GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Nope. Not tired of it yet. That column of high pressure is still with us, so we get one more lovely day (after fog in the usual spots clears)—though you'll notice some clouds around for much of the day. High in the lower 70s again, winds from the south, mid or upper 50s tonight.Cormorants, cedar waxwings, a Rusty Blackbird... and one colorful t-shirt. Etna photographer Jim Block was out on a group bird walk in Norwich over the weekend, led by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies' Chris Rimmer. "The birds certainly did not come out to greet us," Jim writes on his blog. "But we found some nice ones." And he's got the photos to prove it.Leb's Avitide bought by Mass. company for $150 million. The biotech startup—based in the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center in Centerra and founded by serial entrepreneur and Dartmouth engineering prof Tillman Gerngross—develops processes to purify drugs for safe use by humans. It's being bought by Waltham-based Repligen Corp., reports John Lippman in the Valley News. In an email to Lippman, a Repligen official says, “It will be ‘business as usual’ for the Lebanon site. We have no plans to close or consolidate operations.""A position of uncontrolled rest on the inside of a barn." That's how the VT State Police describe the 2020 Ford F-350 with a dump body they found around midnight Saturday inside Micky Whalen's barn in Tunbridge, at Whalen and Tunbridge roads. "Investigation showed that the unknown operator failed to navigate a sharp corner on Tunbridge Road and drove into the barn, causing substantial damage," they report. As the pics show, it made a mess. The driver walked away—but remains missing. Police are asking for any information.Leaf Peeping Close to Home. Sure, you could drive over to the Whites or the Greens. And no one would blame you. But there's plenty to do right around here, as the Upper Valley Trails Alliance's Kaitie Eddington makes clear in a guide to great foliage hikes around the Upper Valley, including Mt. Peg in Woodstock, several stretches of the Cross Rivendell Trail, Holt's Ledge in Hanover, Wright's Mountain in Bradford, and Cole Pond in Enfield.CATV, Briggs join forces on WRJ opera house. The agreement, forged by Gates-Briggs owner David Briggs and CATV director Samantha Davidson Green, is a one-year trial starting Oct. 1 that puts CATV in charge of managing the Opera House and helping promote use by community arts groups, a Briggs family goal for the space. It also gives CATV the ability to use the stage as a studio for community media productions, aimed in part at giving students at all levels a chance at "practical, hands-on learning in media and event production," according to a joint press release.“If we lose a single nurse, it's a panic." That's Andrew Irwin, who runs Hillsborough House Nursing Home, talking to NHPR's Alli Fam about concerns over what might happen when a federal mandate on vaccines for nursing home staff kicks in. Some NH nursing home directors are confident they'll lose at most a few workers; others, like Irwin, are more worried. Merrimack County Nursing Home implemented its own mandate a month ago; it lost just a handful of workers and expects to hit a 97 percent rate, including exemptions.Get used to it: 802 and 603 required starting next month. You may have gotten a notice recently that starting Oct. 24, you'll be required to dial the 802 or 603 area code even for local calls in VT and NH. This is because both states have a 988 exchange; 9-8-8 is debuting as a suicide hotline number next July. The area code requirement will prevent confusion for people calling Troy, VT or Portsmouth, NH. David Brooks explains all on his Granite Geek blog.Federal bankruptcy judge orders back pay for Koffee Kup, Vermont Bread workers. The ruling backs a similar Superior Court order from this summer, short-circuiting a bid by other creditors of the companies to freeze the reimbursement pending their own claims. It clears the way for workers to receive more than $800K in back pay. The businesses closed five months ago without warning and were bought in a last-minute deal by national baking giant Flowers Foods, which says it has no "immediate" plans to reopen them, reports VTDigger's Kevin O'Connor“This could be an incredibly impactful moment for communities." Towns all over VT (and NH) are getting a once-in-a-generation windfall from the American Rescue Plan Act, reports VPR's Howard Weiss-Tisman. Now they have to figure out what to do with it. "I don’t want anyone to look back at us and say, ‘Boy, they really, you know, missed the boat on this,'" says one selectboard chair. Includes a town-by-town list of ARPA funding.Homegrown gourd squashes record for VT's longest. "Go big or gourd home” seemed to be the prevailing attitude Saturday at Sam Mazza’s Farm Market in Colchester. And one couple from Jericho surpassed expectations, writes April Barton in the Burlington Free Press, with a gourd measuring more than 12 feet long—a new state record. As applause and bad puns broke out—“Oh my gourd!”—others gave them pumpkin to talk about. Despite challenging growing conditions this year, a 1,386-pounder took this year's prize for heaviest pumpkin. Not a record, but that's a lot of pies."The ney is both poison and antidote." Quoting the poet Rumi, Rollo Romig burrows into the enigma and artistry of this ancient Turkish flute. In Sufi Islam, the ney holds as much symbolic power as the whirling dervish. Romig’s immersive and informative piece in Craftsmanship Quarterly journeys to the origins of the instrument (made from a simple cane reed) and to the elusive man, Niyazi Sayin, regarded throughout Istanbul as the ney’s most important musician in centuries. To interview Sayin and to understand his mastery, says one ney maker, “would be an accomplishment like walking on the moon.”
