Byron Stookey's argument about Israel being the bully does not hold water.
Israel has never provoked the fight. It has always responded from aggression from Hamas, which runs and rules the Gaza Strip.
Just because someone is stronger and can defend oneself better than the instigator does not make you the bully; I would actually say it is the other way around.
Hamas - always the instigator - is the bully in this equation, not Israel.
As we approach the end of summer, the volunteers of the Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) will be putting away their river shoes, coolers, thermometers, and other testing supplies. The early-morning trips to the river to record conditions and take water samples will be replaced with appeals to help...
The voices of merchants and police speaking about downtown crime and drugs in Brattleboro rang with a level of compassion and wisdom that is all too rare in our national discourse on these topics; once again, I felt honored to be a Vermonter. I also felt called to add...
I've heard people - almost always people who were never poor or ever had to go on welfare or food stamps - complain up a storm over someone they saw at the supermarket using food stamps who had a nicer phone than they did. From that one event, they make an incredibly petty and ignorant argument that everyone on food stamps is lazy and cheating the system for their own gain. I also have to say that in these instances,
Getting into my car first thing one recent morning, not quite awake, I sensed something shoot past my head with a huge whoosh, landing in the trees and underbrush just on the other side of the driveway. I woke up some more. (A large bird coming out of a tree and flying close to your head can have that effect on you.) I wondered if it was a wild turkey. As soon as I got to work, I emailed my...
The Brattleboro Labor Day Dawn Dance is set for Sunday, Aug. 31. The Dawn Dance, which takes place each year on Memorial Day and Labor Day, draws dancers from far and wide for the chance to dance the night away to a selection of the finest musicians and callers in the country. The afternoon English country dance runs from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Stone Church, across the street from the Gibson-Aiken Center. Pianist Dave Wiesler, from Dover, Del.,
Your neighbors don't help you pay for your gasoline, heating oil, or your food. Nor do you help pay for theirs. You pay for it yourself. Whether you own a gas guzzler or a hybrid, how many miles you drive determines how much you spend on gas. Where you set your thermostat affects how much you spend on heating oil. Your eating habits affect how much you spend on food. Starting in spring of 2015, your neighbors will no longer...
Jim Jeffords did much for Vermont and the nation, but it's his legacy of support for rail in Vermont that we lift up now. Jeffords, a rail buff, brought passionate support of better train service to secure funding for the state's rail network and led the Agency of Transportation toward a more sustainable, rail-inclusive future. His support enabled the restoration of Amtrak's Montrealer on the route of today's Vermonter, enabled a trial of Champlain Valley commuter service, upgraded track to...
Births • In Brattleboro (Memorial Hospital), Aug. 7, 2014, a son, Cason James Doleszny, to Brittany (Parent) and Aaron Doleszny of Brattleboro; grandson to Cheryl and Joe Parent, and Victoria and John Doleszny. College news • Amy Blazej, a creative writing major from Windham, successfully completed Colby-Sawyer College's internship requirement this summer at West River Community Project in West Townshend. • Jennifer A. Spero of Londonderry, Dustin Powell of Westminster, Rachel F. Hill and Joseph M. Sawyer Shaw of Brattleboro,
West Brattleboro Association offers free movie night WEST BRATTLEBORO - The West Brattleboro Association presents “The Triplets of Belleville” (2003; animated; kid friendly) as the main feature of its first free movie night, Thursday, Aug. 28. The film, which got rained out last week, will be screened outdoors at dusk next to the West Brattleboro Fire Station. Shorts begin at 7:30 p.m. The main feature starts at 8. Arrive early for bike-powered smoothies from the Bellows Falls Community Bike Project,
It was 2001. The northbound Vermonter pulled into the Bellows Falls station those many years ago, and a solitary man climbed down the stairs and onto the platform. He was pulling a small suitcase behind him. As he went past me, I acknowledged him with a “Good evening, Senator, and thank you.” He nodded, smiled as if he understood what I meant, and moved on to the parking lot to look for his car. No limo. No driver. No aides.
Thanks to Marilyn Allen for your letter. Because many of us share these concerns about the Brattleboro Food Co-op, we have started the Shareholder Forum, for Co-op shareholders, by shareholders. Our first meeting took place Aug. 10, and 28 people attended. We plan to meet regularly on the second Sunday of each month from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the BFC Community Room. Please come and share your concerns and hear from other shareholders. This past meeting was rich...
