The Brattleboro Rotary Club is hosting its inaugural Indoor Mini-Golf Tournament on Saturday, March 31, and Sunday, April 1, respectively. The two-day “FUN-raiser” is open to the public.
Saturday's tournament for adults is a black-tie-optional evening that will feature heavy hors d'oeuvres, live music, and a cash bar. The tournament runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and tickets are $25 per person. If you purchase your tickets from Vermont Artisan Designs on Main Street in Brattleboro, you can receive 10 percent off your tuxedo rental.
Sunday's family fun day takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost is $5 per person, or $12 for a foursome if you bring your Saturday night scorecard.
Both events will take place at the VFW Post 1034 at 40 Black Mountain Rd.
On Town Meeting Day, 63 out of 65 Vermont towns voted to support resolutions that call on state lawmakers and our Congressional delegation to work on a Constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2010 which permitted unlimited corporate...
Town meeting remains one of the best active forms of democracy. Yet for the past few years, some residents in Guilford have been pushing for the use of the Australian ballot system instead of town meeting. These people argue that the Australian ballot would create better representation of all...
The 2012 Renovation Project of the Rockingham Free Public Library will soon be in full swing. The project is due for completion in December, and the library will remain open with full services; shape- shifting as construction moves from floor to floor. Construction areas will be sealed off from the public. Phase I includes a complete renovation of the Youth Department, expansion of the ground floor for youth programs, activities, and meeting space, construction of a new stairwell and elevator...
An injustice is being addressed. An injustice committed by some corporations that have gotten so large they've forgotten that the big picture is made up of individuals, individuals who have been hurt by actions that have placed the corporate good before the common good. Corporations like Enron, Bear Stearns, and many others have squandered fortunes and plundered savings and retirement plans with impunity. Even more insulting are efforts to corrupt the electoral process with floods of cash by these corporations,
The Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. (BDCC) and Strolling of the Heifers are teaming up to present the 2012 Business Plan Competition for the Windham region, with multiple prizes totaling $60,000. As it did last year, the 2012 edition of the BDCC Business Plan Competition will feature two divisions - one general businesses excluding agriculture and food, and one specifically for agricultural or food-related enterprises - the Strolling of the Heifers Farm/Food Business Plan Competition. Each division is further divided into...
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. • Janice E. Cobb, 72, of Bellows Falls. Died March 9 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Wife of Larry Cobb. Mother of Jeff Martin of Bellevue, Neb. Born in Hartford, Vt., the daughter of William and Mary (Carr) Martin, she was a 1958 graduate of Bellows Falls High School and worked for the town of Rockingham...
Railway Age magazine has named Vermont Rail System (VRS) - which includes the Green Mountain Railroad, Vermont Railway, the Clarendon & Pittsford Railroad, the New York & Ogdenberg Railway, and the Washington County Railroad - the 2012 Short Line Railroad of the Year. The award will be presented at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's annual meeting in Indianapolis on April 24. Railway Age managing editor Douglas John Bowen wrote: “Vermont Railway also stands as testament to the...
Transition Dummerston to show 'The Power of Community' at potluck WEST DUMMERSTON - Transition Dummerston will host a community potluck, film showing, and discussion on Friday, March 23 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Dummerston Community Center. The Power of Community is an award-winning, 53-minute film about meeting the challenge of creating a new low-energy society. It tells the story of what happened in Cuba after the Soviet Union's fall resulted in a drastic reduction in imports of oil...
It's spring, and the daffodils are confused. So are the ants. And the goldfinches. And so am I. Even given the famed changeability of Vermont weather, you have to admit we had a weird winter. The biggest snowstorm hit the day before Halloween, and the next snow of any significance came on Leap Day. Notice the four-month differential? In between, this was perhaps the sunniest and least precipitation-filled winter that anyone can remember. What happens when you've gone through a...
The poem, the song, and the harp will be featured in a concert by soprano Kristen Carmichael-Bowers, harpist and composer Carol Wood, and poet John Wood on Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Main Street Arts. Carmichael-Bowers of Dummerston will sing art songs - in settings by Carol Wood for harp and voice - of poems by William Blake, Walter de la Mare, W. B. Yeats, Robert Herrick, Sara Teasdale, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Matthew Arnold, e. e. cummings, Vachel...
When I turned 50, I was advised by my primary-care doctor to have a screening colonoscopy to detect colon cancer. My schedule was very busy; I had no symptoms, felt very healthy, and had no family history. So I put it off - for a few years. At age 54, I finally had my first colonoscopy, and the doctor found a few polyps. Even though the biopsy indicated that they were benign, the doctor said that the recommended follow-up is...
The Union for Reform Judaism is currently developing a new prayer book for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, to be ready for use in two years. Part of the process for developing the new book is to have congregations test draft versions of the service. The Brattleboro Area Jewish Community, 151 Greenleaf St., affiliated with URJ, has been asked to test a draft of the Kol Nidre service for the evening of Yom Kippur. At...
