GOOD MORNING, UPPER VALLEY!
Slightly warmer, showers still possible. Some fog in spots to start, but mostly today's going to be a transition from cloudy to sunny. There's still a chance of rain and maybe thunder later this morning and into the afternoon, but let's just agree to believe it when we see it. Temps will reach the lower 80s, winds from the northwest. Lower 60s tonight.Stella? Anyone seen Stella? You can see why these geese in a field of alfalfa in E. Thetford earlier this week caught Tom Monego's eye. (And no, we're not even going to talk about what those geese were doing around here.)You don't need to stay away from all of downtown WRJ. Though the north end of the core downtown block was flooded last week, the southern half wasn't. And a business owner at that end writes that because people are staying away, "it's killing our business. What most people don't know is that the building the Coolidge Hotel and businesses to its south are in was NOT flooded. The hotel, Long River Gallery, the Junction Frame Shop, and others are all dry and welcoming visitors. It was bad enough when we really DID have a flood (summer, 2020), but we don't need any floods by proxy." (Thanks, RO!)Strafford woman attacked by bear. Lucy the terrier helps out. Susan Lee was walking her Jack Russell terrier and her labradoodle Saturday when a black bear charged her. She tripped and fell, and the bear bit and scratched her, until Lucy's barking shifted the bear's attention; Lee was able to escape and get home—where she found the labradoodle, waiting. A neighbor took her to Gifford. Game wardens and state bear biologist Jaclyn Comeau visited the site, concluding the bear was a female with cubs "and that the attack was likely provoked when Ms. Lee and her dogs surprised the group." More details in VTDigger coverage here, Seven Days here.SPONSORED: Chapman's Provisions is now open! Family owned and operated for nearly 150 years, Chapman's General in Fairlee has expanded our offerings. Chapman's Provisions features a new beer cave, expanded wine selection, organic vegetables, local cheeses, and a hand-picked selection of the finest regional pantry goods. Come see what's old... and what's new! Sponsored by Chapman's General.After 18 months in office, Hartford town manager finally getting a formal review. Tracy Yarlott-Davis was supposed to get formal feedback from the Selectboard 90 days into her tenure and then annually after that, reports Darren Marcy in the Valley News, but it hasn't happened until now. “There is responsibility on our part to do an evaluation,” board chair Michael Hoyt tells him. "The time frame was not met.” The board's work comes amid criticism of Yarlott-Davis "by a seemingly small yet vocal group of residents" and by board members Lannie Collins and Rocket, Marcy writes.There's a new cocktail bar in town. If, that is, you think of the Upper Valley as one large town. Woodstock's Au Comptoir is the latest project of Zoe Zilian, who also founded Farmhouse Pottery there. "I was planning to offer interior design services and products but thought, Gosh, Woodstock doesn't need more of that. It needs a bar," she tells Seven Days' Jordan Barry. It opened Aug. 10 and offers classic cocktails, original cocktails using fresh-pressed juices and housemade syrups and infusions, wines, craft beers, and small bites.And maybe a new millionaire, too. Someone bought a Tri-State Megabucks lottery ticket—01-08-26-31-38 MB (02), in case you're wondering—at the Kinney Drugs in Bradford on Saturday that's now worth $1.7 million. A far cry from the $367 million Powerball ticket sold in Middlebury last month, but still, not something you want to lose in the laundry.It takes 40 different color "chips" to chart the changing hue of Dennis Rodman's hair over his NBA career. You've gotta think that Edith Young is a bit obsessive. But we "see the world anew," writes Howe librarian Jared Jenisch in this week's Enthusiasms, as she traces shades of color in art and pop culture—Prince's concert outfits, the blue(ish) bills of Audubon's birds, the reds of caps in Renaissance portraits, the course of Spike Lee's eyeglasses—in her book Color Scheme. All of them, she writes, are "a reminder of the infinite possibilities afoot.”How to figure out who's running in your district in NH and, sometimes, what they stand for. It's not easy, what with redistricting, small state House districts, and the like. But as the Sept. 13 primary approaches, NH Bulletin's Amanda Gokee rounds up the websites you can visit to figure out which voting ward you're in (around here, "wards" are mostly whole towns), your polling place, who's running where you live, and, at least as a start, Citizens Count's guide to statewide, Exec Council, and legislative candidates' positions—though many of them haven't yet responded, or have responded only partially.NH's energy strategy blames other New England states' push on renewables for rising prices; advocates say it's got things backward. Energy News Network's Lisa Prevost writes that NH energy officials argue that "higher-cost renewables" are putting "upward pressure" on electricity prices. But clean energy experts counter that not only are renewables are falling in cost, and that it's NH's outsized reliance on natural gas and its decision to downplay energy efficiency that's hurting consumers.Pretty soon, you'll be able to find Lebanon's annual reports—back to forever—online. So here's something cool: City and town reports for 214 of New Hampshire’s 234 communities are digitized and searchable, thanks to UNH. But Lebanon's hasn't been. Now, writes Annmarie Timmins in NH Bulletin, its reports and the remaining 19 other towns' reports should be ready by November. While you wait, dig around in what's already available. Did you know that in 1900, there were 771 cows, 386 horses, and 2 mules in Cornish?With new Census estimates, it's not just anecdotal: People are moving to VT. With more newcomers arriving in Windsor County than any other county in the state. On Vermont Public, Mitch Wertlieb talks the numbers over with VTDigger's Erin Petenko. The shift represents all sorts of changes, including a reverse of population decline and the fact that in-migrants are mostly coming from within the US, rather than other countries. Oh, and Chittenden County didn't lead the growth. "If you can work remotely," explains Petenko, "you might be seeking out specifically a rural environment."Revisiting the fabled, phantom-like “North Pond Hermit” of Maine. River Dave's move to that state brings to mind Michael Finkel’s uncanny 2014 article in GQ about Christopher Thomas Knight, the man who lived for 27 years in total solitude in the central Maine woods. Knight stole everything he needed to survive: food, clothes, propane to power the stove he stole. When his thieving caught up to him, Finkel wrote him letters and visited him in jail. How did he outlast each winter? Why did he disappear? What deep truths did he learn? Knight said little but spoke volumes.Turns out, black holes make noise. And I don't know about you, but to me it makes them even less desirable as a tourist destination. In 2003, astronomers discovered that pressure waves sent out by the black hole at the center of the Perseus Galaxy cause ripples in the cluster’s hot gases that can be translated into a note—though it's 57 octaves below middle C, which makes it inaudible to humans. A new "sonification," however, fixes that. NASA tweeted out the results on Sunday. Here's its original release (from May), with explanation.The Wednesday Vordle. If you're new to Daybreak, this is the Upper Valley version of Wordle, with a word related to an item in a recent Daybreak.And yeah, in case you missed it yesterday: There's now Daybreak swag. T-shirts, tank tops, and, of course, coffee/tea/cocoa mugs. It's all available thanks to Strong Rabbit Designs, owned and run by Morgan and Jeremiah Brophy in Sharon. Check out what's available and wear it or drink from it (but not both) proudly! 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And music to get you started this morning...
...with torch singer, songwriter, and actress Sara Niemietz,
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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