Daybreak Wednesday, 1/7/26

Snow tapering off. It will linger for a while, though, becoming more showery as the day goes on. In all, we’re due 2-3 inches from this round—and it’s likely that at the end, temps will rise above freezing (on their way to a high this afternoon in the low or mid 30s) and things will finish as drizzle. There’s also a chance of freezing rain late this afternoon and into tonight. Overnight lows in the low or mid 20s. Schools are on two-hour delays, but watch the roads on the morning commute.

Four years of bald eagles in Lyme. That’s how long Etna photographer Jim Block spent documenting either one or several pairs of adult eagles, their chicks and (later) eaglets, their nest-building, and more. In his latest blog post, he gives a photographic summary of all the action, with an invitation to dive deeper into the year-by-year color commentary, which you’ll find here.

Early-morning fire destroys building in Wheeler Professional Park near Hanover town line. Crews were called out shortly before 4:30 this morning, reports Eric Francis for Daybreak, after a plow driver noticed the blaze in the two-story building opposite Sachem Field and across from the Wellspring Worship Center, near the West Leb-Hanover line. “We had fire on both floors from end-to-end,” Lebanon Fire Chief James Wheatley says. “The building was fully involved when we got here so we really went into a defensive operation because it was too risky to send anyone inside.” Eric’s story and photos are at the link.

Main Street Kitchens will go on hiatus next month. “We are taking a thoughtful pause to step back, realign, and allow space for what comes next without rushing the future,” owners David and Kaitlyn Barrette wrote on their website and FB page on Sunday. Expanding on that post, David Barrette tells new Valley News staff writer Sofia Langlois, “We want everyone to know that it was a tough decision to close the store but the right one for our family at this time.” It’s unclear when—or if—the store will reopen: the Barrettes’ post cites only “the intention to return.” As Langlois notes, the spot once occupied next door by Michael’s Audio-Video is now vacant.

Hanover police identify man found dead in his car last week at Wilson’s Landing. He was 24-year-old Ryan Pepe of E. Thetford, reports Liz Sauchelli in the VN. Pepe’s father, Michael, confirmed that he died by suicide, though the investigation into his death remains open. Pepe spent four years playing for the Thetford Academy baseball team—“He was one of the hardest working players I ever had,” says his former coach, Phil Chaput—and then, while he was at UVM in 2023, was an assistant coach on the Thetford team that won a state title. “He was an important piece in a lot of people’s lives,” says Chaput, and “was just a good person to be around.” If you or someone you know is struggling, call 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

SPONSORED: Our Working Lands: Photography by Caleb Kenna opens at Billings Farm January 10. Through breathtaking aerial imagery and intimate portraits, Kenna captures Vermont’s working landscapes and the people who steward them. Exploring the connection between land, labor, and perspective, this thought-provoking exhibition invites visitors to reconsider traditional expectations of landscape art and examine the evolving relationship between people and the natural world. The exhibition is open weekends and select days from 10AM - 4PM and is included with admission. Sponsored by Billings Farm & Museum.

A short book you might find yourself re-reading. The Norwich Bookstore’s Carin Pratt loves short books, though she admits that her first impulse after finishing Frode Grytten’s The Ferryman and His Wife was to start all over again—”which sort of defeats the purpose of reading a very short novel. But the world is full of little ironies like that.” The novel follows the fog-bound journey down a fjord of ferryman Nils Vik on the day he awakes knowing he’ll die, accompanied by the ghosts of both people and his dog, Luna, who talks to him. “It is a poignant, wistful, haunting sort of book that makes you think about who is important in your own life,” Carin writes.

After three empty decades, S. Royalton grain mill getting torn down. As Alex Hanson reports in the Valley News, the old Windsor County Feed and Supply mill closed at the end of 1995, went through a few different owners, and then for the last 20 years has been allowed to deteriorate, the letters on its side disappearing while its metal siding “flapped and screeched in the wind.” Last fall, the selectboard told its owner, Eric Jacobs, who lives in Burlington, that it was prepping to declare it a public nuisance. So Jacobs is having it demolished, and the property is now for sale. Hanson also delves into the mill’s history.

“As long as you’re mindful of the differences, it’s just another small airport.” Pilots do, though, have to watch out for the standing water that can sometimes pool on the edges of the runway. Ice, on the other hand… well, that’s the whole point. At the link, Granite Geek’s David Brooks talks to ice runway veteran Paul Russo about what it takes to land a plane on the runway in Alton Bay, on the southern tip of Lake Winnipesaukee. The airstrip, which has been around since the 1960s, hasn’t opened yet this winter, but Russo is hopeful that it will, maybe even this month. First, the ice needs to reach 12-inch thickness so snowplows can clear it. Check conditions here.

