GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Mostly sunny, calm. We've got one more day of high pressure and any early-morning clouds should break up pretty quickly. So today we get temps getting up to the low 30s, plenty of sun, and not much wind to speak of. Back down into the mid-teens overnight.If you find yourself snorting milk through your nose at a Daybreak item... May I introduce a new writer? Actually, she's been lending her skills for an item or two a day since late last week, but was shy. Her name is Jonea Gurwitt, and yes, this is rank nepotism: She's my sister. She's also a sunny, irrepressible writer, spent years on the editorial staff of Consumer Reports, and is a longtime Upper Valley and Daybreak fan. I feel extraordinarily fortunate that we all get to enjoy her talents for as long as she's willing. Hi Jonea!Cotton candy? Or, as Janice Fischel writes, "holiday lights buried in snow?"Babe's reopens. Just in time for the storm's aftermath—and the World Cup final—the Bethel bar damaged by an errant pickup reopened Saturday, with limited capacity. The bar is back to regular hours, writes Erin Petenko in VTDigger, but per the state fire inspector, the upstairs is blocked off except for access to the bathrooms. Masonry work begins this week. “We should know more about what to expect once they take out the first layer of brick in the impacted areas,” co-owner Owen Daniel-McCarter tells Petenko.Hartford police officers want town to make acting chief permanent. The town has gone nearly two years without a permanent chief, writes Patrick Adrian in the Valley News, and members of the police union are urging the town to hire Connie Kelley—a 23-year veteran, the department’s third-longest serving member, and acting chief since May—for good. Sgt. Daniel Solomita, who is president of the union local, credits Kelley with improving officer morale and working conditions. "She has had our backs,” he tells Adrian. “And we wanted to make sure that we have her back as well.”“The flavor of the pandemic was good for nobody, but it was really not good for children who were already struggling." Kurt Gegler is a school psychologist in Claremont, one of the people on the front lines as NH schools grapple with how to respond to students' growing need for extra support and special ed. NHPR's Sarah Gibson talks to educators in Claremont and around the state about how they're addressing the issues they're finding—from young kids who barely spent time with other kids to older kids who are years behind on reading or are having trouble controlling their behavior.SPONSORED: Help the Upper Valley help the Tysea Orphanage. A year ago, Norwich psychologist Paul Foster learned that the orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, had lost its only sponsor; its 18 children faced an uncertain, dangerous future. He has helped it keep its doors open, mostly through the generosity of Upper Valley residents and churches, but the crisis continues. This holiday season, please consider a gift to Tysea. Hit the burgundy link to see the many ways you can contribute. With deep appreciation and the appreciation of the Tysea kids. Sponsored by the Tysea Orphanage Support Group.Northern Lights Gymnastics changes hands. Jill Vanderpot has spent 28 years at the Wilder studio, 22 of them as owner, coaching as well as working locally and statewide as an official in USA Gymnastics. "I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it forever," she tells Justin Campfield in the VN, and on Dec. 9 she turned the studio over for an undisclosed price. The new owners are John and Danza Leonard, both former competitive gymnasts and current coaches; and Bill and Anne Sailer, who run a Sunapee consulting and accountancy firm and whose daughter John Leonard coaches.A novel of rural America to savor. That's what the Norman Williams Public Library's Liza Bernard thinks, overcoming lack of power and internet to write in this week's Enthusiasms about Laird Hunt's Zorrie. The book follows Zorrie Underwood and her life (except for two excursions elsewhere) in rural Indiana: “it was who she was, what she felt, how she thought, what she knew.” Liza writes, "While a fascinating portrait of rural America in the mid-20th century, it is the understated elegance—a gracefulness, really—of the writing that makes me want to start reading again from the beginning."Maybe, someday, we'll actually get to see one of these roll into WRJ? Amtrak unveiled renderings of its new Airo trains last week, designed to replace its current stock—some of which is a half-century old. But it's going to be a while before the sleek trains with panoramic windows and greater fuel efficiency show up in these parts. They're due to debut out west in a few years (the first car shell is getting going only now, in Sacramento), and then get to other parts of the country around 2031, writes Smithsonian's Sarah Kuta."Sometimes the administrative aspects of being Santa, you get wearisome about it." But then, Dan Greenleaf tells NHPR's Rick Ganley, "you get out there...and it's just so rewarding and it just energizes me." Greenleaf runs Santa Camp, the summertime training camp in the New Hampshire woods for aspiring Santas, which