Daybreak Tuesday 4/28/20

GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

Things will be drying out today. There's already drier air moving our way from the west, and the clouds will start giving way and we should see at least some patches of blue by midday. Still cooler than normal temps, though, with highs reaching the low or mid-50s, wind shifting to come from the north. Clearing tonight, lows down to around freezing. So, about yesterday...

For the first time, Vermont has released case numbers by town.

The state's giving exact numbers only if there are 6 or more: Burlington has had by far the most, at 157, followed by Essex at 47 and Swanton (home to the state correctional facility with an outbreak) at 44. Some towns near ski areas logged 6 or more, and state officials said some cases involved second-homeowners. In this region, Hartford has logged 10 cases, Woodstock 7, and Rockingham 6. New Hampshire town-by-town numbers

remain available only on a map

that gives a range.

West Leb hair stylist leads petition drive for partial reopening of salons and barber shops in NH

. Vanessa Perron, who owns Vanessa's Salon on 12A, has gathered 2,500 signatures on a petition asking the state to allow salons to open for no more than ten people at a time. Per NHPR, she "admits that it's impossible to be six feet away from someone...while cutting his or her hair, so she suggests making sure to work from the side or back of a client, and talking to clients from behind the chair." Gov. Chris Sununu's reopening task force will hear from barbers and cosmetologists at its hearing today.

"It was eerie the first couple of weeks; the hospital was so quiet with fewer patients, and there was a subtle edge..."

Linda Harvey is a physical therapist at Mt. Ascutney Hospital, and she had a front-row seat all through March and more recently as the hospital shifted workloads and raced to prepare for Covid patients. She talked to Daybreak about what it's been like—and includes an email from her supervisor, who among her "top 10 things learned" says: "Wearing a mask reduces your water consumption during the day... maybe a face mask with a straw-hole next time?"

Main Street deserted. An empty Walmart lot, carts lined up with no takers. A childless playground...

Claremont photographer Liz Ellis has been out photographing her city in the age of the pandemic for a project she's calling "Quiet Streets//Covid-19: Claremont, NH." Most are in black and white, on her FB page (should be viewable without an account).

Southern State superintendent steps aside while mask incident investigated.

Michael Lyon, who oversees the 370-bed prison in Springfield, has left his post temporarily while the corrections department looks into PPE use generally and, specifically, how a guard came to be seen on video during a court proceeding with his mask partially off while standing near an inmate. Lyon is now working on the department's overall response to the pandemic.

"Health Research Live" to present local infectious disease docs on their coronavirus work.

The program, sponsored by the Montshire and a trio of Dartmouth- and D-H-related organizations, isn't until May 7, but Zoom space is limited so if you're interested, acting now won't hurt. "We hear a lot about 'medical trials' in the news as the world is focused on finding a treatment for COVID-19," runs the teaser. "But what exactly does this mean and what does this entail? Join local infectious disease doctors and researchers David deGijsel and Richard Zuckerman as they discuss their work to address the coronavirus that causes COVID-19."

Dartmouth launches weekly "Community Conversation" starting tomorrow.

Provost Joe Helble will host the show, aimed at the larger Dartmouth community. It will "hopefully keep us all a little more connected as we look forward to a return to in-person meetings," he says. The show will be broadcast from the Baker-Berry Library every Wednesday at 3:30 pm; tomorrow's will include Dr. Lisa Adams and Josh Keniston, VP for institutional projects, who co-chair the college's COVID-19 task force. 

NH community colleges adapt.

 Some programs that require hands-on training are struggling. But there are also high notes. RVCC librarian James Allen runs the food pantry for students, and goes through about 1,200 pounds of food a month. “You can just kind of call him and he will get it all," says one student. Allen also has been sending out $50 Market Basket gift cards to students in need. At Lakes Region Community College, the culinary arts instructor is prepping meals for students to pick up and prepare and plate at home; they then send him a photo. “The bonus," he says, "is they are actually having some food for their families.”

"$1.25 billion sounds like a heck of a lot of money because it is. But we have had requests already that far outstrip that amount."

 Jerry Little, on leave as NH banking commissioner to head up Chris Sununu's economic recovery task force, talked with NHPR's Rick Ganley yesterday. The hotel and restaurant industry alone has already requested $1 billion of the federal stimulus funds coming to the state. His overall message: Prepare to be disappointed. People think the money "might be able to make them whole," he says, "but that's not possible."

NH unemployment figures show hospitality, retail, health care hardest hit.

