GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
To those of you who didn’t check out Daybreak yesterday, it’s so nice to see you again!
And a quick note: One of the things I did during my time away was to shift newsletter platforms from Mailchimp to beehiiv, a newsletter-first platform that offers a suite of helpful tools—including a website. Right now, Daybreak’s site is extremely basic, but it does give us all something we’ve never had before: a chance to search past Daybreaks. It’s not perfect, but given that it’s got some 3.5 million words to go through, it’s not bad. You’ll find it at the link. Meanwhile, there will inevitably be glitches. Including: Gmail seems to be “clipping” some emails short; if that happens to you, just hit the bright yellow Daybreak logo at the top, go to the homepage, and find that day.
Maybe some sun, warmer. Though still nothing like the weekend. High pressure’s moving off to the east, and temps will rise a few degrees from yesterday—highs in the mid or upper 70s, with a mix of sun and clouds. More clouds will show up this evening ahead of a weak system coming in overnight. Lows tonight in the mid 50s.
Let’s catch up on summer! Through the lens of Etna photographer Jim Block, who caught a passel of birds, including one spiky, wet, Ed Koren-esque yellow warbler, a great shot of a bird confab along a powerline in Sunapee, Canada geese on the wing, and plenty more; some extraordinary sky shots, including a bright red wildfire sun; some jaw-dropping fireworks shots; and flowers everywhere.
Time for Lost Woods. This week in Lebanon artist and author DB Johnson’s weekly strip, Auk and Eddy ponder their secret (or not) power: invisibility.
Heck on wheels: A sport that celebrates strength and athleticism “but isn’t afraid to be a little silly.” So says Kristi Clemens, the captain of the Upper Valley Vixens, which is the “A” team for Twin State Derby, the Upper Valley’s popular roller derby organization. She was talking to Matt Golec for his new Daybreak piece, which is on Twin State Derby, what draws team members to the sport, how it’s played, and why people love it. “It's such a welcoming environment. It does such a good job of building people up,” says Vixens bench coach John Grandi. And a huge thanks to Matt: he’s moving and we’ll all miss him: You can get a sense of why from his collected stories.
Canaan investigation continues. As you read yesterday, police discovered the body of 67-year-old William Colao Sunday night, and yesterday the NH medical examiner determined that he’d suffered both stab wounds and a gunshot to the head, reports WMUR’s Alanna Flood. "I don't think people should be worried at this time," Assistant NH AG Bethany Durand tells her. "We're pretty sure we've identified everyone that's involved, and there's no current threat." Colao had a reputation for unfriendly behavior, one neighbor comments. “He got to where he was like, if I would walk by, he would yell at people, and he got to be a little bit scary."
SPONSORED: The mountain’s still there. After injury and setbacks threatened his big birthday goal—a Presidential Traverse run— Billy Cioffredi reflects on resilience, aging, and the power of reclaiming your goals. Read how setbacks can be a catalyst for renewed purpose, and why it’s never too late to pursue the path back to what you love, in Redefining the Peak at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy.
Leb police to boost traffic enforcement on 12A and Plainfield Rd. Just a heads up to watch it out there: The LPD announced yesterday that it’s “launching intensified traffic enforcement patrols in direct response to growing concerns about aggressive driving, distracted driving, and motor vehicle collisions along two of the city’s most heavily traveled roads: South Main Street and Plainfield Road…. Patrols will specifically target…excessive speeding, following too closely, running red lights and stop signs, distracted driving—especially the use of electronic devices while operating a vehicle—and blocking intersections.”
Last week in the woods. It’s not too late for us to catch up on what was going on out there, thanks to Northern Woodlands’ Jack Saul. Like, say, the “little Nosferatus” that are ambush bugs; they “lie in wait to attack and drain other insects often many times their size. When an ambush bug encounters a fly, bee, wasp, butterfly, or moth hoping to nectar on its hunting ground, it reaches out with scythe-like forelegs, pierces a vulnerable spot with its hollow beak, and injects paralyzing agents and digestive enzymes.” Plus: grass-of-Parnassus, fringed loosestrife, fragrant bedstraw, and twelve-spotted skimmers, one of the few New England dragonflies that migrate.
Preliminary NH loon census finds declining numbers. In particular, volunteers in 2024 identified 359 loon pairs, reports Katlyn Proctor in the Laconia Daily Sun, while this year’s tally came in at 270. Proctor notes that “not all New Hampshire lakes are included in the survey [though] this year, 135 of the state’s 350 lakes were monitored as part of the efforts, compared to last year’s 115.” On the plus side, Loon Preservation Committee biologist Caroline Hughes tells Proctor, “We’re really thrilled to have 566 volunteers this year. In recent years, we’ve averaged 450 to 475 a year, so it’s a huge jump this year.”
