GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Still sunny, a bit warmer. Eventually. With high pressure starting to move out, the winds will shift later today to come from the south—and we'll feel it, with temps today getting up to 50 or a bit higher. The air is extremely dry out there, which had fire officials worried earlier in the week when it was windy, but today is calmer. Lows tonight around 30.Oh that's what they're up to! "Ever notice in the middle of the night you'll see some farmers among the hay bales with a flashlight and a fork?" writes Ken Schuster. He's figured it out.In NH, an apparently status quo election. GOP Gov. Chris Sununu handily fended off a challenge from Democrat Tom Sherman and the Executive Council remains securely in GOP hands, with lone Democrat Cinde Warmington holding onto her District 2 seat—though District 1 incumbent Republican Joe Kenney is leading challenger Dana Hilliard by just 1,300 votes with 77 percent of precincts reporting. In the Sullivan Co. Attorney's race, incumbent Republican Marc Hathaway holds a healthy lead over Democrat Jay Buckey. WMUR has a full, easily navigeable results page with down-ballot links.And in NH legislative contests... The overall composition of the legislature isn't clear yet, but locally: incumbent Democrat Suzanne Prentiss of Leb and incumbent Republican Ruth Ward held onto their respective Senate seats, while GOP newcomer Daniel Innis won the District 7 seat. In the House, Democrat William Palmer defeated GOPer Virginia Drye in Plainfield/Cornish, while GOPer Margaret Drye narrowly defeated Jason Bourne in their Sullivan House 7 race. In Sullivan 5, incumbent Democrat Linda Tanner holds off George Grant by just 30 votes. State Senate here, state House here.In VT, Scott cruises to re-election, Dems cruise to other statewide offices, abortion rights enshrined in constitution. Progressive/Democrat David Zuckerman took 54 percent of the vote to win back the lieutenant governorship, while Bradford's Sarah Copeland Hanzas won 65 percent of the vote to become secretary of state. VTDigger recaps the various contests.MacDonald appears to hold Orange County seat as Dems retain VT Senate supermajority, control House. The longtime incumbent senator is leading GOP challenger John Klar 56-44 with 94 percent of votes counted, while in Windsor County, Democrats Alison Clarkson, Becca White, and Dick McCormack hold enormous leads. In House contests, Democrats Rebecca Holcombe and Jim Masland easily won the Windsor-Orange 2 seat, while in Orange 1, Democratic challenger Carl Demrow leads GOP incumbent Samantha Lefebvre with three of four towns in. VT Public has results so far.SPONSORED: UVMC presents concerts this week by an internationally award-winning quartet and our popular orchestra. Tonight, the Upper Valley Chamber Orchestra returns for its first full concert since 2019, performing selections from the Nutcracker Suite, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, and music by Cesar Franck. On Saturday, UVMC presents the award-winning Balourdet Quartet, performing music by Jessie Strum, Claude Debussy, Derek Bermel, and Hugo Wolf. Come early for a Master Class and a lecture on the concert program. Sponsored by Upper Valley Music Center.So... if you hear a loud siren at 3:20 this afternoon... It's just Dartmouth testing its emergency notification system. Students and employees will be getting messages of one form or another, while the siren—which in theory can be heard up to ten miles away—and loudspeaker messages may put an exclamation point on your afternoon.Straighten up and drive right, say Leb police. Though they put it a little differently. Yesterday, the LPD announced it's launching "high visibility saturation patrols using marked and unmarked patrol cars" on main routes through the city to crack down on driving behavior that ups the risk of a crash, including "speed, following too close, stop light and sign violations, along with distracted driving habits such as texting and other electronic device use." The move follows a rise in collisions and reports of aggressive and impaired driving.Bradford, Ryegate, Norwich, Lebanon... Just four of the 15 towns in VT and NH in which VT State Police say two men and a 15-year-old stole catalytic converters, reports WCAX. Altogether, the three have been accused of nearly 200 catalytic converter thefts. Police were led to the three after a single-car crash in Newark, VT (north of Burke) led the Bradford police to request the car be seized; police found stolen converters in the