GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
High pressure. It's overhead today, on its way east. So we get a brilliant day, temps in the mid or upper 70s, light winds from the north. Lows tonight in the mid or lower 50s. Pretty much perfect, in other words.Low pressure. Because it's quiet time on Canaan Street Lake, from Ashley Arsenal.Dan Fraser resigns as Dan & Whit's manager for "health and wellness" reasons. That's according to his father, George, who confirmed the move to the Valley News's John Lippman yesterday; Dan couldn't be reached for comment. His last day was Aug. 8, and both George Fraser and Dan's brother, Rob, remain involved in running the store—though Dan's resignation, Lippman writes, "raises obvious questions about the future of the store." “We’re still working on a transition period and trying to find other people,” George says. "We have a lot of homework to do."In defamation case brought by former Woodstock Inn athletic director, court hearing explores how big a news outlet has to be to matter. The case was brought by Alejandro Figueroa, who'd been fired from the inn's athletic club, against Devon Kurtz, a Woodstock resident who wrote an op-ed in the VT Standard alleging that Figueroa sexually harassed him. In yesterday's hearing, reports VTDigger's Ethan Weinstein, Kurtz sought to have the case dismissed because his op-ed was about a matter of "public interest." Figueroa's lawyer countered that the Standard's relatively small circulation kept his client's "personnel matter" from reaching that threshold. Which led the judge to wonder whether Digger or the NYT would be big enough.Upper Valley school districts still face hiring shortages, but some report the crunch has eased over previous years. Last year, Newport NH school supt. Donna Magoon tells the VN's Nora Doyle-Burr, she had to fill nearly 30 teaching vacancies before the school year started; this year, it's a dozen. And in Bradford, VT, Orange East superintendent Randy Gawel says word-of-mouth recruitment has helped keep vacancies to a handful. Still, Doyle-Burr reports, schools are having to adapt: Bluff Elementary in Claremont will have two multi-grade classes; elsewhere, teachers are filling in for missing colleagues.Someone's been poaching Yellowstone's wild wolf population. And Ren Hopper, the park ranger at the center of Peter Heller's new novel, The Last Ranger, is determined to track him down. In lots of ways, writes Liza Bernard in this week's Enthusiasm, the book's a portrait of what rangers deal with, from drunk drivers to heedless sightseers: "a complicated balancing act between the local residents, scientists, tourists, and wildlife, including bears, moose, and wolves." But it's also a thriller and, given Heller's background as an adventurer and adventure writer, a dramatic piece of nature writing.SPONSORED: Music By The River with Houston Bernard on Friday! Bring a picnic, bring friends & family and get your country music game on as Pentangle Arts celebrates the season's last concert with Nashville recording star and New England native Houston Bernard. Rain or shine, this is a night you won’t want to miss, with a lively vibe that’s the perfect finale to our popular Music by the River concert series. Music starts at 6 pm, but come at 5:30 for a line dancing warmup led by Houston’s team! On the Woodstock Green (or in the Town Hall Theater in case of rain). Sponsored by Pentangle Arts.Opossums: resistance to snake venom, able to feign death, and North America's only marsupials. Which, Northern Woodlands' Elise Tillinghast writes, means they could also have been resistant to dinosaur venom (for one thing, marsupials date back to the Cretaceous, and though there's no undisputed evidence for venomous dinosaurs, you never know). Among the other remarkable fauna out there this week in the woods: locust borers, meadowhawk dragonflies, and luna moth caterpillars. Which, next summer, will be eye-catching adult moths.Oh, and also out there: mature white and red baneberry. Which, Mary Holland writes in Naturally Curious, you definitely do not want to ingest: Their berries "are the most poisonous part of their respective plants—but all parts...are toxic and can cause respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest if consumed." Animals—including birds, mice, voles, and deer—have no such concerns. Holland notes that Native Americans used both baneberry species to treat rattlesnake bites, while red baneberry was good for syphilis and arrowhead poison.SPONSORED: The Vermont Institute of Natural Science is hiring a Development Coordinator. Would you like to help protect Vermont's natural heritage and take part in the active care of our environment? Apply for the Development Coordinator position at VINS! This is an events-heavy position with significant opportunities to assume responsibilities across a wide range of fundraising, relationship building, marketing, communications, and management activities. Learn more & apply at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Quechee, VT.Word of the day: Stridulation. That’s the magical sound katydids make when they rub their front wings together, and it’s just one of the things the VT Center for Ecostudies gives us to appreciate about August. You may be blue about the approaching end of summer, but consider the joy of watching orange and black fritillaries whiz around a meadow, or birds stopping by woods on a summer evening (“August is a delightful time to encounter hardwood bird species atop our tallest mountains”) because, well, that’s where dinner is. Things are tough for crickets, though, which great golden digger wasps paralyze, tote underground, and lay an egg on. The larva thrives, the cricket, not so much.Mt. Mansfield: an island refuge for high-elevation species. That's how VT botanist Grace Glynn describes it, writes Paige Fisher in VTDigger—but it's a description that, thanks to climate change, has a shelf life. The mountain's relative isolation and acidic bedrock have produced a rare "assemblage" of plant and animal life, but lower-elevation plants are already moving upward: "Roadside weeds, for example, have already begun to creep up to