In rural Vermont, connecting patients with doctors - and especially with medical specialists - can be a major challenge.
Now, state lawmakers have approved a bill that could help bridge that gap without building new medical offices or hiring more doctors.
Instead, S.50 aims to expand the use of telemedicine, defined as health care services delivered via a live, interactive audio and video connection. The bill also mandates that all insurers reimburse for such services.
The bill's broadening of telemedicine practices could benefit hospitals like the Brattleboro Retreat, which recently launched three separate projects intended to connect patients and doctors remotely.
My comments are in response to the selection of stories that aired on Weekend Edition Sunday on April 30. I believe that the Peoples Climate Movement should have been the featured story of the morning, and I was very disappointed that it didn't get more coverage. The lead story...
Contrary to a recent headline in the Reformer, the minutes of the March 21 Vernon Free Library trustees' meeting clearly state that Kris Berberian had not resigned as library director. The trustees and staff, including Kris, were challenged to begin a process to manage the library after a major...
Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, presents esteemed poets Major Jackson and Didi Jackson as part of its ongoing literary series, Next Stage Speaks, on Friday, May 28, at 7 p.m. Major Jackson is the author of four collections of poetry: Roll Deep (W.W. Norton, 2015); Holding Company (W.W. Norton, 2010) and Hoops (W.W. Norton, 2006), both finalists for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature-Poetry; and Leaving Saturn (University of Georgia Press, 2002), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry...
Sheriff's Dept. plans safety checkpoints NEWFANE - The Windham County Sheriff's Department will be hosting multiple seat belt checkpoints in Windham County in the coming weeks. The department says the checkpoints are targeted at increasing occupant protection and the usage of seat belts by all people in a vehicle. The checkpoints are being held as part of the “Click It or Ticket Task Force” initiative in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Governor's Highway Safety Program and...
The Vernon Library Trustees' decision to abruptly remove Library Director Kris Berberian from her position more than two months early has many of us in town asking questions. Taxpayers elect the trustees to oversee and serve the best interest of the library and town overall. As taxpayers/residents, we are asking the library trustees to answer the following questions. • Are all Vernon library trustees familiar with the Vermont Open Meeting Law? • Do all Vernon library trustees, especially the chairperson,
Waiting for the Vermonter at Union Station in Washington, D.C. early Sunday morning, April 23, my seven-year-old daughter Annika and I chat up a couple from Greenfield, Mass. Annika and I had just taken our second Uber ride ever to get to the station, used the restroom where many of the stalls were being occupied longterm by homeless women, and stocked up on snacks at the convenience mart. The couple, both teachers, have, like us, made the pilgrimage to D.C.
College news • Benjamin Dandrea of Brattleboro received his B.S. degree in education, with a history minor, from the University of Kansas on May 14. • Alexander Harris of Brattleboro, who is studying therapeutic recreation at Ithaca (N.Y.) College, was inducted into the Tau Sigma National Honor Society, an academic honor society designed specifically to “recognize and promote the academic excellence and involvement of transfer students.” • Alexandra Morrow of Townshend, a graduating senior at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass.,
For some who are lobbying for legislative changes, approval of a bill that creates a task force might not be much to cheer about. But Rick Fleming sees it as real progress in his years-long push to overhaul Vermont's alimony statute. The Legislature has approved a bill, S.112, that temporarily imposes new alimony guidelines while also creating an eight-member “spousal support and maintenance task force” that will take a close look at the state's alimony law and how it might...
Volunteers are needed to help older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income residents of southeastern Vermont save money, use less energy, and support a clean energy future. Senior Solutions (Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont) and Efficiency Vermont are looking for volunteer home visitors to assess homes of eligible residents and do some simple installations of products to make those homes more energy efficient. These volunteer positions entail home visits to senior and low-income residents of Windsor and Windham County,
Planning is underway for this year's BrattRock - The Brattleboro Youth Rock Festival. Now in its second year, the festival's mission is to provide a venue for musical youth from Brattleboro and the surrounding region to connect, learn, perform, inspire, and be inspired. Events and activities emphasize both educational and performance opportunities. Participation is free and open to youth under age 20 who are musicians, or who have an interest in music or the music industry. Last year's inaugural event...
