Issue #121

Area briefs

BRATTLEBORO - Volunteers are sought for the AARP/IRS TaxAide Program, which assists elderly and low/moderate income families in doing their 2010 personal income taxes.

Training will be provided in two phases for new volunteers. First will be an introduction to the TaxAide program to include step-by-step training on the Taxwise computer program that is used with TaxAide. The introduction will be conducted in early November (dates and times to be announced). A more formal in depth training program for both new and returning volunteers will be held in January 2012. Beginning in February, volunteers will be asked to give four hours a week of counseling for 10 weeks.

Also urgently needed are volunteers to take phone calls and make appointments as well as greeters/pre-tax assistors at the TaxAide sites. For further information, contact Jean Cornish at 802-365-7222 or [email protected].

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Vermont Law School professors weigh in on post-VY trial briefs

Who will win, Entergy or the state of Vermont? That's a common question being asked at water coolers across southern Vermont since Entergy filed suit in U.S. District Court in Brattleboro against Vermont in April. One preliminary injunction hearing, a three-day trial, and two post-trial briefs later, U.S. District...

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Empathy for a thief

Odd I should find “The last frontier” today [Viewpoint, Sept. 28]. I was looking to post a comment about a theft from our home this Monday. My husband's stereo amplifier was stolen from inside our apartment building not 15 minutes after its delivery by UPS! Of course, he would...

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Lucky to hear the noise of our youth at play

I live near an elementary school in Brattleboro, where daily I hear screaming, hollering, clapping cheering and, if I am lucky, music. Not to mention the sound of basketballs sometimes late into the night. I treasure the sounds of our youth at play. Does Barry Adams [“Opposes not a skatepark, but a plan,” Letters, Sept. 28] think that we should abolish outdoor activities at our schools, as well? I might also point out that many old-growth trees survive being planted...

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Colonel girls struggle through a tough soccer season

The Brattleboro Colonels girls' soccer team has been battling injuries and hard luck all season. Friday's game against Hartford at Tenney Field was no exception, as the Colonels were beaten by the Hurricanes, 3-1. Bethany Bouthillier, Clara Leister, and Jesse Gofberg all scored for Hartford before Linnea Jahn tallied Brattleboro's only goal off a Chiara Leven throw-in. The Colonels had plenty of chances, but Hartford goalkeeper Jen Mariotti shut down Brattleboro in the first half, and her understudy, Ava Simond,

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Demanding climate action

The recent cataclysmic weather events, ranging from Dust Bowl drought and rampant fires in the west to raging rivers and record rainfall in the east, seem cosmic if not biblical to me and, I know, to others. A subtle sense of fear is palpable, and we no longer joke so cavalierly about the Mayan prediction that the world will end on 12/12/12. Does this mean our collective consciousness has been raised sufficiently to make us take global climate change seriously...

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Thanks from the Housing Authority

The last four weeks at Melrose Terrace in West Brattleboro have been incredibly heart-lifting and heart-wrenching. Our hearts have been lifted in so many ways by so many of you that it would take this entire page to list (and then I'd still leave someone out)! Your work has been gracious, patient, and loving. You have cared for each resident and carried their belongings and their spirits through this time of destruction, dislocation, and loss. The Brattleboro Housing Authority's tiny...

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Community pride: Still a priority

On Sept. 10, volunteers planted a welcome garden at Exit 1 as the first stage of the Exit 1 Gateway Project, the idea of our group of concerned citizens who joined this summer to initiate a movement for greater beautification and maintenance of the town's landscape with citizen participation. We adopted Exit 1 as our first project because it has been an under-recognized area of great importance. As the first exit in Vermont, Exit 1 serves as a primary gateway...

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Milestones

Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • Carol Lee Bernal, 72, of Searsburg. Died Sept. 24 at her home. Wife of Clesson C. “Chuck” Bernal for nearly 44 years. Mother of Clesson C. Bernal II of Searsburg, Heather Berry of Whitingham, Evangie Bernal of Bennington, Jeffrey Desrochers of Lake Elmore, and Michael and David Desrochers of Morrisville. Sister of Paul Roy...

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Brattleboro Literary Fest turns 10 with its most far-ranging lineup ever

The Brattleboro Literary Festival is coming to town again in October, and 2011 marks its 10th anniversary. This year, for the first time, workshops will be offered for fiction writers and poets, in conjunction with Marlboro College. These workshops will be hosted by fiction author Nicholas Delbanco and poet Jeanne Marie Beaumont. Co-founders Suzanne Kingsbury and Sandy Rouse told The Commons about who and what to expect during this year's much-anticipated festival. Rouse, the festival's co-chair, discussed the theme and...

