RABBIT RABBIT, UPPER VALLEY!
A little break, and then... We get some mixed clouds and sun this morning with temps rising rapidly through the 20s and 30s to an afternoon high in the upper 30s. But the next system is headed our way from the southwest, with clouds settling in by noon. A chance of both rain and snow this evening with some freezing rain through the night then snow again in the pre-dawn hours. Lows tonight hanging around the freezing mark.The owl and the pussycat. Not at sea, though. Right there in Norwich, facing off through Cam Cross and Ellen Kitchel's window. The barred owl, reports Cam, stayed for several hours despite the cat's attention—then came back the next day for more.And speaking of Norwich, outside audit finds "significant" deficiencies in financial management. The audit by a Montpelier firm, reports the Valley News's Patrick Adrian, found unreconciled discrepancies, expenses posted to the wrong accounts, and expenditures made without the selectboard's written consent—in part because the board was meeting remotely. It covers the period from summer 2021 to summer 2022, when finances were handled by a town manager and finance director who have both since left—leaving the town without an official to verify the accuracy of the records that were audited.Vermont DMV: Truck driver at fault in Amtrak collision in Sharon. In fact, the agency says in a press release, officials gave the driver—62-year-old Michael Delaney of Leicester, MA—a ticket for "attempting to cross the railroad tracks when unsafe to do so." Delaney was hauling a load of stone from the nearby Black River Quarries when the southbound Vermonter hit his truck's flatbed trailer—which broke away on impact, keep the truck from being dragged the 926 feet it took for the train to stop. No one was hurt in the incident, but train service was disrupted in both directions. Nonprofit hopes to start construction on new Hanover housing for adults with developmental disabilities soon. Visions for Creative Housing Solutions, which has locations in Enfield and Lebanon, is in the final permitting stages with Hanover for a three-story residence on South Park Street on the site of the old Outreach House, reports Liz Sauchelli in the Valley News. “I feel like the community that rallied around Outreach House is rallying around Visions and really wants us to succeed,” director Sylvia Dow tells Sauchelli. Visions will host an open house at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College from 5-7 today.Just a town meeting reminder... The VN continued to fill in its Town Meeting page yesterday with quick snapshots of major warrant articles, budget items, and other issues of note as towns on the VT side prepare to hold town meeting next week. If you didn't see what you needed yesterday, check again today.SPONSORED: Experience Technigala, the showcase for the latest tech and design innovations created by Dartmouth students! Join Dartmouth's DALI Lab (Digital Applied Learning and Innovation) and Computer Science dept. on Tuesday, March 7 from 6-8:30 pm at the Engineering and Computer Science Center to celebrate and learn about cool things made by cool people! Demo and interact with cutting-edge projects from DALI Lab members and computer science and engineering students. Sponsored by DALI Lab."A kind of cold that is suspended in both space and time." When novelist Louise Erdrich sets a scene in winter, writes Courtney Cook in this week's Enthusiasms, cold "is not so much experienced as it is embodied—her characters don’t survive it, they become it." That's as true in Erdrich's first novel, Tracks, as in the Pulitzer-winning The Night Watchman, the subject of Courtney's essay. Drawn in part from Erdrich's grandfather's effort to stave off a 1950s-era congressional effort to displace several tribes, the novel's characters face desperate situations with resilience and intelligence, Courtney writes.“It's my Vermont table.” That’s Upper Valley cookbook author, baking teacher, and Food Network host Gesine Bullock-Prado justifying her use of kombu and miso paste in her recipe for baked beans. In Seven Days, Melissa Pasanen visits Bullock-Prado to discuss her seventh cookbook, My Vermont Table: Recipes for All (Six) Seasons, culinary influences (Pepperidge Farm Bordeaux cookies), ingredients (brown butter "brings happiness to everything") and love of all things Vermont (favorite birthday cake: Maple-Chocolate Baked Vermont, which involves "a mountain peak of chocolate cake," Pasanen writes).Florian Jenkins' Dartmouth murals about the life of Malcolm X aren't open to the public, but now you can see them virtually. They're located in a private residential space on campus, notes Susan Apel in Artful, but the Hood has just made a 3D virtual tour available. Jenkins painted them over the course of five months in 1972—drawing inspiration, he later said, from the Orozco murals in the Baker Library. The project also changed his life, he once told the Dartmouth Alumni Mag, propelling him to the