TOP O' THE MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
High pressure moving in. Interestingly, there's also a trough of low pressure pivoting down this way from Quebec, but even so, dry air and high pressure near the surface are likely to keep things sunny—our next chance for some much-needed rain won't be until the weekend. High today in the low 70s, down into the upper 40s tonight under clear skies, winds from the northwest.Kids these days! Or, well, youngsters, anyway...
In Canaan, Jason Place came on a little gaggle of grasshopper nymphs—or baby grasshoppers, if you prefer—getting the hang of heights.
And last week, the nesting pair of loons on Lake Fairlee hatched a chick—who, as Rita Brooks's photo shows, was serenely waterborne by Sunday.
This is a bit beyond the Upper Valley—but you could argue it might have
come
from the Upper Valley: Karen Walsh sends a photo of a highly theatrical storm cloud, looking across Winnipesaukee toward Gilford and an obscured Gunstock Mountain.
The Valley News has a new editor. Matt Clary, 45, who edited the Eagle Times in Claremont for a couple of years before becoming a night news editor and staff writer at the VN, will take on the role beginning July 4. He replaces Maggie Cassidy, who left in April to become deputy managing editor of VTDigger. Clary is originally from Kansas City, MO, and lives in West Leb.SPONSORED: An activist nun, a mezzo-soprano, and a burning passion for justice! Sunday evening from 5:30 to 7:00, join Sister Helen Prejean and talk about prison reform, the fight against the death penalty and the search for justice. Hosted by Bobby Sand, Director of the Center for Justice Reform at Vermont Law School, the online event will include Opera North mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Sarien singing “This Journey” from the opera Dead Man Walking. Register at the maroon link. Sponsored by Hartford Dismas House.Facing dorm crunch, Dartmouth offers $5K to students to live off-campus. The college is doubles into triples and converting some lounges to student rooms where possible, reports Nora Doyle-Burr in the VN, but even so, residential life dean Mike Wooten told students on a housing waitlist, "demand has exceeded our capacity. Although this has been the case in prior years, interest in living on campus has understandably surged following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.” The college is hoping up to 200 students will enter a one-time lottery for the payment."Do it as fast as possible, and pull it straight out. No twisting, no freak-out moments.” That's Dr. Kaitlyn Morse, executive director of BeBop Laps, the non-profit that tracks infected ticks in NH, talking to NHPR's Taylor Quimby about how to remove a tick if you find one embedded in you. Quimby's got straightforward advice (originally published last year and now posted again) for what to do (don't panic), how to identify the tick, and how to monitor for symptoms just in case.“I want to prove that not only did we live here, we still live here." Last summer, Darryl Peasley and Sherry Gould—his friend and fellow member of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation—launched the Abenaki Trails Project around Contoocook and Hopkinton. The project aims in part to document native sites in New Hampshire—part of an effort to make it clear that NH wasn't just a byway—and is one of the forces behind the major, bi-state art show at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner. Chelsea Sheasley profiles the project in the Christian Science Monitor, with some great art pics."I don’t think it’s possible to be too hyperbolic when it comes to ransomware threats." Pretty much every week—if not every day—in NH, some business gets hit with a ransomware attack, writes David Brooks on his Granite Geek blog. Though people tend to think of it as an IT issue, he writes, it's really an organizational problem, since attackers gain access through careless employees. “Once you’re beyond a certain size...it’s extremely difficult to stay safe,” says Tundra Slosek, of Newspapers of New England, the chain that owns the Valley News and the Monitor. NH Senate, House reach agreement on abortion funding restriction. As you'll remember, the House wanted to ban state funding unless Planned Parenthood and other providers physically separate abortion services from family planning services. The compromise worked out by Sen. Jed Bradley, reports Annmarie Timmins in NH Bulletin, would require them to show they're not using state money for abortion services—which they already do—but does not require them to relocate those services to a separate location. GOP House members say they'll reintroduce their measure as standalone legislation.As state of emergency expires, VT to continue some housing, food assistance. Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order yesterday that includes FEMA funding that would allow about two-thirds of the roughly 2,300 people currently housed in motels around the state to extend their stays for up to 84 days, while families and people with disabilities can qualify to stay indefinitely, reports Erin Petenko in VTDigger. About 720 households will no longer be eligible; the state is making money available to help cover moving costs. Under Scott's order, bars and restaurants can also continue to-go alcohol.Meanwhile, VT's eviction moratorium is coming to an end. It expires July 15, Anne Wallace Allen reports in Seven Days, at which point tenants can be ordered to leave for nonpayment of rent or other reasons. Although the state has been using federal aid to help tenants pay their rent during the pandemic—and to give VT Legal Aid extra money to help prevent evictions—advocates have argued that the rental assistance process is cumbersome. "I am talking to really scared and stressed clients every day," says Legal Aid's Grace Pazdan.Confusion among administrators as VT school mask mandate ends. In VTDigger, Lola Duffort reports that several superintendents yesterday planned to keep requiring indoor masks for students and staff, while others said they would recommend but not require it. Then came clarification from the state Agency of Education: Schools “should recommend, but not require mask use by unvaccinated students and staff.” The new regs, Duffort writes, give K-12 schools "fewer enforcement tools than private businesses. Bars, restaurants and retailers retain the right to require masking under state rules." Maple syrup shortage? Only if you like the weak stuff. The national press is noticing the syrup-production figures from these parts: It was down 21 percent in VT, 17 percent in NH. So no less than Food & Wine got worried—VT's production was the lowest since 2015, even with a million more taps. Still, "To be clear, we are not at risk of a maple syrup shortage," the director of the state sugar makers' association tells the mag's Mike Pomranz. "There may not be a lot of golden graded syrup out there—the syrup made this season seems to be amber and darker—but we have syrup."Poutine, here we come! US-Canada border could reopen this summer. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his country will begin to relax restrictions once 75 percent of the country’s eligible population has gotten at least one Covid vaccine dose. At a press conference yesterday, Allen reports, VT state officials said the number is now at 64 percent, and close to 70 percent in Québec. However, Gov. Phil Scott said, "Some of the premiers, reading their constituents, are saying they're a bit apprehensive about opening up the border. I'm not sure they're as excited about this as we are at this point."There are clouds. And then there's this. Back in May, Laura Rowe was out driving around with her boyfriend near Earth, in west Texas, when they noticed a tornado off in the distance and decided to follow it. “I had no idea how beautiful it was going to be up close,” she told one reporter. One of her final photos, taken with her cellphone as the sun was setting, was of the supercell thunderstorm illuminated by the sunset with what can only be described as an unruly head of cloud cascading above it. It's pretty unforgettable.
