Pre-Owned Plow Rig Bolsters Winter Roads Fleet

The autumn air is brisk and bright this morning, giving you prime daylight hours before tonight's sharp freeze sets in. Soak up the afternoon sun while it lasts.

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The Lead

With temperatures dipping well below freezing tonight, town officials are locking down reinforcements for winter road maintenance. The Hartford Selectboard authorized the Department of Public Works to purchase a pre-owned 2018 International plow truck from the Town of Groton for $35,000.

Heavy municipal vehicles routinely face lengthy commercial backorders and new price tags exceeding $200,000, making the municipal purchase a practical shortcut to maintain fleet readiness across Hartford’s five villages. Maintaining nearly 140 miles of steep, winding roads requires dependable spare equipment when frontline plows inevitably suffer mechanical breakdowns during heavy snowstorms. DPW mechanics will spend the coming week outfitting the cab with town radios, inspecting the hydraulics, and mounting the wing plow before winter weather arrives.

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Local Pulse

• VA Expands Adaptive Sports for Local Veterans Health Federal funding awarded to Vermont Adaptive through the White River Junction medical center expands outdoor therapy and athletic programs.

• Town Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee Meets Monday Transit Committee members will review village sidewalk connections and proposed off-road bicycle corridor improvements at Town Hall tomorrow evening.

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Today's Outlook

• High 56°F · Low 25°F — Clear
  • Keep a heavy coat handy tonight as daytime sunshine gives way to freezing temperatures.

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What's On Around Town

Today

• Babysitting & CPR Certification Upper Valley Aquatic Center (100 Arboretum Ln), 9:00 AM–3:00 PM · Paid Hands-on emergency skills training and practical certification for aspiring young sitters.

• Shut Up & Write! Putnam's vine/yard (188 S Main St), 2:00–3:30 PM · Free Dedicated quiet writing sprint followed by casual conversation and warm drinks.

• Upper Valley Baroque: Pergolesi's Stabat Mater Lebanon Opera House (51 N Park St), Lebanon, 3:00–5:00 PM · Paid Period-instrument chamber orchestra performance featuring soaring vocal solos across the river.

Tomorrow

• Memory Café Gathering Bugbee Senior Center (262 N Main St), 10:00–11:30 AM · Free
• Pedestrian & Bicycle Master Plan Steering Committee Hartford Town Hall (171 Bridge St), 6:00 PM · Free

Tuesday

• Circle of Security Parenting Program The Family Place (52 Olcott Dr), 9:30–11:30 AM · Free
• Special Selectboard Budget Workshop Hartford Town Hall (171 Bridge St), 6:00 PM · Free

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Spotlight & Story

• Hurricane Forest Wildlife Refuge
  • Named after a late-1700s gale, this 142-acre sanctuary off Wright Reservoir Road shelters relics from the 1938 New England hurricane. Hikers regularly step right past colossal, moss-covered white pine trunks that crashed nearly nine decades ago, slowly decaying beneath living red oaks.

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Hartford Daily Digest — compiled from local sources every morning. For breaking updates, follow your local newsrooms.

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