Town Auditors' Report now available
BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Town Auditors' Report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, is available upon request and may be picked up at the Town Clerk's office, 230 Main St.
The Auditors' Reports will also be available as part of the Town and Town School District Annual Report, which will be available at the Town Clerk's office no later than Feb. 21.
Based on a vote at Representative Town Meeting in 2010, the town will no longer mail the Auditors' Reports to all voters of the town. Therefore, persons interested in obtaining a copy should contact the Brattleboro Town Clerk at 802-251-8157. Copies are also available at www.brattleboro.org.
Public invited to second 'Trail Talk' for I-91 bridge project
BRATTLEBORO - The PCL/FIGG team is conducting its second on-site “Trail Talk” on Saturday, Feb. 8. These talks take up the status of the I-91 Brattleboro bridge project. Participants will learn about the construction, and are encouraged to ask questions.
The talks will originate at the West River Trail near the Marina. The first trail talk is led by Caleb Linn, project manager for PCL (the lead contractor), and Garrett Hoffman, design manager for FIGG (the bridge designer).
Interested participants should meet the PCL/FIGG team at the West River Trail trailhead at 8 a.m. The talk begins at 8:15. Participants will walk the trail to the I-91 bridge site, so wear appropriate clothing and footwear. The project's website, www.i91brattleborobridge.com, features current information about the project, construction photos, and live traffic cameras.
Saxtons River plans special meeting for sewer users
SAXTONS RIVER – The Trustees of the Village of Saxtons River will hold a special informational meeting Saturday, Feb. 8, at 9 a.m., at the Saxtons River Elementary School for those on the village's wastewater system.
The trustees will present plans for upgrading the village's 40-year-old sewer system and options for funding it, including bonding. Users have been notified of the meeting by mail, and may contact Ben Wallace at 802-869-2196 or [email protected] if they have questions or are unable to attend the meeting.
Asian Cultural Center celebrates Lunar New Year
BRATTLEBORO - Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents the 11th annual Brattleboro Area Lunar New Year Festival of China, Vietnam, and Korea on Sunday, Feb. 9, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the River Garden on Main Street.
Ushering in the Year of the Horse, this annual celebration begins with eating together. It's a potluck, so bring a dish or other refreshments to share. There will be a craft and coloring table for younger children, t'ai chi demonstrations, a group calligraphy mural, Chinese exercises, Lunar New Year songs, a Korean tug of war, and more.
To culminate the celebration, a giant Vietnamese dragon leads participants in a community parade along Main Street (participants should dress warmly for the weather). Seth Harter, director of Asian studies at Marlboro College, brought this extraordinary dragon back from the village of an accomplished Vietnamese craftsman.
For more information, contact ACCVT Executive Director Adam Silver at 802-257-7898, ext. 1, or 802-579-9088, or visit them on Facebook.
Osher lectures on the War in Yugoslavia conclude
DUMMERSTON - The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) announces the last in its annual midwinter series of three lectures, to be presented on Monday, Feb. 10, from 1 to 3 p.m. (snow day Feb. 17) at the Southeastern Vermont Learning Collaborative, 471 Vermont Route 5.
This winter's lectures are titled “War in the Former Yugoslavia: An International Judge Reflects on the Genocide, the War Crimes, the Trials.” The lecturer is Patricia Whalen of Westminster, who served as an international judge for five years, presiding over war crimes and other trials stemming from the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
The Feb. 10 program offers a look at Bosnia and Herzegovina today. Parking and handicapped access are available. Light refreshments will be served. The per-lecture fee, for OLLI members and nonmembers both, is $6. For more information, call 802-257-8600 or toll-free 866-889-0042.
Candidate forum presented in Rockingham
ROCKINGHAM - Citizens for Participation in Rockingham (CPR), a non-partisan group whose mission is to encourage participation in the democratic process by running for office and voting, will hold a forum for candidates for the Rockingham Public Library board on Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m., in the Lower Theater in the Rockingham Town Hall.
The forum will be telecast live on FACTv/Channel 8 and rebroadcast later. The moderator is Mike Smith. Anyone unable to attend and who has a question may write [email protected].
Running for three three-year seats are Doreen Aldrich, Carol Blackwood, Raymond Massucco and Deborah Wright. The candidate for the one two-year seat is David Gould.
Local professor to speak about mixing religion, politics
PUTNEY - Landmark College faculty member Daniel Miller will present “When Religion is Politics” as part of the Landmark College Academic Speaker Series, on Monday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m., in the Brooks O'Brien Auditorium in the East Academic Building at the college.
Miller will talk about how Western thought - with its strong tradition of secularism - has been challenged to understand religious-based political entities, both within the American religious right and worldwide.
Miller is an assistant professor of religion and philosophy at Landmark College. The manuscript for his first book, “The Secular in Question: Religion, Democracy, Politics,” is under review for publication with Duquesne University Press.
This event is free, accessible, and open to the public. It is presented by the Landmark College Speaker Series and co-sponsored by Windham World Affairs Council.
Transition Putney to screen 'Economics of Happiness'
PUTNEY - On Monday, Feb. 10, from 7 to 9 p.m., the Putney Public Library and Transition Putney will screen “The Economics of Happiness,” a film seeking to challenge people to believe that it is possible to build a better world.
The film describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. On the other hand, communities are coming together to re-build more human-scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm: an economics of localization.
A discussion follows the film. For more information, contact Paul LeVasseur at [email protected] or 802-387-4102.
