GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mix of clouds and sun, warmer—but maybe a spot of drizzle. Enjoy it, because this may be the last little dose of warmth for a while. With the cold front that arrived yesterday stalled out, there’s room for air flowing in from the south, with highs today getting into the mid 60s before that front moves on again and temps drop. Some parts of the region, especially to the north, may also see gusty winds, and there’s a chance of a shower this afternoon. Lows tonight in the low 40s.
That light! The leaves have unquestionably been a treat for the eyes, but right now the skies want to have a word… Photos from Stacey Chiocchio in Grantham and Susan AuBuchon catching the very earliest dawn light over Mt. Kearsarge from Sunapee.
Time again for Sketchbreak! For this week’s trippy little hit from an Upper Valley cartoonist, Dan Nott takes us deep in the woods. It’s a fine day, no wind. And he notices … something. A little natural mystery. In case you’re new to it, Sketchbreak is a bi-weekly comment on life in these parts by a rotating crew of cartoonists. Hit the image or the link above.
Affidavit reveals more details in May death of Norwich’s Noel Neely. The Valley News’s Alex Ebrahimi has gotten hold of a state police affidavit and search warrant request that add to the scant picture of the months-long mystery. For starters, the former state rep’s husband, orthodontist Donald Neely, told his wife’s physician that she’d died two days before police searched the home. On the scene, officers found Noel Neely lying on a “neatly made bed” with white bag around her head attached to a nitrogen gas cylinder and a towel placed along the threshold. Driving up while police were there, Donald Neely told them there was a document that would explain things—which had been emailed to his lawyer. The investigation remains ongoing.
SPONSORED: Still Curious, Still Growing. What keeps Mikaela Shiffrin motivated after becoming the winningest alpine ski racer in history? The answer goes beyond trophies. In his latest reflection, Cioffredi & Associates founder Billy Cioffredi explores what the 31-year-old champion’s curiosity and love of improving can teach us about finding joy and purpose at any age—and why our past achievements need not be the end of our personal growth. Sponsored by Cioffredi & Associates Physical Therapy.
You don’t want dark, but you don’t want “charming” either. What’s a reader to do? To be more precise, writes the Norwich Bookstore’s Emma Kaas in Enthusiasms, “What I want is to immerse myself in a world that feels both comforting and challenging; I want a happy ending, but I don't want that happiness to be so easily won.” As it happens, she’s got just the book: Becky Chambers (the Monk and Robot books) has just come out with As You Wake, Break the Shell—set in the future, rooted in our own society’s challenges, and with characters who “are fueled by a realistic optimism, the belief that things can be better, and the will to make small, meaningful changes.”
Speaking of optimism, if you could see something missing from the Upper Valley open its doors, what would it be? That’s the gist of a conversation going on at the moment on the r/uppervalley subreddit, and though it’s got its share of big box suggestions (Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Costco), there are plenty of more off-the-beaten track ideas. Korean donuts? Absolutely. Tiki bar? Um, sure. Bringing back a bowling alley? Why not? (Though one knowledgeable redditor checks in with precisely why not.) A roller rink where Penney’s used to be? Or, as one commenter writes, “I'd be happy if they just brought back the salad bar at Jesse's...” (Thanks, HHC!)
SPONSORED: LISTEN Community Services’ annual All Things Winter Thrift Store Event starts October 16th! Get ready for colder days by shopping specially curated seasonal items at LISTEN’s Thrift Stores in Lebanon, Canaan, and White River Junction. You’ll find warm clothes, winter boots, and sporting goods at each location. Plus, every purchase helps LISTEN provide food, heating, and housing assistance to neighbors throughout the Upper Valley. Stop in starting this Friday, October 16th, and see what seasonal treasures await you! Sponsored by LISTEN Community Services.
A look at one former Upper Valley kid now on the world stage. On his About Norwich substack, Demo Sofronas writes about Luke Lindberg (son of Norwich treasurer Cheryl Lindberg) who last month became executive director of the UN World Food Programme. A Marion Cross School and Hanover High grad, Lindberg was in the private sector for a time, then in 2019 went to work for the Ex-Im Bank in DC, became USDA under-secretary in 2025, and then was nominated to his current post (which is based in Rome) by President Trump. He’s married to South Dakota singer/songwriter Brittany Thune Lindberg, daughter of US Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
And a look at two legislative contests in Sullivan County. In the VN, Patrick O’Grady profiles the general election House races in districts 2 (Cornish, Plainfield) and 5 (Sunapee, Springfield).
The contest in Democratic-leaning District 2 pits Plainfield Democrat Jenny Ramsey against Cornish Republican Michael Belanger. A longtime Plainfield School Board member, Ramsey has put state support for schools at the center of her campaign, opposes the school tax cap on the November ballot, and wants more oversight of Education Freedom Account spending. Belanger, a retired federal employee who now runs a B&B, backs the tax cap and EFAs.
Meanwhile, in District 5, first-term GOP incumbent George Grant is trying to fend off a challenge from Sunapee Democrat Judy Thackaberry, who both want to get the local tax burden down: Grant by backing the school tax cap as a way to rein in administrative costs, Thackaberry by boosting state funding for public schools and reversing the state’s cuts to business taxes.
