GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Reminder: Daybreak will be on a long break this summer, July 4-Aug. 17. But hey, you can sign up at the headline link for Daybreak Diversions, three quick reads a week of entertaining items, music, Wordbreak, and whatever else strikes my fancy. Also: If you contribute monthly and want a breather on your July contribution, please email me at [email protected] and let me know.Showers, maybe a thunderstorm. We've got a warm front followed by a cold front passing through, and the result is going to be several bands of rain, with the later one potentially packing a thunderstorm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, highs in the mid or upper 60s, down to the low 50s overnight. Oh, and in case you were wondering: Air quality's back to normal.Lucky? Unlucky? You decide. "Interesting that there could be gold right where the danger is," writes Randy Leavitt from Royalton of a lightning strike right at the end of a rainbow the other day.Windowvision. In DB Johnson's Lost Woods this week, Henry's got this cool invention: It's livestreamed, it's bug-free, it's solar-powered, and it won't keep you up at night. Can a patent be far behind?DHMC and its clinics impose "hiring pause." The move, reports John Lippman in the Valley News, comes amid what DH CEO Joanne Conroy called "headwinds" in an email to staff on Friday—including potential state and federal cuts to Medicaid, federal research cuts, and DH's first quarterly loss since 2023. It will allow the health care network to be "more intentional about where and how we invest in roles," Conroy wrote. Lippman digs into its finances, including revenue gains fueled in part by expanded pharmacy services—which nonetheless were outstripped by expenses in the last quarter.Norwich Farmers Market taking step toward field purchase. The popular market hopes to buy the large field across Route 5 from its current location, and the nonprofit created to spearhead the effort has ambitious plans: To relocate and expand the outdoor market and put up a building to serve both as its wintertime indoor market and as an education center. It's also eying an agreement with Twin Pines to enable affordable housing. But before any permits can be issued, the town has to agree on what constitutes an Open Air Market. The Planning Commission meets tonight at 6:30 to talk that over.WRJ's Revolution to open "next rev" in Hanover. In an email announcement yesterday, Revolution owner Kim Souza wrote that she was "a little skeptical" when a commercial property owner approached her recently, but that "it turns out that there are about 1,000 reasons why it could be a great idea." So on June 14, 23 years after Revolution opened, Souza takes over a lease at 43 S. Main Street, the building also occupied by Molly's; she plans a soft opening in August. "This is a massive and slightly terrifying business venture," she writes, "and support from our extended UV family will be critical to its success."SPONSORED: Support accessible fare-free public transportation in the Upper Valley. Summer's here, and our community is on the go! And getting around shouldn’t be a challenge. With fare-free service, Advance Transit helps keep the Upper Valley connected, no matter the season. But we can’t do it without you. Your support ensures everyone can access essential services, all while reducing our carbon footprint. Your generosity directly supports keeping our buses running, connecting our communities, and building a brighter future. Please consider a donation today! Sponsored by Advance Transit.It's NH Gives. The annual 24-hour donation extravaganza gets underway today at 5 pm, and as you'll see at the link, a raft of Upper Valley nonprofits on both sides of the river are there, from arts groups like JAM, the New England School of the Arts, and AVA, to groups like WISE, LISTEN, and Spark!. If you want to learn about the rather incredible array of organizations large and tiny that keep the Upper Valley knit together, many of them are in one place here, with easy links to descriptions of what each does and how you can help. Just do a location search on "Hanover" or "Lebanon" and you'll find them.Cyanobacteria watch on Mascoma Lake. It was issued Friday by NH DES, after a bloom was seen near the Enfield boat launch last Thursday and lab testing "indicated a high concentration of cyanobacteria combined with pollen," lake association president Martha Jane Rich wrote in a post that's now on the town website (at the headline link). Three other lakes in the state also have watches in place, and though it's early, it's not as early as last year, when NH's first warning was issued May 15. "Watch for shifting bloom conditions," Rich writes. "Do not swim in or near the vicinity where bloom material is visible."
You'll find NH watches and warnings throughout the season at the state's Healthy Swimming Mapper.
Vermont's cyanobacteria tracker, meanwhile, will be sporadic until the week of June 16. It relies on seasonal volunteer monitoring. At the moment, it contains just one warning in the state, in Essex.
