The town of Vernon isn't at all interested in turning the Vermont Yankee site into a nature preserve. Its leaders would like to benefit from jobs and taxes brought in by a company or companies occupying that space. Who can blame them?
The question is: Do they know the difference of a few millirems of radiation when a nuclear power plant is decommissioned?
If the site is “released for industrial use,” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows a decontamination of 100 millirem. They assume the site will be used by workers staying there during eight-hour shifts only five days a week.
On the other hand, decommissioning so it can be “released for any purpose,” as defined by the NRC, essentially means you can live there 24/7. That corresponds to a decontamination of 25 millirem, which is also the Vermont Health Department's legal limit.
As I write this, I don't know the results of today's vote on the proposed school merger. I'm writing to offer the comment that, however the vote goes, the process has been successful in its own right. Those supporting the merger and those opposing it each clearly and articulately...
The Brattleboro and Winhall police departments, and the Windham County Sheriff's Department, were among 34 Vermont law enforcement agencies receiving federal funding to help purchase a total of 280 lifesaving protective vests. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., made the announcement on Nov. 8. The FY 2017 funding, administered by...
I wish reporters could stop using the term “local control” in reference to school governance and the interests expressed by citizens, such as in the resounding defeat of the Act 46 merger proposal in WSESU. I think what Vermonters want is less about control than it is about local input and preservation of our long tradition of participatory democracy. “Local control” can sound self-serving and small-minded. Yes, we are against centralized control that consolidates power in the hands of “experts”
Consider anyone you have cared about - a friend, family member, co-worker, neighbor - who has had or will face a life-threatening illness. I don't believe that some of these folks should receive helpful health care while others with fewer resources should not. Your cousin or sibling with cancer and little money has just as much of a right to treatment as my sick loved one. Period. That's the world I want to live in, and the world I want...
If some in agencies of the Scott administration pursue their dream to restore the Vermont Yankee site to “residential standards,” they will be responsible for a deal-killer that makes little sense from the standpoint of past agreements and likely future use. If NorthStar is required to restore the site and spent-fuel storage facility to a contrary use, the company will drop the plant purchase and decommissioning project. If that happens, current owner Entergy says it must mothball the site for...
“Government ought to move in the direction of assuring that the wealth and resources of the world will be used to provide a materially secure life for all people on the planet - including opportunities for universal health care, quality child care, and education - simultaneously preserving the planet and its resources for future generations.” Do you agree? This is the foundation of the Liberty Union platform. Since both Republicans and Democrats, the members of the two-party system who had...
It's been a good year for financial markets, and that's good news for Vermont Yankee's all-important decommissioning trust fund. New figures show the fund has grown by $13 million this year despite the fact that Entergy is making regular, substantial withdrawals. Entergy administrators say they aren't spending less than had been expected at the idled Vernon plant. Rather, they say the fund's gains are directly attributable to strong investment returns. The trust fund is “conservatively invested in a diversified portfolio...
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center is accepting submissions for the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a prestigious national recognition initiative for teenagers with exceptional artistic and literary talent. Vermont students in grades 7-12 are invited to submit art and writing entries in dozens of categories, including ceramics, digital art, painting, photography, poetry, humor, science fiction, personal essay/memoir, and more, according to a news release. The submission deadline is Dec. 14, 2017. Students and teachers seeking guidelines or additional...
On Oct. 12, I had the privilege of facilitating a gathering sponsored by the Brattleboro Community Justice Center to discuss: “Is our community welcoming and inclusive to you, your family, and friends?” I can't adequately capture the honesty, compassion, and spirit of those who attended this gathering, a “circle of understanding.” The process has its roots in many indigenous cultures, including Native American, and it supports the belief that gaining a deep understanding with one another forms the foundation for...
As I watch the reality of Donald Trump unfold, I am reminded of two thoroughly prescient quotes: “Every day I ask myself the same question: How can this be happening in America? How can people like these be in charge of our country? If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I'd think I was having a hallucination.” -Philip Roth, The Plot Against America “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner...