More than 1,000 volunteers from local companies, schools, and towns will participate in community improvement projects across Windham County on Saturday, Sept. 6, at United Way of Windham County's annual Day of Caring. An estimated $10,000 in labor will be donated during the largest one-day volunteer service event in the county. Day of Caring is sponsored by The Richards Group, Holstein Association USA, and Derby Building & Woodwork, with media support from the Brattleboro Reformer. United Way's year-round volunteer engagement...
Even among the current news stories which seem more violent and discouraging than ever, the horror of yet another cold-blooded murder of a black teenage boy has shaken and enraged me. In part, it is because of the identity of the killer - a local police officer. In part, it is the completely insane and over-militarized reaction to the protesters - mostly peaceful, some not, but all powerless and needing an outlet for their rage. I also am shocked that...
Adult Religious Education at Immanuel Episcopal Church presents a course on the Dead Sea Scrolls on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. from Sept. 2 through Oct. 21. All are welcome to participate. The course, based on video presentation, runs at the Chapel at the Stone Church, 20 Church St. As a program announcement explains, “the year is 1947: A Bedouin shepherd tracks one of his stray goats into a cave mouth above the shore of the Dead Sea at a desolate...
Vermont Student Assistance Corp. will administer a new program that provides $50,000 in stipends this year to help low-income high school students cover the costs of books, fees and travel associated with dual enrollment courses. “The Legislature has acted decisively to the demand for dual enrollment classes by providing this incentive to those students who may need additional financial assistance to realize the dream of college,” said Scott Giles, president and CEO of VSAC, said in a news release. “As...
The Brattleboro Retreat's fifth annual Ride for Heroes, held Aug. 16, set a record for attendance and fundraising by attracting 287 participants and raising more than $20,000 for the hospital's Uniformed Service Program. The ride, with an escort from the Windham County Sheriff's Department, began on the Retreat's campus and continued on a 70-mile tour through Wilmington, Whitingham, and Searsburg before returning to the Retreat for a barbeque lunch. The day began with Retreat employee Donny Richard welcoming the riders...
Back in the 1990s, the famed economist and longtime Townshend summer resident John Kenneth Galbraith observed that one difference between Vermont and other states is that we could send a Republican (Jim Jeffords), a Democrat (Patrick Leahy), and an independent socialist (Bernie Sanders) to Congress, and they would all vote the same way on most issues. Former U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who died at age 80 on Aug. 18, got called a RINO (“Republican in name only”) by the doctrinaire...
I grew up white in a suburb of St. Louis that's just a few miles from Ferguson, where on Aug. 9 a policeman shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager. Forty or so years earlier, police killed a teenage neighbor of mine with what they claimed was only a warning shot - though it seems to have been aimed at my neighbor's head. And a few years before that, police across the river in East St. Louis, Ill.,
The Selectboard threw its support behind a planned second annual Holiday of Horses Parade, tentatively set for the second Sunday after Thanksgiving Resident Laura Richardson asked the board at its Aug. 18 meeting for permission to organize the event and for logcal support - particularly traffic control and parking. The Selectboard said yes. Any cost to the town would come through invoices from the Sheriff's Department. Many people would want to volunteer, Richardson said, and she predicted more participants would...
After having just climbed his eighth mountain of the summer, Mount Moosilauke in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, 78-year-old William McKim is ready to take on another monumental endeavor: performing the organ music of the Baroque. McKim says he believes that the late 17th and early 18th centuries were among - and may top - the greatest periods for music written for the organ. On Saturday, Aug. 30, at 7:30 p.m., McKim presents a recital on the circa-1897 Tracker...
Economic specialists from the state and region greeted members of a quiet audience who climbed the curving staircase to the second floor of the Townshend Town Hall. The audience came armed with pens and notepaper: the brave few ready to take on the application process for the Windham County Economic Development Program (WCEDP). Attending the Aug. 19 meeting was the first requirement for applying to the county-specific economic development fund. Applications for the first round of the new program are...
Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) has space available in its upcoming financial fitness workshop. This eight-part workshop series will help participants discover how to use the money they have and take steps toward prosperity. Participants will learn to improve their relationship with money, increase cash flow, and experience financial security. Other topics covered include saving, spending, credit, paying for college, purchasing a home, purchasing a car, insurance, and retirement. One's credit report can be reviewed, with recommendations provided to take...