The Brattleboro Music Center's Make a Place for Music Capital Campaign is getting enthusiastic support from BMC singers, orchestra members, students, families, faculty and many others who will soon be sharing the BMC's new music campus. “Right now we're excited to be receiving gifts of all sizes and each one pushes us closer to the goal. Everyone is pitching in and that's inspiring,” Campaign Coordinator Meg Lyons said in a news release. The first group asked to contribute was the...
The Brattleboro Union High School Music Department presents its annual Pops Concert on Thursday, May 25, at 7 p.m. in the BUHS auditorium. No admission will be charged for this concert and the public is invited to attend. This will be the final concert for the senior musicians as well as choral director Patty Meyer, who is departing after 13 years at BUHS. Chorus alumni are urged to attend the concert and help pay tribute to Mrs. Meyer. The concert...
Friends of Music at Guilford, now in its 51st Concert Season, is preparing for its ninth annual Spring Recital in the Organ Barn at Tree Frog Farm, the site of its founding event in 1966. Each season begins with an organ concert in this intimate barn on Labor Day Weekend. Over the past decade, a sort of “bookended” concert towards the end of FOMAG's season has given the organization a second opportunity to celebrate its roots. This spring's concert is...
This is the last week of the season for high school baseball and softball in Vermont, and all the rainouts and postponements from a wild spring of weather extremes has meant teams have had to play a lot of games in a short time window. It has tested the mettle of our local teams, but even with the pressure of a compressed schedule, some remarkable performances can be achieved. Brattleboro softball pitcher Jocelyn Aither had one of them when she...
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital recently presented the 2017 Employee of the Year Award to Brian Patno, Certified Medical Assistant for Just So Pediatrics and a member of the hospital's Community Health Team. The annual award is a closely guarded secret until the winner is announced at the annual Ice Cream Social held during Hospital Week. Steven R. Gordon, president and CEO of BMH, presented Patno with his award, citing Patno's commitment to local healthcare. “Brian has worked at Just So Pediatric...
The Leland & Gray Players' last show of their 21st season is Mac Wellman's Dracula. The show is an “adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic novel that preserves the Victorian tendencies of his writing while veering wildly into new vampire territory …. Wickedly clever language and an often nightmarish world combine to create a Dracula unlike [any] seen before,” according to playscripts.com. In a news release, Director and Producer Annie Landenberger adds, “The characters are outrageous; the humor is ample and...
Windham Disaster Animal Response Team, a nonprofit response agency dedicated to the needs of pets during emergencies, is in the process of forming partnerships with emergency management directors in Windham County to ensure that pet owners have the resources they need to stay safe. Their website, www.VermontDART.org, is filled with planning resources in this area as well as an Operations Manual that contains best practices for setting up and operating pet-friendly shelters, sample forms, a list of pet-friendly hotels, and...
Visitors and residents of Vermont will be able to tour artist/artisan studios during the Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio Weekend May 27-28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Open Studio Weekend is a statewide celebration of the visual arts and creative process, offering a unique opportunity for visitors to meet a wide variety of local artists and craftspeople in their studios and purchase high-quality, handmade art. The self-guided Open Studio tour features the work of glassblowers, jewelers, printmakers, potters, furniture...
The sixth annual Vermont Brewers Festival is on Saturday, May 27, from noon to 4 p.m., on the grounds of the Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center at 40 University Way. Free parking is provided at Brattleboro Union High School, with shuttle buses to and from the festival. There is no parking on the Festival Property (exception for a few handicap spots). This is a 21-and-older event, and no children or pets are allowed. Tickets are $30 online or $35 at...
Twilight Music begins its 15th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk rock, world beat, rock, pop, Celtic, blues, and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, May 28, with blues quartet Sunny Lowdown and the Ice Cream Men. Sunny Lowdown plays a raw and rhythmic blues that was burned into him on his first professional gig playing guitar behind John Lee Hooker. Since then, he has worked with such blues greats as R.L. Burnside, Pinetop Perkins, Otis Rush, and...
Digitized mapping deadline extended NEWFANE - At Planning Commission member Doris Knechtel's request, the Selectboard approved a deadline extension for the municipal digitized mapping project. At the May 1 regular Board meeting, Knechtel explained the reason behind the change. The town is finishing up its reappraisal process, and extending the deadline will allow the new information to get included in the new maps. This will make them more accurate, she said. The digitized mapping will provide users with property contours...
The Vermont Agency of Transportation will hold a public information meeting on Thursday, May 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the Guilford Community Church (Zeller Hall), 38 Church Drive, to discuss a project that will replace the US Route 5 bridge in Guilford's Algiers Village. The single span concrete bridge over Broad Brook was built in 1925 and is owned and maintained by the State of Vermont. In 2013, engineers determined that the most cost-effective and viable approach to address deterioration...
