To my fellow Windham-3 residents: I urge you to vote for Leslie Goldman in the primary for state representative.
I have known Leslie since she began her medical practice in Bellows Falls in 1982, first as a medical practitioner, later as a neighbor, and eventually as a close friend and colleague. We have served together on committees, we have shared the ups and downs of parenting children close in age, and I have seen her in action as an advocate for education, for health care, for community well-being.
Leslie is fearless when it comes to speaking up for her community. She is dedicated to community service, as a family nurse practitioner with master's degree in public health, as a school board and Selectboard member, as a friend and parent.
She studies every issue carefully, she listens to all voices, and she carefully considers the pros and cons of each.
Vermont is being flooded by COVID-19 hot-spotters looking to buy property. Gov. Scott ended quarantine rules for them recently. Now, sociopath real estate agents in Brattleboro are trying to bring them into people's homes. Vermont's current emergency directive - “Realtors and landlords may not require occupants of a home...
I am a close colleague of Emily Peyton; we work together to improve the future by bringing forward a member-owned nonprofit franchise plan, Hempstone Villages Co., I also work with her and others across the country to form a noncorporate governing body by and through jural assemblies, which aim...
To my fellow Windham County residents: I urge you to vote for Michelle Bos-Lun for Windham-4 state representative. While I fully supported Nader Hashim in his campaign two years ago, with his decision not to seek re-election, I cannot think of a better person to continue his hard work than Michelle, who is uniquely qualified to go to the State House due to her extensive background in social services, education, and nonprofit management. Two summers ago, I was a student...
I support Leslie Goldman's candidacy for the Windham-3 seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. During the 2018 campaign season, Leslie and I spent every Sunday going door to door talking to voters about the urgency of the upcoming election and the need to get out and vote. We met people of all different political persuasions - most were friendly, but some decidedly were not. But Leslie was not deterred by any response we received. Again and again, Leslie would...
College news • The following local students at the Community College of Vermont (CCV) earned associate degrees in spring 2020: Keri E. Ticino of Bellows Falls; Makayla M. Aldrich, Christopher L. Burkheimer, Tia M. Gilbeau, Tyler Lindsay Morris, Billie Jo Rickey, Caitlin C. Senni, Sabrina M. Smith, Bruce M. Sweeter, Jr., Evon Michele Valentine, Ryan S. Weeks, Jessica A. Weiner, and Olivia C. Wright of Brattleboro; Timothy Lahey of Dummerston; Jessica Lee Westclark and Terran J. Williams of Grafton; Jessica...
Brattleboro to resume parking enforcement on July 1 BRATTLEBORO - The town has announced that it will resume parking enforcement operations on Wednesday, July 1. Parking meters and kiosks will once again require payment for parking downtown. This includes all regulated surface parking lots and all on-street metered parking spaces. Parking enforcement had been halted on March 17 in response to COVID-19. To protect public health, the town said that all meter and kiosk push buttons will receive a regular...
As a result of a donation from Rotary Clubs across the state, Vermonters in need will continue to receive fresh dairy products from the Vermont Foodbank for weeks to come. Continuing a collaboration begun earlier this year to connect Vermont dairy assistance to Vermonters, the Foodbank will receive food donations of yogurt and butter produced in the Green Mountain State in support of their food-assistance efforts. According to a news release, 10 Vermont Rotary Clubs joined forces to raise more...
The Rich Earth Institute team has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $225,000 to develop a self-contained system for turning human urine into a concentrated, sanitized, and purified fertilizer. Paired with commercially available urine-diverting toilet fixtures, this system will produce a valuable and sustainable product from urine, which is otherwise treated as waste. According to a news release, the system, designed and built by Rich Earth founder and research director Abraham Noe-Hays,
The media have given us endless coverage of the protests. And many have spoken of their hope that, at long last, we will become a sensibler, fairer country. But there's been almost no talk of how we will get there, of the actual changes we now need to work for. So here's a list. I don't know if it's right. But we need an agenda, in no order except the first: • to protect life for all of us, an...
The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has partnered with the Department of Disabilities, Aging & Independent Living (DAIL) and Vermont State Police (VSP) to create visor cards to help people who are deaf or hard of hearing communicate with law enforcement officers if they are pulled over while driving. Vermonters can now obtain the visor cards through the DMV, and the VSP has given a visor card to every state trooper. The 4- by 9-inch cards state clearly at...
