Daybreak Tuesday 9/1/20

RABBIT RABBIT, UPPER VALLEY!

It'll be a mostly sunny day to start off September. And a bit warmer than yesterday, too—which was a pretty darn perfect day all on its own. Highs in the mid-70s, not much wind to speak of. There will be more clouds as the day wears on, as moisture filters in up there ahead of an approaching low. But that's for tomorrow. Down into the low 60s overnight.Looks like the first of Mink's cubs has been caught. He was lured by apple cider donuts in one of the traps wildlife officials have set, this one near Boston Lot in West Leb, and taken to Ben Kilham's bear sanctuary in Lyme. Deputy Hanover fire chief Michael Hinsley told the VN's John Gregg via text that the cub's “'face coloration' matches what was known of the cubs from their roaming with their mother around Lebanon and Hanover before her death." His two sibs are still out and about. And she's off. Vera Rivard, the 16-year-old open-water-swimming phenom who trains at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center, headed out into the open waters of the English Channel this morning at 4:38 our time (9:38 am in the UK) to begin her effort to swim across. "As she leaves the beach," her mother posted on FB, "I will be the proudest parent ever! Not if she finishes, not how fast she swims, but that she was brave enough to start."Lyme cemetery search finds two slaves' burial sites, many unmarked graves. Yesterday's search in the graveyard off Dorchester Road used ground-penetrating radar to try to locate the plots of Cate and Prince, brought by a slave-owning family from CT to Lyme in 1795; they died a few years later. The next step, cemetery trustee Jay Cary tells the VN's Anna Merriman, will be to discuss the possibility of new headstones (the original stones disappeared sometime after the 1930s) and holding a small ceremony in their honor.Nighthawks are passing through, poison ivy's changing color, and why moose don't need nose clips at the pond. Here we are, first week in September, and Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast has lots of news about what's going on in the woods. For one thing, yellow jackets are craving carbs right now, which makes your food fair game. Nighthawks are migrating, kestrels are on the wing, Virginia creeper and poison ivy are mimicking one another. And those moose? Pads in their nostrils expand in response to water pressure, sealing off their airways. Good for underwater grazing.It was a stunning day out there yesterday. But don't believe your own eyes...William Daugherty's drone got proof, in this series of still shots from yesterday afternoon and evening. The clouds were especially artistic.Okay, you go study a butterfly that lives only in scattered patches in the Presidentials. It—and its caterpillar predecessor—is the White Mountain fritillary. The studiers are wildlife biologists with NH Fish & Game who are trying to help it survive climate change. The Monitor's David Brooks—along with NHPR's Sean Hurley, whose story's in the works—climbed with them to release a few females and get a feel for fritillary mysteries. Of which, it turns out, there are many. Like, whether the population's shrinking or growing. And whether there are distinct even- and odd-numbered-year populations.NH police commission finishes up. After three months and nearly 30 meetings, the panel, charged with looking into how police operate in the state, has made a series of recommendations on everything from training to discipline to data. These include a new board to investigate allegations of abuse by police, making public the so-called "Laurie List" of errant officers, and requiring implicit bias training for all police officers and recruits. NH expands absentee-voting options for people who are blind or have trouble with print. Up to now, reports NHPR's Casey McDermott, they were required to have assistance in requesting and completing an absentee ballot. Now, the state is working with a non-profit tech provider to make it possible to request and fill out a ballot electronically; it then must be printed out, and the physical ballot returned. The move comes as the state faces a lawsuit by disability rights advocates.And speaking of voting... NHPR's The Exchange will looking at what's in place for this year's primary elections—a week from today—and how pandemic-era voting will be carried out. Among the guests: Hanover Town Clerk Betsy McClain. Airs at 9 am and again at 9 pm.And one more thing while we're at it: Get your ballots in early. That's the word from VT Secy of State Jim Condos, who says to stick it in the mail no later than 10 days before the general election—after that, it should be hand-delivered to the town clerk's office or on Election Day. He notes that on Primary Day, some postal workers worked extra hard to make sure ballots made it where they were supposed to go. The Free Press also reports that sorting machines don't appear to have been removed (yet) from facilities in WRJ or Burlington.First school. Then carefree socializing. Now snow days? They're not a Covid-era casualty yet, thank goodness, but school administrators in Vermont, at least (and you bet it's going on in New Hampshire, too) are starting to speculate about what their remote-learning capacity might mean in the event of a good snowstorm. “The ability to work and learn from home is going to become more and more normalized, I suspect,” says David Younce, president of the VT Superintendents Association. Yeah, sure, what's a little pearlescent mica between friends? That is edible glitter—or, at least, glitter approved for eating by the FDA—and it's just shown up in some of Runamok Maple's syrup, which they're calling Sparkle Syrup. “It’s been a really rough year and people needed something that’s just a little goofy and a little bit fun,” co-owner Laura Sorkin tells WCAX. The challenge: getting the glitter into the bottles without getting it all over the equipment, workers' eyelashes and clothing...Oh, and umm... Olive and Mabel. Or, actually, mostly Mabel. And really, mostly Mabel running. After a ball. By the ocean. Thrown by BBC sportscaster Andrew Cotter using a chuckit as he takes a break from finishing his dang book so he can get back to the important stuff, which is real Olive and Mabel videos. All from Mabel's point of view, thanks to a loose-fitting GoPro harness. As Cotter says, "Escaping from everything to watch a bit of Mabel ear-flap is always worth it."

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