GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Warm, dry, and sunny. For today, anyway. This fog will break and once it does we'll have a mostly sunny day with highs getting into the upper 70s. Winds will be calm, shifting to come from the south this afternoon. This evening, though, things start to change. There's a likelihood of showers overnight as the remnants of Hurricane Debby approach the region. The forecasts are still uncertain about what happens afterward; at the moment it looks like the heaviest rains will be a bit to the west. More tomorrow.Snowberry clearwing. It's such a great name, isn't it? "At first I thought it was a bumblebee, until I downloaded my photos," writes Cynthia Crawford from Norwich. "Have never seen this species here before. It is a moth, and it is sipping nectar from a bee balm plant."Judge clears way for large farm store off Exit 9. The long-running battle over the proposed 9,000-square-foot, "traditional barn-style" Sunnymede farm store in Hartland came to an end last month, when Superior Court Judge Thomas G. Walsh rejected a move to block its construction, reports Christina Dolan in the Valley News. The town and regional planning commissions had opposed a Florida developer's bid to create the store, take-out deli, bakery, and parking for 46 vehicles. The commissions won't appeal. Hartland diner owner Nicole Bartner tells Dolan the store might give travelers “a reason...to accidentally discover Hartland.”From gas to grass in Fairlee: Cannabis dispensary opening in rehabbed corner gas station. For the last couple of years, Appleseed Development—a group of local revitalizers that includes small-town developer Jonah Richard, Chapman's store's Travis Noyes, and a few other partners—has been working to revitalize the derelict gas station at the corner of Bridge Street, which crosses over to Orford, and Route 5. Today, Airon Shaw, who grew up in north Alabama and works part-time for the VT Professionals of Color Network, is opening Ninny Goat, with tours of the dispensary from 10-3. Release at the link.What happened at Oxbow. You might remember that a case of vandalism at the high school's athletic fields last month—the second in less than a year—has led the school to close them to outside groups. In the VN, Liz Sauchelli details what happened, and writes that uncertainty remains about the fields' state going forward, according to school board chair Danielle Corti. The fields were still being repaired after a vandal in a pickup last fall caused $40K in damage; the mid-July incident may add over $30K in costs. “That work needs to be given time to rest and settle to see how the fields respond," Corti says.SPONSORED: Full Send! Last Christmas Eve, while working to qualify for Junior Nationals Ski Jumping, Timmy Tourville suffered a major leg injury in a freak accident at his house. After a successful surgery and therapy program, he’s “Back to doing everything under the sun!” Read his story via the link above. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy.At Thetford Hill's Eclipse Grange, a family unravels. The Parish Players opened Sam Shepard's Buried Child last week, and in Seven Days, theater critic Alex Brown writes that the troupe's "strong production...captures Shepard's savage blend of the prosaic and the profound" in a way that is "serious but never grim, taut but never histrionic." Behind a set of strong performances by its veteran cast, Brown adds that director Ray Chapin "is impressively true to Shepard's open-ended, poetic style, letting the sheer weight of the characters' struggles suggest truths too big to be pinned down."Break down the shadows that no longer hold voices. Break down the light that drops through the window like a message... Books of poetry don't usually get film trailers, but West Leb poet Jeff Friedman's new collection of "micro tales," Broken Signals, breaks that mold. Due out tomorrow, the book's a gathering of fabulist prose poems—a man’s lover believes he’s Paul Newman, a white owl sews together the dreams of two lovers. In the trailer, Friedman reads "My Mother's Dress Shop" to a musical score by NYC saxophonist and bandleader Roy Nathanson.SPONSORED: An airplane hanging from the ceiling? Yes! Come by and see The Grief of Almost, now on view at the Hood Museum of Art. Featuring four large-scale paintings and one monumental sculpture by artist Enrique Martínez Celaya! Museum Hours: Wednesday: 11:00 am–5:00 pm; Thursday–Friday: 11:00 am–8:00 pm; Saturday–Sunday: 10:00 am–5:00 pm; Closed Monday and Tuesday. The Hood Museum is always free and open to all. Plan your visit today! Sponsored by the Hood Museum of Art.RI man shot by VT state police released from DHMC, faces arraignment today. You may remember the incident back in mid-July, when Brenden Sackal led NH and VT state police and US border patrol agents on a chase from near the Canadian border to Burke, then fired on troopers, who fired back. Sackal was