GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
We'll definitely see sun today. There's high pressure off to our southeast, and a surface low tracking to the north, which means winds will be coming from the south, helping to keep things balmy. Patchy fog first thing, and while we'll probably see clouds hanging around all day, there'll be plenty of sunshine, as well. Temps getting into the high 40s, then back into the low 30s tonight. Tim Briglin pushes mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for VT. The state rep. from Thetford, who chairs the House Committee on Energy and Technology, is tired not just of watching the state fall short of the goals it set for itself back in 2008, but of watching emissions actually go up. “We’ve got to pick up the pace,” he tells VPR. “We’ve got to find the policy solutions, and we’ve got to frankly find the accountability that’s going to move us down the path of reduction.”Norwich plan draft moves forward. After seeing the 2018 version of its town plan rejected by the regional planning commission, Norwich's planning commission is readying a new version that emphasizes the development of "lower-cost" housing types. It would allow for denser development and mixed-use buildings, and also "encourages officials to study alternatives to septic," says the VN's Tim Camerato. S.O.S!!! Can anyone think of a local place that sells pie boxes? That's a home baker posting on the UV group on Facebook last night. Her pic says it all.It's official: The NH primary will be Feb. 11. Secretary of State Bill Gardner said so in a ceremony at the State House yesterday. The event was full of all sorts of questions about the state's role, including its lack of diversity and California's early-voting procedures, which will have some voters in that state casting ballots before New Hampshirites go to the polls. Gardner professed himself untroubled by any of it.And you were feeling sorry for yourself... Here's what Sunday night's weather looked like atop Mt. Washington.NH Lottery Commission approves sports betting. It okayed a deal yesterday with Boston-based DraftKings to make the state the second in New England to permit betting on games (RI's the other). Wagering will start up on the company's mobile app in January, and at physical locations — residents in Berlin, Claremont, Laconia, Manchester and Somersworth voted a few weeks ago to permit physical betting parlors — in the spring.Castle for sale in Cavendish, VT. Well, it's castle-esque, anyway. We're not talking dank corridors and rough-hewn walls here, but there are some 20-foot ceilings, an indoor observatory, and a hidden staircase. The granite used to build it came from the 240-acre parcel on which it sits atop Hawk Mountain. It can all be yours for a piddling $2.59 million. If nothing else, you've gotta check out the dining-room table. Vermont's DMV has made $15 million selling Vermonters' personal data over the last four years. DMV officials say most of its revenue comes from insurance companies or businesses seeking driving records on their own employees. But, says VTDigger's Xander Landen, the agency "has also allowed law firms, private investigators and out-of-state corporations to buy or access personal information about Vermont drivers, including where they live, the cars they drive, their driving records and their criminal histories."VT proposes closing Woodside. The Dept. for Children and Families informed staff at the state's only locked detention center for juveniles yesterday that it intends to seek legislative approval to close it next year. "Youth have better outcomes through community-based settings where they remain connected to family and supports," DCF Commissioner Ken Schatz explained in a statement.As food stores close, dollar stores fill the gap. VTDigger's Erin Petenko takes a look at the Vermont version of a national phenomenon: dollar stores pushing into communities that have become so-called food deserts. They offer canned and processed foods at low prices, but they also, says a report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, "are not merely a byproduct of economic distress. They’re a cause of it." Petenko notes the number of dollar stores in the state doubled between 2012 and 2018.Paying people to move to Vermont is a distraction. That's retired businessman Bill Schubart, arguing that the state would be better off investing in what makes it a good place to live. "Yes, we have beautiful landscapes, myriad recreational opportunities, vibrant cultural and technical communities," he writes, "but we also have an affordable housing crisis, growing water and soil pollution, unaffordable healthcare, hunger, inadequate public transportation and childcare, shriveling town centers, and a teetering dairy economy."Wayside stops taking maple cream pie orders for Thanksgiving. Not long ago, the Food Network featured the iconic Barre diner's pie in its 50 States of Pie list, and ever since then the cooks have been slammed. The Wayside saw three times the number of Thanksgiving pre-orders for maple cream pies as last year, and had to cut off orders on Sunday. Even then, bakers are working through the night. No word on whether Just Like Mom's in Weare NH is up to its pre-Thanksgiving elbows in whoopie pies.This turkey can jump! Of course, the wings help. A striking shot from a Northern Woodlands reader in Stowe of a turkey going for a branch of crabapples last winter. Thanks for the tip, JF!
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If you're in the mood for a scene with a lot of other people, the Dark Star Orchestra will be in Concord.
The
Grateful Dead tribute band, which is filled with talented musicians in its own right, does this interesting thing: They usually re-play some historic Dead set-list. And as one Dead-head reviewer puts it, they get it right. "If they’re recreating February 22, 1974, they capture the hazy, lazy sound of that era. If it’s a mid-1980s show, Dark Star nails down the speedy, more up-tempo sound the Dead had." 7 pm at the Capitol Center for the Arts.
Jakob Breitbach's weekly acoustic jam at the Filling Station, Jim Yeager at the Public House, and more ideas at the link. But things are definitely winding down this week, so you might want to call ahead of time to double-check.
Have a fine day out there, and I hope tonight's do-ahead cooking is lighthearted and fragrant. See you tomorrow.
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