SPONSORED: Adorable Shepherd-Mix puppies for sale. Four males, all black with patches of white. They are 9 months, between 30-40 pounds and still growing—as sweet as can be, great with recall and just truly big loves. They are all crate trained, 90 percent house-trained, and go hiking often with no need for a leash. They’re joined by Bella, a German Shepherd mix who's been fostered for two years. She is pure love! The adoption process involves a small fee (half of what rescues/shelters charge), an application and a home visit. Photos, contact info at the link. Sponsored by Susan Harsch.Feeling left out, NH? You're getting scam DMV messages, too. Yesterday's item about the VT DMV warning about a jump in scam texts and emails came out before the NH AG's office had a chance to issue its own, similar warning. As in VT, the messages warn the recipient their driver's license will be suspended due to an unpaid traffic violation. “These fraudulent messages are designed to alarm consumers and trick them into revealing personal or financial information,” said Attorney General John Formella in the release.For first time, Community Power Coalition electric rates are higher than utilities are charging. Also, it lost $8 million. The NH-based effort's chief reason for being, of course, is to offer member communities' residents—including in Lyme, Hanover, Lebanon, Enfield, Plainfield, Newport, and Grantham—lower electricity costs. But as NHPR's Mara Hoplamazian reports, the coalition had to raise its lowest rate in March to make sure revenues covered costs: It's now about $63 a month for power, compared to an average of $54-$58 for utility customers. Hoplamazian delves into what's going on.Kelly Ayotte issues first veto. It's aimed at a measure that would have let school districts avoid providing transportation for students in half-day kindergarten programs. “To no longer require transportation for these children to and from these schools would place an undue burden on working families,” the governor said in her Friday announcement, reports Steven Porter in the Globe (paywall). The bill's GOP sponsor responded that the veto "may send a chilling message to legislators trying to eliminate the many unfunded state mandates that drive up property taxes for New Hampshire families."New VT law will expand unpaid family leave starting July 1. The measure, signed into law May 22 by Gov. Phil Scott, lets people working for companies with over 10 employees take unpaid time off if they become new parents or have a miscarriage; gives up to two weeks bereavement leave (in stints); and introduces "safe leave" if an employee or a family member is "experiencing domestic or sexual violence," reports VTDigger intern Charlotte Oliver. The law explicitly includes LGBTQ+ families. “Everyone should have the same time off benefits regardless of who they are and who they love," says its sponsor.Approaching life without kids when you wanted them: "You have to build a new picture of what your life is going to be." That's WRJ's Kat Mayerovitch, and she is the voice of hard-won experience in Nina Keck's deeply intimate exploration of the issue for VT Public's Brave Little State. The episode is kicked off by Gina Accorsi, who wanted kids while her husband didn't—and though she accepted the choice, she also grieved it. No support groups exist, so she turned to Brave Little State—and Keck found Mayerovitch, who wants her to put in all caps, "Childless adults can play an amazing role in their community." Neither woman is alone: Childlessness is on the upswing.Company collecting allegations of VT clergy misconduct discloses data breach. The state's Roman Catholic Diocese was actually one of a dozen dioceses affected, reports VTDigger's Kevin O'Connor, when the Berkeley Research Group faced a ransomware demand involving undisclosed data—which might, or might not, have included confidential sex abuse claims. The financial advisory firm, which has been working with victims around the country, disclosed the hack in a court filing. The US Bankruptcy Court in Burlington has scheduled a hearing on the incident for later this month. Warm air rises, hail falls, car windows break. But why? Not why do car windows break—yours would too if baseball-sized hailstones were careening down. The question is, what’s making hail so big now? The WSJ's Eric Niiler (gift link) speaks with Victor Gensini, an atmospheric science prof at Northern Illinois U about his current project, “Icechip”: It involves some 70 researchers and students, drones, and tricked-out pickup trucks. They’ll be roving the central US and Great Plains this summer, trying to figure out what forces could lead to killer 5-inch hailstones, as happened a few years ago in Spain. The Tuesday Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak.
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John Hay Estate at The Fells in Newbury, NH. It's an extensive one, and Kronenwetter, a novelist and historical researcher, will talk over everyone from the Abenaki to
Harriott E. Wilson, Cecelia Thaxter, Robert Frost, Grace Metalious, John Irving, Donald Hall, J.D. Salinger, and Jodi Picoult. Plus libraries, writers' colonies, and more. 4:30 pm.
The Vermont director's Revolutionary War-era action drama weaves together the lives of Ethan Allen—VT founding father and "rebel schemer," as Craven puts it—and Lucy Terry Prince, the first known African American poet and a pioneering landowner.
, Craven writes, "The wild west had nothing on what happened in our region during this time.
" Tonight's screening is at 7 pm, tomorrow's at 5 pm, and Craven will be on hand both evenings to talk about the film and its epic making.
Truffaut's 1976 film mixes the funny, the innocent, and the painful moments of childhood—and the belief that, as one character says, children "pass untouched through dangers that would destroy an adult.” On Thursday, it's Alain Berliner's
Ma Vie en Rose
. 7 pm both nights in the Martha Jane Rich Theater at Thetford Academy.
The Tuesday poem.
Is there a single thing in naturethat can approach in mysterythe absolute uniqueness of any human face, first, then its transformation from childhood to old age—We are surrounded at every instant by sights that ought to strike the sane unbenumbed person tongue-tied, mute with gratitude and terror. However,there may be three sane people on earth at any given time: and ifyou got the chance to ask them how they do it, they would not understand...—
From
,
by
.
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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