GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Slight chance of showers to start, then getting partly sunny. We begin the day in the low to mid 40s, and temps will rise a few degrees as the day goes on—though gusty winds may keep things from feeling comfortable. There's a chance of showers until mid-morning, at which point skies get partly to mostly sunny. Winds from the southwest, down to around 30 overnight.Hmmm. A couple of double-take photos...
Like, for instance, this annoyed-looking great blue heron—at Edye Scheier's doorstep in Norwich. This was after she'd had a pumpkin there and then removed it. Herons eat small rodents in addition to fish, and she speculates that perhaps he was ticked that she'd removed the gourd that attracted them. "Or maybe he has become a vegetarian?"
And the sight greeting parkers with a handicapped placard outside the side entrance to Dartmouth's Leede Arena last Friday. After the rain. From Jane Masters.
Oh, and while we're here: A reader writes in to say the brightest star in yesterday's moonrise photo from Doug Tifft wasn't Venus, but Jupiter—and that next to it is Aldebaran, and then, faintly visible above and to the right of Aldebaran: Theta Tauri. Thanks, EM!
Hanover adds Cuban food to the dining menu, while an old tapas name resurfaces in a new space. The four co-owners of Little Havana are, not surprisingly, all from Cuba, reports Emma Roth-Wells in the Valley News; they opened in the space where Duende used to be earlier this month. "I wanted to do a coffee shop but apparently mojitos are better,” says co-owner Maylena Chaviano. Meanwhile, Casa Brava Tapas Bistro in the Six South hotel is a co-venture between James Van Kirk, who used to own Candela—where Little Havana is now—and Martin Murphy of Ariana's fame. Roth-Wells explains.SPONSORED: “...My muscles and mind in a better place..." That’s what Lauren Schumacher says massage does for her. “I feel like a million bucks when I walk out… what better holiday/birthday present to give or receive?” You'll find more information about Cioffredi & Associates' award-winning massage services—and more to help your gift recipient feel their best—at the burgundy link above or here. Call 603-643-7788 to reserve your gift certificates. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy. Lebanon budget meeting will be both in-person and online. Tomorrow's 6 pm final public hearing on the city's proposed 2025 budget had originally been planned for in-person attendance only after it was moved to the Lebanon High gym, but city officials announced yesterday that they've added remote participation, as well. Details at the link.And while we're on Lebanon: Storrs Hill will offer free skiing all winter. That's thanks to a gift from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation announced late last week. It's a chance "to experience the joy of winter sports, connect with neighbors, and celebrate the magic of the season," the Lebanon Outing Club said in its press release. The club manages and funds operations at the hill. It adds that the grant "will jumpstart a community sponsorship campaign to continue free skiing in coming seasons."If you can't use sunscreen... An interesting thing about rhododendrons (and azaleas): When the temp drops below 17° F, their leaves curl and droop. Scientists thought that this might have to do with avoiding snow load or a lack of water, but as Mary Holland writes on her Naturally Curious blog, both theories have been disproved. Instead, the droop may have to do with the boost in light that the plants get during winter, when there's no shade. Rhododendron leaves forced to stay horizontal during the winter got sun damage and photosynthesized less than leaves that drooped, she explains.SPONSORED: Keeping our neighbors safe, warm, and dry this winter. Thank you to the 165 volunteers who repaired 58 homes with COVER this past summer! The need for home repair and weatherization continues to be great. Join us in weatherizing and repairing 40 homes for income-qualifying families this winter by donating or signing up to volunteer at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by M&T Bank: “We Understand What’s Important.”Concord-area artists restore vandalized Satanic Temple statue. The group—from a variety of religious backgrounds—brought the statue of the goat-headed figure back to the State House grounds yesterday: "If one religion is allowed a holiday display, all...should be allowed holiday displays," they said in a statement. They're remaining anonymous "out of fear for their safety," reports the Monitor's Catherine McLaughlin. “The artists felt strongly that we shouldn’t let the vandalism be the last word,” says state Rep. Ellen Read, who invited the display and has gotten death threats. “I have a sense we’ll keep coming back.”Hints of rift after NH House GOP gets its leaders. On Friday, newly re-elected House Speaker Sherm Packard named his new leadership team, which looks a lot like last year's, including the appointment of Jason Osborne as majority leader. Shortly after the announcement, GOP Rep. Kimberly Rice—who, you remember, dropped her challenge to Packard after receiving unnamed "assurances," tweeted “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." She insists it had nothing to do with Packard's moves; one of her supporters tells the Globe's Steven Porter (no paywall) it "absolutely" did.Under prison psychiatric care in NH, two men with mental illness died after officers restrained them face-down. The first was Cornish's Phillip Borcuk in 2017: He'd been placed in the state prison's Secure Psychiatric Unit, had a mental health crisis, and died after a tussle with corrections officers. The second came last year, after Jason Rothe refused orders to leave a common room, was Tased, cuffed, and pinned face down; he was declared dead later that day. NHPR's Paul Cuno-Booth looks into both deaths, the risks