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A day of Medieval upheaval

Every October, the children of Windham County get to see their parents, teachers, tutors, and friends transform into knights, knaves, jesters, queens, and kings. Costume shops are emptied and sewing machines are unearthed. But it isn't even Halloween yet. On Saturday, Oct. 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine, The Grammar School (TGS) campus on 69 Hickory Ridge Rd. will transform into a medieval village as it hosts its 24th annual Medieval Faire. King Arthur and his...

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Six weeks after Irene: A remarkable turnaround, and a long road ahead

If God helps those who helps themselves, Vermonters should be first in line for heavenly handouts (or at least disaster assistance from the feds). The state's residents, known for being a hardy lot, have proved their mettle over the last month as they have dug out of the mud, muck and debris left by Tropical Storm Irene. The storm struck Vermont Aug. 28 and dumped as much as 11 inches of rainfall on the Green Mountains in a 24-hour period.

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Empty bowls, full stomachs

At the start of her advanced ceramics class each semester, Brattleboro Union High School art teacher Liz deNiord asks her students, “What do you know about the Empty Bowls dinner?” The students respond, “It raises money for food,” “The money goes to feed people,” “It's a fun night where they serve lots of food from gorgeous bowls!” And so begins an assignment that teaches students not only how to design and create a functional and artistic bowl out of clay,

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Celebrating the harvest at The Putney School

In a town devoted to the land, at a school equally devoted to growth, there is no better way to celebrate a season of cultivation and community than with a harvest festival. The Putney School will hold its 76th annual Harvest Festival on Sunday, Oct. 16, beginning around 9 a.m. on the school's campus on 418 Houghton Brook Rd., and continuing well into the afternoon. The festival, which usually draws a crowd of up to 1,000 people, will feature a...

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‘Wolf Kahn: Brattleboro Pastels’ opens at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center

No artist is more closely associated with the landscape of southern Vermont than Wolf Kahn. Working out of his mountainside farm in West Brattleboro, Kahn has spent the past 43 summers depicting the region's distinctive hills, fields, trees, barns, and colors. He sketches outdoors in pastel and later refines his sketches in the studio. “Wolf Kahn: Brattleboro Pastels,” on exhibit at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) until February, showcases a sampling of Kahn's 2011 artistic production. According to...

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Risks and rewards

My oldest child wants to get behind the wheel of an automobile, and I'm worried. As she bugs us for permission to take the test for a learner's permit, I can't help but think of a driving quiz my wife was once given - by a police officer, on the side of the road. The quiz took place when my wife was around 20 years old (we weren't married yet). She was cruising around town when she drove through a...

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Grace Cottage Auxiliary holds annual meeting

The Grace Cottage Hospital Auxiliary annual meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Oct.13 at 7 p.m. in the Grace Cottage Hospital dining room. Two members of the hospital staff, social worker Carol Vandertuin and Dr. Robert Backus, will speak about “Advance Directives…Why Bother?” Advance directives are written plans stating what health care treatment you would or would not want if you couldn't speak for yourself. The annual Grace Cottage Auxiliary fair, which raises money for the hospital, this year will donate...

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The Grammar School kicks off accessibility project

Founded in 1960 by a small group of idealistic parents and educators, The Grammar School in Putney offers “an excellent academic, artistic, athletic and ethical foundation” for children in preschool through eighth grade. Unfortunately, the forward-thinking founders of the school did not, at that time, foresee the challenges that the building and grounds would pose to those with physical disabilities who might wish to participate in its programs. Few were thinking along these lines at that time. Fifty years after...

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After the rains

Farmer Paul Harlow estimates he harrowed under crops worth $100,000 last month after Tropical Storm Irene's rains flooded the farm with 6-8 feet of water of dubious quality. The record-breaking floods that followed Irene flowed across Vermont washing away the freestanding and nailed down: asphalt, trees, propane tanks, houses, soil, and livestock. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture cautioned farmers that the water inundating their fields may carry pollutants like hydrocarbons, e-coli, and heavy metals. The agency advised farmers to follow...