If NorthStar Group Services gets a chance to decommission Vermont Yankee, a “cultural expert” will be watching over the company's work. In a nod to Native American concerns about the Vernon site's historical importance, NorthStar CEO Scott State is committing to hiring an expert to act as a consultant on matters such as archeology, anthropology, and history. The costs of that expert, State pledged, “will not impact the Nuclear Decommissioning Trust or the Site Restoration Trust, and instead will be...
The 2017-18 season of the Vermont Theatre Company, its 34th, began in late September with Adam Bock's The Receptionist, and continues with four more plays, including a musical. All will be performed in one of their three regular venues - Hooker-Dunham Theater on Main Street in Brattleboro, Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center, Living Memorial Park in West Brattleboro, and a new venue, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC). A Christmas Carol returns for the holidays by popular demand, for...
A heartfelt thank you to all the individuals, businesses and organizations who generously contributed to the restoration of the 1880 Newfane Railroad Station and to the establishment of the West River Railroad Museum. The Historical Society of Windham County set an ambitious goal three years ago when the station was purchased and restoration began. If not for the in-kind help and financial support of the special community we have here, it's doubtful the Society would have met that goal. It...
Health Care and Rehabilitation Services, southeastern Vermont's community mental-health agency, is hosting a month-long art exhibition at The Robert H. Gibson River Garden on Main Street. This event is held in honor of the agency's 50th anniversary to recognize half a century of creating meaning, inspiration, and empowerment in the community. The art show encompasses a wide range of two-dimensional artwork. Photography, painting, drawing, mixed media, and print making are all well represented in this expansive show. Viewers have the...
We at the Vermont Theatre Company thank the greater Brattleboro community for its support of our first production of the 2017–2018 season, Adam Bock's The Receptionist. The Hooker-Dunham Theater on Main Street provided the perfect space to tell the story of the staff at the Northeast Office, a seemingly normal office with a dark secret. Special thanks goes to the cast and crew, who gave up their free time to learn their lines and blocking and to bring this play...
As a member of the Groundworks Collaborative board of directors, I thank all of the local businesses, sponsors, and volunteers who made this year's Empty Bowls Dinner such a success. More than 600 people attended the Oct. 7 dinner to raise funds for Groundworks' Food Shelf. Through the support of our sponsors, potters, local restaurants, diners, and those who purchased bowls, we raised over $30,000, one of our largest fundraisers this year. The amount raised has the potential of assisting...
Senior Center hosts Thanksgiving luncheon BRATTLEBORO - The Brattleboro Senior Center and Brattleboro Senior Meals will host their annual Thanksgiving Luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 16. The menu will include appetizers, roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, butternut squash, and assorted breads and pies. Appetizers will be served at 11:30 a.m. Suggested donation is $4.50 for seniors over 60 and $7 for all others. For reservations, call 802-257-1236 or 802-257-7570. Volunteers still needed for community Thanksgiving BRATTLEBORO - Volunteers...
The Vermont Humanities Council has selected Vermont author Katherine Paterson's book Bread and Roses, Too as its Vermont Reads book for 2018. Vermont Reads is a statewide one-book community reading program that began in 2003. VHC provides books for free to communities through an application process as well as resources for developing community book-related activities. Since the beginning of the program, Vermont Reads events have taken place in more than 200 Vermont towns. Bread and Roses, Too is a novel...
The Ax Wound Film Festival is back with an expanded roster of thrilling and mind-expanding horror films from women filmmakers across the globe. This year, AWFF will offer two days of more than 40 short films, a filmmaker-in-attendance Q&A, and engaging presentations from leading women horror writers, artists, and directors, all at the Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery in downtown Brattleboro, beginning Friday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m., with a filmmaker reception followed by the first round of shorts at 8...
Obituaries • Anita Bean, 72, of Chester. Died Nov. 3 at Hanover Terrace in Hanover, N.H. She was born Feb. 11, 1945, in Hanover, N.H., the daughter of Rodney and Myrtie (Godda) Adams. She attended schools in the Bridgewater area. On Sept. 4, 1971, she married Carl M. Bean in Rockingham. He died in 1991. Mrs. Bean was employed as a nurse's aide at Golec Nursing Home in Bellows Falls for many years. She was a member of the Ladies...