Where do you see compassion at work in our community? Is there a person who comes to mind when you think of selfless acts? An organization that has made a caring impact on your life? A time when people have come together out of concern for others? The Brattleboro Compassion Follow-up Committee is looking for good stories about compassion that you have seen or experienced. Consistent with Brattleboro's newly publicized, and continued, commitment to compassion, the Brattleboro Reformer and The...
On Saturday, May 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Westminster West Schoolhouse and Library will hold their plant sale. This local nonprofit horticultural event, which supports the many opportunities offered to children though the village school and library, offers a wide selection of traditional and exotic perennials, annuals, herbs, trees, and flowering shrubs. This year's focus is the construction of a 16-by-16 open pavilion to promote nature-based learning. In addition to the plant and bake sale, with its...
Mondo Mediaworks recently announced that they've become a Certified B Corporation. Mondo joins over 2,000 B Corps world wide, including fellow Vermont companies like King Arthur Flour, Ben and Jerry's, Cabot Creamery, Seventh Generation, and Green Mountain Power. Certified B Corporations are companies that meet higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Since forming in 2010, Mondo's core mission has been to support long-term economic development in the Brattleboro community and the greater Vermont region. They do...
Back Roads Food Co. has expanded operations at the historic Cotton Mill following a recent acquisition of additional office and warehouse space, the installation of industrial size bakery ovens, and upgrades in factory equipment and hardware. The company says technological improvements continue to streamline the manufacturing process as it strives to meet an ever-increasing demand for their products. “We practice calculated growth,” said co-owner Virginia Vogel in a news release. “We never want to generate sales and not be able...
New England Youth Theatre's Town Schools Theater presents How the New York City Theatre Company left New York May 26 and 27 at NEYT, 100 Flat St. The play was written by NEYT's departing Education Director Jonny Flood, and is directed by Flood with incoming Education Director Billy Higgins, with Shannon Ward and additional assistance from NEYT student Ajna Siegel. They described the plot in a news release: “Maxine, Jimbo, and the rest of the once-famous New York City Theatre...
Treatment Plant to get energy audit BRATTLEBORO - The Water and Sewer Commissioners unanimously approved a plan to contract with Process Energy Services for an energy audit on the town's wastewater treatment plant. At the May 16 regular Selectboard meeting, Town Manager Peter B. Elwell explained that the town's Energy Committee recommended the town audit the plant because “it is the largest single consumer of energy of any town facility.” According to a May 2 memo from the town manager's...
On June 2 and 3, at 7 p.m., Vermont Performance Lab will present a preview of Virago-Man Dem at the New England Youth Theatre - a timely dance-theater work, created by choreographer Cynthia Oliver in collaboration with the all-male cast, that “unearths the complexities of blackness and masculinity,” according to a news release. Known for incorporating textures of Caribbean performance with African and American aesthetic sensibilities, in Virago-Man Dem Oliver turns her gaze toward a nuanced exploration of the masculine.
Development Review Board needs alternate member DUMMERSTON - The Selectboard appointed Dennis Mewes to the Development Review Board at the May 10 regular Board meeting. Mewes will serve a three-year term. Selectboard Chair Zeke Goodband said the DRB needs an alternate member. Those on the fence might like to know “the DRB is the party committee, so if you're looking for a good time, the DRB is the group to join,” Goodband noted. Memorial Day ceremonies DUMMERSTON - The Evening...
The folk quartet 2 X 2 returns to the Main Street Arts Coffeehaus on Saturday, May 27, at 7:30 p.m. Mark Grieco, Valerie Kosednar, Betsy Rybeck Lynd, and Lee Rybeck Lynd will present a concert of a cappella and accompanied music distinguished by its broad range of styles, including traditional and contemporary folk songs from around the world. Formed three years ago, the group has been well received in concerts around the region. The MSA concert will include songs arranged...