areas closer to the summit," Fisher writes.The rain's been good for mushrooms. It's also been good for mosquitoes. “Everything in the environment that can hold water—from a catch basin to a salt marsh to a woodland pool to a tarp or canoe or dog bowl—all of them provide habitats for mosquitoes," says Sarah MacGregor, head of a Stratham, NH mosquito control company. "And this summer, they all have water in them." That's led to a bumper crop, reports NHPR's Grace McFadden, including 13 that have tested positive for Jamestown Canyon Virus (no human or animal cases have been reported). If you have standing water in your yard, get rid of it.NH doubles size of its Elder Abuse and Financial Exploitation Unit. To be sure, we're not talking big numbers: It's expanding from three people to six, adding a second prosecutor along with an investigator and paralegal. The move, reports NHPR's Kate Dario, comes after a 71 percent jump in reports of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation over the past five years. And Asst. Senior Attorney General Bryan Townsend II, the unit’s lead prosecutor, estimates that for every 1,500 cases that get reported, 35,000 go unreported.In Concord murder trial, judge allows more DNA testing; defense objects. The move came six weeks before Logan Clegg, who's been charged with the double shooting of Steve and Wendy Reid last year, is scheduled to go to trial; the new tests could delay proceedings. Prosecutors requested the testing, reports WMUR's Tim Callery, because initial DNA results have been inconclusive, neither implicating nor exonerating Clegg. Judge John Kissinger said he would allow the new testing, but that he intended to safeguard the Oct. 2 trial date and will decide later if he will allow the evidence in the trial."Attempting to represent all aspects of the wheel is an impossible task." But as you'd expect from the Museum of Everyday Life in Glover, VT, they'll take a whack at representing some of them, in as unexpected a way as possible. "No summer is complete without a visit," Susan Apel writes in Artful, after checking out the museum's current exhibit, "What Goes Around Comes Around." It's "thoughtful, witty, and best of all, interactive," Susan writes. And adds a couple of eating recommendations nearby.Speaking of eating... If you happen to find yourself on the stretch of Rte. 2 between St. J and Montpelier looking for good food, which can be kind of a challenge, Suzanne Podhaizer's got a recommendation in Seven Days: Three Ponds Sandwich Kitchen in Danville. The spot was originally near Joe's Pond (which is actually three ponds) but has moved into town, by the intersection with the road to Peacham. Fried chicken, Cubanos, Reubens... and lots of creative vegetarian options, Podhaizer writes, including a kimchi and tempeh sandwich with pea shoots and chile mayo. Fair warning: they're not cheap.VT's oldest known Jewish house of worship to become food hall, apartments. That's because in June, the Burlington congregation that owned it, Ahavath Gerim, sold the Old North End building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, to a local entrepreneur who tells Seven Days' Alison Novak that "it's been his lifelong dream to rehab an old, storied building and 'be a part of history.'" He's working with historic preservationists and leaders of Ohavi Zedek, the historic congregation that occupied the building before Ahavath Gerim, to preserve key religious relics and furniture.Prepare to cringe. But also to savor. "Best-of” lists are fine; “worst-of” lists are much more fun. Like Andy Greene's "50 Worst Decisions in TV History" in Rolling Stone: a sitcom featuring the Geico cavemen; Steven Bochco’s singing, dancing cops (“especially the part in the pilot when the jury sings ‘He’s Guilty’ with a gospel choir”); Geraldo Rivera opening Al Capone’s vault on live TV; even Seinfeld makes an appearance, for the episode where Susan is killed off and nobody cares (“There was such a fierce backlash that the writers placed George on a charitable-foundation board in Susan’s honor the next season.”)The Wednesday Vordle. If you're new to Daybreak, this is the Upper Valley version of Wordle, with a five-letter word chosen from an item in the previous day's Daybreak.
Daybreak doesn't get to exist without your support. Help it keep going by hitting the maroon button:
A
Lost Woods
mug from DB Johnson for you? Or maybe a Vordle t-shirt? Or, of course, Daybreak tees, long-sleeve tees, and mugs. Check out what's available and wear it (or drink from it) proudly! Email me ([email protected]) if you've got questions.
From 3 to 5 pm today, the Peabody Library in Post Mills hosts a Penny Carnival: games, prizes, food, and music, with all carnival games and treats costing a penny each. Plus contests for oldest and ugliest pennies, a raffle, and a kids' book sale.
At 6:30 pm, the Choral Arts Foundation hosts the third of its four "Summer Sings" gatherings for any singer who's interested. This one, “Choral Classics & Contemporary Favorites 2.0," will be led by Jane Woods and include classics like Mozart's Lacrimosa, Bach's Dona Nobis and Sicut Locutus Est, contemporary favorites like Thompson's Road Not Taken, and folk songs and spirituals such as Shenandoah, Walk Together Children, and Like a River. In the Batchelder Lounge of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College.
And at 7:30 this evening, the New London Barn Playhouse opens its run of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, Lanie Robertson's wrenching tribute and exploration of Billie Holiday's life and music, set at a bar in Philly four months before her death. With a remarkable collection of Billie Holiday songs made more poignant by her reminiscences. Through Sept. 3.
And to start us off today...
We'll turn to Senegalese griot and kora player Seckou Keita (who now lives in London), the BBC Concert Orchestra, and renowned cellist Abel Selaocoe
off Keita's recent album,
African Rhapsodies
.
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, writers, and librarians who think you should 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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