GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Same as yesterday. I don't know about you, but usually I think of the sun peeking over the hills in the Daybreak logo as cheery and welcoming. These days it's looks a little foreboding, don't you think? Today's forecast is virtually identical to yesterday's: Sunny, muggy, highs in the low-to-mid 90s (with, lucky us, the highest highs over the CT River Valley), chance of rain and thunder this afternoon, lows around 70. Hang on: Things start to break tomorrow.Meanwhile, though, yesterday afternoon's late thunderstorm gave us both relief and some drama...
In Norwich, a tree came down across Turnpike Road. "We were first on the scene and called the town," writes John Stephens, "but before they could show up, a crew, including chainsaw, appeared from the backed-up carsand, despite the pouring rain, opened the road back up in about 5 minutes. If there isn’t an adage like, 'Every fourth vehicle in Vermont comes with a chain saw,' there ought to be!" Photo by Margot Stephens.
But then, of course, it ended and the sky was all "Move along, move along, nothing to see here, folks!" Except for this rainbow over Baker Library. "Perhaps this is the good omen they need after managing a campus with Covid?" writes Martha Hennessey.
Former Sullivan County Manager Jessie Levine dies. Levine, who was 50, died on Saturday of complications from ALS, the Valley News's John Gregg reports. The disease had forced her retirement in 2017 from the Sullivan County helm. A one-time high school runner, she used to joke that she was "the fastest female county manager in the US," and continued working for two years after her diagnosis, determined to make things work for as long as she could. "She was always all-in, employed a thoughtful and carefully managed approach, honest and straightforward, no-nonsense," Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin tells Gregg. "She approached ALS in the very same way."Road closures in West Leb today and tomorrow. The city is treating residential streets with something called "fog seal," designed to extend the life of asphalt. To do this, the sealant needs to be sprayed and then cured, during which "no vehicle access to or from your driveway will be allowed," the city warned residents over the weekend. "It may take a couple of hours to fully cure after being sprayed in front of your house." Reader BJ writes, "My greatest ire is short notice and accessibility issues for those of us who have appointments, businesses—and concerns related to spraying this stuff in a residential area."Norwich board approves wastewater study. The town will spend $30,000 to look at possible ways forward for the village, including the Marion Cross School's failed septic system under the town green, reports the VN's Tim Camerato. Solutions could include everything from a sewer extension from Hartford to community septic systems capable of serving several properties, Planning Director Rod Francis says. Francis "stressed that the town isn’t committing itself to any construction, adding it’s 'not really clear at this point' what problems exist," Camerato writes.
Vermont Tech campus locked down in police pursuit. VT state police yesterday afternoon received a call that Cyle Carpenter, 21, of Randolph was threatening family members and was believed to be armed. He fled as they responded, and "was last known to be" in the vicinity of the Vermont Technical College campus, the VSP says in a press release. The campus was locked down as officers searched; Carpenter was eventually found. He's charged with aggravated domestic assault and is in Southern State for lack of bail.Baby raccoon rescue. Also, a skunk kit. And insect mimicry. And how round-leaved sundews capture and dispatch their insect prey. It's the final week of June, and Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast starts off with the raccoons, who were rescued by the alert Thurston family after their mother was hit by a car. "After a cross-Vermont road trip (including a Starbucks drive-through in which the barista politely pretended not to notice loud chittering from the backseat), the young raccoons are safely in the hands of a state licensed wildlife rehabilitator," Elise writes.NH: From tops in the nation for expensive electricity all the way down to... well, 8th. In New Hampshire Bulletin, Amanda Gokee looks at why the state's deregulatory efforts, beginning in the 1990s, really haven't produced all that much price improvement so far. One of the central players over the last 30 years has been Clifton Below, currently Leb's assistant mayor, but before then a PUC commissioner and a key legislator in the '90s effort to restructure. He and others hope that current legislation dealing with renewable energy and utilities—and enabling community power—will hold the answer.Supremes to NH: Stop! The US Supreme Court yesterday—without comment—turned down New Hampshire's bid to sue Massachusetts over that state's move to tax NH residents working from home for MA employers during the pandemic. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have allowed the lawsuit to go forward, the AP reports. Gov. Chris Sununu and the state's congressional delegation all criticized the decision—though as Massachusetts noted in a brief, its temporary tax provisions will expire in mid-September.How to find housing assistance in NH—before the federal ban on evictions expires. The CDC just announced it's extended the ban until the end of July, but even so, as NHPR's Casey McDermott and Daniela Allee note, thousands of Granite Staters are still waiting to hear if the state's new emergency assistance program will help them. They cover everything from who's eligible for the program to how to apply to what to do if you're still waiting to hear back and an eviction's pending (you'll want to notify the court system—they've got a link to forms—and a caseworker. Boy, talk about a media feeding frenzy... You may remember that back in May, the Gilford Police Department made public a 2019 arrest warrant for Marilyn Manson for spitting and "shooting his snot" at a videographer during a concert at the Bank of NH Pavilion. Well, Manson's agreed to turn himself in to the LAPD, and will get a court date in NH—probably in August, reports Cassidy Jensen in the Monitor.Now there's more opposition to the CSX-Pan