Daybreak Wednesday, 10/7/26

Mostly sunny, warmer. There’s a big patch of low pressure that’s set up to our northwest, over James Bay, and today it’s going to funnel a warm front through, west to east. The air’s been so dry that we won’t see any rain, but we will see a sharp climb in temps, from around freezing this morning to the mid 60s by mid-afternoon. And with that warmer air, we’re back out of the frost zone for the moment: mid 40s overnight.

Foliage from a different slant. First off, thank you to everyone who’s sent in fall pics—they’ve been a feast for the eyes (those reds especially), but I’m afraid I can’t possibly run them all. For today, here’s a good sampling, each with something that sets it apart: the autumn landscape stretching out below Nancie Severs’ Cape Air flight to Boston; the misty autumn morning stretching out before the John Sears Memorial Bench in Downer State Forest; and the dawn skyscape stretching over Quechee forestland, from Debbie Marcus.

W. Newbury VT’s Sweet Cow Yogurt keeps expanding. You’ve probably seen the Wyatt family’s stall at the Norwich Farmers Market, along with siblings Diane, Tom, and Sharon. Though they sell mushrooms, berries, pears, and other things they grow or forage, yogurt is their mainstay. Now, the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center offers a glimpse behind the scenes, thanks to a grant it gave the Wyatts for new processing equipment. From 16,000 pounds of yogurt in 2012, they grew to 41,000 pounds by 2023, and now, thanks to the equipment, are making even more, selling to new stores as well as at markets. (h/t to Alex Nuti-de Biasi at the JO.

SPONSORED: Vermont North By Hand open studio tour Oct. 10 & 11. See art! See crafts! One of the best arts events of the year brings you into artists’ studios and workshops throughout the Upper Valley. Visit woodworkers, potters, fiber artists, painters, printmakers, stained glass artists, and more on this free self-driving tour. Twenty-seven artists and craftspeople from Newbury to Topsham and Cookeville to Thetford are participating. Watch for Open Studio Tour signs along the route. Pick up a gorgeous coffee mug, feel the texture on a hand-woven scarf—and get to know your local artists! Map and details at the burgundy link. Sponsored by VT North By Hand.

Bradford VT police chief to step down at end of month. Russell Robinson has spent over four decades in law enforcement, writes Alex Ebrahimi in the Valley News, three of them with the VT State Police, and the last dozen years in Bradford. His move comes in the wake of voters’ rejection earlier this year of his bid to expand the town’s police force. “I do appreciate the support of many people within the community over the past several years however I have seen a dramatic decrease in support and believe in my heart it is time to retire,” he wrote the selectboard in August. The department’s sole remaining officer, Sgt. David Shaffer, will fill the chief role Oct. 31.

Feel like a getaway? How about a murder on the North Devon, England coast? In this week’s Enthusiasms, the Norman Williams Public Library’s Liza Bernard points us to The Dying Light, the fourth book in Ann Cleves’ series about detective Matthew Venn and his colleagues. As you’d expect, Liza writes, each member of the police team has his or her own issues to deal with—they’ve only deepened over the course of the series—to say nothing of the mystery’s protagonists and the villagers who get ever more intricately bound up in the story. It’s “a mystery where you come upon a body on page 3, and are with the detectives and community for the next 366 pages,” Liza writes.

SPONSORED: A gravity-defying dance! Noli Timere (which means “Be Not Afraid”) dissolves the boundary between choreography and sculpture to show us how we are interconnected, continuously transforming one another. Showing at the Hop Oct 9-10, this mesmerizing work explores how we navigate an unstable world. Get your tickets at the burgundy link or here today! Sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

Federal judge rules student IDs might be acceptable in some cases for voting in NH; secy of state seeks emergency stay. It’s the latest twist in the saga. As you know, the legislature this year barred the use of student IDs for verifying residency, and Secy of State David Scanlan issued a ruling that they could no longer be used to register to vote. But on Friday, writes the Keene Sentinel’s Rick Green, a federal judge ruled that because the state allows elections officials to consider other forms of ID if a voter can’t prove identity with what the statute dictates, it’s improper to bar student IDs in those circumstances. Yesterday, Scanlan said he’ll seek a stay of that order.

