GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Can't keep these fronts straight.... Yesterday afternoon it was some quickly moving low pressure, last night we got high pressure (hence not many clouds and this morning's cold temps), then a cold front moved in early this morning, and overnight tonight we get a warm front. Here on the ground? We'll climb into the low 60s, a mix of clouds and sun, winds from the south then west getting stronger this afternoon. Chance of rain tonight, likely by morning, high 30s.Which makes it just about the right time for...
Magnolias in bloom, caught against the sky by Janice Fischel in Hanover;
And a reminder that there's beauty in moss and lichen, especially when color in the woods remains so fleeting. "Cave painting?" writes Barbara Woodard, who found this log in the Lyme Town Forest.
Upper Valley bagel scene about to expand. Katie Stamper, a longtime hair stylist at Christian Roy's in WRJ, is gearing up to launch UVjustbagels next month, writes Susan Apel in Artful. She'll start out May 15 with weekly appearances in the train car at River Park in old West Leb and at other pop-up spots she'll announce via social media. "The flavors will be constantly evolving," she tells Susan, "and I love to hear people's suggestions for one-of-a-kind bagels." Stamper joins Chris Calvin's Best Bagels and Alden and Sarah Jones' Goose & Willie's on the hand-rolled dough front.Hanover's decision to hold town meeting in July explained. The decision to do so came in a selectboard vote on March 22; at the time, it prompted Dartmouth sophomore David Millman, who is running for a seat, to tell The Dartmouth, "I don’t want to speculate on their intentions, but this makes it harder for students to vote in person,” since they'd be gone by then. In the Valley News, Tim Camerato reports that the decision to move from the original May date was made to allow time for more residents to be vaccinated, and the second Tuesday in June would have been too close to Dartmouth graduation.SPONSORED: What are you waiting for? Learn why every adult should have a Basic Will. Last chance to register for the free webinar this Thursday at noon to learn everything you need to know about why you should have a Basic Will and what information you'll need to create one. Hosted by Everything in Order, the Upper Valley company that helps people create essential legal documents easily and inexpensively—wherever you live in the US. Register now at the maroon link. Space is limited. Sponsored by Everything in Order.Electric planes for Leb airport? That, apparently, is on the city's wish list if the federal infrastructure bill now being prepped in Congress makes it into law. The planes, made by Burlington's BETA Technologies, can take off and land vertically, and "for smaller airports," city manager Shaun Mulholland tells The Dartmouth's Soleil Gaylord, "this could be a game-changer in terms of our public transportation.” Gaylord rounds up local hopes for infrastructure funding, including retrofitting Hanover's aging water treatment and distribution system, broadband expansion, and bridge repairs. Lots of bridge repairs.Who needs to flaunt it when you've got the wind? That, in a nutshell, is why you have to look a little harder to find flowering sedges at this time of year. As Mary Holland points out in Naturally Curious, they tend to be inconspicuous because "they are wind-pollinated, and have no need for large, showy petals in order to attract insects." Nonetheless, some are in full bloom right now, often near wetlands, but sometimes in the woods. You'll know it's a sedge by the three-sided stem. A fox and kit sunning outside the den. It's the third week of April, and as Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast writes, this week in the woods kits are starting to venture out. Also out there (and far more noticeable than sedges): Bloodroot is blooming, though as Elise notes, "It seems a little unfair that such a spectacularly beautiful spring ephemeral should have such an off-putting name." You'll also find the early-sprouting scarlet cup mushroom, painted turtles, and a chorus of song sparrows.One of the newest no-holds-barred video platforms is based in NH. Well, there are some limits, including copyright infringement and threats of violence. But otherwise, Odysee, based in Manchester, is fine with hosting "plenty of user-made videos about PizzaGate, Qanon, false allegations claiming a stolen election, and Holocaust denials," reports NHPR's Todd Bookman. It's owned by Manchester-based tech company LBRY, which may sound familiar: That's the firm connected to the Free State movement that the SEC sued in March for treating its own cryptocurrency as an investment without registering it."Is it the place of government to come in and tell schools what they can and can't say? Well, that's kind of big government stuff that I'm not a big fan of." That's Gov. Chris Sununu in a wide-ranging interview with NHPR's Rick Ganley, talking about why he'd veto the House's controversial measure barring the teaching of "divisive concepts" on racism—though he says there is no "systemic racism" in NH. Sununu also said he dropped the state's mask mandate because the vaccination rate is high, and that he'd have no problem vetoing the state budget if it winds up containing provisions he doesn't like.As mask mandate disappears, NH hospitals still feeling pressure. In fact, reports NHPR's Casey McDermott, though fewer hospitals are worried about staff shortages than last fall, the state's inpatient and ICU beds are fuller than they were when the mandate first went into effect. Some hospitals, including DHMC and Elliot, she reports, are seeing slightly lower patient loads, but hospitals in Concord, Manchester, and Nashua are reporting more Covid patients than in November, according to federal data.