Outside the Sprague and Son Sugarhouse on Route 100, the sun beams down from a cloudless, blue sky. The crisp air smells of melting snow and rising mud. Inside the sugar house, steam envelops the sunlight, turning a bright March morning into a foggy afternoon. The vapor rolls from the evaporator pan to the windows. It condenses. Rivulets roll down the glass. The thick and palpable smell of maple-not-yet-syrup clings to the walls. A kitchen timer's beep strikes the air.
J. Wayne Leonard, CEO of Entergy, recently purchased full-page advertisements in a number of Vermont newspapers, including The Commons. Despite this considerable expense, he offers nothing new to the authentic issues being debated in Vermont regarding nuclear power. He toes the company line, repeating worn-out slogans about how clean and reliable the plant is. He cites the number of employees at the plant in consecutive paragraphs. This language is certainly effective in pitting neighbor against neighbor, but it avoids entirely...
With Brattleboro's annual Representative Town Meeting fast approaching, Town Meeting members gathered for an informational session last week, where they heard an overview on the town's $14.6 million budget and an update on the how the town is paying for repairs related to Tropical Storm Irene. Newly minted Selectboard Vice-chair David Gartenstein presented the budget overview. If approved, the fiscal year 2013 budget would reflect a 1-percent tax increase. This increase would raise the municipal property tax rate to about...
When jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan was informed that she was the 2012 recipient of the nation's highest honor in jazz, the National Endowment of the Arts' Jazz Masters Award, her initial response was, “Are you kidding?” She really meant it. When the 83-year-old singer answered the phone, she believed the caller was trying to sell her something. “You know how those guys sound,” she says. “So when he asked if I was Sheila Jordan, I answered, 'Yeah,' a little exasperated.”
Mud season never ceases to amaze. Or inspire. I live on a dirt road with two ways out, and this year the ruts leading both north on MacArthur and south on Fox are two feet deep, leaving my car landlocked for five days straight. We do have a second car for just this reason, a rusty, low-slung four-wheel-drive Subaru, but this week, my husband Ty has needed that car to get to and from work. Which leaves Avah and me,
I was sorely disappointed with CNN's Vermont Yankee coverage in the network's recent episode of CNN Presents. CNN made many factual errors. Their segment lacked any scientific pro-nuclear opinion and failed to provide balanced reporting. CNN reporter Randi Kaye stated that a majority of Vermonters wanted VY closed, as she stood in front of graffiti in downtown Brattleboro. Last year, Vermont State Senator Bill Doyle's annual Town Meeting survey showed that more Vermonters are for the continued operation of Vermont...
A year ago, I woke up to the news of the massive earthquake in northeastern Japan. The ensuing days, weeks, and months have been an emotional roller-coaster ride as I have experienced anxiety, helplessness, hopelessness, hopefulness, depression, gratitude. I have traveled to Japan three times since last March and witnessed how people are coping with this new situation forced upon them. In an instant, the tsunami carried away everything: lives, cars, houses, and the entire downtown. A year later, people...
The New England Center for Circus Arts is expanding its circus arts classes to Putney and Keene, N.H. The Brattleboro-based circus school offers beginner through advanced instruction in many aerial and acrobatic arts. In an effort to make their programming more accessible, the school is opening youth and adult classes in Keene at the American School of Gymnastics and offering a kids class in Putney. Students range in age from 18 months to their mid-80s. Circus school graduates tour with...
The Brattleboro Area Drop In Center staff and volunteers are putting their best foot forward trying to fill the shoes of former Executive Director Melinda Bussino, who died suddenly on March 4 at age 65. Newly appointed Interim Director Lucie Fortier has been involved with the center for 12 years, and said she is determined to make the transition as smooth as possible for all by addressing concerns, keeping communication open between herself and her staff and volunteers, and making...
Thursday morning marks the first day of the rest of Vermont Yankee's life. With the expiration of the original 40-year operating license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), as well as the expiration of the original Certificate of Public Good (CPG) from the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB), the nuclear power plant in Vernon enters a new phase of its operations. The plant's owner, Entergy, got a 20-year license extension from the NRC last March. The new CPG has...
As a 30-year-old woman in recovery living in Brattleboro, I cannot help but feel compelled to respond to the Feb. 29 column concerning the controversy over Nicole Charlebois's previous Viewpoint. Step 11 states that “Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.” Let's be objective and realistic. The keywords here are “our” and “we.” Ms. Charlebois in absolutely no way jeopardized the sobriety...
Morningside Shelter has appointed a new interim director, Josh Davis, to replace outgoing executive director Paul Capcara, who left for a position at the Brattleboro Retreat. Davis started working at the shelter on March 9, and Capcara worked with him for a few weeks prior to his departure date. Morningside board president Elizabeth “Biz” Dana said, “We've hired Josh Davis, [and] the best thing about this transition is everybody is a winner. There are no hard feelings. It's wonderful for...