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A list of resources for farmers

The acronyms-to-English programs offered in addition to the low-interest Emergency Loan Program by the U.S. Department of Agriculture range in award amount, eligibility, and deadlines. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan and USDA State Executive Director Robert G. Paquin listed a few of the department's relief programs for farmers during a recent tour of Windham County. SURE: The Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program covers crop revenue losses only in those locally-declared disaster areas by the Agriculture Secretary, or in...

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Vermont National Guard thanked for road reconstruction efforts

At a barbecue here last Thursday, Gov. Peter Shumlin and Transportation Secretary Brian Searles thanked Vermont National Guard members for more than a month of exemplary service helping the state recover from flood damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene. Five Vermont Guard units deployed personnel to numerous locations around the state where they helped Agency of Transportation (AOT) and municipal highway crews rebuild local and state roadways. “Guard members worked incredibly long hours to help us rebuild Vermont's roads and...

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Dirty old town

There's still poop dust all up and down Frost Street. You'd think the rain would have washed it away, but all it does is pack it down so it doesn't blow away, so that next time the sun comes out it can dry up again and mosey on right through your window every time a car rolls by. That's Brattleboro. It's a bizarre, dirty old town where the most expensive restaurant can sit right across the street from an unfinished...

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Leaf-peepers warned not to drive on closed roads

With foliage beginning to reach its peak in some Vermont areas and roadway traffic expected to increase over the next few weeks, Vermont Agency of Transportation Secretary Brian Searles reminds motorists to respect road-closed signs in storm-damaged regions of the state. Road crews have reported that motorists in some areas are increasingly driving past signs that clearly indicate the roadway is either closed or open only to local traffic. As a result, increased traffic through construction zones is slowing work...

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Landmark College struggles with aftermath of budget cuts, staff reductions

As a new semester begins, the aftershocks of recent budget cuts at Landmark College are being felt across campus, particularly by faculty and staff. Measures implemented last spring were successful in preventing a budget deficit of nearly $853,000 for the college, which serves students with learning disabilities and/or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. However, they left a host of new challenges for Landmark to grapple with, starting with a reduced number of faculty and staff. Many positions vacated last semester have yet...

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Shocked at dismissal of longtime nonprofit leader

As a former member of the board, and a long-time supporter, of The Gathering Place, I was dismayed to learn of the dismissal of Lynn Bedell. Lynn accomplished so much during her time at The Gathering Place. She supervised the renovation of the new building, hired excellent staff to broaden the program, and kept the organization fiscally sound - all the while with the deep respect and full support of her staff and of the families the center serves so...

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BMC establishes Blanche Moyse Endowment Fund

Recently, the trustees of the Brattleboro Music Center (BMC) announced establishment of the Blanche Moyse Endowment Fund. The Fund was created to not only honor BMC founder and longtime artistic director Moyse, who died in February at the age of 101, but also to ensure the ability of the BMC to continue to be a valued community resource well into the future. For 60 years, the BMC has enriched the Brattleboro community and surrounding towns in Vermont, Massachusetts and New...

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Forum looks at craftsmanship in the 21st Century

As part of American Crafts Week, Brattleboro-West Arts and Brooks Memorial Library will present a forum on “Craftsmanship in the 21st Century,” on Tuesday, Oct. 11 from 7:30 to 9 p.m., at the library. The forum will explore the nature and state of craftsmanship in southeastern Vermont today, the challenges and opportunities craftspeople face, and the place of craftsmanship and craft traditions in the emerging new economy. The panel will include Michael Weitzner, dry stone waller; Kris McDermet, fiber artist,

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Liking them apples

Dean Miller calls his apple crop “small potatoes.” He works the five-plus-acre Cortland Hill Orchard, on Miller Road, just off Bonnyvale Road in West Brattleboro, by himself, for the most part. He said he does it because he loves it. During winter pruning and summer picking periods, he spends at least 40 hours a week in the orchards, and that's when he isn't at his full-time job at Fulflex in Brattleboro. He also owns a 35-acre wood stand and smaller...

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Latchis to reopen next weekend

Six weeks since Tropical Storm Irene shut down down the Latchis, the end of the disruption is in sight for the downtown landmark. On Monday, Gail Nunziata, executive director of the Brattleboro Arts Initiative (BAI), the nonprofit that owns the historic theater and hotel, announced that the Latchis will reopen for business on Friday, Oct. 14. On Aug. 28, when the Whetstone Brook turned into a raging torrent of water that flooded Flat Street, the historic theater and hotel complex...

