GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Getting sunny, warmer. Occasionally gusty winds behind yesterday’s warm front are mixing the air up nicely, bringing highs today into the upper 70s under mostly cloudless skies (once they clear out this morning). Winds today are from the west, with gusts into the 25-30 mph range. Lows tonight around 50.
Out and about with birds. In two spots: a pond around Newbury, VT, and in Etna, NH.
In his most recent blog post, photographer Ian Clark hangs out around herons (green, black-crowned night), loons, an egret, and painted turtles.
While in Etna, Jim Block focuses on the astounding array of birds he found in the Mill Pond Forest on Moose Mountain; the King Bird Sanctuary behind the Etna Library, near the Dana Nature Preserve, and elsewhere in town.
Body found in burning car in WRJ cemetery. Callers from as far away as Seminary Hill in Lebanon yesterday afternoon reported a column of smoke rising from what turned out to be the Hartford Point Cemetery, off Maple Street in WRJ. When firefighters arrived, reports Eric Francis for Daybreak, they found a fully engulfed car at the back of the grounds—and a body inside. Police at the scene said “they had no idea initially who the victim might be—nor whether they were looking at some kind of accident, a suicide, or a homicide,” Eric writes. They cautioned that reports of gunshots might have been tires exploding in the fire, but the “weird” circumstances led them to call in the state police Major Crimes Unit. Eric’s story and photos at the link.
Lake Morey Resort won’t hold summer concert series next year. This year’s array of weekly shows regularly drew more than 10,000 concertgoers to Fairlee, reports Lillian Gahagan in the Journal Opinion (sorry, full-on paywall, but Gahagan is breaking this news), and the resort’s Mark Avery tells her that crowd sizes outran the resort’s ability to manage parking, traffic, security, and other logistics. Moreover, the state has notified him the resort needs Act 250 permission in the future to address parking, crowd size, lighting, noise, and pedestrian safety. Among other things, the resort will have to figure out how to cap audience size at about 7,000, Gahagan writes.
In an email statement, siblings Mark, Jen, and Jeff Avery write, “We take immense pride in offering our free Summer Concert Series to our community - and beyond. Witnessing the power of music and how it strengthens community has been truly inspiring. This year the series grew immensely, and it has brought about infrastructure and permitting areas that need to be addressed. In order to address these areas, we must pause the Series until further notice. We will periodically keep everyone informed as we navigate this process. Thank you all for your support and uplifting messages.” Here’s Duncan Green’s June story for Daybreak on how the whole series came about, and how it grew.
SPONSORED: Online Language Programs from Dartmouth’s Rassias Center. Online Semi-Intensive Language Programs run Mondays and Wednesdays for six weeks over Zoom beginning September 28. They are an opportunity to start learning a new language, refresh and reinforce a previously studied language, or master a language. Currently offering French, Spanish, Italian, and Mandarin. Sponsored by The Rassias Center.
Lyme property owners face a cleanup deadline next week. The faceoff between Jed and Martha Smith with town officials over what a judge once ruled is an illegal junkyard on property the Smiths own on Dorchester Road may come to a head next Tuesday. That’s the deadline town leaders have imposed for the Smiths to clean up the property themselves, reports Sofia Langlois in the Valley News. If they don’t, the town will use a contractor to do the job, and bill the pair. Jed Smith, Langlois writes, says the vehicles, appliances, tools and other equipment he keeps “support his various trade jobs.” The town contends the property is a liability. Langlois updates the saga.
SPONSORED: Primary care physician Dr. Brian Rodriguez is now open and accepting new patients in Montpelier. He provides personalized, preventive care and conveniences not usually available from traditional practices, including advanced screenings and diagnostic tests and a personalized wellness plan. Members of his practice can also book same- or next-day appointments and reach him after hours for urgent needs. Learn more here or at the burgundy link, or call (802) 778-7731. Sponsored by MDVIP.
Lacking state action, towns in NH and VT seek to block data centers.
In NH, GOP Gov. Kelly Ayotte says she intends to propose a statewide moratorium, and Democrats in the legislature say they intend to propose legislation to the same effect, but on Tuesday, voters in Nottingham went ahead on their own. By a big margin. In a vote of 1,335 in favor vs. 143 against, they passed a 12-month moratorium on building a data center within town limits. You may remember that back in May, a Seacoast developer proposed building one in town; the immediate backlash forced him to withdraw the plan.
Meanwhile, in VT, the trend that Royalton voters set off back on Town Meeting Day when they approved a five-year ban on data centers for AI and crypto mining is gaining steam, reports Kevin McCallum in Seven Days. Residents in Morristown are pressing town leaders on the issue, S. Burlington has banned large data centers, and state legislators earlier this year passed a bill imposing strict data center development regs statewide; Gov. Phil Scott vetoed it. McCallum digs into the details and the politics of it all.
