GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Patchy fog, then sunny. High pressure remains in place today and tomorrow, so we’re looking at a day much like yesterday: some fog to start, then full-on sun. Temps will get a bit warmer, up into the mid or upper 60s. Lows tonight will only be around 40. However, we’ll also see a few clouds arriving overnight as low pressure off the mid-Atlantic coast starts to head this way. There’ll be a coastal storm over the weekend, but its impacts around here remain uncertain. More on that tomorrow.
“Nature As Artist.” That’s how Joe Bouscaren titles his photo of the sky from near Lake Sunapee last week. Definitely.
Making up for lost time with Lost Woods. Didn’t get a chance to put in DB Johnson’s latest on Tuesday, so here it is: In which Henry takes up space on Lydia’s cramped boat as she paints. Then invites her to come watch him write…
Claremont schools’ forensic audit put on hold, superintendent pushes to narrow it. The problem, reports Patrick O’Grady in the Valley News, is that the Boston-based firm hired back in March to look into the financially troubled district’s books over the last seven years is getting bought out, and it’s unclear whether its contract with the school board is still valid. In the meantime, though, Supt. Timothy Broadrick has been digging himself, and in a meeting Wednesday night told the board, “I think it is possible to be very specific and look at certain situations during certain dates and dig into all the facts around those where the red flags seem to be the brightest.”
Fire destroys barn, damages home in Canaan. Residents displaced. When the Canaan Fire Dept. responded to the blaze on Potato Road yesterday shortly before noon, they found “a barn fully involved with fire, with flames extending into an attached residence,” Chief Jeremy Thibault writes in a press release. Given the extent of the blaze, four alarms in all were requested, bringing in 17 fire departments from as far away as New London. Firefighters’ efforts “successfully stopped the spread of the fire to the rest of the structure,” Thibault adds. In a comment on the FB post, owner Al Moran writes, “You are all heroes to me. What you were able to save was incredible.” Alex Driehaus’ striking VN photo from the scene is here. The cause is undetermined.
Shooting in Newport, NH leaves one dead, one injured. Tuesday night, Newport police got a 911 call about a shooting on Putnam Road. Responding officers found a woman “in the area” with multiple gunshot wounds; she was taken to DHMC in critical but stable condition. Inside the home, police officers found the body of an adult male. In a press release yesterday afternoon (at the link), the NPD identified him as 27-year-old Jack Steele of Newport. Based on a report by the chief medical examiner, they write, “The immediate cause of death was determined to be ‘gunshot wound to the head.’ The manner of death was determined to be suicide.” Their investigation continues. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
SPONSORED: Immigrants and refugees need your generosity now more than ever. Hearts You Hold currently has over 400 requests from individuals and families trying to make a new start in this country, just waiting to be funded by caring people like you. Some are local to the Upper Valley or to VT and NH, others are in New York, Ohio, and elsewhere. You can sort the requests by state or category to find the folks you want to support. You’ll find them all—from basic household goods to clothing to laptops to swimming lessons to diapers to a single mom in VT in search of a dash cam—at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Hearts You Hold.
Noah Kahan’s shoutouts to the Upper Valley. At the burgundy link, you’ll find the homegrown singer’s interview with the Vancouver, BC-based journalist, musician, and celebrity interviewer Nardwuar. Known for how deep he goes in his interviews, Nardwuar’s conversation with Kahan is no exception—he even dug up a reference to Kahan’s first TV gig: a green screen debut at what was then CATV and is now JAM (10:47 mark). Kahan talks up Worthy Burger, King Arthur, EBA’s, and, above all, the Lebanon Opera House (13:13): “I was always, ‘Man, if I could ever sell out the Lebanon Opera House, I’d be a big star.’” As Susan Apel writes in Artful, LOH director Joe Clifford responded, “Noah, please consider our house your home.”
Upper Valley groups land VT arts grants. The money comes from the latest round of “arts and social cohesion grants” handed out by the Vermont Community Foundation, and in the mix in Tuesday’s announcement are three local groups. SoRo’s BALE got $12K for its Imagining Our Collective Future: Free Summer Arts Series at the Royalton Farmers Market; N. Thetford-based New Suns Community Center’s arts residency “that connects BIPOC artists with local communities” also got $12K; the Special Needs Support Center (based in Leb but with programs all over) got money for efforts to create inclusive arts experiences.
SPONSORED: Three-Pointers, Einstein, and Patrick Mahomes: Deciding What’s Possible. What do Steph Curry, Caitlin Clark, and Patrick Mahomes have in common? Each has challenged conventional thinking about what’s possible. In his latest article, Cioffredi & Associates founder Billy Cioffredi explores how our beliefs can shape our potential—and why deciding to challenge our own perceived limitations may be the first step toward achieving more than we imagined. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy.
NH Libertarian Party once again advocates violence. The party’s official X account on Tuesday posted this: “We openly support the assassination of basically every elected Democrat in New Hampshire.” This is the same NH Libertarian Party that lost its affiliation with the national Libertarians in May, after calling for Kamala Harris’ assassination in 2024 and advocating this year for killing a member of the Exec Council for proposing a state income tax. In a statement, Gov. Kelly Ayotte said, “Threats like this should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” The AG’s office yesterday told NHPR that it “is aware of the social media posts.”
