Main Street Arts has announced its winter schedule of classes, including seven Saturday workshops for those with limited time.
Robert O'Brien will be conducting a watercolor workshop Saturday, Jan. 9, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., on painting the snowy winter landscape. The fee is $58 for members and $71 for non-members.
Encaustic Collage is the subject of Collin Leech's workshop Saturday, Feb. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m., with a fee of $83 for members and $95 for non-members, including materials.
Felting Slippers and Potato Printing are two workshops offered by Jenny Wright. Felting is Saturday, Jan. 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for a fee of $63 for members and $73 for non-members. The printing class will meet Saturday, March 26, from 1 to 4 p.m. The fee is $29 for members and $35 for non-members. Both workshops include materials.
Fire Department installs dry hydrant at Blodgett Fire Pond VERNON - Fire Chief Todd Capen announced last month that the dry hydrant work at Blodgett Fire Pond is now complete. The project began more than a year ago with the Fire Department applying for a grant from the Vermont...
United by the presence of spent nuclear fuel in their backyards, members of community advisory panels in four states - including Vermont - are demanding congressional action. The Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (VNDCAP) is among the groups writing to their federal lawmakers, urging approval of an interim,
AARP's Tax-Aide branch at the Bellows Falls Senior Center is looking to build its team of tax-loving volunteers. Tax-Aide is a free tax assistance and preparation program for taxpayers with low to moderate income through the AARP Foundation. It has volunteer opportunities for people at every level of experience who want to stay sharp while giving back. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide has grown remarkably since its inaugural team of just four volunteers in 1968. The program now involves more than 35,000...
Seminar offers legal help for veterans NEWFANE - Katelyn B. Atwood, lead attorney for the Vermont Veterans Legal Assistance Project (VVLAP), will be conducting a seminar for veterans and those who advocate for veterans, describing the process in bringing successful disability claims before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The seminar will be held Thursday, Dec. 10, at 4 p.m., at the Newfane Courthouse on Route 30. Atwood is a Vermont attorney who co-ordinates the VVLAP in representing Vermont veterans...
Obituaries • John L. Amidon, 79, of Brattleboro. Died Nov. 30 at his home following a brief illness. Husband of Joy (Westover) Amidon for 56 years. Father of Mark Amidon and his wife, Tamar, of Littleton, Mass., and Brad Amidon and his wife, Michelle Markus, of Arlington, Mass. Brother of the late Coralyn James. Born in Morgantown, W.Va., the son of the late Lee L. and Ruth (Braden) Amidon, he was raised in Brookings, S.D. He graduated from South Dakota...
U.S. Forest Service officials in Vermont are encouraging the public to purchase Christmas tree removal permits should they be interested in a $5 tree for the holidays. This is a one-time opportunity to cut down a Christmas tree on national forest land during the 2015 holiday season. This year, all fourth-graders can take advantage of the Every Kid in a Park Initiative and get a free Christmas tree voucher found at www.nationalparks.org/ook/every-kid-in-a-park. Fourth-graders who present a printed copy of the...
Brattleboro Housing Partnerships (BHP) Executive Director Christine Hart saw a distinct change in a recent batch of residents' questionnaires. Residents said they felt unsafe. They didn't pinpoint specific incidents or situations, Hart said, but many wrote about experiencing a general sense of fear and uneasiness about their surroundings. According to Hart, one resident wrote that her unease has lingered since Tropical Storm Irene hit the community in 2011. A handful of BHP residents have contacted The Commons concerned about increased...
After addressing its regulatory troubles, Brattleboro Retreat has been released from a “systems improvement” agreement with the federal government, officials announced on Dec. 4. The psychiatric and addiction-treatment facility also has recovered its “deemed status” – meaning that it is no longer under direct scrutiny of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for quality and performance issues, a spokesman said. Retreat administrators learned of the changes via a letter from a regional CMS administrator who lauded “the...
A new economic study of Windham and Bennington counties begins with this succinct assessment: “Southern Vermont is in trouble.” The bulk of the report, mandated by this year's creation of the Southern Vermont Economic Development Zone, is dedicated to potential solutions to the region's financial and demographic troubles. Those include creating a regional economic strategy; funding a recruiting and marketing campaign; developing a broadband-financing plan; and starting a public-private partnership to lure investment capital. The document will be delivered to...
A primary goal of Act 46, Vermont's new education-governance law, is to “provide substantial equity in the quality and variety of educational opportunities statewide.” But the principal at one Windham County school said she believes the statute may do the opposite. Dorinne Dorfman, who leads Leland & Gray Union Middle and High School in Townshend, is sounding that alarm both locally and in Montpelier, urging lawmakers to slow down and take another look at the socio-economic impacts of school redistricting.
While most kids are excited to hear that schools are closed on a snow day, for working parents the announcement brings a lot of stress. Meeting Waters YMCA has a solution. For the 15th year, the regional Y is offering its Snow Day Program in Brattleboro. The Snow Day Program will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on days when schools are closed because of inclement weather. The program, which takes place at Oak Grove School, offers indoor and...
