutting in Hanover this afternoon to celebrate new solar arrays on the roofs of town hall and the town's water-treatment plant. It's also signed a letter of intent to put up 2000 more panels at the town reservoir. And just last week, Lebanon inked a deal for solar arrays on eight city-owned properties; it will buy the power for five years, then have the option to buy the arrays. (VN, sub reqd)Sunapee woman celebrates 111th birthday. Hazel Nilson was born in 1908 in Chicago—the last time, she notes, the Cubs won the World Series before their 2016 victory. The remarkable thing? She lived in Wisconsin until 2014, which means she was 106 when she picked up and moved here.What does dropping Title X family-planning funding actually mean for a clinic? WBUR (via VPR) took a look at one of the independent clinics in New Hampshire that's decided to withdraw from the program due to the Trump administration's new restrictions. Among other things, it's dropping its sliding fee scale, which will be a hit for most of the clinic's patients. "We’re very worried that these patients, they just will let this health care drop," says the clinic's director. "They won’t pursue other options because there aren’t any other options for them."New report finds sharp rises in Medicaid prescriptions for opioid addiction treatment in VT, NH. The Urban Institute looked at prescribing rates from 2011-2018 for buprenorphine, which treats addiction. Vermont has the highest prescribing rate in the country. The report notes that "though Vermont’s higher rate likely relates to greater treatment needs than those of the nation overall, they also likely reflect increased...treatment capacity and coverage under the Medicaid expansion." NH prescriptions grew from 8,000 in 2011 to 32,000 last year.And while we're on the subject: Seven Days is launching an online memorial project for people who've died from drug overdoses. "More often than not, losing a loved one in this way can be an isolating experience," the weekly notes. "People often feel uncomfortable acknowledging addiction. Obituaries rarely mention it as a cause of death." The project, "All Our Hearts," aims to document the lives of people who've died and those of the people they touched. Explanation and form at the link. "Your remembrances can educate, change minds, awaken empathy — and inspire action."Going to a park makes you happier. That's the conclusion of a new study by UVM PhD student Aaron Schwartz and several colleagues. They looked at 4,700 park users in San Francisco and their tweets, which used happier language -- and less negative language -- when people were at the city's 160 parks. Especially the greener parks. They note that "tweets posted from urban nature were happier by roughly 0.23 points on the Hedonometer scale from baseline. This increase in sentiment is equivalent to that of Christmas Day for Twitter as a whole in the same year." Oh, the Hedonometer? That ol' thing?Interesting set of commuting maps in the Burlington Free Press. April McCullum used Census data to look at county-by-county commuting patterns. The Northeast Kingdom has the most people driving 90 minutes or more to work, Grand Isle County has the greatest share of carpoolers, Chittenden the most bus riders. And a little knot of people who work at home around Strafford, Thetford, Fairlee and West Fairlee.In case you're planning ahead, tix just went on sale for the Women's World Cup downhill ski races at Killington. They'll be Thanksgiving weekend. General admission's free; the tickets are for "enhanced viewing."Here's your chance to see the American Museum of Fly Fishing (Manchester, VT) or the Wright Museum of World War II (Wolfeboro, NH) for free. And, in fact, a whole pile of museums around New England. Sept. 21 will be Museum Day, an annual event spawned by Smithsonian magazine. Over 1500 museums around the country will be participating, including over 100 in New England. Here's an appetite-whetting list of the museums that have signed up so far. Did you know there's a museum of Russian icons in Clinton, MA? AND NOW... PLANS FOR TONIGHT?You could go hear former VT Cartoonist Laureate Ed Koren in conversation with current VT Cartoonist Laureate Alison Bechdel. Koren, of course, is best known for his New Yorker cartoons and his fuzzy, pointed, fond take on the foibles of the people around him. Bechdel made her name with her strip Dykes to Watch Out For and her two graphic memoirs, Fun Home and Are You My Mother? They'll be in Strafford starting at 7, in the last of this year's Strafford Town House Forums. Meanwhile, the Beacon Brass Quintet will be at the First Baptist Church in New London. It's been more than three decades since the quintet was chosen by the Concert Artists Guild in its yearly competition, which is aimed at nurturing and promoting a handful of young artists. Since then they've performed throughout the US, and have recently been doing informal lectures/recitals with Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart. Their program tonight ranges from the 16th century to Ives, Joplin, and Bernstein. Starts at 7. Okay, time to get moving.... See you tomorrow.
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