New Hampshire Business Review

's Bob Sanders breaks down the most recent data. Since mid-March, he writes, there have been over 141,000 claims, of which over 38,500, or 27 percent, come from the hospitality industry, including nearly 27,000 bars and restaurants. Retail followed with 24 percent of the claims, then "health and education" (mostly health), with 21 percent. Employees of outpatient offices, including doctors and dentists, accounted for some 10,000 claims.

VT House members jump in to help constituents with unemployment claims. In a statement yesterday, House Speaker Mitzi Johnson said that legislators continue to hear from constituents about problems reaching the Dept. of Labor. "Vermonters need help now," she said. So House members can now gather information to help constituents with unresolved claims. Here's where to find your representatives' contact info.Meanwhile, the SBA has started processing second-round PPP applications, and state officials urge businesses to get in line now. Businesses that have already applied, VT economic development commissioner Joan Goldstein said yesterday, should check in with their lenders. "And if you have not heard from them, we urge you to contact them to be assured that you are in the queue, because the way that they will be conducting this and administering it is first come, first served."Now it's VT's turn for legislators to spar with executive branch over emergency spending. The set-to came at a hearing yesterday of the legislature's Joint Fiscal Committee, after Finance Commissioner Adam Greshin told committee members that the administration has already spent far more than they'd expected. The committee last week proposed a ceiling on spending without the legislature's approval; the Scott administration wants more leeway, and legislators are resisting. "The administrative branch does not have sole custody of knowledge about the best way to meet people's needs during this time," Senate President Tim Ashe said.VT issues training guidance for businesses and organizations that are going back to work. The guidelines, issued by Vermont OSHA and the state health department, require employers to document health and safety training—including the signs and symptoms of Covid-19 and how it's spread, information on social distancing and hygiene, and how to handle, remove, decontaminate, and dispose of any personal protective equipment. It won't surprise you to learn there are lots of other requirements, as well. All at the link.VT continues to build out its map of public wifi access points. Daybreak ran it a few weeks ago, but in case you're out hunting and want to have it handy...Guy who resold face masks to hospitals at 2400 percent markup ordered to stop. No, that's not a misprint. You may remember that Shelley Palmer and his company, Big Brother Security Programs Inc., had been selling masks to Central Vermont Medical Center for $2.50 per mask, after acquiring them for just a few cents each. In court last week, his lawyer argued that the hospital didn't have to buy them at that price, but went ahead anyway. The AG's office, which brought the suit, countered that CVMC was desperate and felt it had no choice. Judge Helen Toor sided with the state yesterday.

Parsnip, ramps, sorrel, rhubarb... "Gardening Guy" Henry Homeyer is back in print locally with his column—he's just started publishing in the Concord Monitor and, hence, in the Valley News again. This week it's his advice on early spring edibles (from the garden): plant parsnip in early summer for next spring; you can try re-planting some ramps in your own woods; sorrel is best from starts from a garden center, since it takes a long time to grow from seed; and, well, rhubarb... just think about it and it grows. His column is behind the VN's subscription wall.Out in the woods right now: plenty of wildflowers, vernal pool action, the rippling song of hermit thrushes. Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast has been pointing out the cool things to watch out for week-by-week as the woods make their way toward spring. This week, her pics include bloodroot, the hard-to-miss red trillium and the far more delicate Carolina spring beauty, caddisfly larva, acorns from red oaks, and—oh, what took you so long to get back?—hermit thrushes. A little more on that tick research. Granite Geek's David Brooks has a bit more background on Kaitlyn Morse and her BeBop Labs' crowdsourced work on ticks. In 2019, only a quarter of the ticks were carrying a disease, compared to 40 percent in 2018, and encouragingly, only 44 ticks last year (of 1,341 collected) carried more than one disease. Still, she considers the results preliminary until she's got one more year's data. Oh, the lab, by the way, is named for her chocolate lab. 

News that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:

#UVTogether

Staying Sane

The work of the world is common as mud.Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.But the thing worth doing well donehas a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.Greek amphoras for wine or oil,Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museumsbut you know they were made to be used.The pitcher cries for water to carryand a person for work that is real.

— excerpted from "To be of use," by Marge Piercy

(Thanks, DM!)

See you tomorrow.

Daybreak is written and published by Rob Gurwitt                     Banner by Tom HaushalterAbout Rob                                                                                   About Tom

And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to hit the blue "Subscribe" button below. And thanks! And hey, if you're that friend? So nice to see you! You can subscribe at: 

Thank you!