SPONSORED: Calling all fairy house builders, nature lovers, and enchantment seekers! Join VINS on Saturday, August 23rd for a special day of forest discovery through hands-on play! Celebrate creativity by building enchanting fairy houses—construct them just for fun or enter our contest for a chance to win a private experience. Hit the trails on a magical fairy hunt, enjoy guided mushroom walks, tales of the fae, crafts, face painting, a bubble lab, and fantastically themed live animal programs! Sponsored by VINS.
Welcome to the fray, Valley News! Last night, a newsletter popped into my inbox. “Good morning, Upper Valley!” wrote VN editor Matt Clary, announcing that the paper has “revamped our daily headline alert email.” Instead of the bare-bones affair it’s been, it will now feature members of the newsroom offering their takes on stories or suggestions for things to do—plus headlines. “We hope this new format will be more engaging, help facilitate a conversation between our journalists and our readers, and encourage you to dive into the news and information we deliver each day,” Clary wrote. There’s no online link and the email’s “sign up” link redirects to the Charleston (SC) Post & Courier’s form, but you can sign up at the VN’s spiffy new homepage.
West Leb stove-maker Woodstock Soapstone struggles with tariffs, taxes. “It’s almost like we’re dealing with a government that wants to put us out of business,” Tom Morrisey, owner of NH’s sole maker of wood stoves, told the Monitor’s David Brooks last week (here via the VN). For one thing, there are tariffs: cast iron comes from Spain, soapstone from Canada, and steel from across North America. The result, Morrisey says: “We will have no choice but to increase our prices fairly dramatically over the fall. We’ve held off as long as we can.” The other issue: the end of clean-energy tax credits. Later this fall, Morrisey says he expects to downsize.
UPS workers, including in Wilder, accuse company of violating family leave law. In particular, writes VTDigger’s Henry Fernandez, workers at the facilities in Wilder and Brattleboro “shared documents…showing their previously approved unpaid family and medical leave had been switched with their paid time off. In making the switch, the UPS locations effectively reduced the amount of paid days workers can take off.” A company spokesperson says it’s “aware of the issue,” and is taking “necessary steps to quickly correct the situation and ensure this is not an issue in the future.”
Two bagpipers “from Podunk, Vermont” take top honors at World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow. And if you happen to go to this year’s Quechee Scottish Games and Festival on Saturday you might get to see them, since Jackie Lewis and Hazen Metro both play with Montpelier’s Catamount Pipe Band, which will be performing at the festival. In Glasgow last week, reports VT Public’s Lola Duffort, each won in a solo competition, mastering—among other things—the piobaireachd, a classical form that increases in difficulty as it goes along. “I've played a lot of other instruments — and this one's by far the hardest,” Lewis says.
We’ve still got a little catching up to do. A few more pieces that would have been in Daybreak over the past few weeks if it had been publishing. And if you missed yesterday’s roundup, it’s here.
Meet the guy who can bend a six-foot pipe into “scrap-metal origami.” That would be Yuri Alekhin, a Russian circus strongman who, through an unlikely chain of events, wound up as a political exile living in Ferrisburgh, VT—and, when Seven Days’ Dan Bolles caught up with him, working with vaudeville-inspired showman Woody Keppel of the Hokum Bros. on a new act. Which would undoubtedly “mine the comedy of their size disparity: Alekhin stands more than foot taller than Keppel and is nearly three times his weight.”
S-O-Bs. No, no, no! You’ve got it wrong. It stands for “Seal-on-a-bedsheet” and it’s what flag experts call flag designs like Vermont’s—and about half the rest of the Union. Back in July, VT Public’s Mikaela Lefrak looked into two questions for Brave Little State: Other states are undergoing redesigns of their state flags. How much do Vermonters know about our flag? And is it time to update ours too? She delves into the VT state flag’s history, what a new VT flag could look like, and why it won’t be the VT National Guard flag, which dates back to the Battle of Bennington and has its roots in *gasp* New Hampshire.
Strolling the streets of Skopje. Or Vilnius. Or Kyoto. Or Addis Ababa. Or, for that matter, some 200 cities around the globe. And the cool thing about Citywalki is that it doesn’t just immerse you in one of those places on foot: You can also get a driver’s-eye view (you cover more territory) and a drone’s-eye view (lots more territory). The pedestrian view is sometimes in touristed areas, but hey, I’ve never been to Tirana (Albania). Have you?
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
Decato-Sanborn Project on the Fairlee green. Martin Decato and Scott Sanborn keep Fairlee’s summer music series going with their blend of bluegrass, blues, jazz, funk, and more. Starts at 6:30 pm.
And the Tuesday poem.
Whatever happens. Whatever
what is is is what I want.
Only that. But that.
— “Prayer”
by Galway Kinnell.
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.
Or…
Want to catch up on Daybreak itself (or find that item you trashed by mistake the other day)? You can find everything on the Daybreak Facebook page, or on Daybreak’s homepage.
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
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