At a time when things seem to be coming apart all around us, we need people who aren't afraid to speak truth to power and who understand that we as a society cannot move forward when so many of us are left behind. I enthusiastically support Michelle Bos-Lun, who is running for the Windham-4 District House of Representatives seat. Michelle has been walking her talk for a good 20 years and continues to step up to the plate to give...
I so heard Amber Arnold [“Dear white people,” Viewpoint, June 3], when she asked you to “protect Black and Brown children,” “Black men,” and “black and brown bodies.” I, too, am a Black mother. When I saw the live, up-close-and-personal killing of George Floyd, I couldn't stop crying for the first four days, because, like Amber, I immediately thought about my boys, Gershom and Justin, and my grandsons, Jai, Justin Jr., and the other dozen of my grandchildren. It hit...
When Dr. Dottie Morris offered to facilitate a four-part discussion of the book The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas for the Rockingham Free Public Library, beginning on Monday, July 27 at 7 p.m., the library staff gave an enthusiastic “Yes!” The New York Times bestseller explores the life of 16-year-old Starr Carter, who moves between two worlds: the poor black neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school that she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds...
It was humbling to sit on the Town Common on June 17 and listen to stories of pain and frustration presented by people whose lives have been impacted in negative ways over the years by the Brattleboro Police Department. But it was equally humbling to realize how little I (and perhaps others) know about the people who now work in that department. I've met Chief Mike Fitzgerald once or twice. But I didn't know until recently that he grew up...
In 2018, I moved to Alabama to pursue my studies and, quite honestly, to escape the harshness of Vermont winters (to each their own). I grew up in Vermont, in downtown Brattleboro for much of that time. I worked at a local bank, and before that I waited tables. I interacted with a lot of people every day, and as the time for me to leave drew near, word that I would be moving to Alabama had spread. I quickly...
On May 20, Governor Phil Scott laid out his administration's plans for helping Vermont recover from the economic blow delivered by the COVID-19 virus. He laid out plans for dairy and agriculture, small and medium-sized business, renters and landlords. Even the homeless, so often ignored, have been considered by this plan and may see some relief. As has been the case throughout the pandemic, the governor assumes the mantle of a COVID-fighting superhero, taking good care of his state. But...
How is it that until this year, I didn't know about Juneteenth, the anniversary of the day the news of the Emancipation Proclamation made it to Texas, then a remote outpost? How is it that until this year, I didn't know that Juneteenth has been a state holiday in Vermont since 2008? How is it that I grew up celebrating not just Christopher Columbus's “discovery” of America, but also the man himself, a man who enslaved the residents who were...
Voters in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, and Putney: Approval of the proposed operating budget for WSESD means the tax rate will go up $0.013 per $1,000 of valuation - a little over a penny. This would result in a $13 annual tax increase on a homestead assessed at $100,000; $26 for a $200,000 homestead, $39 for $300,000, etc. The ballot language required by the Legislature reports a 4.5-percent increase in spending per equalized pupil, but this is not your school tax...
I did not expect to cry while reading this piece, but that's what happened. This beautiful story about baseball, grace, and patience uplifted me for days. Thank you, Ronan Khalsa, for telling the story in such an affecting way, and thank you, Leif Bigelow and Zinabu McNeice, for demonstrating that the great game of baseball is still played by great people. You reminded me about something I had forgotten about the game I have always loved.
New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA), one of the most comprehensive circus arts schools in the United States, is reopening to the public on June 29 after three months of closure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Local enrollment in the school's summer session is open for registration with aerial and acrobatic classes for beginner through advanced students. Students will rejoin small group activities with classes that are in-person while physically distanced. NECCA typically offers more than 50 recreational...
Mount Island has announced winners of the digital magazine's Lucy Terry Prince Prize, for rural poets of color. Grand prize winner is Brittny Ray Crowell, for the poem “Blood Petition: A Prayer of Reckoning.” The runner up poems are “The Big Day” by Jordan Charlton and “Can You Taste The Ivory Coast Chocolate” by Mervyn Seivwright. “During times such as these, poetry is often one of the vehicles that reminds us of the importance of bearing witness,” writes Shanta Lee...
On June 30 (or earlier if people vote by mail), voters in Putney, Brattleboro, Dummerston, and Guilford, the four towns that make up the local school district, will vote on the school budget. There are a number of reasons why a yes vote on this budget is crucial. The budget was first created with the input of parents, school board members, the teachers' union, and other vested parties. The budget as written calls for very small increases in the property...