SPONSORED: Health and wellness—and a lot of fun—on the Montshire Museum’s Trails. Fall is a great time to explore the Healing Forest at the Montshire. Enjoy the crunch of fall leaves, listen for the chittering chipmunks, and keep your eyes open for the new kinetic sculptures designed by artist Lyman Whitaker along the Meadow Loop. Play at Timber Tumble, reflect and connect at the Wind Phone, and explore so much more along the Montshire trails this fall. Sponsored by the Montshire Museum of Science.
At first New Hampshire Forum, “just people working on problems together and finding a solution.” That was Newport’s Amy Coleman, who’s a Republican, talking to the VN’s Sophie Levenson about last month’s event in Concord. Founded by actor Andrew Shue and led in NH by former GOP Rep. Kevin Smith and former Democratic state Senate President Donna Soucy, the forums are designed to bring a politically diverse group of NH residents together to come up with suggestions for resolving the state’s toughest challenges—this time, housing. Levenson describes the forum, and how participants came up with six proposals to be chewed over by the legislature.
In VT, bourbon whose taste depends less on its ingredients than on cold winters and humid summers. At Backus Distillery in the NEK, writes Xenia Turner in Seven Days, distiller Luke Backus follows the bourbon rules: “a mash bill of at least 51 percent corn, aged in brand-new charred oak barrels and bottled at no less than 80 proof.” Where he parts company with tradition is in the aging: in uninsulated buildings where the changes in seasons push the liquid into the barrels’ wood and then pull it back out. “The air,” Turner writes, “becomes a defining ingredient, affecting aroma, color and tannins.” She describes just what Backus is up to.
A new world record! Just not on this world. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has just traveled the longest distance of any vehicle on the surface of another world. On the 2,006th sol—Martian day—of its mission, Perseverance beat the previous record, set by NASA’s Opportunity rover in 2018, writes Jeremy Gray for PetaPixel. Gray notes that it’s “exploring what could be some of the oldest terrain humanity has ever explored in the solar system.” Credit, says NASA, goes to the rover’s autonomous navigation system, which lets it move fast, take photos, and teach itself “to steer less and roll more, and to check its own position against orbital maps mid-drive.”
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
At Dartmouth, “African Apes, Fermentation & the Origin of Feasting.” Last year, anthropology prof Nathaniel Dominy and several colleagues published a paper highlighting the possibility that what they call “scrumping”—eating fruit from the forest floor, and especially fermented fruit—may have boosted apes’ ability to metabolize alcohol, and ultimately given humans our taste for it. In an all-day symposium today, speakers from all over the world who specialize in primates will weigh in on what it all might mean. 10 am to 5 pm in Haldeman 41, members of the public welcome.
Dartmouth’s Rockefeller Center hosts GOP congressional candidate Lily Tang Williams. In their second face-off, Williams is challenging incumbent Democrat Maggie Goodlander for NH’s 2nd District seat. She’ll be talking about the campaign and the issues with government prof and Rockefeller Center director Jason Barabas. 5:30 pm in Hinman Forum and livestreamed.
Candlelit Walk of Remembrance on the Baker Library lawn at Dartmouth. Hosted by the staff and volunteers on DH’s palliative care team, the event is “a short luminaria-lined path to walk in silence to honor and support mutual connection through the shared experience of grief and loss. It will be a time for our community to share grief and remember those we love, while respecting our losses.” There’ll be music throughout, so just sitting and listening is okay, too. 6-7:30 pm.
Howe@snorth with Literary Trivia. The Howe and Still North join up for an evening just made for a library/bookstore mashup, with categories that may include Name That Book Cover, Spooky, and Banned Books. Compete in teams of 1-4, and there are still a few spaces left (though you’ll need to register). At Still North Books & Bar in Hanover, 6:30 pm.
Jarvis Coffin reads from and talks about Calmly on the Waters: Seasonal Essays from Monadnock at the Norwich Bookstore. Coffin’s new collection of essays “invites readers to slow down and observe a world reachable ‘on two feet, or by canoe, or by car, with no more than a tank of gas’… Calmly on the Waters is organized by season, following the rhythms that shape daily life in rural New England.” 7 pm.
At the Hop, the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band. Keefe, a jazz vocalist, grew up on the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho, moved with her family to Spokane, and eventually wound up in NYC. A headliner in her own right, as well as an opener for Tony Bennett and Esperanza Spaulding, she’s created an ensemble of Native and Indigenous jazz musicians from across Indian Country (that sometimes includes bassist and Dartmouth grad Mali Obomsawin). 7:30 pm in Spaulding.
Valley Improv at Sawtooth Kitchen. With a little twist this time around: It’s an entire evening of audience participation games. “You'll get to see your friends, neighbors, and even yourself come up to the stage and add your own unique element to the show!” they write. Though if you just want to sit and watch, that’s fine, too. 8 pm.
And anytime until Oct. 31: VerShare is holding its annual online auction to help support its youth programming, community library and Made in Vershire Shop, and other endeavors. With passes, gift certificates, and more from all around the region.
And for today...
The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band (tonight at the Hop) with “Water” at Joe’s Pub in NYC.
See you tomorrow.
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