of "prone restraint"—and why it was used when it's known to be dangerous.Trying to understand the Contoocook school funding lawsuit? Here's a handy guide. Lawyers for school districts and the state squared off last week before the state Supreme Court, and in NH Bulletin, Ethan DeWitt offers three takeaways from oral arguments. First, the districts argue that the $4,100/student provided by the state does not "come close to covering what is needed for an adequate education." Second, the state argues that legislators some years back laid out what the state should fund—and it's courses, not transportation or administration. Third: Should the courts even intervene?VT sees second-largest drop in kids' flu vaccination rates; NH not far behind. To be sure, compared to last year, flu vax rates for children are down in every state other than Iowa, report Alex Fitzpatrick and Mike Deehan for Axios Boston. The national average was a 7.1 percent drop—but of the New England states, only Vermont (-16.8 percent) and New Hampshire (-14.6 percent) exceeded that mark. VT's decline was right behind Idaho's, which clocked in at 18.8 percentage points. The data, write Fizpatrick and Deehan, suggest "increasing vaccine skepticism among parents pretty much nationwide."Details of St. J police captain's shooting emerge at arraignment. The suspect, Scott Mason, was arrested Sunday after a tip led police to a building next to where the shooting took place; yesterday, his attorney entered a not-guilty plea in Caledonia County criminal court. In charging documents, reports VTDigger's Alan J. Keays, police say four officers responded to a domestic violence call: body cam footage shows that only five seconds elapsed from the time Capt. Jason Gray got to the top of the stairs to when he was shot with pellets “consistent in size with bird shot." Lots more details at the link.Woman busted for trying to smuggle protected turtles into Canada will be deported. As you no doubt remember, Wan Yee Ng, 41, of Hong Kong, was arrested back in June after she tried to smuggle 29 eastern box turtles in a kayak to the Canadian side of Lake Wallace. On Friday, a federal court judge in Burlington ruled that, rather than continue holding her in jail, where she's been since her arrest, the feds will send her back to Hong Kong. Her lawyer said she was pressured into it by her husband; prosecutors believe it was a "collaborative" effort, reports VTDigger's Klara Bauters.On two VT commissions asked to make recommendations, caution—and no recommendations. Honest, it's just happenstance that they involve education and psychedelics.
Tasked with arriving at ways to save money on school funding, the Commission on the Future of Public Education yesterday decided not to include any such list. Those opposed to including it, reports VTDigger's Ethan Weinstein, worried that it "would come off as recommendations rather than merely ideas." “I think we’ve all acknowledged that the list is not ready yet,” said Ed Secy Zoie Saunders. “The public will interpret this as a set of policies.” Instead, their report assesses the education landscape, education data trends, and issues "a call for continued collaboration by all interested parties."
Meanwhile, writes Natalie Bankmann for UVM's Community News Service, "a clear plan to legalize and administer [psilocybin] for the increasing number of mentally ill people in Vermont has hit its second roadblock in one year." In its final report, the Psychedelic Advisory Working Group convened by Gov. Phil Scott earlier this year shied away from recommending a plan to legalize its use. Bankmann explains why it's even a question—and why the advisory group merely hopes "to continue the conversation."
They listened so you can browse. This is the time of year for best-album lists. So many, many best-album lists. Billboard's got one. And Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. You'd expect those. The New Yorker? Sure, why not. Rock critic Jon Pareles at the NYT? Obvious. But The Economist? Business Insider? *BrooklynVegan*? Okay, whatever. So how do you keep track? Well, the folks at Album of the Year have compiled a collection of all the lists, with links to their own pages about the albums and to the original writeups. An awful lot of Brat and Cowboy Carter, but you'll also find plenty you've never heard of.Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it stick around by hitting the maroon button:
Fleece vests, sweatshirts, head-warming beanies... Strong Rabbit has updated the Daybreak page to keep up with the changing weather. Plus, of course, the usual: t-shirts, long-sleeved tees, the Daybreak jigsaw, those perfect hand-fitting coffee/tea mugs, and as always, "We Make Our Own Fun" t-shirts and tote bags for proud Upper Valleyites. Check it all out at the link!
There's a hare in the moon tonight.Crouching alone in the brightbuttercup field of the moonand all the dogs in the worldhowl at the hare in the moon…"Come down again, wild harewe can see you there"The dogs all howl to the moon."Come down again to the world,you mad black hare in the moon.""Or we will grow wings and flyup to the star-grassed skyto hunt you out of the moon"The hungry dogs of the worldhowl at the hare in the moon.
— From "Full Moon Rhyme" by Australian poet Judith Wright. Wright, who lived in New South Wales, was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times in the 1960s.
,
thanks to
The American Scholar
.
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.
Want to catch up on Daybreak music?
Want to catch up on Daybreak itself (or find that item you trashed by mistake the other day)? You can find everything on the Daybreak Facebook page
, or if you're a committed non-FB user,
.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to hit the blue "Subscribe" button below. And thanks! And hey, if you're that friend? So nice to see you! Subscribe at no cost at:
Thank you!