GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly sunny, warm. High pressure's still in place for the moment, and highs will get up into the low or mid 70s, with more sun than clouds for much of the day and winds from the south. Clouds may part a bit overnight, lows mid 40s.Pomfret Road cleanup. After a week of rain, a steep embankment along Pomfret Road near the N. Pomfret post office gave way Saturday morning, and yesterday, crews from the town, GMP, and VTrans spent the day reopening the road. Michael Mezzacapo sends along video: He lives nearby and his house, along with one other, was blocked off by road closures. The road reopened mid-afternoon yesterday. "Huge thanks to the Pomfret town staff and emergency responders!" he writes.And speaking of closed stretches of road... The ramp from I-91 North to I-89 South (ie, Exit 10A off I-91) will close again tomorrow and Thursday to allow for pavement repair work on I-89 south. The closures are expected to be from 8 am to 4 pm, but are weather-dependent—and, NHDOT writes in its press release, the start date could change. Usual detour in place. Meanwhile, if you happen to be farther afield today, NHDOT plans to close the ramp from I-93 northbound to I-89 North today from 9 am to 2 pm while crews repair potholes."It looks swamp-worthy to me." Deep in the Lost Woods swamp, Auk and Eddie talk over carbon sinks and find a raft. Which, of course, they launch. In case you missed last Tuesday, nationally known author and illustrator D.B. Johnson (Henry Hikes to Fitchburg), who's a local, has revived his Lost Woods strip. If you're a newcomer, here's an intro to the strip. And here's an easy way to catch up on the latest round, which began in March.On the Lebanon Mall, a vegan Mexican spot that keeps even a competitive arm-wrestler happy. Like Lalo's Taqueria before it, Black Magic Mexican is the new brick-and-mortar base for a former food truck. Heath and Thao Gosselin opened it in April, and in his Daybreak debut, Duncan Green—a Lebanon High grad, journalism student at Syracuse University, and Daybreak's first reporting intern—profiles the restaurant, Heath Gosselin's "no agenda" vegan philosophy, and Canaan arm-wrestler Nick Giannetto's protein-fueled conversion from skeptic to regular. A huge welcome to Duncan!Grantham man charged in fatal Newport NH dump truck accident. Charles Deraway, 38, was driving the truck along Central Street last week, preparing to turn onto Sunapee Street when his truck hit a pedestrian, Zachary Shepard, 34, of Newport. According to police, reports WCAX's Adam Sullivan, the truck failed to stop at a stop sign and struck Shepard, who was in the crosswalk. Shepard was taken to DHMC, where he died. Deraway has been charged with negligent homicide and second-degree assault; he was released on bail yesterday.SPONSORED: Join us for Clean Water Day at VINS on May 17th. Did you know that before the 1970s, the Ottauquechee River was so contaminated that wildlife couldn't survive there? David Laughlin (VINS Co-Founder) led efforts to pass legislation that transformed it into a thriving habitat. Now we see otters and Bald Eagles regularly. Join VINS on May 17th for Clean Water Day to celebrate Laughlin’s legacy with activities the whole family will enjoy, including guided gorge walks, water games, and live raptor programs. Details available here or at the burgundy link. Sponsored by VINS.Closed public works building complicates New London vote on new police station. Tomorrow's town meeting is actually a revote of a March measure that failed to get a super-majority for a nearly $1 million bond to purchase property and plan a new police station. Since learning that the public works building is in such disrepair it may need to be demolished, reports Clare Shanahan in the Valley News, town officials—including Police Chief Emily Cobb—have backed off the police station plans, though some residents still want to move forward. Shanahan details the issues.SPONSORED: Interplay Jazz annual Summer Jazz Camp! It runs June 22-28 at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH, ofering an inclusive, welcoming environment for all ages (15 to 115) who play an instrument or sing. Interplay’s world-renowned faculty gives each participant personalized attention. Daily activities include ear training, theory classes, yoga, and master classes, and evenings feature faculty performances, a swing dance, and jam sessions. Have one of the best weeks of your life at Interplay Jazz Summer Camp. Just a few openings left! Sponsored by Interplay Jazz.AT footbridge in NH deemed unsafe; detour puts thru-hikers 4.3 miles closer