WELL HI, UPPER VALLEY!
Today's the high pressure before the storm. And the last dry day for a bit. Partly cloudy in the morning, then sunnier in the afternoon, temps back into normal range: basically mid- or high 20s all day. Winds from the northwest with some gusts that could bite. Things will cloud over tonight, and the snow part of tomorrow's multi-precipitation extravaganza could begin not long after midnight.And in case you like to plan ahead... Here are the Weather Service's expected snowfall totals for the region tomorrow. Before the "wintry mix" settles in.Thetford outdoor program lands prime-time slot on NHPBS tonight. Every year, TA students take a five-day trip down the Connecticut. On one of those days last year, Willem Lange and his "Windows to the Wild" crew joined them, and the result airs tonight. Among other things, students give up their cell phones. "You can almost see the weight on their shoulders releasing,” says Scott Ellis, one of the teachers who leads the trips. “We’ve allowed them to be free in a pretty special way that kids don’t get these days.” Dresden school taxes could see 1.1 percent bump in Hanover, 4.2 percent in Norwich. That's according to brochures district officials plan to mail to residents of both towns on Friday, says the VN's David Corriveau. Part of the reason: a "bubble" of 5th and 6th graders headed toward the Richmond School and about 25 more students than administrators had expected at the Marion Cross School, leading to new teaching positions.What do Canaan, Lebanon, Norwich, Woodstock and Windsor have in common? They all have winter farmers markets. This comes up because Rachelle Capo, who's resuscitating the Canaan market from its near-death experience a year ago, wrote in yesterday to ask politely, "Have you considered including farmers market information in your emails?" No time like the present! The link takes you to Vital Communities' list of winter markets.The candidates are coming fast and furious. And it's hard to keep up. Thankfully, Chris Healy, who runs the Upper Valley VT/NH Facebook group, started a crowd-sourced thread for people to check in about who's where when. Gabbard at RVCC in Claremont and the Fireside Inn tomorrow, Buttigieg at Leb HS Saturday, Yang at the Hop on Sunday, Warren at Leb HS on Sunday..."I was disappointed..." Norwich Selectboard member Roger Arnold checks in about yesterday's item on the town's proposed "enhanced fair and impartial policing policy." He takes issue with the link to a Norwich Observer post that in turn quotes from an article by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a hate group, and goes into detail on the purposes of the proposed policy. All at the link.The Center for Cartoon Studies rebuilds after fire and water. Back in January, while the school was on leave, a fire broke out in the apartment above its offices and lab space. It was dealt with quickly, but as Seven Days' Pam Polston notes, "not quickly enough to prevent the sprinkler system from doing its job, which was to saturate everything in sight." "I wouldn't wish this on anybody," says CCS cofounder Michelle Ollie. "But repairmen are in there now and we're moving on." Here's Eric Francis's video coverage of the fire.Former D-H fertility doctor sues for wrongful termination, D-H requests court dismiss suit. Dr. Misty Blanchette Porter, who'd spent 20 years at D-H and was fired in 2017, alleges that the hospital let her go because of an injury-induced disability and because she'd blown the whistle on substandard care and fraudulent billing practices. In federal court in Rutland, D-H responds that Blanchette Porter wasn't singled out, and the entire infertility program was closed due to a “critical shortage of trained nurses.” (VN)"These were weekend races in small-town New Hampshire. It wasn’t like any of these kids were going to the Olympics." Except one of them, little Mikaela Shiffrin, was. In the wake of Monday's news that Shiffrin's dad, Jeff, died of a head injury following an accident, here's Meg Lukens Noonan's recent Yankee mag feature on the Shiffrins and the Ford Sayre downhill program Noonan helped run during those years. (You need to get through a couple of annoying popups, but you can read without a subscription.)How do you construct a better flight schedule? That's the challenge two Dartmouth engineers and an MIT prof are tackling. Scheduling is "the most difficult of the strategic problems that the airlines face," Thayer professor Vikrant Vaze tells David Brooks. Using 2016 data from Alaska Airlines, a dose of integer linear optimization, and a set of variables airlines often haven't taken into account — like passengers' preferences on such minor issues as flight time — the three have come up with an approach that might, someday, make travelers' lives easier. Don't get too smug yet, NH. Yes, it's true that the primary next week will be run the old-fashioned way, with paper ballots, so an Iowa-type snafu isn't possible. Still, Business Insider warns, the state lacks an audit system for precincts that use aging machines to count paper ballots, and if there needs to be a recount, it'll have to be done statewide by hand. Which could take three weeks.Speaking of counting, VT House Dems move the numbers in their favor on family leave. As you remember, Gov. Phil Scott last week vetoed the legislature's mandatory leave bill. The House needs 100 votes to override, but passed the measure with only 89 votes. Yesterday, five Progressive reps who'd voted against the bill — they considered it insufficient — announced they'll switch. Two other Dems were absent for the initial vote, and assuming they're back and Speaker Mitzi Johnson votes, things are getting close. The override attempt's expected today.And just to close things out on the right note, here's sunset yesterday from Jennifer Hannux's porch in Hartland. Ascutney in the background.
No app meltdowns, just news that connects you. If you like Daybreak and want to help it keep going, here's how:
GOT PLANS?
Marlene Heck, a Dartmouth art history senior lecturer who specializes in American architectural and social history in the age of Thomas Jefferson, will be this month's First Wednesdays speaker at the Norwich Congregational Church. Jefferson died so deeply in debt that his lifelong "essay in architecture" had to be auctioned off; Heck will talk about the insights the building and grounds offer into Jefferson and his times. 7 pm.
Hammad's debut novel is a coming-of-age tale about a young Palestinian man set against the backdrop of WWI in Europe, the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire back home, the advent of the British, and his own divided allegiances. It is "an exquisite novel," wrote Christopher Benfey in the
NYT
, "that...delves back into the confusing past while remaining wholly anchored in the precarious present." 5 pm in 41 Haldeman at Dartmouth.
The two have been collaborating since they met at Club Passim in Cambridge in the early '90s, but never more closely than on their 2019 album
Reckon by the Light
, inspired by the paintings Pirozzoli has increasingly woven into his life since he cut back his touring schedule. You can read more in
. 7 pm, but doors open at 6, space is limited, and it's first come, first served.
Triangulo North teaches the basics of Argentine tango, and tonight's a free intro class at Open Door in WRJ. Balance, posture, connection, basic lead and follow...and soon, they say, "you will be learning the captivating dance language of the Argentine Tango." No partner needed, starts at 6.
Enjoy this day! See you tomorrow.
And if you think one or more of your friends would like Daybreak, too, please forward this newsletter and tell them to hit the blue "Subscribe" button below. And thanks! And hey, if you're that friend? So nice to see you! You can subscribe at:
Thank you!