Good day to you, denizen of the windy hamlets of southeastern Vermont!
Winter continues to flex its muscles, as we will have several chances at accumulating snowfall. In addition, we could experience some wintry mixed precipitation by the end of the weekend with fairly seasonable temperatures on average, after we get through an especially mild Wednesday.
For Wednesday, we should be visited by a brief warm nose of air as the warm front responsible for bringing snow, sleet, freezing rain and even some plain rain showers passes briefly to our north.
High temperatures should make it into the 40s, but will be dropping through the afternoon behind a cold front that passes through in the morning. It will be pleasant earlier in the day with partly sunny skies, but west and then northwest winds should kick up and gust over 30 mph at times as fresh Canadian cold air spills into the region.
Through the efforts of the Farmland Committee and the Selectboard - and anyone who pays property taxes in town - 59 acres of prime agricultural land will stay that way in perpetuity. At their Jan. 18 regular Selectboard meeting, the Board unanimously approved the Farmland Committee's request for $15,000...
Camp-a-Lot (new old stories of the Round Table) will be performed from Feb. 10-19 at New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat St. The play was written by long-time New England Youth Theatre director Peter Gould. Twelve campers and four counselors guide the audience on a magic journey of strange...
College news • The following local students earned academic honors for the fall 2016 semester at Community College of Vermont: Kyle O'Rourke of Bellows Falls; Carie-Ann Davis, Alayna Spear, and Emily Whitworth of Brattleboro; Mariah Matyas and Nina Singleton-Spencer of Newfane; Selena Wetherby of Putney; Aileen Hardesty of Saxtons River; Diane Carvalho and Maggie McKay of Vernon; Kelsey Hescock of Wardsboro; Amber Goodnow of West Halifax; and Travis Douglass and Isaac Gelineau of Westminster all were named to the Dean's...
Members of the nonprofit Broad Brook Community Center recently got one step closer to possibly purchasing the Broad Brook Grange and turning it into a more viable public space. Community Center members Don McLean and Rick Zamore appeared at the Jan. 9 regular Selectboard meeting to provide an update on their progress. They also asked if the town would help by granting an easement allowing the Center to install a septic system on the town-owned Anthony lot, which sits just...
Buckley resigns her seat on Windham Regional Commission GUILFORD - Former Town Administrator Katie Buckley announced her resignation as the town's representative to the Windham Regional Commission, via a letter to the Selectboard. Buckley was appointed earlier this month as the Commissioner for the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. In her letter, read into the record at the Jan. 9 regular Selectboard meeting, Buckley said her new responsibilities leave her no...
First Congregational to serve free breakfast WEST BRATTLEBORO - First Congregational Church of West Brattleboro will host a free breakfast on Sunday, Feb. 12, from 8 to 9:30 a.m. They will offer a hot, nutritious breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, orange juice, fresh fruit, hot homemade biscuits, and hot beverages for all. Osher lecture looks at 'The Age of Trump' DUMMERSTON - On Feb. 13, from 10 a.m. to noon, Michael Krasner will present a lecture and discussion on...
Registration is open for the Brattleboro Music Center's Piano Four-Hands Extravaganza - a weekend workshop on the art of piano four-hand repertoire set for Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26, at the Brattleboro Music Center at 38 Walnut St. Sessions will be held Saturday, March 25, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., Sunday, March 26, with open practice available in the morning. Those interested should register soon, but no later than March 1, organizers say,
A faulty ventilation fan motor in a bathroom caused a two-alarm fire at a three-story apartment house at 45 Chestnut St. on Jan. 31. According to Brattleboro Fire Chief Michael Bucossi, the first alarm was called in to the department at 12:53 p.m. Three minutes later, Brattleboro Police arrived on the scene and reported heavy smoke coming from the rear of the building and a second alarm was struck. One of the occupants of the building told the officer in...
This spring, Brattleboro Area Hospice will expand its training opportunities to people who want to become Hospice Care Volunteers with volunteer trainings in both Bellows Falls and in the Deerfield Valley. The Bellows Falls training will take place Wednesday mornings, March 22 to May 31, from 9 a.m. until noon, at the Stone Church Arts and Immanuel Retreat Center, Currier Hall, 14 Church St. The Wilmington training will take place Thursday afternoons, March 30 to June 8, from 3 to...