So...
For the first time in quite a while, Dartmouth reports no active cases. One faculty/staff member is in quarantine because of travel or exposure, while 2 faculty/staff are in isolation awaiting results.
NH reported 41 new cases yesterday, bringing it to an official total of 99,178. There was 1 new death, which now number 1,364, while 18 people with confirmed cases are hospitalized (down 2). The current active caseload is at 283 (up 3). The state reports 8 active cases in Grafton County (down 3), 22 in Sullivan (down 4), and 28 in Merrimack (no change). In town-by-town numbers reported by the state, Claremont has 7 (no change) and Unity has 5 (no change). Haverhill, Hanover, Canaan, Cornish, Croydon, Newport, Sunapee, Newbury, and Charlestown have 1-4 each.
VT reported 8 new cases yesterday, bringing it to a total case count of 24,339. There were no new deaths, which remain at 256, while 1 person with a confirmed case is hospitalized. Windsor County added 1 new case and stands at 1,504 for the pandemic, with 27 over the previous 14 days, while Orange County added no cases and remains at 822 cumulatively, with 8 over the previous two weeks.
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Today at 1 pm, Althea Sully Cole will bring her kora, the West African stringed instrument, to her parents' front porch for the next "Front Porch Jazz Series" installment at the Sully-Coles' in Thetford. She'll be joined by Ras Moshe on saxophone and flute, Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet and trumpet, and her dad, musician Bill Cole, on a variety of asian double-reeded horns and the didgeridoo.
At 5:30 pm, Claremont's TLC Family Resource Center and LGBTQ+ & Allies of Windsor VT kick off the second annual Rural Pride festival with a joint flag-raising in Claremont and Windsor. Panel discussion, open mic night, parade and picnic follow on Thursday-Saturday.
Also at 5:30, the Vermont Land Trust hosts an online presentation, "Gardening with Wildflowers: Making space for pollinators and other wildlife." UVM's Tori Hellwig and VLT's Liz Thompson talk about native wildflowers, how to select plants to attract pollinators, and how to design a garden to make the most of them.
At 6:30 this evening, ArtisTree kicks off its regular Wednesday "Music on the Hill" summer concert series with a trio of musicians who play with Burlington-based Hot Pickin' Party: bassist and singer Mike Santosusso, dobro and lap steel guitar player Adam Frehn (he and Santosusso also founded the jam-grass band Smokin' Grass) and go-to Vermont guitarist Doug Perkins.
If you feel like a drive, the Allman Betts Band will be at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe at 7 pm. Formed in 2019 by Devon Allman (Gregg's son), Duane Betts (Dickey's son) and Berry Duane Oakley (Berry's son), they drew big attention with their highly successful debut album, Down By the River, and last year's sophomore effort, Bless Your Heart.
Finally, at anytime: Despite VT's emergency housing extension, UVGEAR (you may once have known them as Silent Warriors) is bracing for an onslaught of requests for help as people who've been living in emergency motel housing in Vermont are asked to leave. The on-a-shoestring organization provides supplies (including tents, sleeping bags, and personal hygiene items) to Upper Valley residents experiencing homelessness, and it's already seeing rising referrals from the state and social service organizations. "Tents function as temporary emergency shelter to bridge the gap between stable housing, and it is extremely concerning that the state's current plan seems to be offering them as a long-term solution to the unhoused population," writes board member Lauren Whittlesey. They expect demand to jump as time goes on, and you can help out here.
“We all love rock & roll. We all love folk music. And we all love jazz. If anything, we want to be considered a musical event....I would like to get loose enough to dance.“ That was Joni Mitchell in 1979 as she was getting ready to tour with an astounding collection of talent: Pat Metheny (on guitar) and Lyle Mays (on keyboards), who'd just shot to the top of the charts with American Garage; bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius, who'd been playing with Mitchell and Weather Report; Don Alias, who'd worked with Miles Davis and Blood, Sweat and Tears, on drums; and saxophonist Michael Brecker, who'd worked with a crazy number of rock and pop stars. Here they are in Santa Barbara that year with an unstoppable "Free Man in Paris," Mitchell's song from Court and Spark.See you tomorrow.
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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