Daybreak Thursday 9/17/20

GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

Remember that cold front? Well, its moving through to our north today, dragging cooler air behind it. The result is that things will start out pretty sunny this morning, then cloud up over the afternoon and evening, and there's a very slight chance of showers overnight. That cold air filtering in aloft will push off any lingering wildfire smoke, and also send temps down into the mid-40s overnight. Tuck School cuts 18 employees; more layoffs coming elsewhere at Dartmouth. “The pandemic has substantially affected our school’s financial situation," Tuck Dean Matthew Slaughter wrote to students and staff in an email. In addition, the VN's John Gregg and Tim Camerato report, Provost Joe Helble in yesterday's "Community Conversation" said that structural budget issues and the college's pandemic-related deficit mean that "some division leaders will be in a position where there will be job reductions in their units," either as layoffs or furloughs, though he added they would not be widespread.I-91 southbound to close tonight between WRJ and Hartland. Just a heads up from VTrans: "A full closure of I-91 Southbound lanes is scheduled to occur on Thursday, 9/17 beginning at 8:00 PM. The Interstate will re-open by 5:00 AM on Friday, 9/18. The Southbound detour will utilize I-91 Exit 11 to U.S. Route 5 South to Exit 9." (Scroll to Hartland.)I-89 drivers might not notice bridge work until next year...other than cranes. The VN's Tim Camerato has an update on reconstruction plans for the twin highway bridges between VT and NH. The first step will be to build a new pier for temporary travel lanes. Then southbound traffic will be diverted and the highway widened. After that—probably in 2022—is when the northbound lanes may be closed for a month at night to bring in steel. At some point, the I-91 North ramp to I-89 South may also be closed for a few days.Art "helps us process what is going on and it also lets us come together... This a project that has a safe way to come together collectively.” That's the Norwich Historical Society's Sarah Rooker, talking to the VN's Liz Sauchelli about the society's "Community Circles Project." It aims to get town residents and families painting up to 120 circular pieces of canvas with their pandemic experiences—"what’s bringing them hope right now, what they’re grateful for right now," Rooker says—and then hang them together at Dan & Whit's.Median NH home price jumps 15 percent in August. Demand continues strong, supply not so much, so put the two together and the median price for a single-family home in New Hampshire is now $349,450. In fact, the average seller of a single-family home in the state got 100.3 percent of their asking price last month, reports NH Business Review's Jeff Feingold. There were about 58 percent fewer homes for sale last month than in August, 2019.NH's Veto Override Day ends with Sununu's vetoes upheld. In a series of party-line votes, House Democrats failed to muster the super-majority they needed to overcome a pile of vetoes issued by the Republican governor. "Both sides say the lack of communication and compromise this year was noteworthy," writes the Monitor's Ethan DeWitt. Democrats blamed Republicans for not considering even watered-down versions of measures they proposed.  Republicans said Democrats dismissed Sununu’s suggestions in areas like net metering and paid family and medical leave.VT's $425K "Buy Local" gift-card program has already put about $450K into businesses' pockets. That's because consumers are spending more than the state gave them. The Agency of Commerce and Community Development has just put out a report card on last week's gift-card program, which was fully subscribed within 24 hours of going online. In all, 94 businesses in Windsor County will get an average of $399 from the state (somewhat below the state average of $436); 23 Orange County businesses will average $809.  Federal judge strikes down GOP effort to short-circuit VT's mail-in ballots. The suit against Secretary of State Jim Condos' plan to mail a ballot to every registered voter in the state was brought by five Republican voters, including a town clerk and two former state reps. But yesterday, Judge Geoffrey Crawford rejected their claims that the plan would adversely affect them. "These are sophisticated voters..." he wrote. "Of all people likely to be confused about how to vote, these plaintiffs may be last on the list."How to vote in VT. VPR is out with a helpful guide to voting in the general election, including details on how to register, notice that if you vote absentee you should have your ballot in the mail by October 24, word from the head of the state postal workers union that "the mail is sacred to us," and other useful information—including how to track your absentee ballot. Here's NHPR's similar guide again, from August. Momentum to update Act 250 petering out. For the last three years, the VT legislature has been working on a measure to reformat the state's precedent-setting land-use law to strengthen some environmental restrictions but also make it easier for downtown development to occur. Yesterday, the Senate passed a drastically slimmed-down version that increases protections for forestland and wildlife corridors. It's unclear whether the House will act on it at all, and the Scott administration has pulled its backing from the Senate version. VT House, Senate, agree on retail pot market. Differences between the two chambers stalled the legislation last year, but on Tuesday night, they finished hammering out their differences. It would tax marijuana sales, let a new regulatory panel propose advertising restrictions, let towns collect licensing fees, require a town vote on any dispensary, and allow police to use saliva tests to screen drivers for drug use. The two chambers still need to take a final vote before sending the bill to the governor, who has not said whether he'll sign it.Some might head there for the museums. But some will go for the chocolate-covered blueberry bar with a hint of lime. In her latest "Vermonting" piece, Seven Days' Margaret Grayson explores St. Johnsbury. She starts, of course, at the Athenaeum, with its Bierstadts and WPA murals and Fairbanks backstory. Then, from among the town's pretty cool set of food offerings, she goes for Pica-Pica, the state's only Filipino restaurant. She also covers Dog Mountain, with its own backstory, and finally, Sweet Seasons Farm & Artisan Confections. Where that blueberry bar awaits."The beauty of a fallen tree." Somewhere in the Upper Valley woods, posted last night by Reddit user oneisgoodtwoisbetter."The loneliest woman in America." She wasn't, actually, because about 7,000 paddlers a year came by Dorothy Molter's cabin on the Isle of Pines in MN's Boundary Waters Canoe Area, where she served root beer brewed from lake water. Still, she was 15 miles by canoe from the nearest road, 30 from the nearest town, and she once said she would only marry someone who could “portage heavier loads, chop more wood, or catch more fish.” Apparently, no one could. Atlas Obscura's Terri Peterson Smith profiles Molter, who lived on her own for 52 years in a spot that could get into the -50s in winter.Amharic, Uighur, Catalan, Guyanese Creole, Twi. Oh, right, and English. Those are some of the 600-800 languages spoken in NYC alone; there are at least 1,300 in the US. Ekene Ijeoma, the founder of Poetic Justice at MIT's Media Lab, has launched an intriguing "voice portrait of America" called A Counting. People call in and count to 100 in their native tongue. Software mixes their voices in an ever-changing blend, from 1 on up. A single loop from 1-100 takes 3 1/2 minutes. Listening to every iteration for New York? 34 days, 5 hours. There are variations for Houston and Omaha, as well.

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Debussy wrote "Clair de Lune" for the piano, but a few years back French classical guitarist Roxane Elfasci

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