Daybreak Tuesday 6/8/21

GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

Hang on, hang on... It'll be hot again today, but since we're getting more cloud cover and a chance of rain and thunderstorms this afternoon, not quite as hot—high of maybe 90. "Lows" tonight will still be in the mid-60s, but there's a cold front dropping by at some point from Canada, which should start making things more bearable after this, especially at night. Winds today from the west.Sometime around June 19-23. This isn't quite the Upper Valley, but that's when NH's Loon Preservation Society expects the two eggs being incubated by the loons in its Loon Cam sights to hatch. The cam, somewhere in the Lakes Region, has been livestreaming since the end of May, and though baby loons emerging into the world will definitely be the marquee moment, it's pretty darn peaceful to watch anytime. Here's LPC's blog, which helps explain what you're seeing (like, in this heat the adult loons pant to keep cool).Hartford waits to tear up S. Main Street. The long-planned work to upgrade water and sewer lines along the stretch closest to downtown WRJ had been expected to begin this summer, worrying restaurant owners whose outdoor seating it would have affected. But Anna Merriman reports in the Valley News that planning and permitting issues will delay the work until 2022. State funding remains secure, but public works director Hannah Tyler tells Merriman it's uncertain how the delay will affect costs.Dartmouth suspends frat. Theta Delta Chi faces an "interim suspension" pending a hearing, reports The Dartmouth's Kyle Mullins, but the cause remains mysterious. The college's Office of Greek Life director refused to comment, as did Safety and Security director Keysi Montás. Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin tells Mullins that the town is not aware of any gatherings that might have violated town Covid regs, but that the college might have learned of some on its own.SPONSORED: What did we learn this year? Well, along with mastering TikTok, we also saw clearly how important our local businesses, farms, and social service agencies are, how thoroughly we rely on a resilient local economy and food supply, and how much we need safe, affordable, and greener homes and transportation for all. Vital Communities works in all these areas—and more. You can support that work today through the NHGives 24-hour campaign (at the maroon link). Sponsored by Vital Communities.VT State Police seek I-89 hit-and-run driver. Yesterday afternoon, a 25-year-old Burlington man headed southbound pulled over and stopped in the breakdown lane the median side of the highway in Hartford, at Mile 8.8. As he was standing in the breakdown lane, a passing car sideswiped him—driving on and leaving the driver's side mirror behind. The man was taken to DHMC in stable condition, the VSP reports in its press release.UV mask patchwork gets patchier as Enfield lifts mandate. The selectboard voted unanimously last night to stop requiring people to wear face masks in public places, reports the VN's Tim Camerato. That leaves Hanover, Lebanon, and Norwich with varying degrees of mandates in place—though in Hanover, Dartmouth is no longer requiring masks outdoors, including on the Green. Longhorn beetle on the event horizon... Or, well, on a pink lady's slipper bloom, making its way toward the "lobster trap." "Whether it found or bit its way out again, we don’t know," writes Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast in "This Week in the Woods." Also out there: tree swallows, which may be common, but are also fun to watch, she writes, whether "skimming water off the surface of a river with their beaks at high speeds, or performing acrobatic dives after flying insects"; common ringlet butterflies; slant-lined moths; and hooked crowfoot blooming on the edges of wetlands.It's a cold world, might as well get used to it. It's egg-laying season for painted turtles, and on her Naturally Curious blog, Mary Holland writes that mom turtles will often dig several fake nests before digging the actual nest for their eggs. Once the eggs are covered up, though, and the ground left looking "relatively undisturbed," the mother turtles head back to their ponds for good, leaving the young 'uns, when they emerge, to fend for themselves. The eggs start hatching in the fall, though some baby turtles don't make it out of the shell until the following spring.  