GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly cloudy, cooler. There's a low off the coast and weather coming from the northeast, but around here that mostly means skies are clouding up and temps probably won't make it above freezing. There's snow in the northern and central mountains, but only a slight chance it'll reach the valleys around here this afternoon. Still breezy, low 20s overnight.Sure, cats leave stuff by the door, but... not usually a bobcat. Which hung around Ann Barry Flood's door in Lyme after dispatching a squirrel. "He was unperturbed by us," she writes.Need to do some last-minute cramming? It's town meeting day in VT, and whether at floor meetings or in all-day balloting, lots of things are being decided today. Link takes you to a quick roundup of news articles on contested local selectboard races, specific ballot issues, and more.And while VT towns vote, NH towns get ready. From the contentious debate in Cornish over whether the town should accept the Cornish General Store to use as a library and community center, to whether Enfield should create a town forest on Methodist Hill Road, to whether Lebanon will allow bingo—plus, of course, town budgets, school budgets, and selectboard seats—there's plenty up for grabs as NH towns head into voting a week from today. The Valley News offers brief town-by-town roundups.Among the issues before NH voters: zoning changes to make it easier to build housing. In fact, writes Patrick Adrian in the VN, Charlestown, Enfield, Hanover, Lebanon, and New London all are proposing ways to promote more affordable housing, from Enfield's bid to make accessory dwelling units easier and cutting minimum lot sizes in half for single-family homes to Lebanon's bid to allow "cottage developments" and ADU's to Hanover's plan to get at the issue through parking requirements and New London's strategy of offering "density bonuses" to developers who create workforce housing.SPONSORED: You can improve someone's life right now! Hearts You Hold is a VT-based nonprofit that supports immigrants, migrants, and refugees in a concrete way. We believe that only the individuals themselves know what they want or need and that it is critical to take the time to ask them. Currently, there are many requests waiting to be funded for people who are trying to rebuild their lives in the US, including Ukrainian refugees and unaccompanied minors from Central America. Hit the link above, pick an item (or more) to fund, and make a difference now! Sponsored by Hearts You Hold.Woodstock police officer put on paid leave after DUI charge. Last Thursday night, Vermont State Police were called out to Bridgewater Corners for a domestic disturbance. They found two men who'd "both been operating separate vehicles while intoxicated," according to their press release. One of them, Kaleb McIntire, has been on the Woodstock police force since 2020, reports the VN, and in a statement, the town's chief says McIntire “will remain on leave pending the outcome of the criminal case as well as a subsequent internal affairs investigation."Usually, 4,500. This year, 5,600. That's the number of kids in the region who are taking part in the Upper Valley Trails Alliance's "Passport to Winter Fun" program, which is aimed at getting kids outdoors—on foot, sled, tube, skis, snowshoes, whatever. "We know it’s rough right now, but getting outside and doing something fun...is a good way to take good care of yourself physically and mentally," UVTA's Kaitie Eddington tells WCAX's Melissa Cooney. In all, 32 schools and 31 home-school groups are participating. Prizes include a pass to the Skiway, time at Woodstock's Union Arena, and more. Program ends 3/31.Lebanon spends more to support public transit operations than the entire state of NH. The city wants to change that. In all, reports the VN's Patrick Adrian, the city contributed $267,000 in its current budget to Advance Transit; NHDOT spent $200K statewide on transit operations, of which AT got $35K—enough for “about a day and a half of service,” according to AT Executive Director Adams Carroll. Overall, Adrian writes, NH ranks 49th in the country for spending on transit. So at its last meeting, the City Council decided to join a statewide coalition pressing for “reasonable” transit funding in the state budget.Want to help local bee populations? Don't buy bees online. That's the message the VT Center for Ecostudies' Spencer Hardy passes along to WCAX's Elissa Borden. The rise in online sales of bees has Hardy and other scientists worried about the introduction of bees that aren't even native to the US, plus the spread of parasites and pathogens. Instead, Hardy says, planting native flowers is the most straightforward approach: "The more diverse and the longer you've got flowers blooming in your garden, the more bees you're able to attract" and the likelier the next generation will be healthy, he says.In NH, a struggle to train enough new EV auto technicians. NHPR’s Sarah Gibson looks at the challenges to recruiting students and the expertise they will need to have as electric vehicles become more popular. At White Mountains Community College, Troy LaChance added EV training to the auto program, but he’s finding some students are more interested in mechanical systems, others look askance at EVs because of views on climate change. Mechanics who do master the technology are in demand. “It’s not all gears and oil and a lot of mechanical stuff anymore,” says LaChance.