“Trying to get this data from the state has been like pulling teeth.” NH has set aside 10 percent of its vaccines for Black, indigenous, and other minority communities, but the state has been slow to release key data about where there are gaps, reports New Hampshire Bulletin's Amanda Gokee. And without having a breakdown of information by town or city, public health organizers are having trouble targeting their efforts. Moreover, some community leaders say that the state hasn't promoted the 10 percent "equity allocation" of the vaccine, she writes. "They mean well, but they don’t carry through," says one.VT's March jobless rate was one of the lowest in the country—but that masks the real picture. So writes retired UVM economist Art Woolf in VTDigger in what seems to be becoming a regular series. The unemployment numbers may have dropped, he points out, but 29,000 more Vermonters are receiving unemployment checks than before the pandemic hit. Indeed, there has been "virtually no job growth" in the state since last September—though he notes that anecdotally, "it appears that Vermont employers are looking for workers but having a hard time filling job vacancies."Pandemic shows VT needs to prepare for "climigration." There's an eye-catching figure in John Dillon's VPR story about the likelihood that some climate "refugees" will head for Vermont: In a recent report on central VT real estate sales during the pandemic, there was a 68 percent increase in sales of raw land. Whatever the state looks like now, it suggests, newcomers are going to change it. But, reports Dillon, planning for everything from new infrastructure to wastewater treatment to housing has barely begun. "How we evolve and learn from the pandemic will help set a footing," says UVM prof Chris Koliba.Speaking of climate change: "There just isn’t the clams that there used to be." That's Maine clammer Chad Coffin reflecting on a plain fact troubling both the industry and pandemic-fueled home clammers who've been out digging in ME, MA, and a few miles of NH. Warming waters—and the growing numbers of clam predators encouraged by the warming—cut deeply into the 2020 clam harvest, reports the AP's Patrick Whittle. As a result, prices are up, but, says Coffin, "A few of the guys who are clamming are making good money now, but they’re basically selling their future.”Ever wonder what it feels like to be in the final push of a high-stakes bicycle race? In Sunday's final stage of the Tour of Valencia in Spain, with his Irish team, Evo Pro, up against some of the top teams in the world, Norwich cyclist Brendan Rhim rode with a video camera on his seat post. In the last kilometer, he sprinted to catch up to and draft his Estonian teammate (in the purple jersey, halfway through the video) for the last stretch, until his teammate broke for the finish line in the last 100 meters; he finished 16th, Rhim 23rd. They were going 42 mph at their peak. Yikes, those guys are close!The wrath of Mei Mei and Squirt. Hard to say which is better: the story or the editor's note at the bottom. Mei Mei and Squirt are two small terriers who, earlier this month, became internet-famous after their Pasadena home's security camera caught them chasing a wandering bear out of the house and off the property. "A previous version of this story stated that the bear is a brown bear," runs the editor's note on SFGate. "While it is a bear that is brown, it is not a brown bear; it is a black bear (that is brown)." There's video. Ignore the dog photo captioned, "Terrier pictured here is neither Mei Mei nor Squirt."
So...
Dartmouth has 7 active cases among students (down 2 from last week), with 3 among faculty/staff (no change). There are 17 students and 2 faculty/staff in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 7 students and 14 faculty/staff are in isolation awaiting results or because they tested positive.
NH reported 235 new cases yesterday for a cumulative total of 91,783. There were no new deaths, which remain at 1,270, while 133 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (no change). The current active caseload stands at 3,329 (up 189). The state reports 219 active cases in Grafton County (up 7), 68 in Sullivan (up 4), and 270 in Merrimack (up 15). In town-by-town numbers, the state says Haverhill has 28 active cases (up 1), Claremont has 25 (up 2), Newport has 18 (up 1), Lebanon has 12 (down 1), Hanover has 11 (up 1), Sunapee has 8 (no change), Charlestown has 7 (no change), Enfield has 6 (no change), Newbury has 6 (no change), Canaan has 5 (no change), and Piermont has 5 (no change). Orford, Wentworth, Rumney, Lyme, Dorchester, Orange, Grafton, Grantham, Springfield, Croydon, and New London have 1-4 each.
VT reported 93 new cases yesterday, bringing it toa total case count of 22,112. Deaths remain at 242, while 28 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (up 2). Windsor County gained 7 new cases and stands at 1,285 for the pandemic, with 65 over the past 14 days, while Orange County added 5 new cases and is at 687 cumulatively, with 115 cases in the past 14 days.
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Quick clarification: Yesterday's Daybreak linked to a John Lippman piece about a free mac-and-cheese offer Blood's Catering is running for people who can prove they've been fully vaccinated against Covid. Sara Blood writes in to say that it's available during weekly take-out hours, Wed-Fri 11:30-6:00, and to add one key point that wasn't in the article: "Folks are welcome to claim their free mac with the purchase of something else on the take-out menu."
At noon today, the Family Place moves its annual "Force for the Future" luncheon online, with a panel talking about how collaboration between pediatric practices and community organizations that focus on families and children can improve their lives. Panelists include CHaD pediatrician Steven Chapman, consultant and former Haven director Sara Kobylenski, and The Family Place's Anya Gendal and Sue Olmstead.
Today at 4 pm, Dartmouth's Dickey Center hosts Fran Ulmer, a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, talking about "Winners and Losers from Rapid Arctic Change." Ulmer, who used to be mayor of Juneau, Alaska, the state's lieutenant governor, and chair of the Arctic Research Commission during the Obama administration, will look at how changes in the Arctic environment are affecting ecosystems and the people who live there.
At 5:30, the Cornerstone Community Center—a project of the non-denominational Praise Chapel—hosts stress-management speaker James Porter, the CEO of StressStop, for a seminar called "Resiliency in a Time of Stress: Proactive Stress Management." Hartford Selectboard Chair Dan Fraser will give the keynote.
Finally, at 6 pm, the Lebanon Opera House goes on location all the way to Burlington with Zach Nugent, offering up an evening of Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band tunes (he was guitarist in Melvin Seals' JGB, the band that carried on Garcia's music after his death) and more. No charge, but you'll need to register.
The thunder is the thunder of the floes, The thaw, the flood, the upstart Spring. Thank God our time is now when wrong Comes up to face us everywhere,Never to leave us till we take The longest stride of soul we ever took.
—From Christopher Fry's 1951 verse play,
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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