ministry: “When I was working on the last panel, on the door to the main room, the Lord came to the room."SPONSORED: Have you been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder? You may qualify for a research study using MM-120 (D-lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD] D-tartrate) for treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Recruiting Adults 18-74 years of age—participants must meet enrollment criteria to be a part of this clinical research study of an investigational medication. You will receive compensation for your time and travel. For more information contact: Brenda Balenger, Clinical Manager, Woodstock Research Center, at the burgundy link. Sponsored by the Woodstock Research Center.In civil case against hate group, NH AG signals more aggressive approach to extremism—but raises free speech issues. The action against the New England-focused "pro-white, street oriented fraternity" NSC-131, reports NHPR's Todd Bookman, comes as AG John Formella says the state is seeing more organized efforts by outside groups "to target people based on their background." It involves a 2022 incident in which NSC-131 members hung a banner from a Portsmouth overpass and, officials charge, trespassed on city property—raising free speech advocates' concern the government is using the trespassing charge to go after protected speech.Well, whaddaya know??!! NH has more EV registrations per 1,000 people (7.13) than ME, RI, or NY. Which is a little surprising, given the dud reputation it's developed because it's so far behind on charging infrastructure. In a new federal Dept of Energy study (via CleanTechnica), VT ranks tops in the East at 12.55 per thousand, behind only California, Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon nationally. If you're an EV dealer, Mississippi and North Dakota are definitely not your states of choice. (h/t Granite Geek's David Brooks for pointing it out.)Trucks in Smugglers' Notch: Maybe this year could be different? Five have gotten stuck in the Notch in each of the past two years—which is down from previous years. That's why, at a legislative hearing yesterday, VTrans' Joshua Schultz told lawmakers he's not in favor of a bill that would fine GPS companies for failing to show that the Notch road is closed to trucks and buses, reports Anne Wallace Allen in Seven Days. In fact, Schultz said, Google actually got in touch with the state about working on the issue—after years of state officials trying to get their attention. “We were like, ‘Oh, heck yeah,'" Schultz said.`Where isn’t everyone? Stick with this, because it’s worthwhile. Researchers set out to learn whether it’s possible to conserve at least 50 percent of our planet. But first they had to figure out if half of Earth is still available to save. On Explorersweb, Andrew Marshall summarizes their findings (published in the journal Global Change Biology). “Perhaps unsurprisingly, deserts, boreal forests, montane grasslands, and tundra all have the least human impact.” Includes several cool maps showing the surprising extent of regions on Earth that still see relatively "low" human impact.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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Sweatshirts, hats, and, of course, coffee/tea/cocoa mugs. It's all available thanks to Strong Rabbit Designs in Sharon. Check out what's available and wear it or drink from it proudly! Email me ([email protected]) if you've got questions.
This evening at 7, the Green Mountain Club hosts an online talk by Mardi Fuller, the first Black hiker known to have summited the New Hampshire 48 in winter. She'll be talking about her adventures, mishaps, and education in the backcountry, as well as her experience and involvement in the mostly white winter hiking community.
Also at 7 and also online, Vermont Humanities presents three First Wednesdays lectures: Cristian Fretes Ojeda, a technical trainer for Peace Corps Paraguay, will talk about how civic participation is leading the effort to conserve natural areas like the Atlantic Forest and the Gran Chaco, which span several South American countries; Sarah Monteiro of the Massachusetts non-profit Greenagers will talk about getting young people involved in environmental conservation, sustainable farming, and natural resource management; and Amherst's Ilan Stavans will talk about his new book, The People's Tongue: Americans and the English Language, an anthology of essays, letters, poems, songs, manifestos and more showing how the language has evolved in this country.
And just because this doesn't happen very often...
It's been four years since Neil Young gave a public performance. But on Sunday, at rally against the logging of old-growth forests in Victoria, British Columbia, he showed up unexpectedly, guitar and harmonica in hand and his wife, Daryl Hannah, at his side.
Hey, give him a break, it was cold out.
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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