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More than Macs: The heirloom apples of Scott Farm

Fall is about apples. Crispy apples and apple crisp. Juicy apples and apple juice. Tart apples and apple tarts. Saucy apples and apple sauce. Festive apples and apple festivals. Apples are as American as, well, apple pie. The first settlers brought with them bushels of apple seed, and the first trees grew small, hard apples that were pressed for cider. “Cider was the drink of the day,” Ezekiel Goodband, orchardist at the Scott Farm on Kipling Road in Dummerston, says.

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Amtrak’s Vermonter is back on the rails

After a summer of busing passengers from Springfield, Mass., to St. Albans, patrons of Amtrak's Vermonter can now look forward to an uninterrupted train ride. Full service for the Vermonter , which runs daily from St. Albans to Washington, D.C., resumed over the weekend as work was completed on a $74 million upgrade to 190 miles of the New England Central Railroad's (NECR) line between Northfield, Mass., and St. Albans. Miles of continuously welded rail, new wooden ties, and tons...

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Brooks presentation delves into history of jazz piano

Vermont Jazz Center artistic director Eugene Uman will present a lecture, “A Survey of the Jazz Piano,” at Brooks Memorial Library, Thursday, Oct. 6, beginning at 7 p.m. in the library's second floor meeting room. This lecture will precede the performance of Kenny Barron and his trio, who will performing at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro on October 15. The history of jazz piano is a fascinating parallel to the history of jazz itself. From jazz's harbinger, Ragtime, to the...

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Literary Fest schedule

Wednesday ||7–9 p.m.||Film To Kill a Mockingbird – Brooks Memorial Library ||7-8:30 p.m.||Collaborations Between Video Artists and Writers – Center for Digital Arts Thursday ||7-8:30 p.m.||Film: Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird – Brattleboro Union High School ||7-9:30 p.m.||Poetry Slam and poet Lenelle Moïse – Landmark College Friday ||1-2 p.m.||David Macaulay (student event) – Latchis Theatre ||6-7 p.m.||Julia Alvarez – First Baptist Church ||7:30-8:30 p.m.||Luis Alberto Urrea – First Baptist Church ||7:30-8:30 p.m.||Mark Doty – Centre Congregational...

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FEMA disaster recovery center in Brattleboro closes

The disaster recovery center of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in town closed on Tuesday. However, federal and state officials are reminding Vermonters that disaster assistance is still only a phone call away for those who were affected by Tropical Storm Irene flooding. Vermonters can can still apply for federal disaster assistance until Monday, Oct. 31. Register by calling toll-free 800-621-FEMA (3362), online, or via a web-enabled mobile device. Multilingual registration assistance is available. Those with a speech disability...

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Rockingham begins process of rebuilding its damaged covered bridges

At its Sept. 20 meeting, the Selectboard began the process of repairing the town's three covered bridges that were damaged by Tropical Storm Irene. The board approved a $108,516 bid by Tim Andrews of Barns & Bridges for repair of the Hall Bridge. According to Municipal Manager Timothy Cullenen, the town has received $34,460 for repairs from its insurance policy through the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT). The policy covers everything except the bridge abutments, said Cullenen, who...

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Three new policies to bring Vermont in balance

It is absolutely thrilling to see that the Green Revolution has begun in earnest. The Occupy Wall Street movement is the American front line of peaceful evolution toward an economy that improves our relationship with Earth. Bolivia's law verbalizing rights of the Earth and other beings begins our visualization of all the good things to come: the community that builds; the giving and the making instead of buying; the forgiving instead of retaliation; the learning that leads to powerful understanding;

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State, Entergy file post-trial briefs

Entergy and Vermont's post-trial briefs hit U.S. District Judge J. Garvan Murtha's office last week. The corporation, which still wants three state statutes overturned so it can continue operating the Vermont Yankee Nuclear power station, also asked that its Certificate of Public Good case return before a neutered version of the Public Service Board (PSB). In its brief, the state asked the federal court to hold Entergy's feet to the fire of its promises. Entergy Corp. attorneys filed suit against...

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Hard work and heroism from the men and women who reopened our roads

This weekend is the big one - the weekend when it seems like the whole of New York and southern New England wants to visit Vermont. In virtually every town in Windham County, there are events tied to the crush of tourists that arrive every Columbus Day weekend. But this autumn might be different. The damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28 was epic in so many places in our state, there were legitimate fears that businesses would...

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