Roads Foreman Lee Chamberlin brought good news to the May 10 regular Selectboard meeting: The highway department has a $34,000 budget surplus this fiscal year, and winter weather is likely over, so no more plowing and sanding is necessary. Chamberlin and Selectboard Chair Zeke Goodband attributed the surplus to having one highway crew member out on medical leave and a lower-than-expected price for diesel fuel. “Lee is trying get projects done that aren't in the budget,” Goodband told The Commons,
In late January, the Vermont Commission on Women celebrated a milestone - the 100th signer of the state's equal pay compact. Recently, Brattleboro-based Windham Regional Commission became the compact's 127th signatory. That kind of growth - a 25 percent boost in roughly four months - is a positive sign for those who continue to fight to bring women's wages up to the same level as men's. The compact is in many ways a symbolic gesture. But its significance wasn't lost...
Focused on growing conscious food and agriculture businesses, the Entrepreneur to Table Summit will take place in Brattleboro on Thursday and Friday, June 1 and 2. Presented by the Strolling of the Heifers' Slow Living Summit and Windham Grows, the Stroll's agricultural incubator program, the Entrepreneur to Table Summit aims to directly impact the growth of food and agriculture industry by investing in local communities, businesses, and farms that support it. “Starting a business is challenging mentally, physically, and financially,”
May this day be a great one for you and yours! After some fair weather on Wednesday, we will be looking at more rain pushing back into the region for Thursday into Friday. Fortunately for us, the drought has been completely mitigated in southern Vermont, so we are in good shape. At this point, we need some longer stretches of sunny, warm, dry days. However, this will not be our lot for the coming week. After a drier period of...
Stewart McDermet was leading the 30th annual AIDS Project of Southern Vermont Walk for Life on Saturday when, amid the bounce of sneakers, go-go boots and baby strollers, he stepped back to heavier memories of the inaugural event in 1988. “There was a lot of trepidation,” the Dummerston resident recalls. “We were dealing with people who were dying and others who were afraid.” Much has changed since Brattleboro's first Walk for Life began with organizers telling some 70 participants, according...
Alexis Harris, 21, of Bellows Falls has been awarded the Youth of the Year Award by the Vermont Youth Development Program and the Vermont Coalition of Runaway & Homeless Youth Programs, two state entities that work with community organizations such as Youth Services that serve young people in the state. The award was given this year to five young people in Vermont who have transformed their lives in positive ways and given back to their communities while demonstrating resilience. According...
The most recent federal census data, from 2015, shows that in Brattleboro, 9.6 percent of the population identifies as persons of color: black, Asian, American Indian, Latin or Hispanic, or of more than one race. But according to data submitted for the town's Equal Employment Opportunity report, of the 191 full-time, part-time, seasonal, and on-call municipal staff, 100 percent are identified as “white/non-Hispanic.” At their May 2 meeting, Selectboard members and Town Manager Peter B. Elwell began discussing the range...
New England Center for Circus Arts and the artists of the From the River, To the River public art project invite the community to a potluck picnic and circus arts performance on Friday, May 26, at 5:30 p.m. on the banks of the Connecticut River Students in New England Center for Circus Arts' Foundation program will perform their river-themed production Unknown is the Ripple against the backdrop of the river and art installations at 23 Depot St. A news release...
There are several ways to begin this story, but I suppose it should start on Jan. 24, 1963, with the uneventful takeoff of a B-52 from Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts. The unarmed bomber slipped free of the runway and climbed to a low-cruise altitude, then headed north on an unusual training mission. When it reached the sparsely inhabited area of Moose Lake near Greenville, Maine, the pilot, Lt. Col. Dante E. Bulli, commanded a harrowing descent toward the...
Most of us have had the experience during an evening walk of catching glimpses of people's lives through lit windows. This is the psychological enticement of Mary Welsh's collages, on exhibit at Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. But the world of the Williamsville artist, of cut paper adhered to board, is one you haven't encountered. Sometimes we find ourselves inside a house with furniture, objects placed about the rooms, a set piece from which we look out through windows. Sometimes...
Cellist and long-time Guilford resident Judith Serkin has remained an ardent lover in an affair that has lasted 55 years - with the musical instrument she has chosen to play for over five decades. “I think the cello is the most beautiful sound in the world,” Serkin says fervently, like someone caught in the enthusiasm of her first schoolgirl crush. “I just melt when I hear it.” Serkin says that everywhere she travels with her instrument, people come up to...
I'd been down that hall before: third floor, down the corridor from the circus, next to the giant red octopus hanging from the wall. No, you can't make it up when you're talking about the Cotton Mill. Everything's possible - and nothing makes sense. And that's the beauty of it. The many entrances. The stairways. The turns. And the relief when at last the sign on the door tells you you're home - whatever home happens to mean for you...