About that plaque... You know, the one mentioned here yesterday celebrating Margaret Consalvi's successful recitation of the names of her cat and sister's dog? In case you want to find it, reader Jack Herney writes, "Margaret's rock is on Kitty Rock Trail in the Stratham Woods. The trail is, of course, named for that rock. It's one I frequently walk and discovered the rock and her plaque, not knowing about it—it's somewhat off the trail but that plaque gleams in the sun, which caught my eye."NHPR's The Exchange leaving the air. When host Laura Knoy said last month that she'll be stepping down from the show she's led for the last quarter-century, the station set out to find a replacement. But on Friday, NHPR president Jim Schachter announced the show will end its run at the end of this month; Knoy's last show is Thursday. The station, the Monitor's David Brooks writes in an analysis, faces "a dilemma common to news organizations: absorbing the cost of developing new media to attract future audiences even as old media remains its best generator of income and current audience."Data "errors" may have made NH vaccination progress look better than it was. NHPR's Alli Fam and Casey McDermott dug into discrepancies between numbers reported by the CDC and the state—and subsequent revisions by the feds. They conclude that NH's nation-leading status in April and May may have been inflated, and note that as of June 3 the latest CDC stats show at least 60 percent of the adult population having received one dose—the same percentage originally reported at the end of April. Still, it's near the top in fully vaccinated residents, though it lags the rest of New England.For NH's timber industry, "the good old days" were 18 months ago. That's when loggers like Allenstown's Jeff Eames were making 1,000 tons of wood chips a week, writes Amanda Gokee in NH Bulletin; now Eames is down to 100. The struggles of the state's biomass power plants have sapped the market for low-grade wood, and the state's timber industry is having trouble adjusting: sawmills are operating under capacity; loggers are quitting or getting into construction; and, says one logger, the practice of cutting only high-grade trees leaves the forest "crowded with a bunch of crummy trees.”VT gets permanent mail-in voting for general elections. Gov. Phil Scott yesterday signed legislation requiring town clerks to mail ballots to all active, registered voters for statewide general elections, reports Seven Days' Colin Flanders. Voters then have a choice of mailing them in, dropping them at the polls, or voting in person. The measure allows voters to "fix" ballots returned incorrectly and lets town clerks begin processing them up to 30 days before the election. Scott urged legislators to extend the provisions to primary and local elections, as well.Surprise! Last-minute buyer swoops in for Koffee Kup. Canadian company Mrs. Dunster's was all set to take over—and, in fact, had already created new employment contracts for former Koffee Kup workers—when Flowers Foods, which makes Wonder Bread and other brands, announced yesterday that it's acquired Koffee Kup's assets, report Chris Mays and Bob Audette in the Brattleboro Reformer. Flowers, which is based in Georgia, says it has "no immediate plans to reopen the bakeries."VT edges up to 80 percent vaccination goal. As of yesterday, 79.2 percent of eligible Vermonters 12 and older have gotten at least one Covid vaccine dose, which leaves 4,197 more to go before the state meets the 80 percent benchmark Phil Scott has set for full reopening. Scott yesterday announced new walk-in clinics around the state over the next few days.“Usually the biggest question that we have is, ‘Is it gonna it rain or not?’ But, this is different.” That's Susan Hernandez, who's president of the Fourth of July committee in Saxtons River, talking to VPR's Howard Weiss-Tisman about its deliberations on whether or not to hold its traditional celebration this year. Several towns—including Saxtons River—have opted to cancel. "It just seemed like too big a risk,” Hernandez says. But other towns are going ahead, bolstered by the state's high vaccination rate and the fact that parades, fireworks, and other festivities are all outside.90 degrees out? Yeah, time for kakigori ice. That's the Japanese delicacy featuring ice shaved so thinly that it's more like freshly fallen snow—then topped with condensed milk and flavored syrup. It's just one of the culinary journeys you can take on Gastro Obscura, Atlas Obscura's site dedicated to all manner of curious foods: Minneapolis's cheese-filled Jucy Lucy burgers; the Pacific islands' hala fruit, which "looks like an exploding planet and tastes like sugarcane"; Gâteau St-Honoré—a puff pastry base with chiboust cream and profiteroles with caramel halos. ⁠Don't do Instagram? Here's a different version.

Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it keep going by hitting the maroon button:

The two plum trees --I love their blossoming!One early.  One later.

—Yosa Buson, 1716-1784 

Daybreak Where You Are: The Album. Photos of daybreak around the Upper Valley, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the US, sent in by readers.

Want to catch up on Daybreak music?

Check out the Spotify playlist generously maintained by Sarah and Nelson Rooker.

Written and published by Rob Gurwitt         Banner by Tom Haushalter    Poetry editor: Michael Lipson  About Rob                                                    About Tom                             About Michael

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!