SUCH A PLEASURE, UPPER VALLEY!
Today's like yesterday, only more so. The systems are stacked up out there like Big Green alums' jets at reunion time. Anything left from last night's will be done soon, and then we get a calm day (though probably without the sun), high in the upper 30s. But the next low is zipping along behind, and it'll get here tonight, bringing a nice little fluster of snow overnight and into tomorrow. Lows in the low 30s. Things get really interesting after tomorrow.Here's the weather service's map of expected snow totals from tonight's storm. We're only in the 2-4 range. More in the Greens and up north. VA Cutoff Road bridge will be closed starting tomorrow. Hartford Public Works posted a notice yesterday that the bridge over the White in Hartford Village will be closed "until further notice" due to two deteriorating expansion joints, which have been stressed by recent changeable weather. Pedestrians can still use the bridge, which is slated for replacement in 2023. (Thanks, LM!)“We’re a bespoke drive-thru." That's Travis Gendron, joking that you can't get a plain cup of coffee at Vittles Espresso & Eatery, the drive-thru coffee and donuts place he runs with his wife, Kendall, in Bradford. But what you can get: English toffee and maple-glazed pumpkin donuts, espresso drinks from beans Travis roasts, a chance to play Magic 8-Ball while you wait, and a "kindness board," where people have designated money for friends, teachers, or, recently, people who forgot their wallet. Sarah Earle's profile is in the VN.Chippers, SymQuest, King Arthur Flour, Mascoma Bank among "Best Places to Work" in Vermont. The Vermont Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Business Mag came out with their list of 51 businesses and organizations yesterday. They've done it every year since 2006, and King Arthur's one of two (the other is financial services firm Edward Jones) that have been on it every year since then. Leb planning board approves D-H expansion. The hospital's proposed new $130 million tower for up to 112 new beds got the go-ahead Monday night. The big issue ahead: traffic. With nearby apartment complexes either in the works or being proposed, things could get crowded. Leb and Hanover planners and advocates want sidewalks and bike lanes considered. “The two towns, DHMC and the state of New Hampshire all need to work together to plan and fund these improvements,” writes the chair of Hanover's Bike/Ped Cte. (VN)USDA designates eight NH counties, including Grafton and Sullivan, as natural disaster areas. Remember last year's warmer winter and uncomfortably cold, late spring? This makes farmers who suffered crop losses caused by the extreme cold and temperature fluctuations eligible for emergency loans. Farmers in contiguous counties, including Orange and Windsor in Vermont, can also apply.Hanover shooting trial delayed. The move to push back Gage Young's trial in the 2018 drive-by shooting that injured a visiting student in Hanover came yesterday after a closed-door hearing. Jurors had been scheduled to hear opening statements. Lawyers and the judge declined to explain the decision, though the VN's Anna Merriman reports that on Monday, the NH AG's office got involved with a 114-page submission. Falcons? Sure. Ferrets? Nuh-uh. Turns out, the Monitor's David Brooks says, that it's illegal to hunt rabbits with ferrets in New Hampshire. And has been since at least 1935, though if you want to use a dog or a falcon, have at it. Now, though, one legislator's trying to repeal the law — “The way the law is written right now, you couldn’t have a pet ferret in a pickup truck if you were hunting,” he explains. But it may be moot: hunting's done with black-footed ferrets and they're endangered in NH and can't be owned.VT faces "tsunami" of school infrastructure requests. A new survey by the Vermont Superintendents Association finds that school districts plan $565 million worth of maintenance and construction projects between now and 2023 with no clear source for funding. Legislators imposed a moratorium on state aid in 2007, but as House Ed Cte Chair Kate Webb points out, the needs haven't disappeared. "I've definitely seen schools that I would hesitate to send my kids to," says an architect working on infrastructure assessments.UVM, Tufts researchers create tiny programmable robots from frog embryos. They were designed by an "evolutionary algorithm" created by a team at UVM that virtually mimicked thousands of possible configurations of skin and heart cells and tested them in a virtual environment, then selected the most promising. Those were then built using living cells by researchers at Tufts. They could one day clean up microplastics, digest toxics, or deliver targeted drugs. "It's a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism," says the UVM computer scientist who led its team.Vermont offers $10,000 each to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to move there. “I can’t think of any reason why anybody would rather live in Canada,” says Gov. Phil Scott. “I mean sure, less crime, cleaner environment, free health care, hardly any mass shootings, super hot leader, but on the other hand, ten thousand bucks each! I think they’ll be, how do they say it, quids in.” Oh, wait. It's The Winooski.
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IF YOU DON'T MIND A LITTLE SNOW...
This time, it's the Martha Graham Dance Company, who are headed for a performance at the Hop this weekend. They'll be teaching basics of modern dance for people 16 and older.
It may be sold out by now
, so check first: 603.646.2422. If you do get to go, wear clothes you can move in, but don't worry about footwear: You'll be barefoot. Starts at 6.
Sustainable Hanover is hosting four contractors — vetted by Vital Communities — who do weatherization work and will be talking about energy audits, weatherization possibilities, and how to shrink your home's carbon footprint. At the Black Community Center from 6:30-8, but check in with [email protected] in case they decide to postpone a week because of tonight's snow.
No, not the spice blend. Craig Macrae, who for 16 years directed the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble at Berklee in Boston and now teaches guitar at Seven Stars Arts, will be on oud. Valerie Ritter, who runs the North Pomfret Suzuki School, will be on violin. And jack-of-all-musical-trades Will Wright's doing hand percussion. Starts at 6:30.
I don't know the name of this bird, I only imagine his glittering beak tucked in a white wing while the clouds—which he has summoned from the north— which he has taught to be mild, and silent—thicken, and begin to fall into the world below like stars, or the feathers of some unimaginable birdthat loves us, that is asleep now, and silent— that has turned itself into snow.
-- From "White-Eyes" by Mary Oliver.
See you tomorrow.
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