When it comes to dealing with the complexities and controversies of Vermont's new education law, Marlboro School Board members believe there is strength in numbers. That's why they'll be asking voters, in a special meeting scheduled for Jan. 4, to expand the town school board from three members to five. It may seem like a counterintuitive move given that, when the sweeping education-governance changes proposed in Act 46 take effect, there may not be a Marlboro School Board – at...
Budget planning for highway department PUTNEY - At the suggestion of Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard and Highway Superintendent Brian Harlow, the Selectboard has been asked to consider getting out of the “borrowing cycle” to pay for the town's roads equipment. Stoddard and Harlow suggest paying down the debt, and setting aside money each year, in preparation for purchasing and maintaining the highway vehicles. Board members discussed that interest rates are low now, but that will not last forever. If they...
For the past three years, The Gaslight Tinkers have worked stages up and down both coasts and locally with their brand of Celtic/Americana/World Beat music. From clubs to live radio to music festivals, the Tinkers play traditional melodies mixed with contemporary grooves from around the world. The band has only been around for about a year, but they say one of the secrets of their success has been the free show that they have been doing at Whetstone Station every...
Town Manager Peter Elwell has recommended the Selectboard postpone its decision on the Windham Solid Waste Management District's (WSWMD) fiscal year 2017 budget until its Dec. 15 meeting. Elwell's recommendation, outlined in a Dec. 4 memo to the board, came after discussions among the board, town staff, and members of the WSWMD about the programs the district offers its 19-member towns. WSWMD operates under a legal structure similar to a municipality. The 19-member towns each pay an assessment to the...
Tickets are now on sale for Company of Muses and Brattleboro School of Dance's presentation of The Nutcracker, taking place at New England Youth Theatre the weekend of Dec. 18-20. This is the third straight year the town's dance studio has mounted a full-scale production of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Christmas-themed ballet, complete with costumes and sets. Performances feature traditional and original choreography staged by faculty and performed by students and alumni with Brattleboro School of Dance owner and artistic director Jennifer...
The Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) entered the final phase of a three-phase rehabilitation and renovation project this month. Construction costs for the project totaled $8.9 million, according to WWHT Executive Director Connie Snow. The funds spruced up 83 of the housing trust's older apartments across 13 buildings. Improvements included refinishing or replacing flooring, updating fixtures, and energy and heating upgrades. According to Snow, staff noticed more than two years ago that some of the apartments purchased during the...
After a month of investigation, authorities still are searching for new leads regarding the Nov. 7 arson fire that caused extensive damage to four apartments at 16-38 Valgar St. In a news release on Dec. 7 from Fire Chief Michael Bucossi and Police Chief Michael Fitzgerald, a statement noted that the joint investigative effort by the Brattleboro Police and Fire Departments “continues to be very active.” The release noted that both agencies, with assistance from Vermont State Police, “have been...
When a prisoner has been released from serving a prison sentence, the issues that landed them there in the first place often recur, because those issues have never actually been addressed, Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark told Bellows Falls and area residents last week. No prison sentence will fix that constellation of issues which might doom a former inmate to offending again - recidivism - unless the issues are specifically assessed and addressed. Clark noted that incarceration increases the likelihood...
Nancy Olsen and Carl Noe of the tax exempt committee reported on their progress at the Nov. 18 Selectboard meeting. The committee was formed at this year's town meeting, mostly in response to Landmark College's failed attempts at gaining tax-exempt status on three of its properties. Olsen, who made the motion to create the committee and offered to serve on it, said its task is to study “how many tax-exempt properties do we have [and] what's the history of the...
The Windham Democratic Committee will honor one of the state's longtime legislators and public servants Saturday, Dec. 12 with the first Obie Awards dinner at the American Legion in Bellows Falls. Bellows Falls native Michael J. “Obie” Obuchowski, currently serving as Vermont Commissioner of Buildings and General Services, was a representative to the Vermont Legislature for almost four decades, representing Windham 3 district that includes Rockingham, Athens, Grafton, Brookline, Windham and part of Westminster. He also served three terms as...
Olga Peters, Moderator: Lawrence, I would love it if you would share some experiences about what led to homelessness for you, and what did it feel like to be homeless in this community? Lawrence Wardlaw: The experience of being homeless is something I wouldn't trade for anything else in the world. I was homeless for 10 months, from July 2014 until I moved into my own space in May of this year. Six months of it was at the Groundworks...
After being closed for six months, Next Stage will reopen its newly-renovated performance space on 15 Kimball Hill this weekend with a trio of shows. In what Next Stage Executive Director Maria Basescu calls a “soft opening,” the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) and harpist Sivan Magen - current artists-in residency at Yellow Barn - will do a workshop performance on Thursday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m. Admission is free. ECCO and Magen are working on a piece composed by...
Friends of Music at Guilford's 43rd Christmas at Christ Church event is set for Friday Dec. 11, at 8 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 12, at 4 p.m. These annual gatherings include both choral and instrumental Christmas music, a story, and a short carol-sing. This year's program includes an eclectic selection of songs, both sacred and secular, to bring in the holidays. Under the direction of Tom Baehr, the Guilford Chamber Singers present perennial favorites such as “Carol of the Bells”
Brel is back! Main Street Arts recently announced that, due to popular demand, its touring production of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris has been extended for one more performance with a show in Grafton on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the Grafton Inn's Phelps Barn. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Jacques Brel is a celebration of the life and art of one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the 20th...
