The Spanish energy conglomerate Iberdrola SA announced in November that it is planning to scale back renewable energy investments in the United States.
The decision comes after Moody's downgrade of Iberdrola's credit rating to Baa1, a lower-medium grade, with a negative outlook. The European debt crisis has also restricted the company's ability to expand.
Iberdrola is still pursing two wind projects in Vermont, however.
The first is the 30 megawatt, 15 turbine Deerfield Wind Project in Readsboro. The Vermont Public Service Board had granted Iberdrola a certificate of public good for the project, which is a necessary permit for construction, but the project has been held up by some changes to the turbine blades and a federal lawsuit filed against the utility by Vermonters for a Clean Environment.
Obituaries • Stephen Francis Austin, 73, of Topsham, Maine. Died Dec. 2 at home following a brief, brave-hearted struggle with brain cancer. Husband of Linda Austin for 46 years. Other survivors are sons Stephen F. Austin of Manchester, Conn., and Jeffrey A. Austin and his wife, Megan, of Brunswick,
Burr & Burton gave notice that they are going to be the team to beat in Division II this season with a 64-43 win over Brattleboro on Dec. 10 at the BUHS gym. The Bulldogs, state semifinalists last season, were in control of the game nearly the whole way.
St. Michael's Christmas activities BRATTLEBORO - St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro is using its recently renovated sanctuary decorated with local greens in garlands, balls and wreaths for three special Christmas services this season. The first service is the Children's Pageant and Holy Eucharist at 4 p.m. on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve. More than 25 children and youth from the region, including free-range angels and farmers as well as shepherds and at least one goat, will participate. The second service...
With fall giving way to winter, the staff at Our Place Drop-in Center in Bellows Falls is looking forward to a busy and productive season. Though cold and snow mean an unusually heavy client load, our staff members are ready to meet the challenge and are energized to continue serving their neighbors and others in need. Located on Island Street in the heart of Bellows Falls, Our Place has been serving the area for more than 20 years. As a...
The Future Collective, a do-it-yourself community group, is throwing a bash - and you are invited. On Saturday, Dec. 22, the Stone Church, 120 Main St., will open at 3 p.m. for the “Ha Ha Ha We're Still Here Hootenanny.” This family-friendly community party will feature interactive entertainment and art, including a carnival, a potluck meal, a variety show, a silent auction, a dance party, and live music from Brattleboro experimental groups Happy Jawbone Family Band and Subtle Action. The...
Dartmouth professor Irene Kacandes will examine the broad appeal of memoirs in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on Jan. 2, 2013. Her talk, “The Memoir Boom: Who, What, Why,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council's First Wednesdays lecture series and takes place at 7 p.m. Kacandes, an experimental memoirist, will discuss current approaches to life writing and consider why we continue to love reading about others' lives. Kacandes is professor of German studies and comparative literature...
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announced that it has hired Kathleen McGraw, M.D., FHM, as chief medical officer, replacing David Albright, M.D., who retired in August. McGraw will begin work Jan. 15, 2013. McGraw comes from Baystate Franklin Medical Center, in Springfield, Mass., where she developed the Hospital Medicine Program and served as its medical director. Under her leadership, that program became the provider of all internal medicine services for BFMC hospitalized patients. McGraw's Critical Care Rounds program won the health system's...
Finally, the prescription has been filled. It may have taken more than a decade, but Messenger Valley Pharmacy in Townshend has now doubled in size. The expanded pharmacy formally opened for business last week with a cheerful ribbon-cutting ceremony. A variety of thanks to fundraisers and staff were offered by Andrea Seaton, vice president of planning and development at Grace Cottage Hospital, which owns the pharmacy, and Jim Heal, its director. Hospital officials say the expansion and redesign offer much...
Winter solstice celebration at Manitou WILLIAMSVILLE - The Manitou Project holds its annual celebration of the Winter Solstice on Friday, Dec. 21, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. This is an occasion for marking the darkest day of the year, and celebrating the movement toward the return of the light. Participants will gather in the Hogan in the warmth of the wood-stove with songs, readings and reflections, hot mulled cider, and sharing about the significance of this season. Two favorite Manitou traditions will...
Jean Germain, the official photographer of the Sarasota Jazz Festival, has collected the best and most evocative images of her quarter century career photographing celebrated jazz performers and assembled them in her book “Jazz From Row Six: Photographs 1981-2007.” For each copy of the book by Germain, mother of Brattleboro resident Wendy Germain, that is sold, a full $10 of the $30 purchase price will now directly go to support the education programs of the Vermont Jazz Center. From her...
