GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Colder, getting cloudy. We start out in the 20s this morning under decently clear skies, but the sharp cold front that came through last night is also ushering in low pressure, which will bring a slight chance of snow showers overnight tonight, with clouds starting to build in this afternoon. Highs today around 40, lows in the upper 20s.Sometimes, clouds are good. Ordinarily, photographs of a full moon can't really capture it without good lenses and filters. But sometimes, the atmospherics—the clouds, the trees—are just right, especially if you throw in just a smidge of extended exposure, as with this pic of the nearly full moon from Karen Harris in Norwich. And while we're on the subject: The full moon's tomorrow night, and it happens to coincide with a full lunar eclipse—sadly, not until the wee hours.In Lebanon, Laurel Stavis wins at-large city council seat, Devin Wilkie retains Ward 2 seat. Stavis defeated two other candidates to replace Karen Liot Hill, who moved to the NH Exec Council earlier this year. In preliminary results, the state rep won 698 votes to 625 for Lori Key to 140 for Carline Roberge. Leb voters also approved the school budget and all charter amendments and zoning articles, including rezoning the APD campus to allow for staff housing.
In many towns, only town officers were voted on yesterday; floor meetings on warrant articles will take place later this week. According to the Valley News's roundup: Cornish voters elected Keith Beardslee to the selectboard; in Piermont, Wayne Godfrey took a three-year selectboard term over Vincent Colasanti 74-55, while in Plainfield, Elise Angelillo defeated Trevor Marsh for a three-year selectboard term 135-100; and Grantham voters approved a petitioned article asking elected officials to "uphold their duty of fiscal responsibility by rejecting any expansion of taxpayer funding for private education until we have full accountability, transparency, and a sustainable funding plan." You'll find the VN's page of results so far here.
Rivendell school district to get a new superintendent. Randall Gawel has led the Orange East district based in Bradford, VT for four years, reports Christina Dolan in the VN—and before that, was a teacher and principal in metro Detroit schools. He'll take over on July 1 from Jennifer Botzojorns, who's been interim superintendent—and was not in the running for the full-time job—since last spring. Of Gawel, school board chair Mark Avery says, "He is a strong leader, articulate, a great communicator, and not willing to just say what we want to hear."
SPONSORED: Last chance to get your tickets for Upper Valley Music Center's Birthday Bash this Sunday, March 16! Celebrate the music in you as Upper Valley Music Center celebrates 30 years of making music in the Upper Valley! The party starts at the Lebanon Opera House, followed by cake and festivities next door. There will be special performances, spectacular ensemble numbers, a world premiere, and a few surprises. You won’t want to miss it! Get tickets and learn more at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Upper Valley Music Center.Boston TV revisits some of its favorite Upper Valley haunts. Every so often, WCVB dips into the Chronicle archives to re-up a few pieces from these parts, and on Monday it did it again with a trio of stories from 2023. The show's Ted Reinstein visits the Windsor Diner to talk to owner Theresa Taylor (this was before a cracked foundation led to an effort to move it); the Vermont Standard in Woodstock to talk over what it takes to put out a weekly newspaper; and the Center for Cartoon Studies in WRJ, to talk about comics and creativity."There’s always something magical about the poet who can see your soul." And that's how Left Bank Books' Rena Mosteirin, herself a poet, sees W. Windsor poet April Ossmann, who has a new collection coming out next month, WE. From the very first line of the first poem, Rena writes in this week's Enthusiasms, she was hooked—and rewarded for continuing past it by a collection in which "the poet succeeds in showing us what beauty means to tell us, through small, ordinary-seeming moments."SPONSORED: Good Neighbor Health Clinic is looking for a Patient Care Coordinator to join its medical clinic team! We're seeking a dedicated coordinator to help ensure our patients receive the care they need. This role supports clinical staff, coordinates resources, and advocates for patients in the Upper Valley. We offer fully paid medical and dental insurance, generous paid time off, and a mission-driven workplace. Candidates must be licensed as an LPN, RN, or EMT in Vermont & New Hampshire. Learn more and apply at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by Good Neighbor Health Clinic."I had to begin army crawling with my chest to the ground to make it to the starting line." Yesterday, it was video from atop Mt. Washington in its remarkably strong winds over the weekend. Today, it's the story behind meteorologists' antics at the summit, in gusts that reached as high as 130 mph. In Outside, Frederick Dreier describes conditions and talks to forecaster Charlie Peachey, who with his crew "zipped up their parkas and wind pants and walked out into the melee." Among other things, they let the wind "push them across the ground like sticks blown across your patio by a leaf blower." With video.Measles returns to Vermont. The state's health department said yesterday that it has confirmed a case in a school-age child from Lamoille County who'd recently traveled abroad. The child's been isolated and the department says the risk to the public is low, reports Seven Days' Colin Flanders. The case is unrelated to either an ongoing measles outbreak in Québec or the outbreaks in TX and NM. Two cases were detected in the state last year. Ninety-three percent of school children have been vaccinated against measles in VT, short of the 95 percent that experts say is necessary to prevent outbreaks.