Brattleboro boys' hockey head coach Eric Libardoni has no illusions about how difficult of a season it will for the Colonels. There are only four seniors on the team, and the learning curve will steep for the underclassmen. “We going to be tested every night,” said Libardoni after an 8-0 loss to Woodstock in the season opener on Dec. 2 at Withington Rink. Woodstock used speed and aggressive forechecking to keep the Colonels' offensive attack bottled up. “They got to...
By their own admission, members of the four-state Connecticut River Valley Flood Control Commission aren't used to having visitors or lengthy discussions at their meetings. So their Dec. 4 meeting was an anomaly as the commission's tiny boardroom in Greenfield, Mass., was packed with three Townshend residents and two state lawmakers concerned about chronically low tax-loss payments and perilously low water levels at Townshend Dam. There was some good news for the Vermont visitors: The commissioners agreed to call in...
The Hon. Patricia Whalen will speak on “Proving Genocide” at the Marlboro College Graduate Center on Vernon Street on Friday, Dec, 11, at 7:30 p.m., as part of Windham World Affairs Council monthly series of events. This event is free and open to the public. Coffee, tea, and conversation will precede Judge Whalen's talk at 7 p.m. Whalen served on the War Crimes Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. She will examine the evidence used to establish and prove...
For many fine artists, art is their “religion.” For Stuart Copans, religion is seen through his monumental series of paper cuttings, some of which are currently on exhibit at Putney Public Library, 55 Main St. In the 1970s, Copans wrote and illustrated a small article about “Mizrachim” and “Shiviti” for The Jewish Catalog. The mizrach was a small plaque, papercutting, or painting which included the word “mizrach” in Hebrew, used in daily prayer. He has since produced thousands of paper...
A dozen adults and teens are collecting new and gently-used jeans for African children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in a project they are calling Holy Jeans! Members of the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Youth Group will travel to Kenya in February for a service project in the village of Kaiguchu, where 143 orphans reside. The village has a nine-year relationship with the Guilford Community Church, which established the relationship and whose members have visited the village regularly to perform service projects and...
Atlantic Crossing will play New England and Celtic traditional music on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m., at Immanuel Episcopal Church, the stone church on the hill, 20 Church St. For nearly two decades, Atlantic Crossing has played traditional songs and acoustic instrumental music from New England - music which has deep Celtic roots in the British Isles and in French and Maritime Canada - together with original compositions inspired by these traditions. The band adapts the music of the...
Sandglass Theater recently added a new cement walkway to improve physical accessibility at the theater's events. While the theater has had a legally accessible grade for years, the gravel walkway has been less than adequate, especially in bad weather. The new walkway will make access easier for all events at the Putney venue. The walkway was funded by an anonymous local donor, and helps to bring an old Vermont building up to the standards of current use. Sandglass Theater is...
It was standing room only when Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark presented his plan for the Liberty Mill Justice Center (LMJC) to the public for the first time last week. At least 50 villagers attended the meeting, many voicing skepticism about the private transitional housing facility for people entering or exiting the justice system, which Clark is proposing for the 57,000-foot former Chemco building at 203 Paper Mill Rd., at the confluence of the Saxtons and Connecticut rivers. The project...
The Commons' Letters from Readers section [Voices, Nov. 25] was recently flooded with the plight of the homeless and hungry. This is a good attention - and I am happy to inform any reader of the state of ground-zero hungry in Brattleboro. In the four years I have been working at one of the two community kitchens in town, we have seen two politicians attend us, both at election time, then not seen them again. We have never seen a...
The Selectboard approved a cocktail of state and local economic development funds to support the expansion of G.S. Precision. At its Dec. 1 meeting, the board OK'd a $200,000 loan and two tax stabilization agreements, and discharged mortgages held on the Exit One Industrial Park, where the company makes high-precision machined components and sub-assemblies for the aircraft engine, aerospace, medical, fiber-optic, automotive, specialty bearing, and other commercial industries. Town Manager Peter Elwell said that the town's portion of the incentive...
“I turned 66 in November. I've had a job since I was five years old,” Robert Clements, co-owner of Zephyr Designs, said, when asked why he is retiring at the end of the month. “Literally, I've been working for 61 years,” he added. “I figure I don't owe the Gross Domestic Product anything at this point." Clements' first job as a young boy in Detroit was piece-work, assembling car door switches for an engineer friend of his father's. Since then,
In 2014, Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark convinced the cash-strapped Vermont Legislature to invest $200,000 in a new, experimental electronic monitoring program. Now, Clark is ready to make his case that the program should continue. In fact, when the Legislature reconvenes for the 2016 session, Clark intends to argue that the initiative should expand throughout Vermont as a way to cut the state's prison expenses and alleviate the social costs of incarceration. In the short time the pilot program has...