GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Just how much bright sun and warmth can a northern New Englander take? Guess we're going to find out. There was a weak front that skittered through north of us last night, but the clouds it produced will clear out this morning. Temps will be warmer than yesterday as high pressure settles over us -- getting into the higher 80s, depending on where you are.Thetford roiled by news of librarian's replacement. Latham Memorial Library trustees announced last week that they intend to replace Peter Blodgett, who has been the town's librarian for almost 33 years. The library board says it's "rethinking current operations." Blodgett will only say, “It is a personnel matter and the board has to be silent so I should be as well.” The trustees meet tomorrow night, at what's expected to be a packed gathering. (VN, sub reqd)Hanover police say there's been an uptick in people calling about bears lately. On the regional communications center's FB page, one poster reports an encounter on Balch Hill last week with a mother and two cubs -- who seemed more interested in wild strawberries than in him. Hanover dispatch encourages people to check out this Fish & Game fact sheet, including what to do if you meet a bear.Kleen closing leaves hospitals in linen purgatory. Copley Hospital in Morrisville, VT, is renting a mobile laundry trailer to do 6,000 weekly pounds of sheets, gowns, and towels itself, says VTDigger. Others are working with cleaners in Montreal and Albany. VT and NH administrators tried last week to find a collaborative solution, but couldn't. Meanwhile, the state is trying to help (VN) the 100 workers who suddenly lost their jobs.Grafton County has a new cyber-crime unit. it's a one-man shop at the moment, run by Sheriff's Deputy Justin Combs in North Haverhill. His space, still under construction, is where he delves into mobile phones and other devices in search of images and data that local law enforcement agencies are after. Demand is rising, says Combs. "It's going to come down to a personnel issue when we start getting backed up."Get your calendars out: David Corriveau's got a listing of upcoming book and author events around the region. Canaan Meetinghouse Readings in July, including W.D. Wetherell; Ed Koren at Bookstock and later in Strafford; Literary North at Sweetland Farm in Norwich in August... (VN, sub still reqd, but don't worry: If they're on weeknights, you'll find them in Daybreak that morning.)Volinsky sets stage for NH gubernatorial bid. Andru Volinsky, who was the lead attorney in the landmark Claremont education-funding lawsuit against the state, and is now a Democrat on the Executive Council, announced yesterday that he's forming an exploratory committee for a possible challenge to GOP Gov. Chris Sununu. The committee include's a Who's Who of prominent Democrats in the state.NH officials respond to lawsuit challenging Medicaid work requirements. The provisions requiring Medicaid expansion beneficiaries to work (or participate in other qualifying activities) at least 100 hours/month went into effect last month. Four low-income plaintiffs are challenging them. The state counters that no one will lose coverage unless he or she "chooses" not to comply.C'mon, this is serious. NH man bites dog. Using a police dog, Manchester officers were trying to subdue a Nashua man who'd locked himself in a hotel room. "Eventually, he growled himself -- the man growled -- opened his mouth and bit the dog on the top of the head," says police spokeswoman Heather Hamel. The dog wasn't hurt.Change to hay-cutting schedule could save grassland birds. Researchers in VT are working with landowners to encourage early hay-cutting, then a 65-day wait for the second cut. Meadowlarks, bobolinks, and other birds that are endangered or in decline need time to breed and raise their young. Noah Perlut, a prof at Univ. of New England who's been working with UVM, says the schedule change could reverse decades-long population drops. Yesterday it was cliff-diving. Today: downhill skateboarding. VPR's up (incl. video) with a piece about a downhill skateboard race in the western MA town of Florida. Sixty skateboarders from around the world gathered for the first-ever Whitcomb Summit Downhill. The road has a 9½ percent grade over 2½ miles. Skaters topped 70 mph. Organizers used 1500 hay bales along the route.Sometimes, a bunch of pictures are worth way more than 1000 words. A few years back, National Geographic photographer and Dartmouth alum Pete McBride set out to thru-hike the 750 miles of the Grand Canyon. Cramping and blistered, he had to stop after 60 miles. In the end it took him and a companion 8 trips over 13 months. "The canyon respects nobody," says McBride. But out of that effort came a book and documentary, and the new Dartmouth Alumni Mag has the story and a jaw-dropping set of his photos.SO... GOT PLANS?The Tricksters will be kicking off Fairlee's Concert on the Common series on -- get ready -- the Fairlee town common. "Don’t be fooled by their name, The Tricksters are serious about rocking!" says this Upper Valley party band. They cover Top 40 hits from the '70s through today. Starts at 6:30.You could go learn about "time banks" in South Royalton. The idea is to create an alternative form of currency, which in this case uses time as the form of exchange. This is a project that's come out of the four-town visioning process in Royalton, Tunbridge, Sharon and Strafford. Tonight there's a community gathering at BALE in SoRo to ask, "What is a Time Bank? And how might we start one in this area?" Starts at 5:30. No web link.Or you could go read Frederick Douglass at the Norwich Congregational Church. For the last several years, the Norwich Public Library and other libraries around the state (yours may be doing this, too, during the daytime) have ushered in July 4 with a public reading of Douglass's 1852 speech in Rochester, NY, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" It's a participatory reading, starts at 6:30 pm. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of the strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together.1852. See you tomorrow.
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