With construction complete at the new police station, the new West Brattleboro fire station, and the renovated Central Station, the town is left with about $300,000 in the police-fire facilities budget.
What to do with all of that money?
At the May 15 regular Selectboard meeting, Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland and Board members discussed some options.
According to Board Chair Kate O'Connor, the Police-Fire Facilities Committee made three recommendations: build a carport at the police station; fix the police station's roof; and give the fire station new dispatch equipment.
On the face of it, it sounds like a reasonable idea to build a concrete barrier along Whetstone Brook to protect the buildings of Melrose Terrace. It would be wonderful to preserve those apartments for future residents, if we could do so safely and economically. However, the lessons of...
College news • Skyler Boyd of Whitingham, a Castleton University student, was recently awarded the SGA Outstanding First-Year Award for the 2017-2018 academic year. • Genevieve M. Darling of South Newfane , a senior majoring in psychology, was named the recipient of the Jonathan Marder Prize at Hamilton College's...
As Guy Page points out in his recent op-ed, Conservation Law Foundation's opposition to NorthStar's proposed purchase of Vermont Yankee may claim to be based on fiscal caution, but a look at the numbers should leave very little concern for the plan's reliability. The trust fund for decommissioning of the site is valued at $571 million now and continues to grow. NorthStar's highly detailed budget, which is broken down into 900 individual sub-projects, is $498 million. Hundreds of millions of...
Workshop looks at off-the-grid ideas for dealing with power outages PUTNEY - What do you do when the power goes out? Even if you have a Solar PV system, if it is grid tied, there isn't much you can do but wait it out. A presentation on May 24 at the Putney Community Center will offer two innovative solutions for water and power needs during a power outage. From 5:30 to 6:15 p.m., Dan Foster will talk about how to...
The Brattleboro Union High School Music Department will present its annual Pops Concert on Thursday, May 24, at 7 p.m., in the BUHS auditorium. No admission will be charged for this event. The concert band will open with music from the 2004 Disney Pixar film, The Incredibles, by Michael Giacchino. This will be followed by John Philip Sousa's 1908 march, The Glory of the Yankee Navy. Senior tuba player Jackson Levengood will be featured in Tuba Tiger Rag, composed by...
The Friends of the Wardsboro Library is sponsoring its annual Memorial Day weekend plant sale on Saturday, May 26. Admission and parking are free and the sale will be held rain or shine. The annual event is a fundraiser for the Friends of the Wardsboro Library, a nonprofit organization that supports the Wardsboro Public Library. The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 170 Main St., on the front lawn of the Wardsboro Library and also on the...
The Vermont Craft Council's annual Spring Open Studio Weekend takes place this weekend, May 26 and 27. Participating studios will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with many sites offering demonstrations as well as the opportunity to purchase art and talk to the professional artists who made it. During the month of May, visitors to the Vermont Welcome Center on Interstate 91 northbound in Guilford, can preview samples of works from several studios...
“Bringing Hope Home: Responding, Recovering, and Restoring Communities Affected by the Opioid Crisis” will be the theme of a community meeting on Wednesday, May 30, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Rockingham Free Public Library. The meeting will look into the immediate response to opioid addiction, stories of recovery, and examples of restorative justice. Community members who attended the National Rx & Heroin Abuse Summit in early April will present lessons learned, including the importance of sharing stories and...
Vermont Performance Lab and the Connecticut River Conservancy are joining forces to produce The Confluence Paddle on Friday, May 25. The paddle is part of The Confluence Project, a new collaborative effort that brings arts, youth, community groups, and educational institutions to the table to help create a deeper civic dialogue around water and watersheds. The Confluence Paddle will take place at the confluence of the West and Connecticut rivers. Community members are invited to join the festivities on land...
The second annual Southern Vermont Economic Development Summit will take place at the Grand Summit Resort at Mount Snow on May 30th. The summit is hosted by the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC), Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS), Bennington County Industrial Corporation, and Bennington's Regional Economic Development Group. This daylong event will highlight projects with innovative and unique partnerships, strategies for growing the regional economy, and insight into how other regions are working to improve the economic outlook of...
The Paradise City Arts Festival will enter its 24th year as a cultural, creative, and culinary destination on Memorial Day weekend, May 26-28, at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, Mass. 250 artists and craft makers from 20 states will be on hand to show and sell original works in ceramics, painting, decorative fiber, art glass, furniture, jewelry, metal, mixed media, photography, sculpture, wearable art, and woodworking. The festival was founded and is directed by artists, and more than 10,000...
The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library will hold its spring/summer Book Sale from May 31 to June 2, the weekend of the Strolling of the Heifers. On Thursday and Friday, the sale will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; on Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Please note the early opening on Saturday. This allows patrons time to browse and buy before they settle in to their preferred spot to watch the parade. (The Friends can hold purchased books...