The death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer has immediately proved to be a tipping point, with a number of consequences ranging from demonstrations to a broader national conversation about law enforcement, its history, and its culture. The brazen killing of Floyd in Minneapolis in May- an act documented on videotape that was only the latest in a string of deaths of people of color by police - has catapulted the issues of race and racism...
Please vote on June 30 and support your community schools in the West River Valley. During these uncertain times, our board's aim is to provide stability and direction, and we need the help and support of all voting members. We are excited about exploring future educational opportunities for students of the West River Valley, but it all starts with this critical vote. If you are a voting member of the West River Modified Union Education District, here is some important...
A local nonprofit has launched a mutual aid fund aiming to support LGBTQ+ people, especially LGBTQ+ people of color, by distributing donations to the fund to qualified applicants. Out in the Open's fund offers up to $400 per individual for what it calls “groceries, supplies, housing support, medical support, and other thriving and survival needs.” The first round of funding, which closed on June 17, distributed $3,100 to eight people. “Mutual aid is about sharing resources with your community,” HB...
After the brutal death of George Floyd and increasing awareness about the mistreatment of vulnerable individuals during police encounters, the people of Windham Country and around our nation are demanding change. Two bills in the Vermont Legislature provide an opportunity for decreasing the use of inappropriate force by the police. I have contacted my legislators many times about an issue that impacts the lives of vulnerable Vermonters: the need for training and support for emergency responders in handling 911 calls...
Seven years ago, the town of Brattleboro was lauded as a “national leader” by animal advocates around the country after signs warning of the danger of leaving dogs unattended in vehicles were installed in all municipal parking lots. The permanent signs warn that heat can kill animals left in parked cars, and also remind us that it is illegal in Vermont to endanger them. They were strategically placed on all park-and-pay kiosks in town. They're visible from various vantage points,
Centenarian Warren Patrick and his family throw big birthday parties. Sure, the COVID-19 pandemic may have altered their plans, but it could not stop them. So instead of a party, they held a parade. On June 12, sitting at the side of the road, Patrick wore his annual birthday shirt - this year's read “Still shines at 109” - and waved at each car that drove through the parking lot of Valley Cares Inc. and the West River Valley Senior...
A big part of caring for elders is maintaining their physical health, explained Valley Cares Executive Director Susanne Shapiro. Still, a person's health is more than physical. It also involves emotional and social aspects. “There is a real need for a better balance of providing for their physical and emotional needs and also providing for their safety,” she said. “It's a conflict. At West River Valley Senior Housing, Valley Cares assisted living facility serves 35 residents, who get help with...
This summer, Sandglass Theater will take a very special dip into their history. Each week, beginning Thursday, June 25, the theater will stream an archival video of a production that is no longer being performed in their repertoire. These performances represent a wide spectrum of Sandglass's work over an almost-40-year history. A discussion will accompany each free, one-time livestream and will include special guests such as the theater's founders, ensemble members, and collaborators. Sandglass will host these programs throughout the...
In our church entryway, a certificate hanging on the wall is a source of enormous pride to us. The document proclaims that Centre Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) is an Open and Affirming Congregation. The text reads that in 2013 our church “entered into a covenant welcoming people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions into Christian fellowship.” In the midst of so much disheartening national news in our country, it gives us great cause for celebration...
Rows of green and red lettuce stretch across the fields of Harlow's River View Farm. As the warm June sun warms the morning air, volunteers gather around Zach Hebert as he demonstrates how to harvest the large heads of lettuce. Hebert and his volunteers are kicking off a new season of the Vermont Foodbank's southern Vermont gleaning program, which partners with local farms to harvest excess produce or fruit. Volunteers pick - or glean - the surplus food. The gleaned...
The project proposed for the Grafton Village Cheese facility is still too new for Buzz Schmidt to discuss. But if all goes well, the current cheese facility next to the Retreat Farm on Route 30 will become an integral part of the region's local food infrastructure. Will the new project be a food hub? Or campus? Or venue? Time will tell, and the conversations are just starting. At this stage, Schmidt said he is investigating having the Retreat Farm take...
We are glad that the Selectboard voted to approve the annual budget without defunding the police force. We recognize that different voices have different ideas about how defunding would work, but anyone who wants to defund the Brattleboro police had better have a plan to keep the two of us safe. Because we don't feel safe. For Shanta, as a Black American woman, it is impossible not to experience the challenge of having brown skin in a white town and...