GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Getting warmer. More high pressure ridging in today, and with increasing sun and warmer air moving in, temps will climb quickly into the 40s this morning and mid- or upper 40s this afternoon. Winds will also pick up later in the day. Down to either side of 20 tonight.Today's beautiful daybreak photo...
Comes from St. Joseph, MI, looking out at Lake Michigan, thanks to Cheri Mather. But here's the thing about it... Remember that thread back in January on pancake ice (or, if you prefer, ice disks or otter bathtubs)? Turns out: We're just pikers!
And today's beautiful not-daybreak photo comes from Annemieke McLane, on a snowy, serene Carpenter Road in Strafford.
Meanwhile, in Thetford Center... This one needs an item all its own. Yesterday morning, Owen Ward was filling the tea kettle when he looked out the window and saw what can only be described as a coyote-deer stand-off. "After about three minutes of attack and retreat, both animals headed off," writes his mom, Katherine Babbott. "The deer followed the coyote. Go figure." Owen got part of it on video.Dartmouth eases restrictions. Active cases are dropping (see below), as are the numbers of students in quarantine or isolation...and apparently there were no parties over the weekend, so yesterday, various buildings around campus—Baker-Berry, the Top of the Hop, the fitness centers—reopened to students and staff who are allowed to be on campus. Covid task force chairs Lisa Adams and Josh Keniston noted, however, that common areas in residence halls remain closed and students "should refrain" from visiting one another. It's town meeting day in NH. And in case you're still boning up, the Valley News's preview section for town and school district elections and major-ticket budget and municipal items is complete.It's not nearly the same as seeing it in person... but in case you didn't happen to catch that fireball streak across Vermont on Sunday, WMUR has video captured by an airport security camera in Burlington. NASA researchers say the meteor—which they estimate at just 10 pounds and six inches in diameter—was traveling at 42,000 miles an hour when it hit the atmosphere above Mt. Mansfield.Looking for things to do out there? You could go on a pileated woodpecker treasure hunt. But as Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast says in an email, you need to define "treasure" loosely, involving as it does not just woodpecker scat but what you might find in there. But there's plenty of other stuff to look for in the woods this second week in March. There's the start of the spring melt, cedar waxwings, red and sugar maples, bark beetle galleries—and why hawthorns evolved those wicked thorns when they're not much good against browsing deer.UK variant confirmed in both NH and VT. Yesterday, officials at UNH announced the university has identified two cases of the highly contagious variant tied to its Durham campus. And in a press release yesterday, VT's health department announced it's been found in a Chittenden County resident—testing last month found it in Burlington wastewater, but this is the first time lab results have confirmed it for an individual.Driver killed in Everett Turnpike toll plaza crash. It happened yesterday morning a bit after 10 at the Bedford tolls, where state police say 65-year-old Richard Cote of Manchester lost control of his 2006 Jeep Wrangler and rolled over in the far left lane. A second vehicle was also struck, but the driver was uninjured. "Speed appears to be a factor in this crash, however, all aspects remain under investigation," the state police add.Five named mines, two officially named rapids...and 46 things named "Bald." For his Granite Geek blog, David Brooks has been digging around in the USGS's database of official NH geographic names. Because it turns out, anyone can submit a suggestion and a lot of features—vernal pools, streams, bogs, whatever—still lack a name. He was doing this so he could tell the story of Ron Dube, of Mason, NH, who just got a local creek named Black Fly Brook and is now after bigger game—Bladderwort Bog, Skeeter Brook, and, if he's lucky, Dead Moose Swamp.NH legislator apologizes for "deviant sexuality" remark. You may remember that last week, Manchester Republican Dick Marston derailed a committee hearing by aiming those words at LGBTQ people. At the end of the week, he issued a written apology. “I come from a generation where my comments were accepted by society," he wrote. "However, just because I am in my 80s is no excuse to justify my comments. Rather, it is a reminder of the progress our society has made." Four out of ten NH selectboards have no women. In a new report, the NH Women's Foundation finds that although women have made great strides politically at the statewide level, a significant gender gap remains on town boards. Of the 1,642 elected town officials in the state, 37 percent overall are women: They comprise a sight majority of school board members, but just 22 percent of selectboard members. Here's the town-by-town breakdown; cities are coming later.“If a kid doesn’t show up, the adviser is calling. The registrar is calling. I am showing up on the doorstep. The principal is bringing doughnuts to the family." State data isn't yet available on student truancy in Vermont during the pandemic, reports VTDigger's Lola Duffort, but absenteeism is a chronic problem in every school district. While it seems a particular issue during remote learning, she writes, educators often say "it is during the transition between virtual and face-to-face learning that many kids fall off the map."VT starts planning to move people without housing out of motels. It won kudos in the early stages of the pandemic for recognizing that homeless shelters could spread Covid, and moved some 2,000 people into private rooms in hotels and motels across the state. Now, with the end of the pandemic presumably in sight, reports VPR's Howard Weiss-Thisman, it's planning to end the program, which costs about $6 million a month. "We don’t want to create or exacerbate a humanitarian crisis by just stopping," says a state official, "so we want a transition plan.”Starlings go meta. Ordinarily, James Crombie is a sports photographer in Ireland. But over the last few months, he's been traveling regularly to Lough Ennell, near the center of the country. Huge flocks of starlings have been nesting there, then taking flight every four or five days. Last Tuesday, as the starlings were airborne in a shifting, hypnotic murmuration, Crombie shot 500 frames or so—and caught the one remarkable millisecond when the birds together took the shape of a giant bird. Here's the crucial 24 seconds on video.
