GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly cloudy, maybe some snow showers. In some ways, it'll be like yesterday: some sun, more clouds, highs somewhere around 32, calm winds (this time from the west). But there's also a disturbance moving through with a bit more moisture to draw from than yesterday, so there's a decent chance of snow showers, especially the higher up you get. Down to the mid teens again tonight under partly cloudy skies—ahead of a clipper system arriving tomorrow.Pond stars.
From Norwich, Robin Dellabough sends along this instance on a small pond at Elm and Hopson.
And here's the much bigger Pout Pond in Lyme, covered in spidery stars, by Kathryn Schwartz.
And from her mom, Lisa, this explanation by Victor Tsai, a geophysicist now at Brown, who according to a U of Alaska blog entry "wrote perhaps the only paper in existence on lake stars." “You need relatively thin ice, and a thick snow cover,” he told the blogger back in 2012. “The lake needs to have just frozen over and then had a heavy enough snow to weigh the ice down enough that the snow can become wet from lake water.” More at the link, including why they're like windshield cracks.
Just a reminder: I-91 Exit 10A northbound will be closed today. So will the right lane of I-89 south crossing the river. The closures are part of NHDOT's work to place concrete on the southbound bridge deck, and are scheduled to last from 5 am to 4 pm. If you're headed north on 91 and need to get to 89 south, you'll be directed up to Exit 12, where you can switch over to 91 southbound, then take Exit 10A southbound to get on 89 south.For the second time in less than a year, Bethel Fire Department loses its leadership. The first time was back in the spring, after then-chief Dave Aldrighetti got into a dispute with the selectboard over his bid to remove a firefighter over a social media post following a state trooper's crash into a fire truck. Aldrighetti stepped down. He was replaced on an interim basis by former asst. chief Geary Coogler. Now, reports Emma Roth-Wells in the Valley News, Coogler, who's facing health issues, says he's ready to leave—after putting the department on a more even keel. His assistant chief is stepping down, too.Tunbridge residents and others have raised at least $56,000 in four days to rebuild home destroyed in fire. The house belonged to White River Partnership watershed scientist Rudi Ruddell and his wife, Lisa Kippen, an artist; and though fire crews were on the scene not long after Ruddell called in the fire around 2 am Friday morning, reports Emma Roth-Wells in the VN, the couple lost everything, "including their car keys, Kippen’s hearing aids, and Ruddell’s beloved guitar." The home wasn't insured. Community members responded quickly, first with clothes and offers of a place to stay, now with a GoFundMe to help them rebuild. “It boggles my mind," Ruddell says.SPONSORED: Breathe new life into your stuff! This Giving Tuesday, give your treasures a second life by donating them to the COVER Store in White River Junction. From furniture and appliances to DVDs and tools, your well-loved treasures help fund no-cost home repairs for local families in need. Schedule a free pick-up for larger items by visiting our donation page at the burgundy link or here. Donations are tax-deductible. Sponsored by Snowdog Construction, a BPI-Certified Home Performance Contractor.“Learning to talk to people who are different from you is a muscle that you build with training." That's Dartmouth's president, Sian Beilock, talking to The Times (of London) about the difficulties engaging with people she's seen among students live their conversational lives on social media. She tells the paper's education editor, Nicola Woolcock, that knowing how to talk to people who are different—different views, different lives, different backgrounds—is key to mental health, and online doesn't cut it. “I am a big fan of picking up the phone. It’s much quicker and easier and you can get to the point," she says.Thanks to a Claremont couple, free speech includes "the right not to say anything." Back in 1970, the state of New Hampshire began embossing the state motto, "Live Free or Die", on its license plates. As Steve Taylor writes in the VN, this was widely seen as an endorsement of the Vietnam War, and the Upper Valley quickly became a plate resistance hub—including writing over or taping over the motto. Police in Lebanon started hauling miscreants into court, and though the furor eventually died down, they did it again in 1974, busting Claremont's George Maynard for punching out "or Die" with a nail. Taylor follows his case to the US Supreme Court... which backed him.SPONSORED: You can help shape the future of public media in Vermont when you join Vermont Public’s Community Forum! This group of volunteers gives feedback on our programming and services, and helps Vermont Public serve the whole community better. The group meets a few times a year, in different locations around the state. You let us know how we’re meeting the cultural, education, and information needs of Vermonters, and provide us a link to communities around the region. Learn more at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Vermont Public.In NH's legislative hopper: rehabilitated squirrels and raccoons as pets, legalizing magic mushrooms, and... oh yes: stripping the state's consumer energy advocate of funding. The thing to remember is that right now, a bill is just wishful thinking: Most won't survive the legislative process. Still, the Monitor (paywall) has two pieces out on what could be ahead:
A GOP rep from Weare, Ross Berry (who used to represent Manchester), has proposed folding the standalone Office of the Consumer Advocate—which represents residents and utility customers and is currently led by Don Kreis—into the state's energy department. Berry argues he's just interested in efficiency; Kreis says the move would not save electricity consumers money, but it would strip them of a voice independent of the administration in the halls of power. Charlotte Matherly reports.