Immanuel Retreat Center, 12 Church St., will offer a drawing workshop Feb. 11 and a course beginning Feb. 15 in Celtic knotwork - the interlacing knotwork artwork created by early Celtic monks in such illuminated manuscripts as the Book of Kells and the Lindesfarne Gospels. The workshop is an introduction and the course will cover the introductory material but quickly move into more advanced patterns and techniques. Celtic knotwork patterns depicting birds and animals, trees and other plants, people, and...
Bus! Stop! DUMMERSTON - Observant travelers along Upper Dummerston Road will notice some new signs warning of a school bus stop ahead. During the “Road Foreman's Report” portion of the Jan. 18 regular Selectboard meeting, the Board unanimously voted to approve of new bus stop signs on the northbound and southbound sides of the road. Board Chair Zeke Goodband told his colleagues Road Foreman Lee Chamberlin is “okay with it.” Board members noted the bus route is already established -
The Selectboard took a big step toward Town Meeting - but further from keeping its own recycling roll-off bins - by approving the official warning and the Fiscal Year 2018 budget at their Jan. 18 regular Board meeting. This year's town meeting warning will see a familiar slate of candidates for the Selectboard. The only people running for the two open seats are the incumbents, Steve Glabach and Jerelyn Wilson. Most of the highlights of the discussion centered on money.
Kevin Quigley already had been planning to travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in a higher-education conference and to talk with Vermont's congressional delegation. But the Marlboro College president said the tone of his meeting with lawmakers changed dramatically after President Donald Trump issued a controversial order on Jan. 27 limiting immigration from primarily Muslim countries. “We had an agenda of things we wanted to talk about, but frankly, with the executive order that happened, that became item No. 1,”
The Brattleboro girls' basketball team has had an up-and-down season. After winning its first two games, the Colonels lost their next two, won two of their three games after that, then went on a four-game losing streak. Brattleboro broke out of its slump with a 36-34 road win over Hartford on Feb. 1, but ended up back in the losing column on Feb. 3 with a 49-48 loss to Mill River. The Colonels had an eight-point lead to start the...
On time and under budget are words every town wants to hear during a big construction project. The Police & Fire Facility Building Committee not only heard those words on Feb. 1, they saw the proof, as they held their meeting inside the new and nearly completed West Brattleboro Fire Station on South Street. Ground was broken for the new station - part of $14 million of upgrades and replacements for the town's now-obsolete public-safety buildings - back in August.
The Downtown Brattleboro Alliance recently received a donation of new recycling receptacles for downtown Brattleboro from recycling-system company Recycle Away. The new receptacles, valued at $4,000, are located in Pliny Park and the Transportation Center. The brightly colored blue and green containers are made of heavy-duty plastic. Kate O'Connor of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce, located next to the park, said in a news release that “these are the most attractive containers we've seen.” Asked about the donation, Recycle...
Entergy has spent nearly $125 million from Vermont Yankee's decommissioning trust fund in the two years since the Vernon plant shut down. Overall, with other expenses and investment income factored in, the nuclear plant's trust fund has decreased by about 15 percent during that time - from $664.56 million to $561.6 million. While those are big numbers, Entergy says its decommissioning spending remains under budget. Joe Lynch, government affairs senior manager for Entergy Wholesale Commodities, attributed that in part to...
Voters will consider a ban on plastic bags and for Brattleboro to become a “compassionate city,” while Representative Town Meeting members will consider a measure to change the name of the Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous People's Day. Those three items were all part of the Town Meeting warrant approved by the Selectboard on Jan. 31. Besides electing town and school officials on March 7, Brattleboro voters will weigh in on a ballot question that would limit the use of...
A former state regulator has decided that she won't be assisting Entergy in its effort to sell Vermont Yankee. Burlington attorney Elizabeth Miller has given notice of her withdrawal from state Public Service Board proceedings concerning Entergy's proposed sale of the shut-down Vernon nuclear plant to a New York-based decommissioning company. Miller previously had been involved in Vermont Yankee matters as a state official. Her plan to advocate for Entergy made news last month and raised questions about a “revolving...