A look at how NH families are spending Education Freedom Account funds: Private religious schools dominate. In all, reports NH Bulletin’s Ethan DeWitt, $11.5 million of EFA money went to tuition in the 2024-25 school year, roughly 57 percent of total expenditures that year; of the top 20 schools getting tuition dollars through the program, all but one were Christian academies. At the same time, DeWitt writes, “some public schools are opting to recoup some costs through the EFA program”—including the Sunapee School District, which took in some $14,500 in EFA money. Families are also using money for extracurriculars—like gymnastics, Boy Scouts, and circus lessons.

Ever wonder what the people behind those voices look like? NHPR has just launched a series of short-form video pieces featuring some of its most recognizable names—among them Rick Ganley, Jackie Harris, Mara Hoplamazian, Jason Moon, Lauren Chooljian, Olivia Richardson, and Civics 101 hosts Nick Capodice and Hannah McCarthy. It’s marketing, of course: They’re talking about NHPR, public radio, and what drives them as journalists. But it’s also a peek behind the sound curtain and a chance, as news editor Dan Barrick puts it, to “get a better sense of how we approach our mission of telling New Hampshire’s stories.” Here’s Leah Todd Lin’s explanation.

VT ranked second-safest state for truck drivers. It might not surprise you that coming in first is one of the few states that’s even more sparsely populated: Alaska. But as the VT Daily Chronicle writes about a study by the Texas-based Barber Law Firm looking at federal stats, VT has the lowest rate of trucks involved in fatal crashes in the country, one of the highest percentages of major highways in good or fair condition, and only modest traffic congestion (though, you know, tell that to Burlington at rush hour). MT, MN, ND, and SD all also rank highly. NH came in 44th on the list.

As VT legislature convenes, it faces an unappetizing array of issues. For starters, writes VTDigger’s Ethan Weinstein, there’s whether and how to consolidate school districts. There’s whether to restrict school district spending to keep property taxes lower—starting with a cap being floated by Senate Pres. Phil Baruth. And, as Weinstein writes, lawmakers face an “onslaught of federal funding cuts, and the Legislature’s budget writers have warned their colleagues that 2026 will require agonizing spending decisions.” Fun, huh? Weinstein recaps the first day.

“Sometimes a man just wants to get to the damn verb.” Cormac McCarthy’s staccato prose could not be more different from William Faulkner’s winding passages. Listen in when the two—both played by Houston comedian Jerry Wayne Longmire—meet at a bar and have at it, tearing apart each other’s writing. McCarthy: “A man don’t need nine pages to say a mule died. Mule died, period. End of mule.” Faulkner: “You wield punctuation like a man hammering tacks into God’s own tongue.” McCarthy: “I’m just saying, if the sentence is still going after a man’s finished his drink, it ain’t a sentence no more, it’s a hostage situation.”

Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.

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HEADS UP
Online: Jack Kelly and Tom Paine's War: The Words That Rallied a Nation and the Founder for Our Time. Phoenix Books is hosting an online reading and talk by the Hudson Valley-based author and historian focused on his latest book, which details both Paine’s soldier’s-eye view of American revolutionaries’ battles (and defeats) and his two key pamphlets—Common Sense and The American Crisis—and their effects on the course of the war. 6 pm, no charge, but you’ll need to register.

At the Hop, Chrybaby Cozie and Harlem Lite Feet with Chrysolation. The “litefeet” pioneer and his Bomb Squad troupe look to be sold out, but as always, call 603.646.2422 to double check. Oh, and “litefeet,” the Hop explains, “is a dynamic street dance style that originated in Harlem and the Bronx in the early 2000s. The term ‘Litefeet’ reflects the dance's emphasis on light, rapid steps that give the impression of weightlessness.” 7:30 pm starting in the Daryl Roth Studio Theater if you do score tix.

And just so you know: The Upper Valley Nighthawks are looking for hosts for this coming summer’s ballplayers. They need hosts for seven college students within 35 minutes of Hartford’s Maxfield Sports Complex. In exchange, you get free admission to any New England Collegiate Baseball League park. Requirements and contact info at the link.

And for today...

You may not make it to Chrybaby Cozie tonight, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a taste of street dance. Here’s the NYT’s Brian Seibert: “‘American Street Dancer,’ a touring production by the acclaimed hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris, traces the common roots of street dance in African rhythms and American tap dance and then showcases three regional styles: Detroit Jit, Chicago Footwork and, from Harris’s hometown, Philly GQ. The New York Times invited cast members of ‘American Street Dancer’ to demonstrate the fundamentals of the three styles. It was an extremely lively history lesson in continuity and change.” Which you can follow by hitting the image below (it’s a gift link), then scrolling gradually down through all the styles (you’ll definitely want sound up for each).

See you tomorrow.

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