GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Don't you love it when the weather service says "abundance of sunshine"? A window of fine weather today, highs brushing 60. Things get more iffy starting tomorrow, but let's just vow to get outside today and not deal with the distant future until we need to. White River towns, especially Bethel and Stockbridge, dig out from flooding. There was damage reported all over the region, including in South Royalton, Tunbridge, and Pomfret, but Bethel seems to have been the hardest-hit. Large chunks of roadway got washed away along Camp Brook Road and elsewhere. On the bright side, Route 107, which had been rebuilt after Irene, withstood its first real test since that storm. (VN, subscription reqd)Woodstock SB member steps down. Sonya Stover, who has served two years on the board, announced at last night's meeting that she's moving to Hanover and leaving the selectboard. She focused a lot of her time in office on encouraging younger residents to become involved in town government.Colby-Sawyer announces boost to nursing partnership with D-H. The college has already been feeding most of its 30-40 nursing graduates a year to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health system. Over the next five years, it plans to expand until it's training 100-150 nurses a year. It also wants to build an associates of health sciences program designed for DH employees, as well as programs in mental health and substance abuse counseling, and possibly programs for family nurse practitioners. The announcement was made by D-H CEO and President Joanne Conroy and Colby-Sawyer President Susan Stuebner.In case you're curious about her, spiritual author and Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson will be in Hanover tonight. She'll be holding a "town hall" at the Top of the HOP starting at 6.Feds target I-91 drug corridor. Hot on the heels of a three-day drug sweep in Brattleboro that netted 16 arrests, federal, state and local authorities announced yesterday that they're focusing attention on drugs moving up from Massachusetts and Connecticut. The problem has been especially acute in Windham County, but it's affected every part of the region. “If you are on Interstate 91 north headed for Brattleboro or St. Johnsbury or anywhere else in the state with drugs, turn around and go home,” declared US Attorney Christina Nolan. "You will be targets."Dartmouth football player, sidelined by injury, releases debut rap album. Darryl Mobley, a senior who'd played quarterback and wide receiver but was out most of his junior year with an ankle injury. With encouragement from the coach, he left the team, restyled himself Mobesx, got a grant from the college, and went into the recording studio. He released The Fourth Wall at the end of March. Its aim, he says, is "to uplift and unify."Leb landfill has seen seven fires in recent months sparked by lithium-ion batteries. That's in an NHPR piece on the growing alarm among waste managers over the hazards posed by the batteries. The weight of machinery driving over a cell phone or tablet buried in garbage can cause a small explosion, says Marc Morgan, Leb's solid waste manager. NH launches online tool to explore historic property records. The state's Division of Historic Resources announced yesterday that it's put its inventory of 16,000 documents, photos, maps, and other visuals online for researchers, preservationists and others to use. New Hampshire sees alarming spike in hepatitis A cases. The state health department announced yesterday that since November, 79 people have been diagnosed with the illness. Usually the state sees six or seven in a year. Most have been in Hillsborough and Strafford counties, though Grafton and Sullivan have also seen a handful. Eighteen states have declared an outbreak.Seems a little early in the day for this, but VT health officials have launched a "Know Your ABVs" campaign. That would be alcohol-by-volume, and with craft beers growing in strength, they figure you should know how big a serving you should be getting with 5% ABV versus, say, 9% ABV -- which should be just 7 ounces, rather than the usual 12.SO.... GOT PLANS TONIGHT?There's a "creative economy" gathering at the Engine Room in WRJ (where else?). Sponsored by the Cornerstone Creative Community, a volunteer org focused on east-central VT. They're calling it a social gathering, but it's got a purpose: presentations about "creative economy" impacts on the state's economy, and then a panel discussion on marketing and branding with reps from the state arts council, tourism department, and others. Anyone welcome, especially "if you consider yourself to be a creative working directly in the arts, food, publishing, film, IT or design world." Starts at 6, with a cash bar and catered food.The Bobs will be playing the tavern at the Kedron Valley Inn in South Woodstock. No, not the San Francisco a cappella Bobs. The Vermont-based old-time string band Bobs. Reels and jigs, ballads, blues, guitars (acoustic, rhythm, slide), mandolins, fiddles, banjos... It's not just your usual toe-tapping music. Starts at 6:30.Hope your day's good -- and remember: Get outside! See you tomorrow.
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