GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Another mostly sunny day. In fact, today's pretty much a repeat of yesterday, with maybe a few more clouds in the mid-afternoon. But once again we get gusty winds from the northwest, temps due to reach the mid-40s, dry air, and lows tonight in the mid-20s.Okay, one more mud pic. Mostly because this is a first for Daybreak: The same person gets both the top and the bottom of the newsletter. "This is Three Mile Road in Etna," writes Clyde Watson. "One car has been there since midday yesterday, the other appeared overnight. A town truck with York rake couldn't get by and had to back quite a way down the road (no fun with a rake attached) in order to turn around." After this, mud needs to be at least mid-grille before we'll be impressed.On the other hand, we may need to get used to this. In the Valley News, Claire Potter looks at the science behind this year's "biblical" mud season. In warmer winters, especially if there's less snow, frost penetrates roadbeds more deeply, she writes—so when ice at the top liquefies, a deep layer of mud forms on top of the ice below. Even worse, UNH environmental scientist Alix Constosta argues that the lag between snow melting and trees greening—and hence drawing water from the soil—may be lengthening, also making mud seasons worse. The result: fire departments are putting ATVs on call.A bit more catching up: Elixir to close, Carpenter & Main turns to crowdfunding. John Lippman reported in Saturday's Valley News that WRJ's much-loved Elixir will shut its doors April 2. A combination of the pandemic falloff in customers and unsustainably high food costs led owners Skip Symanski and Jane Carrier to call it quits before they have to sign a new lease. “It was a question of whether we wanted to sign up for two or three more years of the beating we’ve been taking," Symanski says. Meanwhile, Bruce MacLeod of Norwich's Carpenter and Main is hoping donations will help his restaurant "over the hump." As of this morning, he had raised $10,395.On the plus side... Lippman also reports that two longtime local businesses have found new owners. Welch's True Value Hardware in S. Royalton is now in the hands of Massachusetts-based Aubuchon Hardware, which also has stores in Windsor, Bradford VT, and Newport NH. And Windsor's Green Mountain Smokehouse now belongs to CT businessman Dave Manning, who was on a quest for road food, stopped in and started chatting with owners Koreen and Jake Henne—who told him they were planning to close up and retire. He bought it, instead. Lippman has the backstories.SPONSORED: The collateral damage of mandatory minimums. Cindy Shank is a mother of three who received a 15-year mandatory sentence when her third child was only 6 weeks old—for conspiracy charges related to her deceased ex-boyfriend’s crimes. She featured in a searing HBO documentary, The Sentence, about the consequences of mandatory minimum sentencing and their devastating effects on families, and this Friday at noon will address "The Girlfriend Problem" at an online Saint Dismas Day lunch with Dismas of VT. Register at the maroon link. Sponsored by Dismas House.NH House won't override town zoning regs to promote "missing middle" housing. In a 167-157 vote yesterday, reports NH Bulletin's Ethan DeWitt, legislators opted to table a bill that would have required local planning boards to allow owners of single-family homes and lots to create up to four units of housing on their property. The vote was largely, though not entirely, along party lines, with Republicans arguing the measure would undercut towns' ability to preserve the density they desire, and Democrats maintaining that it would create more housing without requiring large apartment complexes. “This woman used to change my diapers and now she's calling me a white supremacist. So, something [needed] to be done.” That's Travis Tripodi, a political conservative who lives in Nashua, talking about a family friend's response after he opposed the 2020 Biden-Harris ticket on social media. That "something" turned out to be working with the NH chapter of Better Angels, which aims to build understanding across the political divide and make it possible for people to see that those on the other side "are neither evil nor stupid," as one progressive tells NHPR's Julia Furukawa and Peter Biello.NH schools take a hands-on approach to climate change. Doomsaying about a warming planet and our impact on the environment isn’t enough to prepare the next generation. That’s the sentiment in a growing number of NH high