As it happens, before that news broke yesterday, DHMC released a video featuring epidemiologist Gabriela M. Andujar Vazquez, who notes, “It’s alarming and undeniably clear that measles is making a comeback globally and nationally." Measles "presents with a distinctive rash, redness in the eyes, coughing, sneezing, and a fever that lasts about four days," the hospital says in its news release. "It spreads by contact with saliva or mucus from an infected person and by breathing airborne droplets from coughing and sneezing." Here's DHMC's new information page on protecting yourself and others from an outbreak.
VT news media want the state to "practice what it preaches and buy local." That was Paul Heintz speaking on behalf of UVM's Community News Service and a coalition of news organizations to a legislative committee last month. It's considering a bill aimed at directing more of the state's pot of ad money to local news organizations, rather than sending several million dollars to Silicon Valley and elsewhere out of state. In the Montpelier Bridge, Jenny Blair delves into the issue and news organizations' arguments.“Sometimes it just feels like I’m chasing ghosts.” Jim Westphalen is “an old soul” with a vintage camera who travels from Shelburne across the country, photographing fading rural buildings. His film, Vanish – Disappearing Icons of a Rural America, just went up on VT Public. It's a painting, rendered in greys and snow white, Kodak colors, and the muted tones of barn lofts. Westphalen’s reverence for rural structures is evident, from an abandoned stone building in Pony, Montana, to a train depot in New Haven, VT, that was snatched away from the wrecking ball. “I always feel restless knowing that the clock is ticking; that with every passing day we’re losing more and more of these gems."This week's Throughlines. We're back!!! It starts with a grid of 16 words, and your job is to link three different sets of four words, each set connected to a different item in today's Daybreak. But beware: those extra four words are decoys, so don't get faked out. This is a test version, so please send feedback.The Wednesday Wordbreak. With a word from yesterday's Daybreak. If you're new to Daybreak, this is a puzzle along the lines of the NYT's Wordle—only different, we swear. Mostly because it's not just some random word snatched out of the ether, but a word that actually appeared here yesterday.
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"Are those the tones of dulcimer and accordion I hear flowing through the air..?" posts the Thetford libraries. "Well, then, Spring cannot be far away, if Samantha Moffatt and Klemens will be returning to the Peabody Library with their songs, dances and tunes played on hammered dulcimer and accordion." 7 pm.
. Tonight, it's a mostly long-form improv show. 8 pm.
And for today...
You may remember that back in 2023, music producer Ian Brennan got permission to record singers and musicians at Sunday services in the oldest and one of the most notorious penitentiaries in the country, Mississippi's Parchman Prison. The result,
Parchman Prison Prayer
, drew wide attention. About a year ago, he returned for another Sunday service. With some of the prisoners who were involved in the first album back again, Brennan recorded a single four-hour session (with no guards present). That new album,
Another Mississippi Sunday Morning
, came out in January. Here are two pieces from it: the short, cry-from-the-heart solo
, and
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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Written and published by Rob Gurwitt Poetry editor: Michael Lipson Associate Editor: Jonea Gurwitt About Rob About Michael
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