Issue #141

Register now for NEYT's summer programs

Registration is now open for New England Youth Theatre's Summer Programs.

Each program is staffed by professional teachers and directors, and most programs conclude with performances or presentations.

Programs fill quickly. To register, contact the NEYT office at 802-246-6398 or [email protected]. All programs will be held at New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat St., unless otherwise noted.

Financial aid is available. Applications are due May 18. Full descriptions of all their classes, visit www.neyt.org and follow the links to summer programs.

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27 films that enrich our human hearts

‘There is a serious longing for films made by and for adults, films that give us the experiences and perspectives of the other half of the world’

A luminous 90-year-old Broadway star who will make you feel happy that you're alive. A graceful group of dedicated teenage ballet dancers who are determined to succeed professionally. An uneducated Corsican cleaning woman who turns herself into a chess master. A lovely Dutch teenage girl who is unafraid to...

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What it takes: Pre-teens and teens reach for the sublime

An intense summer in the lives of aspiring teen ballet dancers

A film by an award-winning documentary filmmaker from Canada, Elise Swerhone, TuTuMUCH chronicles one intense summer in the lives of budding ballet dancers, girls (and a very few boys) who are chosen for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's summer program. At the end of the summer, a select few dancers...

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Naming names

A reader recently wrote us with a strong reaction to a memoir by a Brattleboro Union High School senior, Nicole Charlebois, that we published in the Feb. 8 issue. And by reaction, I mean a really, really strong reaction. And she wrote it to every single one of us she could find with a commonsnews.org email address. Let me first say that I found the piece in question - “Survival: A young woman recounts her difficult journey through drug addiction...

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Resisting electoral mischief

This year, Town Meeting Day - Tuesday, March 6 - is also the day of the Vermont Presidential Primary. To the relief of Vermonters, the circus that is this year's Republican presidential campaign has bypassed us. There's no need for Republicans to campaign in a state that gave President Obama his widest margin of victory in 2008, a state that appears likely to do the same in 2012. But there still will be an election on March 6, and DailyKos.com,

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BAPC announces parenting class for parents of teenagers

The Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition (BAPC) offers a free course for parents/caregivers of teens, on Wednesday, March 7, from 6-9 p.m. in Brattleboro. Parenting Teens Wisely teaches parents skills and techniques to help them better understand and deal with children ages 10-19. Two trained facilitators will guide participants to help build understanding and communication among all members of the family. The course teaches constructive skills proven to reduce drug and alcohol abuse in youth, school and homework problems, delinquency, and...

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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. • William “Bill” R. Arnold, 89, of Westminster West. Died Feb. 15 of heart failure. Husband of Camilla Tyler Lowman. Former husband of Margaret McCandless. Father of Randolph McCandless Arnold and his wife, Linda, of Waterbury Center; William Ansley Lowman Arnold of Putney; Marshall Foss Arnold of Chicago; and Camilla Elizabeth Arnold and her partner,

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NECCA presents Circus Spectacular at the Latchis

On March 3 and 4, the Latchis Theatre will transform into a circus show, with high flying trapeze, aerial silks, partner balancing, juggling, comedy, and more. The annual Circus Spectacular: A Hot Show on a Cold Weekend is a fundraiser for the New England Center for Circus Arts. It features the professional performers of the internationally known school, alongside special guests from Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Bros., America's Got Talent, and more. The main stage performance includes acts that differ...

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‘You can’t be what you can’t see’

Raise your hand if as a child you believed you could grow up to become president. At 7 years old, boys and girls want to become president in equal numbers, says Caroline Heldman, associate professor of political science at Occidental College, in the 2011 documentary Miss Representation, which will be shown among the films at next month's Women's Film Festival. But by age 15, a “massive gap emerges,” with fewer girls thinking they'll grow up hold the Oval Office, Heldman...

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Where the women aren't...

Some statistics: • Women comprise 51 percent of the U.S. population. • Women comprise 17 percent of Congress. • The 2010 midterm election was the first time since 1979 that women did not increase their numbers in U.S. government. • Americans choose their leadership from about 6 percent of the population: white (until 2008), male, over 35, married/heterosexual, college educated, professional degree. • According to Center for American Women and Politics, Vermont ranks second in the country for women leaders,

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Principal: Sheriff's Department, not school, didn't replace School Resource Officer

Two weeks before The Commons published the article, “Can law enforcement coexist with education in schools?” [Feb. 15], reporter Thelma O'Brien visited Leland & Gray and interviewed two students and me as part of her research. This letter is to correct a mistake in the report and to share more of the students' conversation with Ms. O'Brien. When Deputy Albry Crowley resigned from the Windham County Sheriff's Department, leaving the School Resource Officer (SRO) position vacant at Leland & Gray,

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Lange wins state freestyle title; Colonel hockey teams start playoffs at home

The winter high school playoffs began last Friday with the opening events in the state nordic skiing championships and the state wrestling championships. Meanwhile, the regular season for boys basketball and hockey concluded Saturday, and playoff pairings were announced by the Vermont Principals' Association on Monday. Nordic skiing • The first phase of the state nordic meet, the freestyle individual and relay races, was held last Friday at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho. It is one of the...

