GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Partly sunny. We get a calm day today, with breezes from the northwest and a mix of sun and clouds. More clouds start building in overnight as a system moves into the region (it’ll bring us rain and snow tomorrow). Lows tonight around the freezing point.
Rothko would be envious. It’s not a painting, but Kelly Clements’ photo of the sky, bare trees, a line of golden tamaracks, and an incandescent green sunlit field at Crossroad Farm in Post Mills gives a whole new dimension to “color field.”
Time again for Sketchbreak! You know how some people like to dress in clothing that blends right into the background then go out walking along the road at dusk in late fall? Where on earth do they get those clothes from? In this week’s Sketchbreak, cartoonist Emma Hunsinger figures it out.
Hartford police identify victims in Quechee crash. As you’ll remember, the fiery Nov. 2 collision along Route 4 took the lives of two people and sent another to the hospital. Investigators found a Kia Sorento had been in the westbound lane of travel, while a Ford Mustang headed eastward in the opposite lane failed to navigate a bend in the road, turned sideways, and pushed the Sorento into a guardrail. The driver of the Mustang and a passenger in the Sorento both died. In a press release yesterday, the HPD identified the Mustang’s driver as William Scalese, 21, of Windsor; the Sorento’s passenger was Connie Bowman, 63, of Maysville, GA.
No Polar Express this year. For nearly two decades, the White River Rotary Club has run the popular excursion train out of the WRJ train station for a couple of days in December. But on Monday, the club announced that it’s canceled this year’s version. It offered no explanation, other than to say, “This is not a decision that we have taken lightly. We are simply unable to produce a quality, truly successful event this year. We are truly sorry.” In Artful, Susan Apel writes, “It has always been one of the Upper Valley’s hottest tickets… Alas. Fingers crossed for next year.” She offers some alternatives, including in Bellows Falls and the Okemo Valley.
SPONSORED: Join Vital Communities for the Second Annual Upper Valley Cranksgiving: Bike Ride, Food Drive + Scavenger Hunt on Sat., Nov. 14. Riders will gather at the Upper Valley Haven (713 Hartford Ave., White River Junction) at 10am to receive a list of Upper Valley stores and a list of the items the Upper Valley Haven needs most. Hop on a bike to collect needed items at nearby stores, either racing your friends or taking your time to gather a huge donation! Sponsored by Vital Communities.
Hanover’s parking rates will rise at the turn of the year. And not just for drivers, reports Sofia Langlois in the Valley News. The fees for restaurant owners to take over parking spaces along S. Main Street will go up $825 per space—taking four spaces will cost a total of $4,800, leading Lou’s owner (and selectboard member) Jarett Berke to tell the board, “I wouldn’t be surprised if next year I’m the only one.” Meanwhile, the busy part of S. Main will go up to $2/hour for the first three hours (from $1.50), then $5 per hour after that—with no more two-hour limit in place. Langlois details the changes, as well as the board’s discussion.
SPONSORED: Pickleball plus! More to love at the CCBA. Love pickleball? Discover everything else a CCBA membership has to offer! Join us for a FREE Pickleball Open House on Friday, November 13, from 8 AM–noon. Check out our pickleball space, meet fellow players, and explore the perks of membership: a full Fitness Center, indoor pool, hot tub, cold plunge, saunas, group fitness, and a welcoming community. Friday only: Pay for 5 months and get your 6th FREE! Membership begins November 13, 2026. Details here or at the burgundy link. Sponsored by CCBA.
Homeless count finds slight dip in Vermont. The annual “point in time” count takes place in January, and a coalition of advocacy groups just released a report analyzing the results, reports Aaron Calvin in Seven Days. “On the night in question, January 28, an estimated 3,286 Vermonters were found to be homeless — exactly 100 fewer than on the same night in 2025 and about 200 fewer than in 2024,” Calvin writes (you’ll find the full report here). At the same time, the count found that the number of children without housing rose 5 percent—they now make up a fifth of the homeless population. NH’s 2026 numbers aren’t out yet, but they’ll appear here when they are.