schools, thanks to recent efforts to infuse the science curriculum with more hands-on experiments that demonstrate, for instance, carbon emissions from a car tailpipe. NHPR’s Sarah Gibson reports on how an org called the NH Energy Education Project is helping students acquire knowledge and skills that could equip them to produce tangible climate solutions.There's a lot of water flowing out there. Which makes waterfalls a pretty great destination. Of course, a lot of the waterfalls around here are remote and hard to get to during mud season without damaging trails. However, the Burlington Free Press's Summer Sorg has you covered if you don't mind a drive. Her list of spots from Middlebury to Bristol to Warren and Hancock includes spots that are close to roads or not far up hard-packed trails. The Upper Valley Trails Alliance's Kaitie Eddington is putting together a local guide for May, once trails around here firm up.Or you could walk—virtually—through Ancient Rome as it looked in the 4th century. The problem with movies like The Gladiator and slick new shows set during imperial Rome is that CGI-rendered shots of that magnificent city are way too brief. What would it be like, then, to stroll the Via Sacra, circle the Colosseum, linger in the Forum, and feel generally dwarfed by Rome at its peak? VR technology is getting pretty darn close: The History in 3D YouTube channel has a growing trove of videos depicting the city in stunning, immersive detail. The one thing that would make the tours feel more real? Romans.
Let's check in on numbers.
Dartmouth cases have dropped a bit, with between 31 and 34 active cases reported yesterday (compared to 41-44 12 days ago). The college's dashboard reports 1-4 undergrad cases, 24 among grad and professional students, and 6 among faculty/staff. It no longer reports data for the previous 7 days or numbers of people in isolation.
NH is bumping along at a somewhat lower rate than a week and a half ago, with a 7-day average now of 119 new cases per day, compared to 129 back then (though there's been a 4 percent increase since Friday). The state reported 149 new cases Saturday, 134 Sunday, and 53 yesterday, bringing it to 301,308 in all. There have been 28 deaths reported over the last 12 days; the total now stands at 2,436. Hospitalizations are still dropping: 30 people are currently hospitalized (-17). The state reports 911 active cases statewide (-96) and 101 in Grafton County, 34 in Sullivan, and 65 in Merrimack. In town-by-town numbers, the state says Hanover has 25, Lebanon has 20, Haverhill has 12, Claremont has 9, Newport has 6, Charlestown has 5, and Rumney, Lyme, Canaan, Enfield, Grantham, Springfield, Croydon, Sunapee, New London, and Unity have 1-4 each.
VT reported 142 cases Saturday, 120 Sunday, and 84 yesterday, bringing it to 115,232 total (or 1,581 new cases over the past 12 days and a seven-day average for new infections of 146, up from 133 on Friday). There have been 3 deaths in that time, with 611 all told. Hospitalizations are holding roughly steady: As of yesterday, 19 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (+1), with 3 of them (-1) in the ICU. Windsor County has seen 221 cases over the past two weeks, for 8,618 overall, while Orange County added 84 in the past two weeks to reach 4,869 overall. The state is no longer reporting town-by-town numbers.
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Starting today and lasting through Friday, Sustainable Woodstock and Pentangle Arts offer up a free, online screening of Mossville: When Great Trees Fall. Alex Glustrom’s 2020 documentary is about a small, mostly African American town on the outskirts of Lake Charles, Louisiana—founded in 1790 by the formerly enslaved Jack Moss, home to generations of the descendants of its early, once-enslaved residents, and, now, surrounded by the 14 petrochemical plants built by South African oil company Sasol. Whose toxicity has reduced a town that once had 8,000 residents to just one, Stacey Ryan, who refuses to leave.
And at 7 this evening, it's Here in the Valley's Tuesday Jukebox, both online and in-person. Tonight, fiddler and host Jakob Breitbach welcomes in the stylish and versatile local jazz singer Grace Crummer for an evening of music and conversation.
Grey Cloud
curled like a catin the eastern skyunfurls a tail,stretches, andglides away
— by
, suggested by reader Cynthia Crawford
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 and writers who want you to 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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