The Windham County Humane Society's 14th annual Walk for Animals runs Saturday, Sept. 27, starting and ending at Crowell Park on Western Avenue. The money directly supports the humane society's efforts to help lost, homeless, and abused animals survive, thrive, and find new homes. The goal this year is to raise $10,000, organizers said in a press release. Walkers are invited to solicit donations from friends, family, and co-workers. This year the society has set up a fundraising page at...
At-large U.S. Rep. Peter Welch moved from table to table. A woman handed him a business card as she pitched her group's project. As the lunchtime crowd filled The Works Bakery Café on Main Street, Welch discussed issues with constituents during one of his periodic “Congress in Your Community” visits on Monday. The Vermont Democrat holds these meetings in communities throughout the state, especially during congressional recess periods. This day is busy. Welch spends about 10 minutes speaking with one...
The Vipers Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Girls Basketball Program came through a long winter, which saw us having to re-organize the program and essentially start over from the beginning, with many questions to answer. Any girl who wishes to play, regardless of athletic ability or financial situation, is always welcomed on the Vipers. We currently have just fewer than 100 players on our roster, ranging from fourth grade, through the high-school varsity level. These players hail from throughout southern Vermont,
The town's insurer isn't saying not to dump ice water on your head. It's just saying be smart about it. And not to use the town's heavy equipment to further the fun. Noting the viral spread of this summer's Ice Bucket Challenge - which sees dared participants either write a check toward research to fight the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or else post a video of themselves dumping a bucket of ice water on their head - Newfane's insurer...
The Bellows Falls Opera House Classic Film Wednesdays series honors the late Robin Williams this September with four of his unforgettable roles. “We were able to obtain licenses for these films on short notice,” Opera House manager Rick Angers said. “With the outpouring of love and support for Robin Williams, we felt this was an appropriate way to go for September." The schedule is: • Sept. 3 – “Dead Poets Society” (1989) (rated PG) • Sept. 10 – “Good Morning,
Brattleboro writer Diana Whitney's debut book of poetry, Wanting It, was released in June. “The title is provocative, but not erotic,” Whitney explains. “It's the experience of longing, but not necessarily for a lover.” Whitney's poems are about longing for some experience other than what one is having: for the next stage of life, for merging with nature, or for excitement. And sometimes, she says, longing means craving material things. Wanting It is divided into four parts, arranged in seasons.
The fall high school varsity sports season opens this week, and the Brattleboro Union High School's teams have nowhere to go but up. Last season was a disappointing one for BUHS girls' soccer (3-8-3), boys' soccer (5-8-1), field hockey (1-11-2), and football (2-7). Field hockey struggled the most, and they are getting a shot of experience at the helm. Long-time varsity coach Sherryl Libardoni has come out of retirement to lead the Colonels, and she will be assisted by Kelly...
It was fitting that the weather for the first Dummerston Open Farms Day was cool and cloudy to start, and only slowly warming the rest of the day. After a long and cold winter, a rainy spring, and a summer with no heat waves and more days in the 60s and 70s than in the 80s and 90s, it's been a mixed bag for this town's farms. For Read Miller at Dwight Miller & Son Farm, his peach crop was...
Have you ever run with a lit candle toward pyrotechnics? Have you ever had an egg tied to your head in the name of teamwork? Have you ever battled evil with a spoon? “This is your chance, people,” says Emily Zervas, with Rolf Parker-Houghton a Field Day coordinator for Future Fest 3, The Future Collective's third Annual Awesome Multi-Day Arts and Music Festival. The local arts and music group The Future Collective produces the event. Volunteers plan, perform, cook, and...
Backing a request from the Board of Listers, the Selectboard on Aug. 21 joined a reported dozen other Vermont municipalities in waiving penalties for residents hit with state penalties over late homestead rebate forms. Calling for the change were Doris Knechtel and Town Treasurer Maureen Albert-Piascik, who said they had proof of state errors “left and right” that saw some residents tagged with 3 percent penalties for missing the April 15 filing deadline. Knechtel said elderly residents in particular were...
Incumbent state Sen. Jeanette White of Putney finished on top in Tuesday's Democratic Primary to secure a place on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 4. The race for the second spot was much closer, but Brattleboro educator Becca Balint prevailed over former state Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee of Townshend in a contest that was close all evening. Health care navigator Joan Bowman of Putney was a distant fourth. With 21 of the county's 24 voting precincts reporting...