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Diplomacy, war, and the future of VY

Judge J. Garvan Murtha's recent decision against the state of Vermont in the Entergy case was greeted with stunned silence as the parties took time to rethink strategy. The state contemplated an appeal, on which they have now decided, but with a poor track record and a well-reasoned original decision, its position is difficult. Entergy, on the other hand, is pressing its advantage by asking that Vermont pay millions of dollars of its legal bills. There was a temporary pause...

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Around the Towns

Guilford hosts Meet the Candidates night GUILFORD - Broad Brook Grange will hold its annual Pre-Town Meeting on Thursday, March 1, 7 p.m. at the Broad Brook Grange Hall. This is the only opportunity for voters to hear details of the articles that will be presented at the Town and School District Meetings, and to meet and discuss issues with the Selectboard and school board all in one evening, in advance of Town Meeting. It will also be the last...

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17-year-olds can vote in this year’s Vermont Presidential Primary

The Vermont Presidential Primary on March 6 will mark the first time that 17-year-olds will be allowed to vote. In the 2010 general election, Vermont voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to allow 17-year-olds who will turn 18 on or before the day of the November general election to participate in the presidential primary and the August primary for the year that the voter will be 18 by the General Election. Any person who turns 18 on or before Nov.

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I asked Sarah Palin the dumbest question ever

Herman Cain, listed in the official program as “Former CEO, Godfather's Pizza,” took the stage at about 4:30 on a recent Thursday at the Woodley Park Marriott in Washington, D.C. It was day one of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and he was the main attraction. There had been a long line throughout the lobby before his scheduled appearance. It was an earnest crowd. The prevailing concern at the conference (I overheard one college student saying) was with showing...

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Dartmouth professor considers significance of Book of Kells at Brooks Memorial Library

Dartmouth faculty member Jane Carroll will consider one of the treasures of Western civilization, the Book of Kells, in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on Wednesday, March 7. Her talk, “The Book of Kells,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council's First Wednesdays lecture series and takes place at 7 p.m. Carroll, a senior lecturer in art history, will discuss the book's history and how the Irish monks' lavish illustrations of the 1,200-year-old Gospel manuscript illuminate the...

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Mental health care provider education program is coming to Brattleboro

Mental health systems throughout the nation are undergoing dramatic changes as they develop recovery-oriented service, support, and outcomes for individuals living with mental illness, their families and their communities. In the process, significant new roles and expectations have been created for mental health providers, based on greater peer empowerment and wider collaboration with clients and families on the treatment team. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Provider Education Program is a free course designed to help line staff at...

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A powerful truth

It couldn't happen to her. It couldn't happen here. A different continent. A different woman. But not here. Not now. But it did. To her. The Women's Film Festival's film selection committee calls As If I Am Not There the festival's “most powerful” film this year, a timeless drama that tells a difficult story some may find hard to watch. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Croatian author Slavenka Drakulic. The book recounts the...

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BMH nurses to volunteer in Nicaraguan hospital

Aimee Creelman, Kristin Anderson, and Debbie Kitzmiller from the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Birthing Center will go to Nicaragua in March on a volunteer mission to raise awareness about lactation and other issues related to labor, delivery, and newborn care. The trio will spend one week in Leon, Nicaragua's second largest city, at the request of Hospital Escuela. According to BMH Birthing Center Nurse Manager Debbie Partrick, Hospital Escuela has been seeking volunteer assistance in strengthening their current lactation support services.

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Friday dance will raise money for shelter

This Friday, people will be literally dancing in the aisles to support Brattleboro's homeless. That's when Buddy Folly and the Experiments will return for their annual concert to help the area's Overflow Shelter. For well over a decade, “The Buddies” have kept audiences of all ages dancing to songs from the 1960s and 70s, plus a few sparkling originals written by every member of the band: Bill Conley on guitar, John Ungerleider on bass and Mike Nieckoski on the drums.