Hey, some actual good health insurance news! For VT school boards, anyway. Premiums for the state’s teachers, reports VT Public’s Lola Duffort, “are poised to see their smallest increase in nearly two decades.” The trust that manages health benefits for roughly 33,000 school employees and their families in the state has said the proposed hike in premiums will average 2.5 percent. It “credits cost controls enacted by lawmakers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, state regulators and…itself over the last two years for bending the cost curve away from the double-digit increases that marked the post-pandemic era,” Duffort writes.
SPONSORED: Elizabeth Wellington Rollins at the Norwich Bookstore tomorrow! In The Three Graces of Pearl Street, Rollins' wise and warm debut novel, an Italian American grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter all named after the Roman myth of the Three Graces find their lives—and their secrets—colliding when, after years apart, they come to live under the same roof. Join Rollins to celebrate her new novel, in conversation with Tory Henwood Hoen, tomorrow, November 12 at 7pm at the Norwich Bookstore! Sponsored by the Norwich Bookstore.
The greatest naturally occurring threat to Vermonters? River erosion. At least, that’s what state officials tell VTDigger’s Emma Cotton, who reports that eroding banks are responsible for the “vast majority” of the state’s flood damage in recent years. The problem is, the state’s river corridors—where that erosion occurs—house more than 21,000 buildings, with tens of thousands of residents living in those buildings. Also a problem: “The state has no plan to help people who are currently at risk from river erosion,” Cotton writes. She details why earlier flood control efforts have exacerbated the problem (along with the state’s mountains) and why the state’s hamstrung.
Champ in the limelight. On Monday, the US Postal Service announced some of the stamp sets coming along next year, and there in the mix, along with Willie Mays and unicorns, are “mythical creatures.” There’s sasquatch, of course, and the jackalope, and the fantastic Pennsylvania creature the Squonk. And “a lake monster of centuries-old legend [that’s] become the mascot for the Lake Champlain region of New York and Vermont”: no less than Champ! As the USPS writes, “A lake reaching 400 feet deep and 12 miles wide is bound to contain mysteries.” And as the ECHO Center in Burlington tweets, “We prefer ‘legendary’ to ‘mythic.’” (Thanks, HHC!)
“Corgis, after, all are dogs made up of the spare parts left over from other dogs.” That’s not me, that’s Denver news anchorman Kyle Clark, who goes on to point out that they’re fast and love to run, which may explain why Quinn, a competitor in a 12-dog corgi race during half time at Sunday’s Broncos-Panthers game in Charlotte, went rogue—to the consternation of a bunch of guys who tried to chase her down. But that’s not all: Clark’s talking it over (with footage) with weatherman Chris Bianchi. Who has his own corgi, named Penny—and who just happened to bring her to the newsroom to show off her running chops. While trying to deliver the weather forecast.
Today's Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday’s Daybreak.
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HEADS UP
Valley Improv with “Stick Season” at Sawtooth Kitchen. As they write, “The leaves are down, the snow isn't here yet, and the Upper Valley is at its most bare. On 11/11 (a date that's five sticks!), celebrate Stick Season with a cozy night of completely made-up comedy.” 8 pm.
Also: Rifle season for deer opens in New Hampshire today. It runs through Dec. 6. In Vermont, rifle season opens Saturday and runs through Nov. 29 (for deer). If you’re headed to the woods, do not get your clothing tips from Emma Hunsinger’s Lo Vis catalog (above). Strut blaze orange!
And for today...
An intro to Corb Lund—or as his family chose to call him, Corby Clark Marinus Lund. He grew up in a farming family in southern Alberta, studied jazz guitar, eventually formed his own country trio, the Corb Lund Band—and then had the wisdom to change the band’s name to Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans. Sometimes they get serious, and sometimes not. You choose for “Cows Around.”
Because as the man says:
Well, everything is better with some cows around…
What else is gonna get you up hours before dawn?
What else is gonna keep you toilin' on and on and on?
May you always have cows around
Thanks, JD!
See you tomorrow.
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