GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Well hey! Warming up, partly sunny. The upper-level low pressure that's governed our weather the last couple of days is slowly shifting eastward, and today we're going to see temps start climbing again—toward a high in the upper 60s—and clouds breaking up. There's a chance of rain showers this afternoon, but for the most part we'll see a mix of sun and clouds as we head toward a warm, sunny end to the week. Down into the low 50s again tonight.Snack time! One on-camera, the other in the future...
From Hanover, Lisa Grose sends in trail cam footage of a bear cub chowing down on an apple from trees that are just off-screen;
And from Thetford, Cynthia Taylor passes along a clip of a spider wrapping up a bee for storage. It's a bit out of focus, but you can't help but admire the speed and efficiency.
Thetford Academy opts for no cellphones. Starting next week, students will be asked to put their phones in sealed pouches during the school day, Amy Ash Nixon reports in the Journal Opinion. "TA can take a bold step toward fostering a healthier learning community by taking collective action to give students a respite from phone use while at school," administrators wrote in a letter to parents last month. As Alex Nuti de-Biasi notes in the JO newsletter (burgundy link; full story here but only for JO subscribers), TA joins Claremont's Stevens High; Hartford's middle school is on board, too.NH judge rebuffs Hanover's challenge to order requiring it to release records on October arrests of two Dartmouth students. The latest step in the long-running saga came last week, reports John Lippman in the Valley News, when Judicial Referee Steven Houran ruled the town failed to show that a Grafton court had erred when it ordered the town to release the arrest records in June. The case involves the VN's right-to-know effort to obtain the arrest reports for students Kevin Engel and Roan Wade, who were busted during a protest in front of the college administration building.Dartmouth union files unfair labor practices complaint against college over its refusal to bargain with men's basketball team. The latest step in this long-running saga came yesterday, reports The Dartmouth's Arizbeth Rojas, when Service Employees International Union Local 560, which team members voted 13-2 to join in March, filed the complaint, saying the college's decision not to bargain violated both labor law and its "tradition of bargaining fair and equitable union contracts," in the words of union president Chris Peck. The college will appeal with an eye toward sending the issue to federal court.SPONSORED: At Alice Peck Day, you’ll have more than a happy first day—you’ll have a happy and rewarding career. From the front lines to the back offices, Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital employees love what they do—and it shows in every step of a patient’s healthcare journey. Open positions include LPN, LNA, Surgical Services Scheduler, Clinical Manager, and more. Join our friendly community hospital today! Sponsored by APD. Longtime Fairlee camp director Barnes Boffey dies at 79. Boffey, who ran the Aloha Foundation's Camp Lanakila for over two decades and was a much-admired and prominent figure (helped by his unusual height) in Upper Valley education and counseling circles, died Monday of pancreatic cancer. "He was a courageous, helpful and loving person," his sons David and Adam write in an obituary published on Boffey's CaringBridge page (here's the link: you'll need to be signed up to see it). Both there and on Facebook (burgundy link) people have been posting tributes. Memorial service 9/7. (Thanks, BKS!)"A magical woodland growing inside an unassuming White River Junction storefront." That's how Seven Days' Alice Dodge describes Elodie Blanchard's "Forest for the Trees" at WRJ's Kishka Gallery. Blanchard's "Seussian creations" range from three to nine feet tall, and the gallery's directors, Ben Finer and Bevan Dunbar, have set up Blanchard's creations, made from reused textiles, "as an immersive installation," Dodge writes. "A viewer can wander through groves and thickets and get lost." It's on view through Saturday.SPONSORED: An unforgettable evening of music & fun with Okkervil River and Western Terrestrials! Join us this Friday (8/23) at Whaleback Mountain for a not-to-be-missed concert marking the 20-year reunion of the original Okkervil River lineup, and benefitting two vital non-profit organizations: The Upper Valley Snow Sports Foundation and The Upper Valley Land Trust. Weather now allows for an outside performance and 300 additional tickets are available online and will also be available to purchase at the door. For more info hit the burgundy link. Sponsored by UVSSF and UVLT.Lots of questions at Hanover's May 1 police-response forum, not many answers. The public forum hosted by the Hanover Selectboard Tuesday evening, reports the VN's Patrick Adrian, featured Chief Charlie Dennis talking about police operating procedures—with no questions from the audience—and small discussion groups moderated by board members. The groups coverd everything from how hard it's been to determine whether the police response was appropriate, to Dartmouth policy on the green. "Some participants said they gained more understanding and perspective about the events on May 1 in their discussion with other residents than from town officials," Adrian notes.Antarctic ice sheet future is dire—but worst-case fears are overblown, Dartmouth team argues. That worst-case possibility was in last year's report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and it had Antarctic ice contributing to sea-level rise of as much as 50 feet. But now, reports Dartmouth News' Morgan Kelly, a team led by earth sciences prof Mathieu Morlighem and engineering prof Hélène Seroussi has challenged that projection—at least in this century—based on new models that "more accurately capture the complex dynamics of ice sheets."Telecom company that was part of NH primary Biden deepfake will pay $1 million fine. Lingo Telecom, the TX voice service provider that sent robocalls to thousands of Democratic voters Jan. 21 spoofing Joe Biden's voice and urging them to stay home, also