Neither the victims nor the perpetrators of the alleged anti-Semitic program at local schools are identified in the letter. Because the conversation revolved around the Palestinian struggles, I'm wondering if criticism of the state of Israel's policies and practices is not being confused with anti-Semitism. This is an old tactic designated to divert criticism of the state. Another canard is that Jews critical of Israel are self-hating. The British government designated Palestine as a Jewish state. This was called the...
United Way of Windham County thanks the 71 medical and non-medical volunteers who made this year's eighth annual Adult Dental Care Day on May 5 a huge success. More than 100 Windham County residents received essential dental care from seven participating dental practices. The Brattleboro Elks Lodge #1499 again provided our triage site. A big thank you to the participating dentists, nurses, hygienists, and dental offices, which provided over $53,500 worth of pro bono dental care. A huge round of...
There will be a community forum on Thursday, May 24, at 6 p.m., at the Townshend Town Hall, to discuss the proposal to build a Dollar General store on Route 30. Local residents are encouraged to come share their thoughts and questions. All community members are welcome, including residents of Townshend, Jamaica, Newfane, Wardsboro, Athens, Windham, Brookline, and beyond. Survey results will be shared and a moderated discussion will follow. Refreshments will be served and childcare provided. Townshend-area residents recently...
Selectboard unanimously adopts Town Plan BRATTLEBORO - After a second public hearing at the May 15 regular Selectboard meeting, the Board unanimously voted to adopt the 2018 Town Plan. Board Chair Kate O'Connor noted two public hearings are required, and the first one happened at the May 1 Selectboard meeting. Planning Director Rod Francis, Planner Sue Fillion, and Elizabeth McLoughlin and Josh Steele from the Planning Commission attended the Board meeting to answer questions, but other than a few comments,
The Selectboard and Finance Committee recently took a big step forward toward filling the Brattleboro Fire Department's request for a new aerial ladder truck. In March, Representative Town Meeting voted to buy the $950,000 truck with $450,000 from the town's cash reserves and $500,000 in loans. Since then, members of the Finance Committee researched debt options. At the May 15 regular Selectboard meeting, the Board heard the committee's recommendations for financing the purchase of the apparatus. Finance Director John O'Connor...
I would like to sincerely offer another view regarding same-sex marriage and homosexuality. I am 52 yrs. old, born and raised in Brattleboro. I was baptized at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church when I was 17 days old, confirmed at 16, and an agnostic before I was 18. I left the church and my faith soon after for 30-plus years to live a homosexual lifestyle, a self-absorbed life of drinking, drugging, partying, countless anonymous sexual encounters, numerous failed same-sex relationships,
Greyhound bus terminal, Richmond, Va., September 2014: Wrapping my jacket around my shoulders to stay warm, I curl into myself on the wire seat digging into the backs of my thighs. The clock hands rendezvous at midnight above the ticket counter, but I'm not willing to even try to sleep. With five hours of layover to go, I observe passengers departing buses and boarding other ones. Those bus riders with experience carry fleece blankets to ward off the air conditioner's...
It's that time of year when summer theaters re-open. One of them is the Actors Playhouse Theatre in West Chesterfield, which once again showcases plays that make audiences laugh, cry, smile, and ponder. This year the Actors Playhouse Theatre presents a potpourri of productions and staged readings featuring the return of their annual Ten-Minute Play Festival, staged readings of classic and contemporary American dramas, and main stage productions of a rip-roaring Hollywood comedy based on a true story about the...
The Brattleboro Colonels girls' lacrosse team is in the midst of a special season, a season where all the hard work over the past few years of building a program from scratch has finally blossomed into success. The key to any successful high school sports program is having a strong feeder system. Teach young players the skills they need to succeed, give them time to play and grow together and, by the time they are in high school, they should...
Windham Grows, a farm and agriculture business accelerator that connects entrepreneurs with mentoring, industry connections and support, is expanding its eligibility beyond Vermont's Windham County and accepting applications for its summer/fall 2018 program. Windham Grows is part of Strolling of the Heifers, which helps local farmers grow and maintain their farms and their rural lifestyle. “Windham Grows fits into the Stroll's mission by helping existing agriculture-related businesses develop in ways that strengthen the economy, the community, and the environment,” Strolling...
Nicole Awwad, in her Viewpoint, calls for peace and justice, and who can fault such lofty aspirations? Thankfully, we here can exercise those beliefs at the ballot box - unlike her father, who could not when he left Lebanon those so many years ago. Did Ms. Awwad learn that the ballot box is a phantom when she returned to Lebanon three years ago? She says she now knows that country's history and still asks, “I began to wonder: Where would...
