  We propose and apply a new approach to determining $|V_{us}|$ using
dispersion relations with weight functions having poles at Euclidean
(space-like) momentum which relate strange hadronic $\tau$ decay distributions
to hadronic vacuum polarization functions (HVPs) obtained from lattice QCD. We
show examples where spectral integral contributions from the region where
experimental data have large errors or do not exist are strongly suppressed but
accurate determinations of the relevant lattice HVP combinations remain
possible. The resulting $|V_{us}|$ agrees well with determinations from $K$
physics and 3-family CKM unitarity. Advantages of this new approach over the
conventional hadronic $\tau$ decay determination employing flavor-breaking sum
rules are also discussed.