It was a good summer for John Dimick. His painting “Ice on the Ledge” earned him the Outstanding Vermont Artist award at the Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition. Dimick's paintings will be on view at the 18th Annual Guilford Holiday Open Studio on Friday, Nov. 17, and Saturday, Nov. 18. For many area residents, an annual trip to Green River Road marks the beginning of the holiday season. Friends and neighbors, as well as people from afar, mingle and enjoy tasty...
The public is invited to take part in welcoming a new art-based business to Rockingham by joining the official grand opening of Ad Hoc Art Gallery at 23 Canal St. in Bellows Falls. The grand opening will be Friday, Nov. 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. Original artwork in many mediums will be displayed, and refreshments will be served. The Gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and all other days by appointment. The micro-coop...
Of the three police and fire facilities seeing work this year, one building is gone, another is almost finished, and the third needs some unanticipated improvements. Town Manager Peter B. Elwell went over the projects' details at the Nov. 7 regular Selectboard meeting. The Central Fire Station on Elliot Street is in its final month of construction, Elwell said. The work is still going well, he said, but with one exception. His office has received complaints from neighbors about noise...
Thanks to the Student Council at Leland & Gray, three times as many students are eating breakfast now than at the start of the school year. This increase came as result of work by Leland & Gray's Food Service Advisory Committee, led by school nurse Sara Dunbar. Leland & Gray was one of just a few Windham County schools to see an increase in meal participation last year, both at breakfast and lunchtime. However, breakfast participation was still relatively low,
I want to acknowledge Dan Axtell's intelligence and his commitment and long years of hard work on our school board. I believe that when he served on the school board, his intentions were honorable. I am, however, concerned that readers of his opinion will be unable to recognize the omissions and erroneous descriptions and will think they are being offered a narrative that is historical rather than emotional and whimsical. As a father of three young children and as a...
To help fund the new Seasonal Overflow Shelter, Groundworks Collaborative received a $10,000 contribution from the town at the Nov. 7 regular Selectboard meeting. The shelter, operated by Groundworks with support from a number of community organizations and individuals, opened for the 2017-18 season on Nov. 13 at its new location on the campus of the Winston Prouty Center. For 10 years, the First Baptist Church on Main Street housed the shelter, but with that property's sale, Groundworks officials had...
While Donald Trump is on a political distraction in Asia, his appalling rhetoric - regarding the Texas massacre and the scapegoating of Americans with mental illnesses as “act(s) of evil,” “deranged,” “horrific,” and “a mental health problem at the highest level,” and his understated defense of the right to bear arms - is preposterous. It is indeed an act of evil and horror to turn the Sutherland Springs violence into one more example of Trump's political opportunism and self-preoccupation. Your...
Santa won't need a brand new bag, at least not this year. After the Nov. 7 final vote on the proposed plastic bag ordinance was waylaid by over an hour of public comment and multiple failed amendments, the Selectboard narrowly passed a different bag ban. In a 3-2 decision, Selectboard member Tim Wessel successfully amended the bag ban “to align ourselves with California's successful single-use plastic bag ban,” and prohibit retail and food-service establishments from giving customers thin-film single-use plastic...
The Valley Lions Club has partnered with Grace Cottage Hospital Wellness professionals to serve the community during the National Diabetes Awareness Month by offering a Diabetes Awareness Program on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 1 p.m. The event will be held at the NewBrook Volunteer Fire & Rescue located on Route 30. There is no charge for the event. The public is invited. Diabetes contributes to more than 5 million deaths a year, making it the eighth-leading cause of death in...
Marlboro College says it has officially designated approximately 130 acres of forested land north of the campus as an ecological reserve, preserved from any further timber harvesting or development. The property is protected by decree of the Marlboro College Board of Trustees, who met Nov. 4 to discuss the proposal drafted through a collaboration of faculty, students, and staff. “This ecological reserve recognizes our forested landscape as a unique and treasured resource for the college community, now and for years...
