GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
The forecast itself is pretty simple: Clouds then possibly some sun today, highs reaching nicely into the 60s, a smidgen's chance of a shower late in the day. What's interesting is that there are lows passing to both the north and south of us; we just happen to be the dry slot sandwiched between. Tonight will also be cloudy, temps dropping into the 50s, which is definitely a move in the right direction from last night's 40s. Though after reading about the synchronized fireflies of TN and PA (thanks, AS!), I can't wait for our gloriously chaotic fireflies to show up. Which they will. Sometime. Right?Stage-scenery restoration gets underway in Canaan. For the half-century between 1890 and 1940, pretty much every town and hamlet in northern New England owned one or more painted backdrops -- country scenes, streets, even local businesses -- for their town halls, granges, and opera houses. Canaan has five of them, kept from view because they're deteriorating. Today, artisans with Vermont-based Curtains Without Borders set about restoring them at the 1793 Meetinghouse, in full view of (and ideally with the help of) the public. They'll be here through Friday, and finish up next week.Dartmouth committee wants student misconduct on transcripts. The Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault contends that students being investigated for assault or misbehavior are able to move on to other schools without repercussions. It's petitioning to change that. “Dartmouth’s current policy strictly separates a student’s primary academic record — their transcript — from any behavioral record,” the petition argues. “This system leaves gaps that allow perpetrators of harm to evade accountability and continue committing harm at their new institutions.”Singleton's Market closes in Quechee. When it opened, Singleton's was the first spot between Hartford and Woodstock where you could buy fresh produce, freshly made sandwiches--28 different kinds--their own smoked meats, wagyu beef.... But then Jake's opened up just down the road. And winters have been especially tough, when seasonal residents leave and locals do their shopping in West Leb. After six years in business, the store closed without notice last week. (VN, subscription reqd)VPR features citizen science work by Norwich's Vermont Center for Ecostudies volunteers. All over the state, people are out counting freshwater mussels, logging bird sightings, counting and checking frog-egg masses in vernal pools. They're doing the basic science that helps track the state's ecological health. "We could never afford to gather biodiversity data on such a scale with paid biologists," says VCE's associate director, Susan Hindinger. "It’s a way of gathering data over a big geographic area in a very economically efficient way." Visitors to Marsh-Billings spent almost $4 million in the local economy last year; a full $498,00 of that was on gasoline. The National Park Service and US Geological Survey are out with an interactive tool that lets you track the impact of every national park in the system. Spending from visitors to Marsh-Billing-Rockefeller -- the only national park in VT, other than the AT -- has risen from $1.7 million in 2012 to $3.8 million last year. If you want to dig around, go to the link, then you can poke around by state or by individual park. One of the hottest chefs in Burlington got her start at EBA's. Cara Chigazola Tobin, chef/co-owner of Honey Road, the in-vogue Church Street Middle Eastern spot, is featured in Seven Days. She spent her high school years in Lebanon and walked into Hanover's late go-to pizza joint looking for a job as a 17-year-old. "Can you cook?" the owner asked. "Yes, definitely!" she lied. "Come back at 5:30" she was told. The rest, with detours to California and Cambridge, is history.Remember yesterday's item about the red-tailed hawk becoming NH's official state raptor? The Boston Globe is out with a story detailing the whole quirky history of the project, which started as a fourth-grade civics lesson in 2015 and got sidetracked into a national spectacle. This year, as the students lobbied, they wore t-shirts that read "Our Second Try to Live Free & Fly." Sununu's spokesman confirms that he will sign the bill.“Generally a pretty boring place to live out your 20s and early 30s.” That's one of the responses to a business-school survey of what people think of New Hampshire. The highly unscientific survey was commissioned by a group called 603 And Me, which aims to promote the state, and used UNH business students to carry it out. They got 523 responses in all, from people both in-state and in neighboring states, who did give NH high marks for safety, fun, and being a good place to raise kids. Bottom line, says 603 And Me's director: "New Hampshire is a great place to visit, but it's hard to find a way to make a living.”NH House says town moderators can postpone elections for bad weather after all. This is one of those great small-state issues. Snow storms in 2017 and last year led some town moderators to postpone elections or town meeting, but the secretary of state ruled they didn't have that authority. A new bill passed by the House says that a moderator can, indeed, do so after the National Weather Service issues a storm warning and after consulting with town officials. Whew.VT legislative session ends today not with a bang, but with a... The Senate will adjourn today with no deal on paid family leave or a minimum wage. As you surely remember, the House adjourned on Friday, after Speaker Mitzi Johnson decided that it was fruitless to try to continue House-Senate negotiations on those and other measures. Senate Pres. Tim Ashe called her yesterday. “She said they’re not coming back,” he told VTDigger. Both leaders said they were close to a deal, but it fell apart over a proposed mandatory payroll tax to fund time off for personal injury or illness.VT company wants to take on Canada's Big Maple. Most of the maple syrup in the US, and 70 percent worldwide, comes from the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. Now Bloomberg Businessweek is out with a piece about Maple Guild, which taps 460,000 trees on 24,000 acres -- that's twice as many trees as the next largest producer. The Island Pond-based company is pushing full-bore to dislodge the cartel to the north. It's selling specialty syrups and other products in Wal-Mart, Harris Teeter, Albertson's and other chains. It was also bought last year by a Montreal investment firm. So really, don't the Quebecois win either way?GOT PLANS TONIGHT?If you've ever wondered what it's like to sing in close harmony, tonight's your night. If, that is, you're a woman. The Valley Chords -- the UV's all-female, four-part harmony, mostly Barbershop, chorus -- are hosting an evening for women of all ages and abilities to sing and socialize. Their director will teach basic vocal technique, harmonizing, and some actual songs. "Harmony at the Junction" starts at 6:30 pm at the Bugbee Center on N. Main Street in WRJ.Or you could unforget some history and go see Slavery by Another Name. This 2012 documentary, which debuted at Sundance, argues that slavery didn't end with Emancipation--it was legalized as forced prison labor in both South and North. "Law enforcement soon became a vehicle for de facto slavery," the Hollywood Reporter noted in its review, "allowing blacks imprisoned for everything from murder to the theft of a pig to be leased out to coal mines and anyone else in need of workers. To keep the supply of prison labor steady, misdemeanors were turned into felonies and nebulous crimes like vagrancy became an excuse to lock up just about anyone." At the Kilton in West Leb, starting at 6:30.Whatever you do, hope your day is a fine one. See you tomorrow.
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