Also on today’s menu:
Nor’Easter Knocks Out Power On The Cape
Pandemic Strengthens In New Hampshire
Arriving At A Consensus
A film crew captured dancer Victoria Awkward moving across an Oriental rug laid over the sand at Ballston Beach in Truro, Massachusetts, last week as she portrayed a bride dreaming about her wedding day. It was part of Boston Lyric Opera’s effort toward offering a new streaming service.
Bradley Vernatter, the company’s acting general and artistic director, came up with the idea of filming along on Truro’s coast and in a small nearby cottage. He told the Cape Cod Times that he has spent time in the area for years and knew its “expansive views.” The idea of having dancers perform outdoors in the one-act contemporary opera came from director Shura Baryshnikov and screenwriter Hannah Shepard.
The Boston Lyric Opera previously filmed a partly animated “Fall of the House of Usher” in January and an opera miniseries “desert in” last June for its new operabox.tv service. Vernatter said the decision to switch to movies when COVID-19 shut down live performances allowed the company to add “to the space of opera and media.” The Metropolitan Opera had previously offered live simulcast versions of its stage shows, including showings at Cape Cinema in Dennis and Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater.
Nor’Easter Knocks Out Power On The Cape
The opera company was fortunate to have filmed last week when the weather was ideal. Late Tuesday, a Nor’Easter hit Cape Cod and the Islands, as well as Eastern Massachusetts, bringing a combination of high winds, wet soil, and leafy trees that resulted in massive power outages.
“This could be a multi-day outage, but it’s hard to nail that down because we haven’t had a chance to assess all the potential damage to the system, particularly in hard-hit areas,” said Eversource spokesman Chris McKinnon.
Barnstable County officials reported 152,000 households and businesses without power on the Cape Wednesday afternoon.
Pandemic Strengthens In New Hampshire
Governor Chris Sununu announced at Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting in Concord that, with the number of COVID-19 cases again rising in New Hampshire, he will resume the weekly updates he provided earlier in the year.
The N.H. Department of Health and Human Services announced 11 additional COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday and Wednesday, and Sununu warned that “This winter could be tough” — perhaps worse than last winter.
Sununu and other health-care officials have warned that vaccine appointments and in-school clinics could be delayed a few weeks after the Executive Council two weeks ago refused $27 million in federal funds to provide vaccinations. The council approved a $4.7 million purchase of vaccines on Wednesday.
Arriving At A Consensus
After weeks of discussion, the commission charged with developing recommendations on the handling of police misconduct complaints is approaching a consensus. At Wednesday’s meeting, the commission agreed to increase the number of non-law enforcement members on the Police Standards and Training Council and to give a new review committee the authority to question investigative reports on officer misconduct when the conclusion did not appear to be supported by the evidence.
Under the new draft, which Attorney General John Formella and Senior Assistant Attorney General Matthew Broadhead reworked based on comments made last week, the Police Standards and Training Council would be expanded to include 10 members of law enforcement, two judges, the attorney general or designee, and four members of the public. The new Law Enforcement Conduct Review Committee would comprise four law enforcement members and three public members, along with a staff attorney to provide guidance, carry out investigations, and present cases of likely officer misconduct to the Council for a decision on whether to sustain the findings.
The commission is meeting again today and, if unable to complete its recommendations to the legislature for a bill to address officer misconduct, again on Monday to finalize its report, due that day.
Please Support Our Efforts
The News Café is a virtual meeting place where we discuss the news of the day. An effort by the Liberty Independent Media Project, the work does not rely on advertising, as most media outlets do, freeing us to provide an independent focus on events and cultural issues. The project instead relies on direct monetary support from donors and subscribers.
If you like what we’re doing, please give what you can. Subscriptions to this newsletter are available for as little as $5 per month. Subscribers can share their knowledge, thoughts, and questions about any topic, and we may select some of those subjects for more in-depth analysis.
If you’re unable to pay but still want to receive all of the free public posts in your in-box, click the Subscribe button and select a free subscription.