Christine Hudson, who lives in Wardsboro with her husband Michael Recca and her two English Setters, is the Wardsboro Public Library's Artist of the Month for February. Following her graduation from Cornell University, Hudson's love of fabrics led to her career in merchandising and sales in the garment district in New York City. Though trained in apparel design, she began designing custom-made pillows, bags made of re-purposed ties, and machine-embroidered monograms. She then started paper-pattern piecing designs and made them...
A planned reshuffling of the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel could bolster Windham County's representation. But the changes also would remove a longtime state lawmaker - Sen. Mark MacDonald, D-Orange - from the panel. And MacDonald, a sometimes-gruff critic of Vermont Yankee, is objecting to the idea that the advisory group needs a different legislative perspective. While acknowledging that the change is “not personal,” MacDonald added: “I'm the outsider. They want someone more provincial.” Panel Chairwoman Kate O'Connor responded...
On Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 6:45 p.m., New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat St., presents “Feel the Loving,” a Valentine's Day-themed evening highlighted by the Brattleboro premiere of the feature film, Loving. “Feel the Loving,” which also features a dessert bar and other entertainment, is a fundraiser for the Theatre Adventure program, NEYT's acting troupe that celebrates actors of all abilities. Suggested donation is $20 and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Loving stars the Academy Award-nominated Ruth Negga...
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center recently announced that 143 teenagers from across Vermont have been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for their exceptional artistic and literary talent. Their award-winning artwork and writing will be exhibited at the museum from Feb. 18 to March 5, culminating in an awards ceremony on Sunday, March 5, at noon. The awards ceremony is free and open to the public. Roberto Lugo, professor of ceramics at Marlboro College, will deliver a...
Hilltop Montessori School is used to doing things a little differently. That's why it couldn't have been surprising to see Hilltop's middle schoolers learning to use a new fine arts printing press as a new form of self-expression. Finn Campman, the middle school's fine arts and language arts educator, sees the arts program as integral to Montessori's mission. “The development of student voice is very important to be responsibly independent,” Campman said. “If you're going to be independent, and responsible,
We hear the word misogyny so often in the litany of worries about a Trump administration that, like other words in that long list, it begins to lose meaning. But behind that “tag” are the faces - and lives - of women in the multitudes, both inside the U.S. and farther afield. We need to hear their stories, in their own voices, to remind us what's at stake for women when a government is headed by a man who gloated...
On Friday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m., the Windham World Affairs Council launches a six-part Marlboro/WWAC International Lecture Series to be held in the Marlboro College Graduate Center at 28 Vernon St. This series will feature distinguished speakers who will address issues such as American diplomacy, development aid, and nuclear disarmament. The first speaker will be Kevin Quigley, president of Marlboro College, who will speak on “Peace Corps and Community Service: An Idea Whose Time Has Come Again?” Coffee, tea,
As he settles into his new role as commander of the Vermont State Police Westminster station, Lt. Anthony French is not shying away from big law-enforcement topics like opiates and mental health. But he's also thinking about the nuts and bolts of basic police work at the newly consolidated Windham County barracks. So the 19-year state police veteran is offering a heads-up for drivers on Interstate 91 in southeastern Vermont: Expect to see more cruisers. “We've been trying to get...
For aficionados of fine french pastries, Patricia Austin is revered as a treasure in Southern Vermont. The owner and operator of Wild Flour Vermont Bakery, which specializes in French- and European-style baking, Austin prepares desserts for Michael Fuller's upscale, 20-seat Brattleboro restaurant, T. J. Buckley's, located in a restored 1925 Worcester Dining Car on Elliot Street. Austin can be found in person each week at the Brattleboro Farmers' Market in the summer and Brattleboro Winter Market other times of the...
The Brattleboro Police Department responded to two calls involving what they call “untimely deaths” about 75 minutes apart on Feb. 6. People posting on social media said they picked up on emergency scanner channels that the deaths were drug-related. Two people were found dead, and a third person was hospitalized and later died. Cassandra Holloway, executive director of the Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition, told The Commons that this drug activity likely points to “a bad batch of lethal fentanyl with...
Dear Governor Scott: Congratulations on your win. You may remember me from when I wrote you while you were the lieutenant governor. I'd been living in Bellows Falls, suffering from severe mental illness, homeless, and yet still very active in issues that mattered to me. I'd love to speak with you about where I am now, and where I am going. I feel like, after reading your budget address, I really relate to several of the issues at hand. I...