Big Brothers Big Sisters, the nation's premiere donor- and volunteer-supported youth mentoring organization, is galloping to connect more kids with the equestrian activities it offers at Winchester Stables on River Road, saying those who've tried it overwhelmingly love it. According to Rob Szpila, third-year director of BBBS in Brattleboro, partner organization and fellow nonprofit Southern Vermont Therapeutic Riding Center has been extending his charges free hourlong riding lessons every Saturday afternoon since the beginning of November. Four new children are...
Sean Altman, the singer, composer, and musical force behind a capella singing sensation Rockapella, brings his silky tenor back to Brattleboro as the star of Jewmongous!, his collection of satirical comedy songs poking good natured, often raunchy, and decidedly less than politically correct fun at his Jewish heritage and the plight of modern Jewish life. Altman will appear at the Hooker-Dunham Theatre on Main Street on Thursday, Dec. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Altman is perhaps best known for penning and...
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets wants to remind farmers that the winter manure spreading ban is now in effect. The ban runs Dec. 15 to April 1, 2013. This annual ban is part of a strategy to protect our working landscape and natural resources, as outlined in Vermont's Accepted Agricultural Practices (AAPs). The Agency works closely with farmers across the state to ensure that their farming operations comply with the AAPs. Manure spreading enriches the soil for...
For only nine days at the end of this month, Catherine Dianich Gallery in Brattleboro will host an international group of artists, Chelsea Collective, in an exhibition entitled “3 Cases and a Carry-on.” Aaron Distler is a collective member who comes from Brattleboro, and he will be curating the show of all 17 members of the collective in his home town. The exhibition opens to the public with a reception on Friday, Dec. 21, from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m.
The northern New England radio landscape changed drastically when 30 radio stations in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine were sold at a May bankruptcy auction. But now that the sale has become final, Windham County radio listeners won't see - that is, hear - any changes. The 30 stations, once owned by Nassau Broadcasting, were sold in May to Bill Binnie of WBIN Media Co., Inc., and Jeff Shapiro of Great Eastern Radio, LLC for a total of $12.5 million.
The Recreation and Parks Department, 207 Main St., offers programs and activities for youth during holiday vacation. For information on these and other programs, call 802-254-5808, or visit www.brattleboro.org. Open Gym Open Gym & Game Room is a free, supervised program with a variety of activities at the Gibson-Aiken Center. Basketball, foosball, air hockey, bumper pool, and arts and crafts. Feel free to drop kids off, or stay and enjoy the games with them. The program will be open: Dec.
Once again, the town's Last Night Committee has planned what organizers describe as a fun-filled, family-friendly day of celebration for New Year's Eve. The day kicks off with a free senior potluck luncheon at the Brattleboro Senior Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Music is provided by Sing, Sing & Swing. From 1 until 4 p.m., enjoy sleigh and hay rides at Fair Winds Farm, 511 Upper Dummerston Rd. Tickets are $6 for adults, and $3 for children up...
As the Vermont affiliate for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center calls upon creative teens throughout the Green Mountain State, grades 7-12, to “be bold” and submit their work for the opportunity to gain recognition and scholarships. Now in its 90th year, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation's longest-running, most prestigious educational initiative supporting student achievement in the visual and literary arts. Each year, 15 graduating high school seniors are awarded...
Allyson Wendt I am glad, when all is said and done, that I am human enough for my heart to break over the killing of innocents. I'm glad that so many other people are, too. I just wish the man with the gun was as in touch with his humanity. I find my mind wandering to other tragedies happening right now all over the world, and my heart breaks fresh every time. What an amazing thing empathy is, so much...
RE: “We expect better, and so should you” [Editorial, Dec. 12]: Although Assistant Secretary of State Brian Leven was quite right in stating that the event discussed in this piece is not a direct violation of the Open Meeting Law, it should not be dismissed that he also clearly stated that it happens a lot more than we think. It certainly does violate the spirit and intent of the statute if its purpose is to prevent citizen foreknowledge or citizen...
Five area towns have received a combined $38,596 to help with upcoming planning projects. The infusion is part of $447,723 in municipal planning grants announced Dec. 17 by the state Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development. The grants are intended to assist 46 communities around Vermont in planning for growth and development, revitalizing cities and towns, and helping protect communities from floods. The department selected projects from a pool of requests from 61 communities. The five local projects are...
Great stories by Olga Peters about the Brattleboro Retreat [News, Dec. 13]. Since I live in the Retreat neighborhood, and have heard stories “on the street,” I appreciate the fact-based reporting. Keep it up! Sadly, I cannot say the same about Andrew Stein's article on Entergy and the New England Coalition (NEC). The headline itself is totally in error. If you look at that current story on VTDigger, you will see that he got the facts wrong. Entergy is not...