Let's catch up...For the time being, Daybreak is reporting Covid numbers on Tuesdays and Fridays.
NH reported 388 new cases Friday, 435 Saturday, 409 Sunday, and 186 yesterday, bringing it to 115,401 for the pandemic. There were 6 deaths over that time, bringing the total to 1,458. The active caseload stands at 3,769 (-261) and hospitalizations at 139 (+13). The state reports 175 active cases in Grafton County (+9), 145 in Sullivan County (+23), and 431 in Merrimack County (-44). Town-by-town numbers reported by the state: Claremont: 54 (-2 since Thursday); Newport 34 (+13); Charlestown 22 (+8); Lebanon 19 (-3); Hanover 18 (-8); Wentworth 18 (+8); Canaan 10 (up 4); New London 8 (+1); Sunapee 8 (+1); Newbury 6 (no change); Haverhill 5 (-8); Cornish 5 (+ at least 1); Warren, Orford, Rumney, Lyme, Enfield, Plainfield, Grantham, Springfield, and Croydon have 1-4 each.
VT reported 238 new cases on Friday, 248 on Saturday, 252 Sunday, and 90 yesterday (though it's a good bet it'll be revised upward in the next few days). It now stands at 31,764 for the pandemic. There were 4 new deaths during that time; they now number 298. As of yesterday, 46 people with confirmed cases were hospitalized (+4). Windsor County has seen 96 new cases since Friday, for a total of 2,063 for the pandemic, with 228 new cases over the past two weeks; Orange County gained 25 cases during the same time, with 66 over the past two weeks for a total of 1,018 for the pandemic. Town-by-town numbers reported last Friday: Springfield +28 over the week before; Hartford +25; Windsor +9; Bradford and Royalton +7; Randolph +6; Reading +5; Newbury and Norwich +4; Chelsea and Hartland +3; Cavendish and Weathersfield +2; and Corinth, Killington, Pomfret, Sharon, Strafford, W. Windsor +1.
Dartmouth reported yesterday that there are 10 cases among undergrads (-3), 0 among grad and professional students (-5), and 2 among faculty and staff (-2). Nobody is in quarantine, 10 students and 5 faculty/staff are in isolation.
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it keep going by hitting the maroon button:
In the mood for 1 hour and 34 minutes about a dairy cow? Then Telluride at Dartmouth has you covered, today at 4 and 7 pm. Andrea Arnold's first feature-length documentary, Cow, is about several years in the life of Luma, a British dairy cow, told as immersively from her point of view as possible. It's, well, a lot of things, but mostly a no-holds-barred documentary on the use of farm animals by humans—who appear mostly as offscreen voices.
And anytime, you can check out two films of local interest on CATV, thanks to White River Indie Films. One is The Water Ran Brown: The Story of the Elizabeth Mine, about the Strafford mine, its impact on the Ompompanoosuc, and the Superfund cleanup; and the other is the video of the 2020 panel that was part of the WRIF festival, "Protecting the Vote: Race & Voter Suppression," with experts on voting laws and voting rights moderated by Dartmouth government prof Michael Herron.
To be great, be whole: nothing that's you Should you exaggerate or exclude.In each thing, be all. Give all you are In the least you ever do.The whole moon, because it rides so high, Is reflected in each pool.
—
, translated by Edouard Roditi.
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.
Want to catch up on Daybreak music?
Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Writer/editor: 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!