In observance of Memorial Day, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed on Monday, May 28, with the exception of emergency services. Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Sunday, May 27, and Monday, May 28. All other violations will be enforced. Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on May 27 and 28. Trash, recycling, and curbside compost will not be picked up on May 28. All collections for the week will be delayed...
Good day to you, folks that lay their heads in the windy hamlets of southeastern Vermont! We're pushing toward June now, and we'll get a summery taste this Friday through Sunday as warmth and humidity build. Unfortunately for party planners and attendees, the second half of the weekend looks rather unsettled. Still, we've got plenty of sunshine to soak up before the clouds move back in, so let's jump into the details! For Wednesday, a weak cold front will be...
Passengers on Amtrak's Vermonter will see improvements to Brattleboro's Union Station, but not for two years. Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland notified the Selectboard at its May 15 meeting that the U.S. Department of Justice has taken an interest in the conditions at Union Station - specifically on the train platform and inside the waiting room. They “request that we bring the train station up to full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Moreland said. Selectboard member Shanta Lee...
Pianist and artistic director Chris Bakriges will be joined by bassist Jeff Fuller and guitarist Joe Carter at 8 p.m., on Saturday, May 26, to open the eighth season of the Southern Vermont Deerfield Valley Jazz Concert series benefiting area charities. The concert takes place at historic Memorial Hall, located at 14 West Main St. in downtown Wilmington. Admission is by donation at the door and benefits the Vermont Veterans and Family Outreach Program, created in 2007 to help veterans...
After a one-year hiatus, Helen Robb of the Robb Family Farm is back baking beans for the West Brattleboro Association's annual Memorial Day weekend chicken barbecue on Saturday, May 26. Held once again in front of the First Congregational Church of West Brattleboro, the event's chicken/beans/coleslaw staple will be accompanied by a bake sale from the folks at the church. The meals will be available starting at around 11 a.m until they're sold out. Though Robb furnished the baked bean...
I have been back from northern Europe for two weeks. I spent the month of April traveling, and had the great fortune to have friends or contacts in the countries I visited. I know many people cannot travel, but I wish more Americans could experience the deep chasm between the United States at this time and the countries I visited. Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and Iceland all have many differences, but in traveling through these countries, I made certain...
For the fourth time in seven years, Brattleboro Community Television Production Manager Roland Boyden earned the station an award from the Alliance for Community Media for his annual outreach film. This year's entry, “Surprise! There's a TV station in Brattleboro,” is a four-minute montage, produced by Boyden, that introduces viewers to the public access station, answers questions about community media, and shows clips from its programming, including some behind-the-scenes footage. Boyden, who began working with BCTV 12 years ago -
In July 2017, Dummerston-based musician Derrik Jordan began hosting “The World Fusion Show,” a music and interview program on Brattleboro Community Television featuring regional and international artists. Less than a year later, “The World Fusion Show” reaches audiences in 16 states on 67 community stations, including those in major markets such as Philadelphia, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Boston. BCTV broadcasts a new episode of “The World Fusion Show” every two weeks and reruns shows nearly every day. All 23 episodes...
Year after year, Windham County resident Howie Peterson has cheered as the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont has recognized Guilford great-great-grandmother Shirley Squires as its top Walk for Life fundraiser for amassing an eye-popping annual haul of more than $20,000. Peterson, for his part, then has been named the event's second-place finisher with a commendable but comparatively smaller sum of about $1,000. “If I could just raise 10 percent of what Shirley does,” Peterson recalls thinking after last year's walk.
In a year full of nontraditional candidates running for public office in Vermont, Nader Hashim stands out in many ways. First off, he's a Vermont State Trooper assigned to the Westminster barracks, a seven-year veteran of the state police. He's 29, a young man living in Dummerston with his daughter Rowen and a sleepy dog named Sam, making his first run for public office. Born in Boston, he is son of two immigrants - his father is Egyptian and his...
Friends of Music at Guilford's 10th annual Spring Organ Recital is set for Sunday, May 27, at 3 p.m., in the barn at Tree Frog Farm, off Packer Corners Roal in idyllic rural Guilford. The circa 1897 Tracker Organ was moved from Maine by Friends founder A. Graham Down (1929-2014), who invested in its restoration and improvements over the years, and performed the first concerts on it beginning in 1966. By tradition, each Friends of Music at Guilford season opens...
When I prepared to attend the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta, Ga. in April, I imagined that I would learn how other communities around the United States were combating the heroin epidemic by which we are all so affected. Weeks before the five-day conference, as I began to review so many offerings before me in the program guide, my goals became clear. In attending, I would be seeking information for my community and for families. And...