SPONSORED: The Upper Valley Haven is hiring for its new Leahy Resource Center in White River Junction! Full-time weekday positions and part-time weekend positions are available, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Associates support guests with daily needs and help keep the space safe, welcoming, and running smoothly. $22 an hour, with paid training and benefits for full-time staff. To apply and see all job openings, hit the burgundy link or visit our careers page. Sponsored by the Upper Valley Haven.
Eyeing wildland fires, VT land managers propose rules changes for primitive camping. The problem, Division of Forests chief Oliver Pierson tells VT Public’s Abagael Giles, is that most wildfires come not from lightning strikes or cigarette butts, but campfires or debris burning that get out of control. So his staff have proposed changes to the 30-year-old regs governing backcountry camping on state lands, requiring fire rings made of stones (disassembled after the fire’s thoroughly out) and an area cleared of all combustible material. Among other things, the new rules would also give wardens the ability to ticket people who stay at one site for more than three days.
“Perhaps I was little hard on Papyrus…” The font we use, Elle Cordova says, “is everything.” So, inspired by Gilbert & Sullivan and Tom Lehrer, she sets a typography geek’s mind ablaze to the tune of “Modern Major General”. Okay, hum along: “I am the very model of a modern day typographer/I know the type tonalities from elegant to jocular/I am a master tracker and my kerning is harmonical/I know the sacred swatches and can name the hues Pantonical…” Though she’s no fan of Papyrus or Comic Sans.
The Thursday Crossword. Laura Braunstein is back with a timely “midi”… And if you’d like to catch up on all her puzzles for Daybreak, you’ll find them here.
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
At the Howe Library, “The Mystery of the Enduring Life of Sherlock Holmes.” Paul Etkind, of the Sherlock Holmes Club of the Upper Valley, tackles questions like, “How is it possible that a Victorian era detective transcends time, history, and technology to continue to fascinate the public? How is it that these stories can somehow be updated in modern eras and continue to be fresh and attractive?” 5 pm in the Mayer Room and online.
Plasticiens Volants and their flying puppets at The Sharon Academy High School. The Flynn’s Playing Fields project, which brings spectacle to school grounds and municipal parks, returns to the Upper Valley with the French street-theater troupe and its production “Sea Fantasy—The Pearl”, featuring an underwater “menagerie of giant sea creatures accompanied by music and special effects.” It’s free. 6 pm tonight at TSA, and then same time on Saturday at Hartford High School. Here’s Ken Picard’s look ahead in Seven Days.
The Quincy Saul Research & Development Band at Feast & Field. The weekly concerts at Fable Farm in Barnard are nearing the end. Tonight it’s “fine cabinetmaker Pete Michelinie on drums, astrophysicist Lukas Saul on bass, and ecosocialist organizer Quincy Saul on piano and clarinets. Expect music on the world-soul-jazz-funk-family continuum.” Gates at 5:30 pm, music starts up at 6.
The Mudroom at AVA Gallery. The popular storytelling event’s theme is “Once In a Blue Moon,” with five or six storytellers regaling the crowd. Doors open at 6:30 pm, and you can grab dinner ahead of time at the Lebanon Farmers Market in Colburn Park.
Parish Players debuts its production of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts. Director Aaron Hodge and a cast featuring Jeannie Hines, Stephen O’Dwyer, Sean Dumont, Peter Orner, and Killian White have been hard at work on Ibsen’s family drama about secrets, respectability, convention, and a present toxified by the past. At the Grange Theater on Thetford Hill, 7 pm tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, and the same times Thursday-Sunday next week. Here’s Susan Apel’s look ahead in Artful.
Man With a Plan in Fairlee. It’s been 30 years since John O’Brien’s cult classic featuring Orange County dairy farmer Fred Tuttle as himself, in a fictional story in which he runs for the U.S. House of Representatives. Two years after the 1996 film, Tuttle went on to run in—and win—a GOP US Senate primary; he died in 2003. Fairlee Arts is screening the film at 7 this evening in the town hall auditorium, with O’Brien on hand to talk about it all.
Vermont history trivia at Brookfield’s Old Town Hall. The VT Historical Society has created questions that explore aspects related to the US’s 250th anniversary within Vermont—ranging from early Vermonters to significant battles to Indigenous culture to the state’s place names. You’re welcome as a team or an individual willing to get matched with others to form a team. 7 pm.
And just a note that registration for Sunday’s Tour de Taste closes today. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance’s annual “pedaling picnic” fundraiser covers loops of 6.9, 21.1, or 30.7 miles, with an abundance of food stops along the way. Deadline to register is 11:30 pm at the latest.
And for today...
How could we skip a song called “Acres of Clams”? If you’ve been hanging out on street corners in Seattle, maybe you’ve run across The Brudi Brothers—Johann, Conrad, and George, who’ve been playing music together since they were kids. And if you haven’t, this is a very fine intro.
See you tomorrow.
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