Thursday, Nov. 16, is the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, and Greater Falls Connections and Springfield Medical Care Systems are teaming up to provide support to help tobacco users kick the habit. Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S., yet about 40 million Americans still smoke cigarettes. In Vermont, about 95,000 people smoke cigarettes and 800 Vermonters die each year from tobacco-related diseases. Group quit classes and individual tobacco cessation...
Holton Home, the residential care home for elders on Western Ave., celebrates its 125th birthday on Nov. 19. The town history, Annals of Brattleboro, reports that in 1892, “owing to agitation for a home for disabled persons, C. F. Thompson wrote an article for Brattleboro's newspaper, The Vermont Phoenix, on this need.” The article read, in part, “Renewed interest is manifested for establishing an old ladies' home in Brattleboro and in answer to a general request a meeting is to...
Good day to you, dweller and haunter of the hills and valleys of southeastern Vermont! It was bound to happen, and happen it surely did! Deeper autumn has arrived in southern New England, and it is here to stay. Certainly, some milder periods will work in at times through the end of the year, but the endless mild and warm periods that characterized the first half of fall have been squashed to the south. We've got cool and cold weather...
Following the resounding defeat by four member towns in the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union of a new unified school district, a new effort is underway to create another proposal by Dec. 26. This time around, the goal is to improve the current structure of the WSESU to conform to the goals of Act 46, the state's education reform law, which requires districts to reconcile educational cost, quality, and transparency. The effort emerged from the work of an Alternative Governance Structure...
It's been just over a year since Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States. The depth of dislike for his presidency is easy to see in Vermont, the state that gave him the smallest percentage of the vote of any state in 2016. A large majority of Vermonters don't like Trump, but few have disliked him more and for a longer time than Jeff Danziger, the award-winning syndicated editorial cartoonist who splits his time between Dummerston and...
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present folk singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, storyteller, activist, and author John McCutcheon at Next Stage on Sunday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m. Described as folk music's “rustic renaissance man” by The Washington Post, McCutcheon is a master of a dozen traditional instruments, most notably the rare and beautiful hammer dulcimer. His songwriting has been hailed by critics and singers around the globe. His 30 recordings have garnered many honors, including seven Grammy nominations. He has...
Brattleboro Union High School pitching star Leif Bigelow made it official on Nov. 8, when he signed a letter of intent to play baseball for the University of Connecticut, starting in the fall of 2018. But first, his mother had to show up. She was a few minutes late to her son's signing event at American Legion Post 5, but Lisa Jablonski would not have missed the moment for anything. “I'm so proud of him,” said Jablonski. “He's very devoted...
Two teen alternative-rock bands, Raspberry Jam and Moxie, shared the winner circle, taking first prize in Youth Services' Battle of the Bands on Nov. 3 during Brattleboro's Gallery Walk Night in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Sponsored by Pacesetter Sponsors Richards Group, Brattleboro Subaru, and G.S. Precision, the event was a competition between five talented area bands that were judged on crowd appeal, musical technicality, stage performance, and originality, according to a news release. Raspberry Jam, from Massachusetts, brought a...
The Brattleboro Women's Chorus will present their 22nd annual fall concert, “Singing in the Light of Love,” on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 19, at 4 p.m. at the First Baptist Church on Main Street. More than 80 women directed by Becky Graber will perform songs of love and songs about music. Cathy Martin will accompany on piano, and the local Ukulele Orchestra led by Lisa McCormick will join on several songs. Other selections, from a...
The compassion demonstrated by our town for Stanley Lynde and Laura D'Angelo has been extraordinary. If anyone ever doubts that Brattleboro is indeed part of the Charter for Compassion and has internalized its spirit, all that person has to do is look at the town's response to Stanley and Laura's terrible accident and Stanley's subsequent death - including the unparalleled financial support covering medical costs: more than 900 people contributing over $90,000. The New England Youth Theatre mentors felt privileged...
After heartfelt good-byes and good-lucks from those who had helped me and cared about me at the hospital, my mom and I crossed what felt like an endless parking lot at a snail's pace. I had not yet gained mastery of the walker I was leaving with. It shimmied and bounced in front of me under the uneven pressure of my weak arms. Once I was seated in the passenger side of my mom's car, she leaned over and located...