car and at a home in Newark.Crossroad Farm slowly and quietly changes ownership. And by "slowly," we're talking years. Tim and Janet Taylor started the Post Mills farm 42 years ago with a single acre; now, it's 56 acres, 18 greenhouses, and a farmstand in Norwich. Starting almost a decade ago, the Taylors worked with an advisor from Keene-based Land for Good to find a way of transferring ownership over time, and five years ago Phil Mason, a longtime employee, bought into the business. A few months ago, he got it all—though Tim Taylor continues to help out. "I’m kind of retired; I only work 40 hours a week,” he writes.Meanwhile, before we forget all about apple season... Actually, one of the great gifts of apple season is that it doesn't let you forget about it, because long after it's done, there's cider. Every fall in South Royalton, Randy Leavitt and members of his family host friends and neighbors on the family's Balla Machree Farm for a festival of picking, pressing, soup-making, and music. This year, he and Myra Hudson Howe filmed the festivities, from morning to firelit darkness, and created a 12-minute little ode to cider season.WRJ’s Piecemeal Pies brings “full English” flavors to Stowe. Co-owners Justin Barrett and Josh Brown kept hearing from patrons, many stopping off en route to the slopes, that they should take their signature pies and peas farther north. After a pandemic delayed those plans—and thanks to a successful crowdfunding effort—in July they opened up a second location in downtown Stowe. No one’s happier than Seven Days’ Melissa Pasanen, who sampled the wares at the sleek, stylish spot, which now offers a dinner menu twice a week. On Monday, in the calm before ski season, VTers get a pie and a pint for $20.Concealing “Live Free or Die” on your NH license plate could land you in jail. In 1974, that is. George Maynard took issue with the state motto, taped over it, and was repeatedly fined. Refusing to pay, he was arrested. But in 1977, the US Supreme Court heard his case and sided with Maynard. Cory Graff for Smithsonian mag collects several fascinating tidbits—and amusing missteps—about license plates. In 1928, there was the fiasco of the codfish on MA plates. That same year, Idaho went a little too on-the-nose with its famous crop. And NC and OH are still duking it out over aviation bragging rights.The Wednesday Vordle. If you're new to Daybreak, this is the Upper Valley version of Wordle, with a five-letter word chosen from an item in the previous day's Daybreak.
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This evening at 7, novelist Rachel Barenbaum continues her series of Howe Library-presented online-only talks with other novelists. This evening, she sits down with Elena Armas to talk about Armas' second novel, The American Roommate Experiment, about Rosie Graham, a romance writer with writer's block who winds up sharing an apartment with a friend's cousin... and he's determined to help her overcome it.
As you saw above, this evening at 7:30 the Upper Valley Chamber Orchestra will give its first full concert in three years, at the Richmond Middle School in Hanover. They'll be performing selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, César Franck’s Symphony in d minor, and the "Berceuse" and "Finale" from Stravinksy’s Firebird Suite. Masks required.
And music for the day...
Last month, Blue Note Records put out an album of Leonard Cohen covers called
Here It Is
. The collection of people paying tribute isn't just some motley group of musicians. There's James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Mavis Staples, Peter Gabriel, Sarah McLachlan, and others—each backed by a band that includes Bill Frisell on guitar, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, and other studio mainstays. And on an album of standouts,
off the final album Cohen recorded while he was alive—a relatively new song that "has all the best qualities of some of his older classic songs,” Jones wrote.
See you tomorrow.
The Hiking Close to Home Archives. A list of hikes around the Upper Valley, some easy, some more difficult, compiled by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. It grows every week.
The Enthusiasms Archives. A list of book recommendations by Daybreak's rotating crew of local booksellers, writers, and librarians who think you should read. this. book. now!
Daybreak Where You Are: The Album. Photos of daybreak around the Upper Valley, Vermont, New Hampshire, and the US, sent in by readers.
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