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Speakers, special events add context to films

It's not just about the movies. Special events and speakers will enhance the understanding of the issues tackled in the films that will be shown at the Women's Film Festival (WFF). Following are some highlights of discussions and collaborations that will let the audience interact with filmmakers, experts, and others associated with the festival's films and the themes they tackle. Other special events include creative collaborations with the Windham World Affairs Council, the School for International Training Graduate Institute (SIT),

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Pulling together to promote local agriculture

Slowly but surely, the healthy food conversations among at least four local and vocal Windham County advocacy organizations are moving forward. Spurred on by a $2,000 grant from the Meeting Waters YMCA, the four groups were brought together on Feb. 15 at the Townshend Church by Post Oil Solutions for a potluck supper and progress reports. The four groups received varying amounts of money. Claire Adams, an officer of the West Townshend Community Project, described the success of the project's...

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Six months after Irene, many still struggling with storms’ aftermath

Six months after Tropical Storm Irene caused statewide destruction, some of the people hardest hit by the flooding are still struggling and the Southeastern Vermont Irene Long Term Recovery Committee (LTRC) is recruiting volunteers to assist in the work of addressing unmet needs. “While Irene is becoming a distant memory for some, many of our neighbors are still dealing with its impact on a day-to-day basis,” said Sadie Fischesser, Agency of Human Services Field Director for the Brattleboro and Bennington...

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Townshend requires two Town Meetings

Because of a glitch in budget figures, Townshend will be a two Town Meeting municipality in 2012. According to Craig Hunt, assistant to the Selectboard, last-minute changes to the budget caused the information to come in past the deadline for posting the warrant. Selectboard Chair Hedy Harris said certain budget calculations were unexpectedly delayed. “We worked to rectify that,” she said. “We didn't have the budget completely nailed down. We were one day late.” Consequently, the Townshend Selectboard has scheduled...

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Chamber of Commerce reaches out to community, seeks new members

In response to a 3-percent decrease in membership in 2011, the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce is expanding its efforts in reaching out to its community. Chamber Executive Director Jerry Goldberg called the decline “part of a growing trend among Chambers around the country. We were lucky to have avoided this until now.” At the moment, the Chamber has about 550 members. Although this decline was the first in six years, Goldberg said that the Chamber realizes the need to...

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Vermont nonprofit publishes Irene flood stories to help rebuild its hometown

A new book of personal stories and photos about the impacts of Tropical Storm Irene will be available soon in independent bookstores across Vermont. When the River Rose: Stories of a Vermont Town's Flood, Recovery, and Rebirth (Children's Literacy Foundation, $20, www.whentheriverrose.com) is a collection of first-person accounts of survival and hope from Waterbury, a town hit by catastrophic flooding last Aug. 28. In the book, local residents describe harrowing escapes, heartbreaking loss, countless acts of kindness, and unexpected opportunities...

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Musical mystery on Main Street set to open

The ghost of Charles Dickens travels to Saxtons River when a musical take on his unfinished novel opens at Main Street Arts on Friday, March 2 for a two-week run. “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is a Tony-winning play with music and lyrics by Rupert Holmes that is loosely based on the book of the same name that Dickens was working on when he died in 1870. The play involves a cast of characters from the London music halls, an...

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Something fishy

At his Feb. 17 press conference at the Vermont Statehouse, Andrew Fisk, executive director of the Connecticut River Watershed Council, made some vague claims about Vermont Yankee's warm water discharge affecting the shad population. I asked him two questions that any self-professed authority on local aquatic life should have answered easily. 1. “Are you familiar with the presence and function of Station 7 [Vermont Yankee's up-river monitoring station) and Station 3 (the down-river monitoring station]?” 2. “Do you know that...

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March is Student Art Month in Windham County

March is Student Art Month in Windham County, and for the 32nd year, the Arts Council of Windham County is again organizing shows and events that will spotlight the work of young people, their teachers, and their schools. Festivities will begin with openings of the high school visual art shows on Gallery Walk on Friday, March 2. Two-dimensional art will be displayed at Through the Music Gallery, 2 Elliot St., and three-dimensional works at Vermont Artisan Designs Gallery 2, 106...

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A patient’s royal aim

Based on the true story of Anna Lappalainen, a Finnish woman who suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and believed she was a member of the British Royal Family, Princessa elegantly and unflinchingly examines her nine-year stay at the Kellokoski Psychiatric Hospital from 1945 to 1954, and focuses on the effect her behavior and mannerisms had on both the staff and her fellow patients. “My royal aim is to help those in need,” she says. With this philosophy, Anna, a...

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Gabe Britton named Youth of the Year

Gabriel Britton was recently selected to compete against other Boys & Girls Club members for the Vermont Youth of the Year title, and a $1,000 scholarship from the Tupperware Foundation. As the Youth of the Year for The Boys & Girls Clubs of Brattleboro, Britton, 15, is among hundreds of local youth across the country recognized by Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for sound character, leadership skills and willingness to give back to the community. Being named Youth...

