GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Getting sunnier as the day goes on, highs in the mid 50s. High pressure is building in for a couple of days, and today we get our first taste of it: Temps will climb from the 20s into the 50s as a partly cloudy start to the morning yields to near full-on sun. Winds today from the south, lows around the freezing mark.
The news on yesterday's rain is that there wasn't much news (around here, anyway). Officials kept an eye on the Connecticut, Lyme warned of washouts, the Sugar River in W. Claremont reached "action stage" (below minor flood stage) last night, and in Canaan, with waters rising in the Indian River, officials closed Potato Road, but for the most part, writes Clare Shanahan in her survey of the region for the Valley News, there was high water and a lot of mud. NOAA meteorologist Stephen Baron tells Shanahan that the Sunday-Monday storm may have brought the risk of snowmelt-driven flooding to an end, since so much snow melted away.
You can't keep a good lamb down. "This is what makes me happy as a farmer this time of year," writes Jenn Megyesi of her video from indoors at Fat Rooster Farm in S. Royalton. "These are all from triplet births; after 3 days of colostrum from the mother, I take the weakest one inside to be bottle-fed and to sleep in a crate. This is recess time after feeding."Woodstock moves tomorrow's hearing on police chief's demotion to... a small conference room. The village board's hearing into municipal manager Eric Duffy's bid to demote Chief Joe Swanson to patrol officer had been expected to draw a crowd to Woodstock Town Hall, but has now been moved to a conference room in the Windsor County Sheriff's Dept., reports Mike Donoghue in the Standard—a change, he writes, that will "severely limit public attendance." The conference room can hold about 30 spectators. The village has hired sheriff's deputies for security "both inside and outside the site."Royalton voters may have beaten back expanded floodplain regs, but it's just a matter of time. Abagael Giles' piece for VT Public opens with planning chair Geo Honigford—who, as the former owner of SoRo's Hurricane Flats Farm, knows a thing or two about flooding. The commission's plan to make it harder to build on flood-prone parcels ran into intense opposition from residents on Town Meeting day. However, Giles reports, the state is formulating new rules for 2028 expected "to look much like" the ones Royalton rejected, and FEMA revisions to its flood hazard map will expand where towns must regulate.SPONSORED: Wings of Resilience: New raptors find a home at VINS. VINS just welcomed three incredible birds as new permanent residents: two majestic bald eagles and a swift northern harrier. All three have remarkable survival stories, from broken wings to an inability to eat independently. These birds are hard to see up-close in the wild, but you can read their stories at the burgundy link, get a sneak peek of the bald eagles’ new digs, and see them live at the VINS Nature Center in Quechee. Open daily! Sponsored by VINS.Wilder gets a new thrift store. KIS Thrift opened on Hartford Ave. yesterday, just east of Vermod. It's the brainchild of Hanover High grads Margaret Pridgen and Sam Freihofer, who five years ago founded KIS Clean Outs (KIS stands for "Keep It Simple") which helps homeowners within 30 miles of WRJ, especially the elderly, clean out or declutter—donating goods where possible. "We realized that we needed a dedicated retail space," Pridgen writes in an email. "We frequently are dealing with things that aren't trash and can be reused, things that someone would be delighted to take home." Hours at the link.
SAU discontent. It surfaced in two NH towns' votes over the weekend.
In Unity, town meeting attendees voted 77-17 to pull out of SAU 6 with Claremont, the VN reports. Unity will become its own SAU next year, with a transition committee steering the process of finding a superintendent.
And down in Walpole, reports the Keene Sentinel's James Rinker, voters opted 134-21 to approve a measure directing the Fall Mountain Regional School District to study the feasibility of Walpole withdrawing from the district; that in turn triggered a similar study for Langdon. The two towns share the district with Charlestown, Acworth, and Alstead.
In Northern Stage's Waitress, a "treat for the eyes, the ears, and the heart." For starters, writes Susan Apel in her enthusiastic review in Artful of the Sara Bareilles musical that opened last week, the set and props are a place for "eyes to linger," the score is "melodious [and] evocative," and the cast can not only sing, but both "seize your heart" and make you laugh. "It’s a kinetic play full of fast moves, a tender story, and endearing characters that you’ll recognize and root for," Susan writes—including a performance in one song by Jacob Tischler that "may be the funniest thing I have seen on any stage, anywhere."NH hiker rescued from Mt. Moriah. The "avid" hiker had called into NH Fish & Game Sunday evening, reporting that "during her hours of hiking that day, the deep snow on the trail had become increasingly soft, causing her to sink, even in snowshoes. She had fallen many times, gotten soaked, and was dealing with an increasingly painful leg injury." A rescue team reached her around 11:15 pm. "During the duration of the rescue effort, rain fell steadily and melted more snow," Fish & Game reports. "Rescuers ended up having to spend significant time setting up ropes and figuring out how to cross brooks that had swollen to torrents." They reached the roadside a bit after 4 yesterday morning.In Montpelier, Dems and Scott admin try to come to terms over emergency shelter after veto. Gov. Phil Scott's first veto of the year came on Friday, when he nixed this year's mid-year budget adjustment measure over its inclusion of additional spending for the state's motel voucher program. As a result, nearly 600 adults and over 160 children could lose access to that shelter on April 1, reports VTDigger/VT Public's Carly Berlin. Scott wants the legislature to back "flexible grants" to towns and cities for emergency shelter.“Who knew this guy’s heart was so big?” David Kraning, owner of Video Stop in Pocatello, ID, knew he had to close his failing store. But he worried about the disruption for customers Christina Cavanaugh and her mom Toni, writes WaPo reporter Cathy Free. Christina has Down syndrome, and had been coming in three times a week for more than 15 years. So Kraning carved out space in his convenience store next door to move Christina’s favorite Disney classics over. Toni cried when she saw “Christina’s Corner.” “He’s been losing money, but he came up with a plan just for my daughter?"Some things you can't unsee. Or unhear, if you follow Accuweather's advice on turning up the sound on this TikTok video of an octopus making its way into a small hole. "Octopuses are aliens, you can't convince me otherwise," says one commenter.The Tuesday Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak.
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In this hourlong talk with Q&A, he'll be talking about unique plants and animals, their role in supporting biodiversity, how habitats evolve, and "why their conservation is vital for the future of Vermont’s wildlife." 4 pm at the Montshire.
The Tuesday poem.
Let me relax into writingLet me say ‘Yes’ and open intowhat spreads itself out before me.I will spread myself out like the skylike a blank piece of paperand wait till I get very thin,the way the sky gets thin,after the sun goes downand lets the stars shine through.I will wait till I get so thinthat words push throughlike a thin blade of greenlike an impossible flowerfrom the desert floor.
— "Let Me Relax Into Writing"
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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.
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