Daybreak Wednesday 6/12

WELL, GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!

It's going to be stunning today. Clear skies, light winds, full-on sunshine, highs in the high 70s. Get out and enjoy it. Because there's this system headed our way, and tomorrow things get unpredictable and what the weather folks like to call "active." For a while. Does that seem fair?New research from UNH finds food gaps in Grafton County and throughout NH. The report, from the university's Carsey School of Public Policy, finds that, especially in the northern part of the state, residents outside the I-93 corridor have relatively few options for food shopping -- they lack grocery stores and farm outlets. Many towns in Grafton and Coos counties in particular have no food stores, and where they do exist, they often don't accept SNAP (food stamps) or WIC benefits.Charlestown woman helped disabled son vote, now under investigation for voter fraud. Dee Milliken's 19-year-old son, Justin, has cerebral palsy. For the 2018 elections, she took him to her polling place and was allowed into the voting booth to help him. Now, someone on the town's Supervisors of the Checklist has raised questions about whether Justin was capable of understanding the ballot; the NH AG's office is investigating for voter fraud. the town moderator says that at the time, officials wanted to err on the side of the Millikens' right to vote. (VN, subscription reqd)Vermont Creamery is expanding, wants more goat farmers. The maker of cheeses, butters, and other dairy products moved from its original home in Brookfield to near Barre a few years back, and it just keeps growing. It'll need 7-10 million pounds more goat's milk over the next five years, which means it needs more goat farmers. Miles Hooper, a prominent Randolph goat farmer (and son of VT Creamery's founder), points out that "You don't have the price fluctuations in the goat dairy realm like you do with cow's milk."Windsor station to get a makeover. No, not the popular restaurant. The actual train station. It's one of the five smallest in the Amtrak system, and lacks a real platform. Now it'll be getting one, along with a weatherproof hut. The VN is up with a barn-burning editorial on last week's superior court decision finding NH's education funding system unconstitutional. The ruling was issued in response to a lawsuit brought by the ConVal school district and others. NH's political class, the editorial says, has sidestepped its responsibilities "for one very obvious reason: Fully funding an adequate education would almost certainly require enactment of an income or sales tax.... And for far too many lawmakers and governors over the years, preserving New Hampshire’s cherished tax-averse culture was more important than providing quality public education for all children."VT regulators tell GMP to come clean on rate increases this fall. The utility wants to boost rates by almost 3 percent starting in October, and had prepared a letter to ratepayers telling them this. But because an earlier rate hike was deferred, and new surcharges are also looming, electric bills will be going up by more like 10 percent. The Public Utilities Commission told GMP it "expects to see a revised customer notice that describes all the changes that customers will experience."Prisoners can vote from behind bars in only two states, Vermont and Maine. But few do. As other states move to allow prisoners to vote or to restore voting rights to felons after they're released, the Marshall Project takes a deep look at the issue in Vermont. John Sughrue, the law librarian at Southern State in Springfield, says that part of the problem is it's not safe to talk politics -- “It seems the current political climate has rendered us inexorably divided,” he says -- and a bigger part is that illiteracy poses a huge hurdle: they can't register or fill in a ballot without help, and just figuring out what's going on in an election is tough. Survey of VT businesses finds them gloomy about hiring but predicting modest growth in capital spending. It's not that the need for workers isn't growing -- it is. It's that the labor market's tight, and they're having trouble finding employees to fill available slots. The survey, by the VT Business Roundtable, found business owners' biggest concerns are finding and retaining qualified employees; affordability, especially healthcare and taxes; an aging population; and uncertainty regarding international trade.Sterling College prez tells higher ed counterparts they're complicit in "climate emergency." In an open letter published in Medium, Matthew Derr, president of the small college in Craftsbury, VT, says, "Students increasingly view higher education as broken, unjust, and even corrupt.... College campuses are training grounds for the technological means and economic justification for growth. Our contribution to the cataclysmic effects of climate change are manifestly obvious and their objections will not be placated by the green-washing of our campuses and tepid promises about sustainability."Lucky's, 4 Aces make NH Mag's "Best of NH" list. You always take these things with a grain of salt, right? But at least the magazine divvies up winners by region, so the big population centers don't just dominate. So Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee has some great familiar faces: the 4 Aces for diners, Lucky's for coffee shops, the Flying Goose for breweries and burgers, Lui Lui for pizzerias, the Weathervane for clam chowder, Ramunto's for pizza. You'll need to scroll past the self-promotional ballyhoo to get to the full list.Meanwhile, Lou's shows up on "the milkshake trail" in NH. A website called "Only In Your State" is up with a summertime day trip from the coast -- the BRGR Bar in Portsmouth (Maine blueberry shake) -- to Hanover, hitting milkshakes all the way. In amidst Manchester's Red Arrow and Airport Diner, Lou's gets the nod for "good, thick homemade milkshakes. The classic bakery and diner also serves up a great stack of pancakes, so we recommend combining the two!" And then, seriously, a good nap.SO, GOT PLANS TONIGHT?It's the Hartford Community Coalition's annual block party tonight at Lyman Point Park, behind Hartford Town Hall. Starting at 5 there'll be food, raffles, give-aways, local bands, and lots of good-for-you local information. There'll also be at least two highlights of note:

You could also celebrate Hartford more quietly: Martha Knapp will be leading an "illustrated tour" of buildings around the region designed by Hartford architect Louis Sheldon Newton.

 He did the TipTop bakery, the Woodstock Bank, Hildreth’s in Leb, and a bunch of houses for wealthy people, including seven of those that adorn Occom Ridge in Hanover. He also designed the interior of the United Church of Christ in Hartford Village--which happens to be where the program takes place. Starts at 7.

"The Pajama Game" opens at the New London Barn Playhouse.

It won Tonys for best musical and best choreography in 1955, and again in 2006 for best musical revival and choreography.  Factory manager, union grievance committee leader, threatened strike, sparks fly, then they

really

fly. Plus

so

much singing and dancing and all-around high spirits. Show's at 7:30, runs through June 23. 

I got

<ding ding hissss>

steam

heat

! I got

<ding ding hissss>

steam

heat

! Oh yeah. See you tomorrow.

Daybreak is written and published by Rob Gurwitt                     Banner by Tom HaushalterAbout Rob                                                                                   About Tom

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