GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Still sunny. Still warm. In fact, probably a bit warmer than yesterday. "We have been overachieving slightly on our high temperatures" the weather folks noted yesterday—meaning, it's been getting warmer than they predicted. With that in mind, they're predicting highs in the upper 70s today, and for the first time this week, no danger of frost: lows in the mid-40s. And a reminder: Fire danger remains high or very high in both states.Here now, but not for long. It may feel like summer out there, but it's spring ephemeral time in the woods, and the other day Tom Monego happened on a cluster of trout lilies just off the Grant Brook Trail in Lyme. Here's one up close.Hanover voters axe 3 petitioned zoning amendments, honor Griffin at town meeting. The three amendments, put on the ballot by Dartmouth students seeking more lenient zoning policies in town, were the only warrant articles rejected in yesterday's all-day balloting; a fourth petitioned amendment, allowing denser development along W. Wheelock, passed. It was also Julia Griffin's final town meeting as town manager, writes the Valley News's Darren Marcy, and after a long standing ovation, she noted that she had her four-month-old son at her first. "He's now 26," she said.$1.5 million in federal earmarks to DHMC. And a similar sum to Colby Sawyer. The money, reports the Monitor's Josh Morrill (here by way of NHPR) is part of some $70 million coming to NH organizations thanks to "directed spending requests" from the state's congressional delegation. DHMC—which, Morrill writes, has $1.3 billion in assets—will use its money to expand CHaD services to Manchester and to create a Center for Advancing Rural Health. Colby Sawyer will construct a new building for its nursing program.From reviewing marketing material to picking up a couch. That's Jason Schumacher describing a typical day as JAG Productions' new managing director. Susan Apel caught up with him for her Artful blog to ask a few questions about where he's been and where the theater company is headed. He started out doing stunt work for theater, film, and TV, then moved on to choreographing and rigging flying effects for performers around the globe. JAG, he says, is at an "inflection point," building ties in NYC, looking at bringing on more staff, and working on its new season.The power of connections and the costs of isolation during Covid. That's the terrain—along with the uplands of England's Peak District—explored in The Fell, last year's novel by Sarah Moss about a single mom and furloughed waitress who busts pandemic quarantine in November of that first year to get out of the house and go for a quick walk out in the moorland behind the house. Which, of course, turns out not to be quick at all. In this week's Enthusiasms, the Norman Williams Public Library's Liza Bernard writes that the novel is both an adventure and a mystery—and a look at how ordinary people cope.SPONSORED: Help plan Hanover! The town is holding a workshop for its new master plan at an in-person event taking place from 11 AM to 1 PM Saturday, May 21 at the RW Black Center. Participants will be asked to think about how and where to accommodate future development in Hanover, with housing, business, and mixed uses all under consideration. The format seeks participants’ responses to pictures of development types and the workshop is designed to be fun; more info at the link. For those who cannot attend, a virtual option will be available after May 21. Sponsored by the Town of Hanover.Study of Dartmouth students finds those with highest levels of Covid concern tended to struggle more with depression, low self-esteem. The researchers, led by computer scientist Andrew Campbell, used reports from students as well as two years' worth of data collected by students on an app that tracks phone usage, sleep, walking and sedentary behavior. They found that overall (and not surprisingly), students were more sedentary during the first Covid year. But they also found clear differences in how students reacted to the pandemic—and how those reactions affected mood and behavior. Washington Post writeup at maroon link (a gift, no paywall); full study here. Thanks, AC!NH, ME fire crews battle brush fire in Whites. The 45-acre fire was reported Monday morning, and has burned across a portion of the Appalachian Trail, the US Forest Service reported yesterday. The fire, which has been dubbed the Centennial Fire, is located west of Leadmine State Forest. The fire may have been started by someone lighting a fire for cooking or warmth, the USFS says, and "a person of interest" has been interviewed. Maroon link takes you to a news story; here's the Forest Service's FB post, with photos.Aphrodite and Andy. On Friday, two North Atlantic right whales were spotted off the NH coast. Which is highly unusual in part because they prefer the waters off Cape Cod and in part because there are so few of them—just 350 are left. Now, WMUR reports, researchers have identified them as a 35-year-old female and 32-year-old male. "Just to see one is amazing, and especially to see one right here, right off the beach — they don't come into shore in this area," said Dianna Schulte, of the Blue Ocean Society, on Friday. "I've never seen a right whale, and I've been studying whales for over 25 years."NH's divided legislature agrees on something: Education Freedom Accounts should get a performance audit next year. As NH Bulletin's Ethan DeWitt writes, it's "a rare point of bipartisan agreement over a divisive new initiative." In a unanimous vote, the Senate has approved a House bill requiring an examination next year of how well the state is monitoring who gets access to the program allowing state funds to be spent on private and home-schooling—including their demographics—as well as how the funds are spent. VT House falls one vote short in attempt to override clean heat standard veto. In all, 99 House members yesterday voted to override Gov. Phil Scott's veto of the measure, which is aimed at reducing fossil fuel emissions; backers of the move needed at least 100 votes, or two-thirds of the House, to be successful. Afterward, reports Seven Days' Anne Wallace Allen, Thetford's Tim Briglin—who chairs the chamber's energy committee—said that he expects legislators to try again today. "Some members might not have been entirely clear about the contents of the bill," he said.Say goodbye to VT's Covid numbers. Okay, that's not strictly true. The state will still put out a weekly "Covid surveillance report” on things like hospital capacity and wastewater surveillance. And the health department will update raw data kept on the state's Open Geodata Portal. But its dashboard, with case numbers, test positivity, and the like? That's ending next Wednesday, reports Colin Flanders in Seven Days. "Our teams need to get back to focusing their time on analyzing the most valuable data from a public health perspective," health commissioner Mark Levine told a press conference yesterday."I hear rumours, and especially of a tall, handsome, curly-haired man???" So writes Miss Mina Murray to Miss Lucy Westenra on May 9—the latest installment to drop in Dracula Daily. Bram Stoker's novel bringing vampires to an imagination near you was written in the form of letters, diaries, telegrams, and newspaper clippings, each one dated between May 3 and November 10, and now web designer Matt Kirkland, who likes mounting what he calls "silly side projects," has an email newsletter (also available on the web) serializing it by day. It's only a week old—plenty of time to catch up!The Wednesday Vordle. For you newcomers: It's Wordle for the Upper Valley, with today's word related to an item in yesterday's Daybreak.
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It's one of the fine little twists that went into the making of the Beatles' White Album in 1968: While John was in the studio recording sound effects for "Revolution 9," Paul was outside working on the gentle, lyrical "Blackbird." His engineer recorded only three sounds: McCartney's voice, his guitar, and the tapping of his foot keeping time. At one point, they were interrupted by a cameraman who was filming an Apple Records promo, but kept working. Which is good,
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 and writers who want you to 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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