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VY appeal is a losing battle for Shumlin, Sorrell

The lesson the governor and the attorney general should have taken away from Judge Murtha's ruling is this: When impartial and knowledgeable people look at the science and the law (putting political vendettas aside), Vermont Yankee should remain open. When Vermont Yankee wins the right to stay open, 600 of us who are VY families will be able to sleep better at night without the constant worry about losing their jobs and homes. Local businesses will win with lower taxes...

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The origins of Purim

Purim is one of the most joyous holidays in the Jewish calendar, celebrating a time when the Jewish people living in Persia survived a plot to exterminate them. The holiday, observed every year on the 14th day of the 12th month (Adar) on the Jewish calendar, is a day of feasting and fun. The Purim story, read from in the scroll of Esther (the Megilah), tells of Persia under the rule of King Ahaseurus in about 400 BCE. When Ahaseurus...

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Legal costs in VY case better spent elsewhere

The state of Vermont is beginning to gain a reputation for passing unconstitutional laws. In fact, within the past few years, multiple laws that the Vermont legislature has passed have been shot down by the Supreme Court. This is once again happening with its laws concerning Vermont Yankee. To this date, Vermont has spent over $400,000 on legal bills - not a huge amount, although, with additional consulting from outside law firms, that could easily triple by the time this...

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Quote not intended as attack on school

In on the front page of The Commons [“Can law enforcement coexist with education in schools? Educators have mixed feelings about school resource officers,” Feb. 15], a quote made by me was taken out of context and made to sound like an attack on Leland and Gray Union High School. I don't like it at all, because the teachers are as vigilant as they could possibly be in their efforts to prevent drugs in the school. I feel that our...

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Raising funds and consciousness

This year marks the 21st Women's Film Festival, which strives to represent the lives, relationships, struggles, and triumphs of women and girls - not as victims of circumstance, but as innovators of their own realities. In spring of 1992, the idea was born as a fundraiser and an outreach vehicle for the Women's Freedom Center (WFF), then known as the Women's Crisis Center. Christie Herbert, who was on the festival committee for the first six years, said the event “was...

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The ‘bounty of riches’

Merry Elder, who has volunteered for the Women's Film Festival since the event began 21 years ago, describes the process of selecting the films for the festival as “pretty labor intensive, but joyous.” Each year, the festival selection committee, which includes Elder and Donna Faith K-Brooks, Michelle Immler, and Meg Lyons, spearheads the process starting in April. “We look at some of the top festivals,” Elder says. “We seek out films that have [already] won awards, so they're vetted a...

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Rockingham looks at school, library expenses

Only one contested seat for Selectboard, and a relatively non-controversial warrant, await voters next week on Town Meeting Day. On Monday, March 5, at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium (Falls Cinema), the annual Rockingham Town and School District Meeting commences, giving residents an opportunity to discuss and vote on all articles but one, the fiscal 2013 school budget, which will be voted on by Australian ballot the following day. From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m on Tuesday, March...

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Wilmington voters to consider 1-percent local option tax

Voters will consider a new tax for the town during its annual Town Meeting on March 6. The tax, called a 1-percent option tax, would add another percentage point to taxable sales, meals and alcoholic beverages, and rooms. According to state statute, voters approve the enacting of the option tax and can also rescind it later. The 1-percent option tax will not apply to any items or services not currently taxed, including drugs for human use, newspapers, food, food stamps,

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Town Meeting Day is also presidential primary day

This year, Town Meeting Day on Tuesday, March 6 is also the day for Vermont's presidential primary. But, as of press time, not one of the four remaining Republican candidates on the ballot - Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum - has visited Vermont. Two other candidates that have since dropped out the race for the Republican presidential nomination - Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry - are still on the Vermont ballot. President Barack Obama is running...

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Making a dead language come alive for a new generation

The Wampanoag Indians of southeastern Massachusetts inhabited the lush seacoast areas known today as Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and environs, some of most desirable real estate in the U.S. These native peoples helped the Pilgrims survive and in return were systematically denied their land, culture, and very lives. In time, their distinctive language, like so many other native languages, died too. But then someone did something new. A Native daughter - inspired by dreams and blessed with intellect, vision, and...

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Practice makes perfect

Three teenagers dart across the road, somehow oblivious to the siren, the lights, and the big red firetruck. “Watch out for the schoolkids,” warns firefighter and investigator Rusty Sage of the Brattleboro Fire Department (BFD). I slam on the brakes. The speedometer swiftly descends: 30, 25, 20, 16, 12, 10. The massive rig continues skidding forward, propelled by its own weight. The kids are in line with the truck's grill. The firetruck jerks to a stop. The last teen hops...

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