“When you catch a fish and you're [fishing] with a guy, it's automatic: Anybody who sees you thinks it's the guy who caught it." Which is one reason Michelle Bancewicz, who captains the tuna boat No Limits on the NH Seacoast, has an all-woman crew: namely, first mate Lea Pinaud. The two are the first all-woman crew to compete in National Geographic's reality tv show, Wicked Tuna, reports NHPR's Jeongyoon Han. “I love being out on the water,” Bancewicz says. “It’s just so peaceful. To me, it doesn’t matter how rough the waters are, it’s still peaceful. And I like the challenge.”NH residents among best restaurant tippers in the country. VT, not as much. At least, that's according to data from the restaurant platform Toast (scroll down), which looked at how much people in each state tacked onto their bills. The national average is 19 percent. NH averaged 20.6 percent, ranking 7th (but basically in line with 5th-place WV and 6th-place OH). VT ranks 26th, though is still above the national average, at 19.5 percent. DE came in first.“She is doing well, isn’t she?” That's proud driving teacher Wazir Hashimi, a small-business owner in Colchester VT who, as founder of the Vermont Afghan Alliance, has taken it on himself to teach Afghan refugees in the state how to drive—including, these days, women. Barred from learning in their home country, "they have families to care for and jobs to get to, but they have to depend on spotty public transportation or other people for rides," writes VTDigger's Auditi Guha. So, after starting off with men, Hashimi branched out. So far, four women have gotten licenses, and six others are on the way.And hey, don't skip the maple sprinkles. HuffPost's Caroline Bologna has pulled together 16 "mistakes tourists make while visiting Vermont." For anyone who lives in the state they're all common sense—don't rely solely on GPS, bring layers, take it easy on dirt roads, don't limit yourself to Woodstock and Stowe, don't block traffic when you stop to take a photo, and above all, don't skip maple cremees. Oh, and always travel with a cooler, "in case you discover the local cheese of your dreams.”So of course, on USA Today's new list of the "10 best small towns in the Northeast"? Woodstock and Stowe. Plus Montpelier. And Portsmouth.“13 world championship titles under his belt.” Yeah, and dough across his shoulders, which is why you might not always want to eat a pizza tossed by Tony Gemignani. The record-holding pizza tosser and maker has spent three decades perfecting dough acrobatics to compete internationally in the sport—he compares it to the Harlem Globetrotters’ style of basketball. The Washington Post's (gift), Sydney Page talks to Gemignani about the dough (sensitive to temperature changes), the judging (showmanship is good, dropping bad) and the glory (“bragging rights and medals”). Here’s Germignani in full form.The Tuesday Vordle. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak.
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At 1 pm today, both in-person at the Montshire and online, the Hanover Garden Club will present member and former president Sandra Johnson, talking about the history of Hanover's town gardens. She'll go back to their early beginnings, their evolution over the decades, and the impact of key contributors, from longtime mail carrier and gardener Julius Mason to designer Susan Berry to the contributions of metalsmith Case Ohz.
At 6 pm, via Zoom, Community Care of Lyme presents "Coping with Winter Depression: What to Know About Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)." Burlington-based clinical psychologist Julie Camuso will talk about the signs and symptoms of winter depression, and strategies to cope with it.
At 7 pm, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies' monthly "Suds & Science" talk is back, online only tonight, with VCE staff biologist Nathaniel Sharp giving a firsthand account of winning the World Series of Birding, a 24-hour birding competition held annually in New Jersey.
Also at 7 pm, the Norwich Bookstore hosts poet and essayist Baron Wormser, reading from and talking about his new poetry collection, The History Hotel, as well as the re-issue of his memoir of his neighbors, community, and living off the grid in Maine, The Road Washes Out in Spring.
And also at 7, the Mount Washington Observatory hosts an online talk, "Winter Weather Whiplash," by UNH Earth Systems researcher Alexandra Contosta and US Forest Service researcher John Campbell. They'll be talking about data from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest and what it reveals about the impact of extreme swings in winter weather conditions on both human and natural systems.
And the Tuesday poem...
A storm that needed a mountainmet it where we were:we woke up in a galethat was reasoning with our tent,and all the persuaded snowstreaked along, guessing the ground.We turned from that curtain, down.But sometime we will turnback to the curtain and goby plan through the unplanned storm,disappearing into the cold,meanings in search of a world.
— "Found in a Storm" by
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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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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
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