agreed to strict caller ID authentication rules and requirements, reports the AP's Nick Perry. Steve Kramer, the political consultant behind the calls, still faces a proposed $6 million FCC fine as well as state criminal charges for voter suppression and impersonating a candidate.Former NH state rep stripped of right to vote. You probably remember Troy Merner, the GOP rep who was forced to resign last year after he was discovered living in a town outside his Lancaster district—but still voting in Lancaster and taking mileage reimbursements based on his old address. Yesterday, reports Damien Fisher in InDepthNH, he was sentenced in Grafton Superior Court after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges. Merner was given two suspended six-month jail sentences, barred from elected or appointed office for two years, and permanently stripped of his right to vote.Watching NH's loon cams, a nationwide community. Sometimes, reports NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian, people turn on the Loon Preservation Committee's YouTube livestream and "drift off to the sounds of the lake." But the work that goes into those cams? It's intense. Bill Gassman, who operates the cams, is often up at 4 am—or even earlier, if something attacks an egg. He skips parties, once ran the cam from a wedding he was attending, and fine-tunes the tech, like after a goose "pecked a microphone to death" and a bear "was suspected of unplugging power cords," Hoplamazian says. Lots more at the link. (The loon cam's season is done, but you can replay this summer here.)Canada lynx confirmed in VT for first time since 2018. The big cat "was seen walking along a road edge and caught on video by several members of the public" on Saturday, says VT Fish & Wildlife in a press release. They're endangered in the state and when they do appear, it's usually up north—where their prey, snowshoe hares, are more likely to live. Wildlife biologist Brehan Furfey suspects this one was probably passing through on its way to find new territory. The press release has no photo, but this story from NBC5 does.Also back in Vermont: wheat fields. As VT Public's Samantha Watson says, wheat "hasn’t been grown for baking here since it was planted by early European settlers. When colonial America expanded West, the crop largely disappeared from the Northeast." At least, until about 18 years ago, when Red Hen Bakery founder Randy George asked a Charlotte grower to try its hand—which in turn led UVM Extension soil specialist Heather Darby to look into what it would take to produce better flour. Now, several VT bakeries "are sourcing grain locally for the first time since the 19th century," Watson reports.A size 708 boot that goes 65 mph. At least, that's what LL Bean's Bootmobile would be if it were an actual duck boot. It's been a dozen years since the first Bootmobile hit the road, and the three in the company's US fleet (there's another in Japan) have covered 350,000 miles in 25 states, reports Steven Kurutz in the NYT (gift link). Mostly, though, they cruise New England, and Kurutz and photographer T.J. Kirkpatrick got to go along with driver Mandee Flanders as she headed down to Revere Beach and back—visiting restaurants and ice cream shops to put everyone's order on the corporate tab.Or you can go a tad more aerodynamic. For "about 2.4." That's million. Dollars. At Monterey Car Week, this year’s absurdly expensive super sports cars were just unveiled. There’s the B95 Gotham, a Batman-inspired model from Automobili Pininfarina ($4.9 million) and the first-ever Czinger #01 (sorry, sold). Have a soft spot for the environment? Kick the tires of the fully electric Rimac Nevera R, which, at 2,100 hp, can get you from point A to point b in… fast. "Electric cars have to be better in almost everything compared to combustion," says CEO Mate Rimac. So what's €2.3 million between friends?
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
We may be the middle of nowhere to everyone else in VT and NH, but
we
know what's good! Strong Rabbit's Morgan Brophy has come up with the perfect design for "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Plus you'll find the Daybreak jigsaw puzzle, as well as sweatshirts, tees, a fleece hoodie, and, as always, the fits-every-hand-perfectly Daybreak mug. Check it all out at the link!
The Hanover theater is screening them all—just once for each—starting today at 1 pm with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, then moving on to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at 4 pm. Tomorrow at 1:10 it's the Prisoner of Azkaban, then the Goblet of Fire at 4, and so on
and
.
Brattleboro's Rich Earth Institute was in the news earlier this year for its efforts to collect urine and turn it into fertilizer that then goes onto farm fields. They'll be giving an online presentation via Sustainable Woodstock today at 5:30 about their bid to create "
a vision of regional nutrient sovereignty and climate resilient sanitation
."
The Americana band from Burlington plays bluegrass-infused rock and roll. Or maybe it's rock-infused bluegrass. Regardless, "the love the members have for playing music together and for sharing it with others is contagious,"
Seven Days
wrote a couple years ago. As always, gates at Fable Farm Fermentory in Barnard at 5:30, music at 6.
. New London's Summer Music Associates presents the NYC-based jazz ensemble led by trumpeter Brandon Lee and trombonists Willie Applewhite and James Burton III. The group's known for joining the intimacy of a small group to the powerful sound of a big band, with a mix of originals and classics. 7 pm in the Sawyer Theater.
The resort's free summer concert series is coming to an end (Larkin Poe next week will be the last). Tonight at 7 pm (food and food trucks at 6) it's the Toronto-based Celtic roots/rock band with a large and intensely loyal North American following. They're no strangers to the resort: It's where they hold
in January, a chance for fans to learn from, listen to, and play music with them.
And for today...
Though odds are good that Kuddles the Killer Whale won't be on hand.
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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