is the subject of a new HBO documentary. He and Ganley talk about the growing diversity of Santas—and Mrs. Clauses—what makes a great Santa, and more. Here's HBO's trailer.NH hospitals nearing, sometimes exceeding capacity. With both flu and Covid cases rising, "This is probably some of the most significant demand for health care that many of our caregivers say they've seen over their entire careers," the head of the state hospital association tells WMUR's Jennifer Crompton. The stress has been exacerbated by long-term staffing issues, including nurse burnout, Crompton reports. As of yesterday, over 98 percent of inpatient beds were filled statewide, up from 95 percent the day before.Behind Sununu's call to end Covid public health emergency: ending Covid Medicaid coverage. NH's governor is among the GOP governors who've asked the White House to end the national public health emergency, arguing that a 2020 provision, which allows Medicaid recipients to keep receiving coverage even if they're no longer eligible, has grown too expensive and outlived its usefulness. Up to 69,000 Granite Staters could lose Medicaid if the national emergency is allowed to expire, Ethan DeWitt reports in NH Bulletin, and the state and advocates are "racing" to get in touch with them.Blue Cross Blue Shield of VT pulls out of OneCare Vermont, at least for next year. If you read Kristen Fountain's VTDigger story yesterday, you know that OneCare funnels money from "all payers"—including insurance companies—to participating medical providers. So it's a big deal when the state's largest health insurer says it's reached an impasse on a contract, citing "lack of visible progress on either health care quality or cost," Fountain writes. Blue Cross is also worried about privacy issues raised by OneCare's contract with UVM Medical Center for medical data processing and analysis.If you don’t have a rabbit pelt, a piece of chain mail, and a drinking horn, don’t fret. “Any rustic plate will probably do” to hold sweet rolls, says Seven Days’ Suzanne Podhaizer. She spent some time in the kitchen watching West Windsor cookbook author Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, whose fantasy and sci-fi themed recipes—based on popular books and series—offer handy substitutions. No horse heart, like the one that appears in a Game of Thrones meal? Try fondant instead. Monroe-Cassel says she’s moving on to other pursuits, perhaps a children’s book. My Little Pony Heart, anyone?And hey, if this whole school superintendent thing doesn't work out... Michael Leichliter, who's the superintendent of Harwood Unified Union Schools in Waitsfield, VT, has decided to get a commercial driver's license so he can drive school buses when needed. So, for that matter, has a principal in the district. School bus drivers are in demand these days and Leichliter will sub, he says, so he can “drive a route and get students to school and not have to close down schools or inconvenience parents with consolidating routes,” he tells WCAX's Kevin Gaiss.Ask your doctor if removing a dead bug from your ear is right for you. Surprisingly, it might be better to leave it in there until you get home. Bugs are among the 10 outdoor hazards listed in the latest issue of Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, along with slugs, sloth bears (they live in Sri Lanka and, unfortunately for humans, like the same foods), and a buffet of poisonous plants you should definitely not eat on a dare. Two big takeaways from Alex Hutchinson’s humorous (and terrifying) summary in Outside magazine: take a wilderness first aid course and carry a well-stocked first aid kit. I mean, would you open the door? Just sayin'.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 5:30, the City of Lebanon, UVGEAR, DIGS, and LISTEN will hold a candlelight vigil at Colburn Park to remember "those who died in 2022 whose lives were shortened by homelessness." The vigil will be followed by speeches and a "call to action," and then several nonprofit execs and local officials—including Leb City Manager Shaun Mulholland and City Councilor Devin Wilkie—will spend the night either in tents or micro-dwellings provided by DIGS.
And this evening at 7, both in-person at the Peabody Library in Post Mills and via Zoom, Thetford librarian Peter Blodgett will read holiday stories from many cultures in observance of the winter solstice. Seats are limited, so if you want to go in-person you should email [email protected].
And to get us up and moving this morning...
It's fair to say that Jordan Wax is into roots. He lives in New Mexico, where he teaches an online course in Yiddish, plays klezmer accordion—and is a guitarist. pianist, fiddler, founding member, and mainstay of Lone Piñon, a string band that for the last eight years has been exploring and recreating the traditional music of the borderlands. His fellow founder, Noah Martinez, has moved on to other things, but Lone Piñon endures, with Wax, fiddler Karina Wilson, lead guitarist Santiago Romero, and bassist Tanya Nuñez.
, and if this doesn't bring the sunshine inside, nothing will.
(Thanks, GF!)
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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