So...
Dartmouth's down to 75 active cases among students (down 20) and 3 among faculty/staff (no change). The quarantine/isolation numbers have also shifted, with just 13 students and 7 faculty/staff in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 82 students and 9 faculty/staff are in isolation awaiting results or because they tested positive.
NH reported 226 new cases yesterday for a cumulative total of 77,060. There were no additional deaths, which remain at 1,184. Meanwhile, 81 people are hospitalized (up 13). The current active caseload stands at 2,036 (down 26). The state reports 163 active cases in Grafton County (down 17), 42 in Sullivan (up 1), and 163 in Merrimack (down 4). In town-by-town numbers, the state says Hanover has 87 active cases (down 20), Plainfield has 10 (no change), Claremont has 10 (up 1), Lebanon has 7 (no change), Newport has 6 (up 1), and Sunapee has 5 (no change). Haverhill, Piermont, Orford, Enfield, Grantham, Grafton, Springfield, Cornish, Charlestown, Wilmot, and Newbury, have 1-4 each.
VT reported 113 new cases yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 16,199. It reported no new deaths, which remain at 208 all told. Meanwhile, 27 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (down 3). Windsor County gained 5 cases to stand at 1,074 for the pandemic, with 57 over the past 14 days. Orange County added 1 new case to reach 520 cumulatively, with 26 cases in the past 14 days.
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This morning at 10, Vermont Humanities and Newport VT's Barrett Library host science and history writer Rebecca Rupp talking about the little-known side of beets, potatoes, kale, and other garden vegetables. Like, why many people don’t like beets, how a pirate named the bell pepper, how carrots won the Trojan War, and the 1776 plot to assassinate George Washington with a plate of poisoned peas. Chickens died instead. If, that is, it happened at all.
At 6 pm, the Lebanon Opera House continues its livestreamed house-concert series with blues musicians Little Dylan and Stephen Hull. You may remember them if you checked out Jontavious Willis’ fantastic livestream last October; that experience inspired them to go for it on their own. They'll be coming to us from Racine, WI.
Then, at 7 pm, the Etna library hosts local writer, cooking teacher, and Rassias Italian teacher Teresa Lust, talking about her 2020 book, A Blissful Feast, Culinary Adventures in Italy's Piedmont, Maremma, and Le Marche.
Also at 7, the St. J Athenaeum hosts Vermont-raised writer and poet Adrienne Raphael talking about her 2020 book, Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Can't Live Without Them. It's a cultural history of the crossword from its beginnings, a set of profiles of some of the giants in the field (including the NYT's Will Shortz), and a personal reflection.
Finally, also at 7, Dartmouth's Dickey and Rockefeller centers host Mark Shriver, president of the Save the Children Action Network (and son of Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy), and Glenn Blumhorst, president and CEO of the National Peace Corps Association. They'll be marking the 60th anniversary of the Peace Corps by looking at its past, present, and future. Moderated by the Irving Institute's Elizabeth Wilson. Via Zoom, no registration needed.
You say you’re too busy.
That there’sneverenough time.
Take care ofwhatever you haveto take care of.
Then sit.
Be honest.
Do you really thinkyou’re goingto liveforever?– Visakha, "Many Branches," from The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns, by Matty Weingast.
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