taken to DHMC for treatment. On Tuesday, he was released into the custody of the NH State Police and arraigned yesterday in Haverhill, where he waived extradition and was taken to the Springfield prison. In a press release, the VSP says he'll be arraigned today in St. Johnsbury, likely by video.NH Fish & Game says there are no mountain lions in the state. Lots of people disagree. So NHPR's Kate Dario decided to dig. "Why—despite the absence of any verified photo, irrefutable nature camera footage, roadkill carcass, or other solid proof—do so many Granite Staters persist in the belief that New Hampshire still harbors mountain lions?" she asks. Her journey takes her to Facebook groups dedicated to the subject, an amateur cryptozoologist in Exeter, and above all, the desk of Fish & Game's Patrick Tate, who since 2007 has been debunking sighting claims. Though he'd love some real proof.How NH's gubernatorial candidates are positioning themselves on-screen. With the state primary coming up Sept. 10, all of the major candidates—Republicans Kelly Ayotte and Chuck Morse, Democrats Cinde Warmington and Joyce Craig—are on the air with TV spots. NHPR's Josh Rogers and Rick Ganley break down what viewers are seeing: Ayotte positioning herself as a tough-on-crime prosecutor (long ago); Morse attacking Ayotte and tying himself to Donald Trump; Craig citing her experience as mayor (without mentioning Manchester); Warmington zeroing in on NH importing other states' trash.VT wants to recoup mistaken Medicaid overpayments to nurse practitioners; some are dropping patients as a result. The problem began a few years ago, reports Colin Flanders in Seven Days, when a back-end mistake at the state's Medicaid vendor caused it to pay nurse practitioners at the same rate as physicians—though they're supposed to be paid 10 percent less. Now, the state has begun withholding weekly Medicaid payments until the providers' debts—which in some cases top $20K—are cleared. Practitioners have tried to get the state to back off, but officials say their hands are tied by federal regs.Cons, coins, and counterfeiting, the old-fashioned way. Glazier Wheeler sure knew his chemistry. On Atlas Obscura, Ryan Shea writes about the 18th century metalworker who grew up in Newbury, NH, had a talent for "alchemy," and became adept at minting counterfeit silver coins. It was a lucrative scheme, especially at a time when paper money was not stable. Wheeler could spin a single silver dollar into three or four fakes, but his coins finally got too thin to be believable. Nabbed by authorities in Haverhill, he was sentenced in 1783 to be pilloried, have an ear cut off, and then go to prison. He escaped to MA.
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The Lions Club's annual takeover of the town green starts up at 6 pm today with its array of rides, test-your-skill games, only-at-a-fair food, ever-popular dunk tank, an online silent auction, and live music: the Rob Oxford Band this evening, The Flames tomorrow, musicians from Tuck's Rock Dojo Saturday, and Social Mycelium Sunday. Runs until 10 tonight through Saturday, until 5 pm Sunday.
The quintet, made up of musicians from all over the US, will perform a program that includes works by JS Bach, Florence Price, Ennio Morricone, Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington, Johannes Brahms, and more. 7 pm at the First Baptist Church.
. The festival's two concerts at the Chandler are tomorrow and Saturday, with an encore at the Woodstock Unitarian Universalist Church on Sunday, but you can check the musicians out for free this evening at 7. More on the concerts themselves tomorrow.
The resort's free summer concert series continues with the southern Indiana-based country blues-rock trio led by the deep-voiced guitar maestro J. Peyton, drenched in both traditional blues (they did an entire album of songs by the early bluesman Charley Patton) and Americana hill music. Food trucks at 6, music at 8.
The popular Celtic band is a quartet of accomplished musicians: Dan Houghton on pipes, guitar, bouzouki, and more; fiddler Jon Bews; fiddler Alasdair White; and Eric McDonald on guitar and mandolin. They pull from the traditional repertoire, can go full-on or quiet, and will fill Sawtooth's subterranean space with a wall of music.
The fest itself will be back for its second year in September: teams have 24 hours to write, rehearse, and finally stage short plays, which will be at the Briggs in WRJ. No one's actually
up
for the full 24 hours: writers hand off to directors who hand off to actors and techies. It's open to anyone 10 and older, experienced or not. Deadline to sign up is next Thursday, Aug. 15.
OK, what the heck. One more from Newport?
Because there were some sure-wish-I'd-been-there performances at the folk festival a couple of weeks ago. Including Mavis Staples,
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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