GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
A mixed day on tap. Possibly foggy in the morning, and cloudy during the day, though we may see some sun in the early afternoon. Temps are due to climb — get this — into the low 50s. But there's a low-pressure system bombing toward us and by mid-afternoon clouds will be converging, temps will be dropping, and rain may be falling. Rain tonight, lows near morning in the mid-30s or higher.Well, it's here: DHMC employee tests positive for coronavirus. As you may have heard, the results came in from the state lab yesterday; the CDC has yet to confirm. The patient, who returned from Italy recently and is so far showing only mild symptoms, is quarantined at home somewhere in Grafton County. At a press conference yesterday, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said the state will work with DHMC to determine who else might have been exposed.Voters in Chelsea, Tunbridge reject school budget. The 106-46 vote came at last night's three-hour First Branch Unified School District meeting. At issue, according to the VN's David Corriveau: speakers "complained that the proposed merger of students in grades K-8 in the two towns is serving neither students nor taxpayers well." Meanwhile, voters in Royalton and Bethel approved the White River Valley Unified School District's $12.1 million budget. (VN)Tonight's candidates night in Lebanon. The chamber — formally known as the Upper Valley Business Alliance — is sponsoring this chance to get to know the candidates for school and city elections before next Tuesday's elections. Moderated by Alliance President Tracy Hutchins. 6:30 in the SAU 88 auditorium on Seminary Hill.And speaking of Leb, there's an interesting set-to between the city and Patch Orchards. Longtime farmers Matthew and Barbara Patch have sap lines running across four unmaintained, Class VI roads on land they bought a few years ago, part of a system they say will someday include 50,000 taps. The city has ordered them to remove or reroute them. “No one can encumber a city road,” City Manager Shaun Mulholland tells the VN. “We have an obligation to make sure that doesn’t occur.”Dartmouth researcher looks for alternatives to antibiotics as bacterial resistance builds. "Public health officials fear we’re entering a 'post-antibiotic world' where once-conquered diseases will again wipe out millions of us," writes the Monitor's David Brooks. So he spends some time with engineering prof Karl Griswold, whose lab — and a related startup at the regional technology center in Centerra — are looking into lysins, which are proteins produced by viruses that attack cells. The hope is to create targeted lysins that don't trigger a potentially catastrophic immune response. Wonder Woods steps in for Andy's Place. If you ever took your toddler to the Montshire, you remember Andy's Place — the cozy 5-and-under spot where kids could climb and explore. It's closing soon, and the Montshire's supplanting it with a new 600-square-foot installation, Wonder Woods. Designed in earth and sky tones (kids "learn best when new experiences relate to things they already know," writes the VN's Sarah Earle) it has an artistic play area, a play structure (think tunnels and towers), a ball rollway, and a reading nook. It opened on Saturday.At least they're both Canids. Yesterday's henhouse video was, of course, a fox on the prowl, not a coyote. Apologies for my mis-translation from the original English. Also, a few people had the same Google linking trouble as occurred last week. I think I've figured out the problem, too long to explain here... if you're one of them, this link should work for you.This is kinda cute... Amanda McCarthy, a young singer making the pub rounds, was doing her last song for the evening at Salt Hill Shanty in Newbury, NH. She looks out and suddenly registers that Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, who grew up on Lake Sunapee, is standing there. “My boyfriend and I have joked about him magically showing up at one of my gigs and me playing one of his songs for him but, of course, we didn’t actually expect that to happen,” she says. So she pulled out Aerosmith's "Angel" for her encore. "It was terrifying but I knew I would regret it forever if I didn’t do it.” NH lawmakers struggle with ethics dividing line. You may remember that last year, House Majority Leader Doug Ley was reprimanded for involving himself in legislation that affected the state teachers union, his employer. Yesterday he chaired a hearing on proposed reforms requiring legislators to recuse themselves if they have a "special interest" in legislation. Lawmakers are clearly uneasy. "This is going to be impossible,” said one. “At least a third of the House is covered by the state pension.” NHPR goes into the details.Army Mountain Warfare School saves the day in Stowe rescue, recovery. You may have read that a CT man died Saturday after he and his brother got lost off-trail and he fell over a 220-foot cliff. His brother was stranded at the top. VT Ski + Ride's Lisa Lynn has the story of what happened afterward: Getting to the brothers was too dangerous even for the stalwarts of Stowe Mountain Rescue, so they called in soldiers from the Army's mountain training camp in Jericho, who climbed a mixed ice and rock route to retrieve the body and then another 200 feet of sheer ice to rescue the brother at the top of the cliff.Docs get automated access to Vermonters' health records. A new policy went into effect Sunday on the state's health information (not insurance) exchange: The records it contains — for about 92 percent of Vermonters — are now open to doctors unless a patient opts out of sharing. Previously, Vermonters had to give their consent for physicians to get access to the information. If you're an AT purist, here's a puzzle... It's March, which means in a few weeks Appalachian Trail through-hikers are going to be headed for Springer Mountain in Georgia to start their way north. Which will all be just fine until they get to Harper's Ferry, WVA, where a train derailment in December took out the footbridge across the Potomac that hikers use. It's closed indefinitely. There are private shuttle services, but no good walking alternatives. Trail advocates worry hikers will try U.S. Route 340, which has heavy traffic and narrow shoulders. (Thanks for the tip, CR!)Did you know about the Freedlyville Quarry in Dorset? Or Naulakha in Dummerston? Neither did I. They're on a list of "7 Beautiful Vermont Locations You Probably Didn't Know Existed," up on the website Only In Your State. Naulakha's where Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book. The quarry is a cavern with multiple passageways dug into the east slope of Mount Aeolus, and it's got a large pond that's a skating destination in winter. Also on the list: the St. J Athenaeum (with a fine view of its Bierstadt), and Middle Bridge in Woodstock.Decent loose-leaf tea is now widely available. So are self-adhesive stamps. Those are just a few of a long list of everyday improvements to life since the 1990s, put together by pseudonymous blogger Gwern Branwen. Among other advancements: You don't have to rewind VHS tapes any more, houses are much better insulated, power tools are increasingly battery-powered, you can get goat cheese and sushi even at mass-market grocery stores... Oh, and "laser pointers are no longer exotic executive toys or for planetariums, they’re things you buy off eBay for $1 for your cat." Argue at will.
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WHAT'S UP TONIGHT?
If you're going to stay home and watch results, here's one possibility that's probably not on your radar: CATV will be airing the
Democracy Now!
"Super Tuesday Special Live Broadcast" starting at 7. Comcast channel 1075 or streamed live at the "Watch Now" section at the link.
But say you do want to go out: You could head to the Norwich Inn for "Suds & Science" with Spencer Hardy.
Hardy got his start as a birder extraordinaire, but now works as a biologist with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies (which sponsors Suds & Science) as project coordinator for the Vermont Wild Bee Atlas. Tonight, he'll be talking about the current status and uncertain future of Vermont's native honeybees. Go grab a beer and join him, starting at 7.
Led by "Here in the Valley" movers and shakers (and musicians) Jakob Breitbach and Jes Raymond. Starts at 7.
Have a fine day, and if you're registered in Vermont, don't forget to go vote.
See you tomorrow.
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