to their goal. The Madison Gulf Bridge (also known as the Great Gulf Suspension Bridge) crosses the Peabody River, and the Forest Service first closed it last fall. Now, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy has blazed a route that avoids the crossing, and is encouraging hikers to use it, rather than fording the river. “It is a dangerous crossing in all but dry conditions when the river’s flow is low and even then, it can be difficult,” the group says. Timing on a new bridge is uncertain.As NH ages, a look at town-by-town health indicators. Or 244 of them, anyway. That's how many towns researchers at UMass-Boston studied, looking both at key indicators (like best and worst rates of diabetes, with Hanover ranking best and Rochester worst) and at how towns stacked up compared to the state average for 14 health indicators (in general, towns in the western half of the state, including Sunapee, Grantham, Grafton, Lyme, Hanover, Orange, and Piermont did better than towns in the eastern half). The Globe's Amanda Gokee has an overview at the burgundy link (no paywall); full report here.“Is logging really as bad for the climate as some people say it is?” That question to VT Public's Brave Little State came from a US Forest Service employee who goes nameless in the latest episode because of worries about job security. Abagael Giles tackles the question, diving into management plans for key stretches of VT forest; spending time talking boards, beams, and chips with Joe and Ken Gagnon, who own a sawmill in Pittsford; and then explaining why it's so hard to measure the impact of logging on carbon release by going deep into the questions with two UVM forestry profs and a forestry researcher.Mule train: “the most cost-effective way to deliver the mail.” Supai, AZ, sits some 2,000 feet down in the Grand Canyon, accessible only by helicopter, foot, and hooves. Residents of the remote town depend on the post office for letters, packages, lab work, and medicine. Challenges aside, the USPS is obligated to deliver everywhere in the country, writes Sarah Yager in The Atlantic (gift link). Enter Nate Chamberlain, a contractor who leads a mule train on the 16-mile, six-hour trip five days a week. This walk in the Park is no walk in the park: ice in winter, scorching temps in summer, rattlesnakes, and flash floods. It’s “a feat of logistics, horsemanship, and carefully placed hooves,” Yager writes.The Tuesday Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak.
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The Yale prof and Upper Valley resident will talk over his lab's research into how our bodies shape interaction and vice versa, from what isolation does to us to how genes shape the friends we have to "how the social networks we form depend on, and affect, our gut microbiome." 2:30 pm in Filene Auditorium.
Wooster and the Dickey Center's Erica Barks-Ruggles (herself a former US ambassador) will talk over the past and future of US policy amid the never-ending tumult of the region. 4:30 pm in Haldeman 41 as well as livestreamed.
Upper Valley insurance agent Jessica Dunn talks over the complicated ins and outs. 6:30 pm in the Mayer Room and online.
The book is Bowen's second suspense thriller, though the derivatives-trader-turned-writer has a long list of bestselling romance novels. She and local mystery writer Taylor will discuss Bowen's latest, about a downhearted Maine mansion restorer who sets out to witness what she thinks is her ex's tryst, only to witness his murder. 7 pm.
Unlikely as it seems. It's a world premiere tour by the LA-based World Ballet Company, featuring "a multinational cast of 40 professional ballet dancers, an all-star creative team, lustrous hand-crafted costumes, and lavish groundbreaking sets"—and an original score by film and TV composer Anna Drubich. 7 pm.
Tickets for their 8 pm concert at Rollins Chapel (Filippo Ciabatti directing a program of Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Beethoven's third piano concerto with Kenneth Broberg at the keyboard) look to be sold out, but it's always worth a call to
603.646.2422 for available tix.
The Tuesday poem.
Body my housemy horse my hound what will I dowhen you are fallenWhere will I sleep How will I ride What will I huntWhere can I gowithout my mount all eager and quick How will I know in thicket aheadis danger or treasure when Body my good bright dog is deadHow will it beto lie in the skywithout roof or door and wind for an eyeWith cloud for shift how will I hide?
— "Question" 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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