Two looks at Rural Vermont Rising and where it’s headed. Both VTDigger and Seven Days sent reporters to the Tunbridge World’s Fair last Friday so they could catch the Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, Amanda Janoo and Molly Gray, talk to a small crowd about the grassroots movement that’s upended state politics. In both stories, that event is just the color intro to a deeper look at the Facebook group that’s given Rural Vermont Rising a social media presence, and the efforts the group, which takes in both Democrats and Republicans, has pursued.
In VTDigger, Theo Wells-Spackman traces the movement’s growth starting last year with the resistance to Act 181, the 2024 statute that redid the state’s land use permitting regs. “That public backlash, which included a protest and critical testimony during the legislative session, began increasingly to flow through the growing Rural Vermont Rising Facebook page” and has come to focus on “the state’s efforts to balance conservation with rural housing and economic development.” “We’ve spent a decade setting policy as if we’re under this immense growth pressure, when it’s actually the opposite,” Corinth cattle farmer Neil Ryan tells him. Organizers have now formed a steering committee.
In a piece titled “Is Rural Vermont Rising or Falling Short?”Seven Days’ Kevin McCallum writes that members “are less interested in getting specific people elected than in building an organization that will hold elected officials accountable.” He talks to both members and detractors, explores its potential political impact, and notes that while some members have argued the media’s ignored them, when he showed up last week to a meeting of the Washington County chapter, he was asked to leave. “We’re not ready for prime-time,” one organizer apologized.
Want a free bridge? There is a catch, as Seven Days’ Lucy Tompkins points out: The bridge itself may be free, but “the new owner will be responsible for relocating it and constructing new bridge abutments and piers at its new home.” Also, since the Burlington-Winooski Bridge is too big to move in one piece, it’ll have to be broken apart. Which may explain why VTrans’ listing on Craigslist hasn’t gotten any serious takers. But then, the agency has been using Craigslist for several years—federal regs require listing bridges for free before they can be demolished—with no nibbles.
So, what’s going on out there in the world? That’s not a rhetorical question—at least, not as answered by hari, a Japanese web developer, who on the cheap created a website that’ll drop you into any of 900-plus livestreams around the globe. “I built it because the world is absurdly beautiful and most of us will never get to see most of it,” hari writes. “Livestreams are a cheat code: you can be in Niseko at 4am or under a Nairobi night sky at midnight, from your phone, for free. That kind of casual curiosity feels like a small public good — so I put a few hundred of them on a globe.” Just spin the globe and choose—or hit the big blue “Take me somewhere new” on the right.
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
At Upper Valley Music Center, “A Little Lunch Music” with Draa Hobbs and Michael Zsoldos. The jazz guitarist and saxophonist give a free lunchtime concert to kick off UVMC’s fall “lunch music” series. At noon.
Dartmouth’s Rockefeller Center presents “From State to Screen: A Conversation with Debora Cahn and Neal Katyal.” Cahn is the creator and showrunner for the huge Netflix series The Diplomat. Katyal is former Acting Solicitor General of the US. They’ll be talking about the challenge of bringing diplomacy and policy to viewers with former US News editorial director Dafna Linzer and Ambassador Erica Barks Ruggles. 5 pm in Filene Auditorium or livestreamed here.
Farm Fashion show & reception at Billings Farm. The show itself explores the influence of agricultural workwear—think big pockets, reinforced seams—on contemporary style. Today at 5 pm, community members “will take to the runway in looks curated by local retailers and makers.” A chance to tour the exhibition (which runs through February) and celebrate style and craftmanship. 5-7 pm.
Sonido Mal Maiz and closing festival at Feast & Field in Barnard. The series at Fable Farm brings summer to a close with the VT-based musical group “that explores the psychedelic side of Latin music, weaving modern and traditional rhythms from Central and South America.” Plus family activities, a “spirited” bonfire, and more. Gates at 5:30, music starts up at 6. And just a note: Fable Farm’s indoor Rumney Sessions start up next Thursday with an open mic. October schedule here.
At the Yankee Bookshop in Woodstock, Stephen D'Agostino reads from and talks about Saint Ike of West 4th Street. D’Agostino’s debut novel follows two generations of gay men “whose lives become entangled through art, desire, and the devastation of the AIDS crisis.” He’ll be talking it—and writing in general—over with Tony Pikramenos, librarian at the Reading Public Library and co-host of the Night Mail podcast. 6 pm.
At the Howe Library, “College Town Conversations: Making, Keeping, and Losing Friends in College.” Dartmouth sociology prof Janice McCabe looks at why and how some students thrive in deep friendships with their peers, regardless of what kind of campus environment their college offers. 6:30 pm in the Mayer Room and online.
And anytime, check out JAM’s highlights for the week: Cindy Pierce’s “Wrangling the Drift,” her one-person show about her family’s efforts to care for her mother as she descended into dementia; presentations by three artists (all Dartmouth grads) at Kyle Timothy Fine Art in Hanover earlier this month; and the first episode of a new series on local wildlife and landscapes by Hartford Salamander Team creator and drone pilot Ben Fletcher.
And for today...
“Chuj” Mackey is a Cherokee singer/songwriter who grew up in the traditional Cherokee community of Kenwood, OK. He also grew up singing Cherokee ceremonial songs and watching his grandfather two-step to Bob Wills while his mother and grandmother listened to outlaw country. So these days, Mackey blends the two, writing and performing country songs in Cherokee. Here’s “Daganigisi (I’m Gonna Leave).”
See you tomorrow.
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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editors: Jonea Gurwitt, Sam Gurwitt
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