Far above the village, high in the snow-laden hills, a crone walked under cover of pines and hemlocks, maples, birch, and ash. The hills had always been a refuge for her, but in recent weeks, rumbles of thunder had been rising from the village, shaking its foundations. It was the sound of lawmakers trying to move the church closer to the state. The crone did not understand it. There were serious problems to be solved - poverty, discrimination and other...
For an institution that is seemingly under siege, the mood at Saturday afternoon's rally in support of Vermont Yankee was upbeat. Holding a rally on St. Patrick's Day under a sunny mid-March sky didn't hurt, but spirits were high as about 80 people gathered outside of the plant's gate during its shift change to wave at incoming workers and express their confidence that Vermont Yankee will keep running for another 20 years. “Only 7300 More Days,” read a hand-lettered sign...
When Vermont Yankee was built, its 40-year Nuclear Regulatory Commission license was standard for new plants at that time. Although a new 20-year license was granted last year, the original license expires Wednesday. That day has become a rallying cry for plant opponents, who insist Yankee must be “shut down safely.” Many opponents speak as if it will be a personal defeat if the plant operates for a day past March 21. They don't actually claim that on the 22nd,
Recent advertising and resultant commentary has left your readership with the mistaken impression that a meltdown at a nuclear reactor, such as the General Electric-designed Mark I BWR (boiling water reactor) at Vermont Yankee, can only happen with a natural disaster. This impression is absolutely mistaken and should be corrected. Three main technical glitches can lead to a meltdown: a rod drop incident, a loss of coolant accident, or an internal loss of electrical power. It would be wrong to...
Defiance of a duly-constituted governmental authority clearly falls outside of any defensible conception of the “general good of the state;” in fact, the only acceptable response to this behavior is outrage. Just days after appearing before the Public Service Board (PSB), Entergy openly declared to Judge J. Garvan Murtha: “In the event that the PSB ultimately disagrees, Plaintiffs will be forced either to cease operating or, if they defy the PSB by continuing to operate, to face the prospect of...
An antinuclear protest scheduled for Thursday in Brattleboro is expected to draw “in excess of 500 people,” according to police. The SAGE Alliance, a recently formed association of individuals and groups working to close Vermont Yankee, will hold a rally and march and engage in nonviolent action the day after the expiration of Vermont Yankee's original 40-year federal license. The event will begin with a “Shut It Down” rally on the Brattleboro Common from 11 a.m. to approximately 11:45 a.m.
The following sugarhouses from Windham County are participating in this year's Vermont Maple Open House Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25, the 11th annual tour of its kind organized by the Vermont Maple Sugarmakers Association. For more information about the association, its members, and the statewide tour, visit www.vermontmaple.org. Black Bear Sugarworks 287 Locust Hill Road, Guilford, VT 05301. 802-257-4278; [email protected]; www.blackbearsugarworks.com. Take U.S. 5 south from Exit 1 off Interstate 91 and follow the Black Bear...
When the Vermont Theatre Company set out to stage John Patrick Shanley's 2004 Pulitzer-Prize-winning play Doubt: A Parable, director Hallie Flower says, she “resisted a little bit.” The play, set in a Catholic school in 1964, centers around a progressive parish priest and the school's principal, a mistrusting conservative nun. As the VTC describes the play, “Father Flynn is a popular and progressive young priest who has come under the watchful eye of Principal Sister Aloysius. A vague incident with...
Under a green-and-white banner reading “rebuilddots.com,” owners Patty and John Reagan told an audience resembling a crowd - one the size of the downtown icon's Sunday-brunch regulars - that Dot's Restaurant will reopen this fall. The 1800s-era building weathered Tropical Storm Irene's Aug. 28 floods but suffered substantial foundation damage. The restaurant's future remained uncertain. A July-like spring sun warmed the streets of downtown Wilmington on Monday, nearly seven months after Irene's floodwaters rushed through the town's main business center.
The 2012 Women's Film Festival concludes this weekend with a sneak preview of a film that's rocking the jazz world, and the screening of the Best in Fest film, a 2010 documentary about Dr. Jane Goodall. On Saturday, March 24, at 4 p.m. at the Latchis Theatre, there will be a one-time sneak-preview screening of a new award-winning documentary about the unknown history of women jazz musicians from the 1930s to today. The film has been winning audience awards at...
The owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant won a crucial victory in federal court on Monday when U.S. District Judge J. Garvan Murtha issued an injunction that prevents the state of Vermont from closing the nuclear plant when VY's current state permit expires on March 21. Murtha granted Entergy's request regarding spent fuel storage, saying that the state cannot shut the plant “pending the appeal of the Court's final judgment and merits decision to the Second Circuit, from...