Meanwhile, Matherly and Sruthi Gopalakrishnan round up seven "niche and random" bills from among the hundreds that have been filed. There's the bid to make it possible for someone who rehabs a gray squirrel or raccoon to keep it if it can't be released into the wild; a bill to outlaw declawing cats; a bid to legalize the use and possession of psilocybin by anyone 21 or older; a move to make an animated short about the Old Man of the Mountains the state's official animated film; and more.
NH state police report uptick in wrong-way drivers. There have been three arrests in the last two weeks alone, reports WMUR's Alanna Flood—including one after a driver going north on I-93 South caused a crash just south of the Hooksett tolls. "Most of the folks are impaired drivers. People unfamiliar with their locations, sometimes it may be an issue with the GPS and using their phones. But, nine times out of 10, in those early morning hours, it’s going to be an impaired driver,” the NHSP's Gregg Deluca tells Flood.Not as bad as this year, but still: Vermonters face estimated 5.9 percent property tax increase for education next year. That news came in what's called the "December 1 letter" from the state's tax commissioner, Craig Bolio, to the governor and legislature. It will add to this year's 13.8 percent average increase—which roiled the school budget process and, as Seven Days' Kevin McCallum points out, helped produce GOP gains in the statehouse. "The last thing Vermonters need is yet another property tax increase,” Gov. Phil Scott said in response. Senate Pres. Phil Baruth has said he'll devote the first week of the legislative session to Scott's plans for education finance reform.Federal border officials "quietly" build surveillance towers along the northern border. Plans have been in place for nearly four years, writes Shaun Robinson in VTDigger, as a way to augment the Customs and Border Patrol workforce. Revealed in 2021, they drew criticism then from VT's congressional delegation. Now, using satellite imagery and on-the-ground reporting, Robinson reports he's been able to verify three towers—one in Derby, VT, the others in Champlain, NY. All sit within a half-mile of the Canadian border. Robinson dives into the politics, the tech—and its challenges on the southern border.How VT's Skida—and owner Corinne Prevot—took over the ski world. It began when Prevot, then a high school Nordic skier at Burke Mountain Academy, discovered her fleece hats were too warm. Accomplished at sewing since childhood, Prevot bought some lycra, made up a batch of hats, and took them to a race—where other competitors asked how the could get some. She made up a price ($20) on the spot. By the time she got to Middlebury, writes Hannah Feuer in Seven Days, she had a going concern. Feuer profiles Prevot, her popular gear, her ambitions—and Skida's nonstop rise.Maybe they just like the smell of dead fish? Though maybe the reason an orca was seen wearing a dead salmon on its head in Puget Sound recently was playfulness, reports Tessa Vikander for the CBC. The whales were first spotted with the unusual headgear back in 1987, and seem to have taken it up again; scientists are no wiser now as to why. Could be a form of communication, a celebration of salmon, a fashion statement, or young orcas just showing off, “the same way that young kids can pick up tricks from others," says one researcher. Next sighting: a teen orca being sent to its room?
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The Sky is low - the Clouds are mean,A Travelling Flake of SnowAcross a Barn or through a RutDebates if it will go -A Narrow Wind complains all DayHow some one treated himNature, like Us is sometimes caughtWithout her Diadem -
— "The Sky is low" by Emily Dickinson.
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