The Selectboard has confirmed that Annual Representative Town Meeting (ARTM) is postponed indefinitely.
As the board watches the COVID-19 restrictions unfold and tries to find a way to hold ARTM - ideally before the new fiscal year begins July 1 - Town Manager Peter Elwell cautioned the town to keep a slow and steady approach.
Traditionally, 140 Town Meeting members gather on the floor on the third Saturday in March, along with the board, town and school system staff, other members of the public, and the press.
Scott's ban on gatherings scuttled that tradition.
During these challenging times, postal employees are working hard to ensure residents stay connected with their world through the mail. Whether they are handling medications, a package, a paycheck, a benefits or pension check, a bill, or a letter from a family member, postal workers understand that every piece...
Obituaries • Domnick “Mickey” Arceci, 96, of Brattleboro. Died peacefully at his home on March 17, 2020 with Joyce, his wife of 21 years, by his side. He was born in Winchendon, Mass., the fifth son to Pietro and Maria (Barbadoro) Arceci. He graduated from Murdock High School in...
Brattleboro winter parking ban is lifted BRATTLEBORO - The Parking Department says the winter parking ban has ended for the season. Overnight parking will be allowed on all streets, except in the downtown area: Main, High, Elliot (from School to Main), Flat, Canal (from the Plaza to #63), Church, Elm, and Grove streets, and Harris Place. Leaf collection schedule announced BRATTLEBORO - Curbside spring leaf collection will take place on Friday, April 17, and Friday, May 1. All leaves and...
Theater can save the world. Perhaps that strikes you as silly or irrational or wishful thinking. Or just plain wrong in the face of pandemic. Certainly, in these times when the need to save lives is so vividly real and mostly in the hands of our health-care-providing neighbors, this seems like a wild assertion. As we pass the fourth week of our distancing from one another, we mark that unreal moment when we put 20 continuous years of making theater...
The town has furloughed three employees in the Parking Enforcement Department and a fourth employee has returned to the Recreation & Parks Department. Members of the Selectboard and town staff provided that news during an update on the town's response to the pandemic at the April 7 board meeting, the second of what will likely be many online meetings since Governor Phil Scott's “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order took effect. Town Manager Peter Elwell informed the audience that most town...
The coronavirus is a challenge like no other we have faced in our lifetime. It is an invisible threat that is impacting our communities and our world in ways we are only beginning to comprehend. At HCRS, we continue to provide our comprehensive mental health, substance abuse, and developmental disability supports for thousands of individuals across Windham and Windsor counties. We've adapted to this public health crisis through the implementation of advanced technology that allows us to provide services remotely,
An epicenter of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Manhattan (22.83 square miles), always looming large everywhere, actually is much smaller than Brattleboro (31.83 square miles; U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts). Manhattan's population is 1.6 million. Brattleboro has more than enough room for everyone. Imagine! “Epicenter” is no surprise.
The term “social distancing” just never sat right with me. Words matter, and it seems like this way of naming how we must behave might make things even worse. What we need and what is required is not “social distancing” but “physical distancing.” That what we need to fear and repel is the virus, not the people who may be its involuntary host. Our society is already in a socially distant mode and the last thing we need is to...
We, the Wilmington Old Home Week Committee, are continuing to plan the event scheduled for July 30 through Aug. 2. We know that it is possible that we might have to cancel or postpone the wonderful celebration, but we will not make that final decision until early June. At that point, we hope to know more so that we can determine whether it will be safe to come together for this tradition, held every 10 years since 1890. The Committee...
Many people are now finding themselves at home more often during the day, and are more likely to witness the delivery of mail and parcels to their residence. There are several things to keep in mind during this time to protect those who are providing you with delivery services: • If you have a dog at home, please keep it indoors or otherwise restrained. If you have children who may be outside with a dog, teach them to keep dogs...
This April 22nd, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, join me in calling for action on climate justice and a Green New Deal! “Earth Day?” you say. “Climate justice? I'm too busy sewing masks, making sure my family has food, putting myself on the line in an essential job, trying to educate my children, or simply getting through the day.” As we struggle with the uncertainties and hardships of this pandemic, climate justice work may feel like a luxury. But...
On March 19, Experienced Goods closed indefinitely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A few of us worked on that Thursday with the lights off and the doors locked, organizing and cleaning, tying up loose ends, buttoning things up in a way that will make our eventual reopening smoother. We sat and ate lunch together, chatting, trying to make light of the situation, none of us really sure what this quarantine thing would look and feel like. We walked one...
Please join me in supporting my niece, Molly Gray, to be Vermont's next lieutenant governor. Molly is a Vermonter through and through. She cares about the people of our state, and she has a vision for Vermont's future. Molly is deeply committed to family, particularly to caring for aging family like me. As she often does, she put her problem-solving skills and compassion to work helping me find a home in Vermont where I am safe, healthy, and cared for.
Gov. Phil Scott announced on April 11 his appointment of Kelley Tully, Democrat, to fill the Windham-3 House District vacancy. Tully, who took her oath of office in Montpelier on Tuesday afternoon, replaces former Rep. Matthew Trieber, who resigned in February. “During this once-in-a-century challenge, Kelley's experience as a nurse and in business will be of great value as my team and I work with the Legislature in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Scott in a news release. “She...
On April 13, Donald Trump falsely asserted that “[w]hen somebody is the president of the United States, the authority is total,” regarding when to reopen the economy during the COVID-19 crisis. In a democracy, authority is given from the people, not demanded from the leader. Authorities must be truthful and honest in order to have “authority” over others. In the past three years, Mr. Trump has lied more than 17,000 times. The drip, drip, drip of his lies has eroded...
Volunteers in southern Vermont have made more than 1,800 masks for supermarkets, nursing homes, hospitals, and other facilities and more for their families and friends. I just spoke to the managers of the two local chain supermarkets who are not requiring their employees to wear masks but going by the CDC recommendation of only suggesting that they do so. I know about some curbside pickups and CSAs that can't always do that. On April 12, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo...
Starting in March, Governor Phil Scott has held regular briefings on how Vermont's government is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Scott isn't alone. Watching their governors step up to a podium to share information, enumerate action steps, and explain the latest emergency executive order has become a daily event for many Americans. A debate has ensued about the role of the federal government in fighting the coronavirus, with President Donald Trump and his administration resolutely claiming that the states have...
At first, it was a drip, and then many drips, and then it was the threat of a burst pipe in the bathroom ceiling. We were sequestered, but was our plumber? When you own a house, you have a Rolodex of carpenters, electricians, plumbers, dirt-and-gravel specialists, car mechanics. These contacts come with the territory. Over the years, you build up a list of reliable people to call in an emergency. And many of these people are still on the job,
March 25: It's official! We have The Plague. Our daughter, Maxine, tested positive. As soon as we found out we were exposed, we went on house arrest. Maxine's friend's mom works in the New York/New Jersey metro area and came home to the area last week. She did not know she had it; her daughter passed it to us unknowingly. COVID-19's first symptoms are headache, body chills, body aches, shortness of breath going upstairs. Not much of a fever. Just...