Marlboro Grad School offers free Green Mountain Care workshop
BRATTLEBORO - A free workshop entitled “Green Mountain Care: The end of employer-sponsored health care” will be held at Marlboro College Graduate School on Tuesday, Feb. 11, from noon to 1:30 p.m.
After decades of effort by Vermont progressives, Vermont is on the cusp of implementing its revolutionary universal health care plan, Green Mountain Care, which will sever the ties between employment and health insurance. Unlike the federal Affordable Care Act, which leaves the employer-sponsored health insurance regime in place, Green Mountain Care will guarantee universal health coverage to all Vermonters as a right of residency.
But implementing universal coverage in a small state is not without enormous challenges: Green Mountain Care will not be a single-payer system; Vermont will have to obtain permission from the federal government to use federal money to fund the program. Even with the inclusion of Medicare, Medicaid and other federal sources of funds, Vermont will need to raise billions to operate the program.
States are often the laboratories of democracy. Can Vermont lead the nation out of its health-care woes? Leading the workshop is Craig Miskovitch, who teaches in the Marlboro College School for Graduate and Professional Studies and advises hospitals and health systems, nursing facilities, health maintenance organizations and other healthcare providers in Vermont and New Hampshire in health-care matters.
This event is part of the grad school's Tuesday lunchtime MIX (Management Ideas Exchange) workshop series. Register at gradschool.marlboro.edu. For more information, write Ariel Brooks at [email protected].
BF Woman's Club to meet Feb. 11
BELLOWS FALLS - Members of the Bellows Falls Woman's Club will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at the United Church of Bellows Falls on School Street, beginning at 1:30 p.m..
Program presenter is Chris Potter, speaking on “Being Prepared: Life's Decisions.” In honor of American Heart Month, members are asked to wear red.
The winter meeting of the General Federation of Women's Clubs of Vermont will be held in Rutland on Feb. 8. Local club members plan to attend. Women interested in joining the BF club and helping with its projects should call Barbara Comtois at 802-344-0025.
AAUW program examines racial profiling
BRATTLEBORO - Racial profiling is the focus of a program offered by the Brattleboro branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 1 p.m., at Marlboro College Graduate Center.
Donna Macomber, director of the Women's Freedom Center, and Mary Gannon, a diversity educator, will lead a discussion of the effects of racial profiling on the local community. Both are members of the Community Equity Collaborative.
The program is open to the public. For more information, call membership chair Vivian Prunier at 802-387-5875.
VBSR to launch Southern Vermont chapter
BRATTLEBORO - Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) is forming a Southern Vermont VBSR chapter.
Designed to give forward-thinking professionals an ongoing forum to network with like-minded peers, learn about operating their businesses in a socially responsible context, and discuss issues unique to the region, the chapter is open to VBSR members and guests from Rutland, Windsor, Windham, and Bennington counties.
The first Southern Vermont VBSR chapter meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Marlboro College Graduate Center, 28 Vernon St.
The kick-off meeting consists of an evening of chapter planning and organizing, and networking with colleagues and peers. Additional meetings are scheduled for March 11 and April 8. The events are free to attend. To learn more, RSVP, or become a chapter sponsor for $100, visit vbsr.org.
BUHS annual report now available
BRATTLEBORO - In anticipation of the BUHS District #6 Annual Meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11 in the high school gymnasium, the BUHS District #6 Annual Reports are now available.
They can be found at all WSESU schools, the superintendent's office, Brooks Memorial Library, district town offices (Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon), and at www.wssu.k12.vt.us.
Toastmasters speeches, evaluations set for Feb. 13 at Marlboro Grad Center
BRATTLEBORO - BrattleMasters, the Brattleboro-based chapter of Toastmasters International, meets the second and fourth Thursday of the month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the second floor of Marlboro College Graduate Center, 28 Vernon St., Brattleboro.
The next meeting is Thursday, Feb. 13. Three speeches and evaluations are planned, as is a round of off-the-cuff “table topic” challenges (all voluntary). Guests are welcome, and refreshments are provided. There is no pressure to speak, and members are working at their own pace and with assigned mentors to help them meet their speaking and leadership goals.
For more information, visit brattleboro.toastmastersclubs.org.
16th Annual Homelessness Marathon broadcast to air from WVEW
BRATTLEBORO - The 16th Annual Homelessness Marathon, a radio program designed to call attention to poverty in America, will be broadcast from the studios of WVEW-LP 107.7 FM, Brattleboro Community Radio, on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
The show, which runs from 7 p.m. until 1 a.m., will once again bring the voices of homeless people into America's homes.
“I wish we could get their bodies inside too,” says Jeremy Weir Alderson, the broadcast's founder, “but we're doing the best thing we can by showing America why this problem should be, can be, and must be solved.”
The broadcast - which has previously originated from Detroit, Kansas City, and Katrina-ravaged Mississippi, among other places - features live discussions with homeless people, providing a rare opportunity to see life through their eyes.
This year's program will originate from in front of the First Baptist Church of Brattleboro, 190 Main St. The First Baptist Church provides the space for Brattleboro's overflow shelter, operated by the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center. A few years ago, the church sold a prized possession - a Tiffany stained glass window - so that it could continue its mission, including its service to the poor.
The 16th Annual Homelessness Marathon will be available for free to all radio stations over the Public Radio Satellite System, the Pacifica Ku-band and Pacifica's Audioport.
Live video of the broadcast will be carried by Free Speech Television (FSTV), starting at 8 p.m. on Feb. 19. FSTV has channel 9415 on the Dish Network and channel 348 on DirecTV, as well as a webcast.