Am Railways sale: Amtrak. You'll remember that VT, MA, and Vermont Railways have all opposed the sale, which among other things would affect freight traffic on track from WRJ south. The Boston Globe (paywall) reports that while various public officials—including NH Gov. Chris Sununu—have supported the sale, Amtrak is warning that its expansion plans in New England, including new rail service to Manchester and Concord, would be jeopardized if the federal Surface Transportation Board approves the sale. It's asked for more in-depth market analysis from CSX.Fairbanks Museum expansion delayed—“We were just honestly stunned to see the costs." The museum had hoped to start construction on its 6,000-square-foot, three-story Science Annex project in July, until bids came in at $2 million, or 68 percent above earlier estimates, the AP reports. It's postponing construction until next year, in hopes that construction costs will drop and that it can raise more money for the project. “This is a short-term disappointment for us, but we are thoroughly engaged and 100 percent committed to building the Science Annex,” says museum director Adam Kane."Singing can be an incredibly vulnerable, unshielded act. And by doing it, paradoxically, we gain strength." To the list of new locally produced podcasts, you can add Patricia Norton's "A Breath of Song." In each episode, Norton—who runs the Upper Valley Music Center's Juneberry Chorus and drew hundreds of singers of all abilities to her "Pocket Songs" series during the pandemic—focuses each episode on a song that she considers "a great soundtrack to your day—whether it’s comfort, presence, delight, grief-tending, or simply easing the way." Link goes to a recent episode about "Woyaya."You need a little more than a bucket and plastic shovel for this. A few weeks ago, trucks dumped 200 tons of sand at Hampton Beach, NH, for the 21st annual Sand Sculpting Classic. It drew people from all over, by invitation only: John Gowdy, a retired Atlantic City fire captain; Mélineige Beauregard of Montreal; five-time world champion Karen Fralich of Toronto; Justin Gordon, known in the sand-sculpting world for his 50-ton sand sculpture at MA's Topsfield Fair; and eventual winner Abe Waterman. of PEI. Seacoast Online has a gallery of the remarkable pieces of work out there on the beach.
And catching up...
NH reported 13 new cases Friday, 14 Saturday, 26 Sunday, and 19 yesterday, bringing it to an official total of 99,455. There were 2 new deaths, which now total 1,371, while 16 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (up 2). The current active caseload is at 155 (down 30). The state reports 11 active cases in Grafton County (up 7), 15 in Sullivan (up 2), and 11 in Merrimack (no change). In town-by-town numbers reported by the state, Claremont has 10 active cases (up 1), while Rumney, Lebanon, Canaan, Grafton, Cornish, Newport, and Charlestown have 1-4 each.
VT reported 6 new cases Friday, 3 Saturday, 4 Sunday, and 4 yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 24,402. There were no new deaths, which remain at 256, while 6 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (no change). Windsor County saw 4 new cases and stands at 1,520 for the pandemic, with 17 over the previous 14 days, while Orange County had no new cases and remains at 822 cumulatively, with none over the previous two weeks. Town-by-town numbers are now reported every other week.
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At 7 pm, it's the season finale of Here in the Valley's "Tuesday Jukebox" series, its combination music/talk show. Tonight's guests are Trifolium (Justin Park, Chloe Powell, Andy Mueller) at 7 pm, and Still Hill (Rob Lees, Niles Franc, Jen Freise, Cody Williams) at 7:45. The show is both in-person and streamed. Tix are a minimum of $5, suggested price $20. Here's where to order if you want to see the livestream and here's where you can get tix for the live version.
And this evening at 8, the New London Barn Playhouse kicks off its 2021 season, live and under a tent on the field behind Ivey Science Center on the Colby-Sawyer campus. Between tonight and Aug. 22, they'll be rotating four shows in repertory: Shining On, an original revue of Broadway show tunes; A Grand Night for Singing, an evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein; a concert version of Cole Porter's 1934 classic, Anything Goes; and And the World Goes 'Round, a revue of the songs of Kander & Ebb (Cabaret, Zorba!, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman...). The season ends with a run (Aug. 25-Sept. 5) of Always... Patsy Cline, the story of the country music legend's friendship with a fan, told through their letters (and, of course, Cline's songs).
Finally, this week is your last chance (through Friday) to see BREATHE, the online musical written by Jodi Picoult during and about the pandemic. It explores explores the effect of the pandemic on the lives of five different couples—their relationships, health, and community—and features a fleet of Broadway actors, including several Tony winners. "Even the video itself is a little encapsulation of the effects of the pandemic — since we couldn’t all be on a stage together, actors were filmed and stitched together in editing and sang to a click track of a live piano…then post-filming, we went to Nashville and recorded the orchestra instruments individually, blended them, and layered it over the vocals…and you’d never know, from watching/listening. It was the ONLY way to create a new musical when Broadway was shut down," Picoult writes.
It happened yesterday at the Aloha Island Grill.I was ordering lunch when the girl behind the counterlooked up at me and smiled. I watched her dark hair swing about her slender waistand felt, in the center of my chest, a quiet ache,one I've since identified as the pain of witnessingthe beauty of the young.Shouldn't perfection remain hidden? How terribleto sense, even for a moment, that there is another world,one more ordered -- and more kind -- than this one. And howoblivious she was, this girl, handing me the paper napkins,the knife and fork, to the rift she had caused, so carelessly,between this realm and the next.
—From "Surfer Girl" by Danusha Laméris,
See you tomorrow.
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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