NH agrees to settle long-running lawsuit over in-home care. It still has to be approved by a judge, but on Monday, reports William Skipworth in NH Bulletin, the state agreed to a deal for fixing the Choices for Independence program. In a suit originally brought in 2021, a group of plaintiffs, including the AARP Foundation and the Disability Rights Center-NH, allege that the program—aimed at allowing the elderly and people with disabilities to stay in their homes—has been under-funded and under-staffed, thus forcing people into institutions. If approved, the deal would require the state to analyze and then improve levels of care where needed.

SPONSORED: Introducing the Upper Valley’s newest concert venue! Enfield Shaker Museum invites you to three concerts to showcase our new Chosen Vale Performance Center. Join us this Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 pm for the Berklee Jazz Cats—three Berklee alums put their own fresh spin on the music of Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, and other jazz legends. On Nov. 7, we welcome award-winning fiddler Randy Miller, performing energetic jigs and reels, melodious airs and waltzes, and traditional folk tunes. Our Dec. 4 concert features the Celtic music of Kalos, with Ryan McKasson, Eric McDonald, and Jeremiah McLane. Sponsored by the Enfield Shaker Museum.

A reminder of what’s coming… Monday saw the first snow atop both states’ highest peaks, with actual snow on the ground atop Mt. Washington and a flurry on Mt. Mansfield.

The great undamming of the East.  The ripping out of Western dams may get all the attention, but there’s a strong push to reopen waterways in the East as well. In bioGraphic Ben Goldfarb traces the historical and current battles to restore rivers long blocked by dams. More than 1,100 structures have been demolished, allowing migratory fish to again travel freely. Still, some 35,000 barriers still exist. Goldfarb digs into the environmental impact of dam removal—millions of fish returning to Eastern waters—and the effect on tourism, farming, and our own “collective remembering.” With gorgeous photos and a note of hope for the future of once-threatened waterways. 

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

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HEADS UP
Artist talk at the Hood with Janet Echelman. Echelman does massive-scale projects, often involving netting (she’s one of the twin forces behind Noli Timere at the Hop this weekend), “transform[ing] with wind and light, inviting viewers into immersive experiences rather than static observation.” She’ll be talking about the engineering and computation that go into it all at 3:30 in the Hood Auditorium. Reception afterward at the Top of the Hop.

Bess O’Brien’s Every Day, Big and Small at The Playhouse in Randolph. The NEK-based documentary filmmaker has been screening her latest around the state. It jumps off from the ‘23-’24 floods to “remind us that actually every day across Vermont folks lift each other up, cross cultural divides, create places where people can learn, grow and share a sense of belonging with each other.” 7 pm (and Sunday at Billings).

Rob Oxford and “Songs I Think you will Love” at the Center at Eastman. The longtime local musician and entertainer brings folk, country, early pop, and more to the Draper Room at 7 pm.

At the Norwich Bookstore, Hannah Fries reads from and talks about A Forest Language. The subtitle is “Words That Illuminate the Astonishing World of Trees,” which pretty much tells you what the poet and essayist is up to in her new collection of short essays and reflections: using “the vocabulary of trees to provide insight into the intricate workings of the forest—and the human mind.” 7 pm.

Bluebird Improv at the Hop. Joe Canale (Mindy Project), Brian Stack (Conan), Brad Morris (AP Bio), and Stephnie Weir (Veep, Modern Family) deliver “peak long-form improv—each show is entirely improvised, unique and shaped by a single prompt from the audience.” 7:30 pm in Spaulding.

And for today...

Back on Oct. 1, a tribute album to the Delmore Brothers came out. Alton and Rabon Delmore grew up in Elkmont, Alabama, and back in the ‘30s became one of the great country brother duos. “They were really the first country artists to incorporate all of these creative elements into a sound like no one else,” songwriter-producer Jerry Salley told Billboard recently. “They were putting 3 flats and 7 flats and other non-conventional chord changes in their original songs way before anyone else in any genre.” Salley would know this because he’s just co-produced a new album, A Century of Strings, Stories & Songs: A Tribute to The Delmore Brothers, with a pile of country and bluegrass stars. Here are Del McCoury and breakout guitarist Trey Hensley with “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar.”

See you tomorrow.

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