The Saturday before Christmas is sunny and cold - the kind of cold that makes me feel like I'm breathing icicles. My parents and I are getting ready to make our annual pilgrimage to Aunt Sophie and Uncle Kirk's farm near the Bohemia River on Maryland's eastern shore. It's an hour's drive and I can't wait to get there. Uncle Kirk tends a grove of evergreens on the 30-acre field behind their house. This is the most wonderful day of...
A series of firsts occurred on the Latchis Theatre's main stage on Dec. 10, capping a year of accomplishment by the Windham County arts community. For the first time, Gov. Peter Shumlin and the Vermont Council for the Arts honored four artists with the 2012 Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. For the first time, all honorees reside in Windham County. And also for the first time, the awards ceremony took place outside Montpelier. Authors Karen Hesse and Archer...
Kids are the ultimate symbol of innocence. They represent the good in all of us, the good we want to be. They don't know of hatred, discrimination, lies, or murder. All they know is love. The warmth of hugs. The music of laughter. To take that away from them, to strip them of everything they're sure of, is horrific. Because after the shooting in Newtown, those kids now know of hatred and murder. They have seen some of the worst...
During the winter months, it is not uncommon to hear the question, “Where are all the birds?” A flip answer would be, “They've gone south.” Which they have. Most of the birds that fill our landscapes during the summer are tropical birds which return to the tropics in Central and South America during our winter months. Most of the warblers, vireos, thrushes, and flycatchers fall into this category. Many other birds move to the milder climate of the southern states.
As part of connecting the town to the Brattleboro municipal water grid, multiple fire hydrants were installed for use by fire departments in emergencies. The Guilford Volunteer Fire Department's own trucks, however, are not yet equipped to be compatible with these hydrants, due to updates in the parts that connect the hydrants to hoses. The Selectboard has voted unanimously to use $4,500 from a $195,000 bond approved by voters in February to pay for the new equipment, pending any legal...
A look at this year's winners of the Governor's Award for Excellence In The Arts: • Karen Hesse, of Brattleboro, has written more than 20 novels, primarily for young readers. She grew up in Baltimore, studied at Towson State College, and graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in English, psychology, and anthropology. In 2002, Hesse received a MacArthur Fellows Program award. She has also received a 1993 National Jewish Book Award, the 1998 Newberry Medal, the 1998 Scott...
The Planning Commission met Dec. 10 and drafted regulations regarding subdivision of open space in conservation as part of a rewriting of the town's subdivision regulations. The commission began the discussion at its Nov. 26 meeting, where its members discussed changes in bylaws for subdivision of developable land and application procedures. “Goals for future subdivision regulation include protecting the environment,” minutes for the Nov. 26 meeting stated. “Built into existing regulations are requirements assuming a greater growth rate (e.g., additional...
The Deerfield Ridge Trail, within the Green Mountain National Forest in the towns of Wilmington and Dover, has been subject to significant unauthorized excavation and sub-standard alterations. According to the U.S. Forest Service, these trail modifications, near Haystack Mountain and Haystack Pond, represent a significant threat of damage to the surrounding public lands and resources by increasing erosion, compromising the health of existing wetlands, wildlife habitat and unique biological communities. As a result, the Deerfield Ridge Trail has been closed...
The rain, sleet, and snow swirling through southern Vermont on Dec. 16 and 17 got local roads just slippery enough to be implicated in numerous vehicle crashes. No serious injuries were reported, but the Vermont State Police say that most of these mishaps were preventable. According to Capt. Ray Keefe, Troop D commander, most of the incidents were directly linked to three things: driving at a speed too fast for the existing conditions, operating with tires not suitable for winter...
The state has formally appealed the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) decision to deny public assistance for the full cost of replacing a culvert in Townshend that was demolished during Tropical Storm Irene. “FEMA has taken a shortsighted and unjustifiably stringent interpretation of its responsibility to fund upgrades to functionally obsolete culverts and bridges wiped out by floodwaters,” the state asserts in its appeal. The state calls the federal agency's denial of funds “contrary to state and federal law” and...
Members of United Nurses and Allied Professionals (UNAP) Local 5086 voted overwhelmingly to approve a hard-reached labor contract between the union and Brattleboro Retreat on Dec. 17. Of Local 5086's 300 voting members, 109 affirmed the contract, while 10 voted no. The bargaining team negotiated a 2.4-percent pay increase for union members. Employees will also keep the shift differential, or higher rates for those working hours other than standard day shifts. One compromise that the union made was agreeing to...