Issue #575
Schools make plans for sports to resume this fall
In normal times, student-athletes in Vermont would now be participating their initial practices in anticipation of the fall high school sports season.
However, with everything about the course that K-12 education will take in the 2020-21 school year up in the air due to the COVID-19 pandemic, about the only thing that is certain is that schools will be opening later this year, and that the first day of school in Vermont will be Sept. 8.
Milestones
College news • The following local students have been named to the Dean's List at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine for the winter semester ending in April 2020: Celia Feal-Staub, an art and visual culture/anthropology major from Putney; Pippin Evarts, an English major from Landgrove; and Neil Thorley, a...
CCV announces new certificate programs
Beginning this fall, students will have four additional pathways to high-demand careers through new certificate programs at the Community College of Vermont (CCV). The new certificate offerings are after-school and youth work, cybersecurity fundamentals, IT service desk specialist, and pharmacy technician. These join the college's 14 existing certificate programs...
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We must come together to help one another fight off injustice
As some of you may have noticed over the last couple weeks, the West River Community Project unfurled a Black Lives Matter banner that will be indefinitely displayed on the second floor balcony of the West Townshend Country Store. This decision, unanimously approved by both the board of directors and the staff of the WRCP, is one very small step that the WRCP can and should take in order to show our solidarity with a critical social movement to fight...
$14 million available for broadband expansion
The Deerfield Valley Communications Union District (DVUSD) recently announced that the Vermont Public Service Department (PSD) is coordinating two programs funded by the federal CARES Act that seek to expand delivery of high-speed internet service, with particular attention to reaching locations that have needs for distance learning, telehealth, or telework. The first program is for persons who live very close to locations that have cable service. The COVID-Response Line Extension Customer Assistance Program will pay up to $3,000 of each...
Trail connection project within reach
Putney Mountain Association recently announced that it is in the last stages of conserving land that will connect Prospect Hill/Dummerston trails with the existing Putney Mountain and Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association 45-mile trail system to Grafton. Members say that “all that stands in the way of making this a reality is raising the last $9,500 needed to complete the purchase and conservation of the second of two parcels which will fill the gaps in the trail system.” The Vermont Housing...
State to distribute 300,000 free cloth face coverings
The state of Vermont will be distributing up to 300,000 cloth face coverings to the public, emergency responders, and select agencies through August. The State Emergency Operations Center procured the masks from those donated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Face coverings have been mandatory in all public places in Vermont since Aug. 1. While wearing a mask is not a substitute for physical distancing and other mitigation measures, public health...
‘Music Under the Stars’ drive-in concerts on Aug. 28, 29
The Brattleboro Music Center and Retreat Farm present two live drive-in concerts Friday and Saturday, Aug. 28 and 29, as part of their “Music Under the Stars” series. The concerts are variations of last summer's “Music under the Stars” events, which were named one of Vermont's Top Ten Summer Events. On Friday evening, the BMC Pops Orchestra 2020 with conductor Zon Eastes will perform, and on Saturday evening, Aug. 29, the VJC Seven will take the stage with jazz vocalist...
Around the Towns
Sign-ups begin for Rec. Dept.'s fall youth sportsBRATTLEBORO - The Recreation & Parks Department is now accepting registrations for fall youth sports until Friday, Sept. 4. Call the office at 802-254-5808 to schedule an appointment to register at the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St. (Don't forget to wear a mask.) Visit Brattleboro.org to complete the online registration form, along with the COVID-19 release form, and then email them to [email protected]. Or you can print the forms and mail them to...
Our secondary plague
I am trying to see all of the positive things that have come about as a result of the pandemic. We have more time to do the things we have been putting off for so long, we can read all of those books that have been on our reading list, and we have time to connect with family and friends, even though in-person contact is rarely an option. But it seems to me that most people have had enough of...
Brattleboro eyes funding for fire truck, marketing
The Selectboard has approved the meeting warning for the rescheduled Annual Representative Town Meeting (ARTM), an act that represented one of the final steps to finalizing the annual meeting derailed for almost five months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Annual Representative Town Meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 12. The board also warned Sept. 13 as a second “if necessary” day in case the meeting should go too long. Last year's in-person meeting lasted 13 hours. Typically held...
Brattleboro Women’s Chorus goes online for fall season
The Brattleboro Women's Chorus will hold its 25th fall semester rehearsals online via Zoom. Morning or evening meeting times on Thursdays begin Sept. 3 for 12 weeks, with the choice of either 10 to 11:30 a.m., or 7 to 8:30 p.m. As always, singers who wish to try chorus out are welcome to do so on Sept. 3 and 10, but registration is necessary to receive a Zoom link. The Chorus is open to anyone ages 10 and up who...
StompBoxTrio to perform in outdoor concert
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present a socially distanced lawn concert by Americana music band StompBoxTrio on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Cooper Field on Sand Hill Road. Bring lawn chairs or blankets for outdoor seating in distanced pods on the ballfield, and face masks to wear whenever you leave your pod. Rain date for the concert is Sunday, Aug. 23. StompBoxTrio is a western Massachusetts–based band that features Evelyn Harris (vocals, percussion), John Cabán (“Dobro”
BMAC hosts curator tour of Kinder portrait exhibit
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) presents a free tour of the exhibit “Steven Kinder: 552,830,” led by curator Katherine Gass Stowe, on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Stowe will offer the tour via Zoom and Facebook Live. Taking its name from the number of people who were unsheltered in the United States in 2018, the exhibit features portraits of people experiencing homelessness. Kinder's large-scale monochromatic canvases are suspended, unframed, from the gallery ceiling. In a news release,
Business users face water/sewer shutoffs
Several businesses that owe money for use of town water and sewer may soon receive notice of delinquency and face the loss of their access to water and sewer. At its Aug. 11 meeting, the Selectboard approved reinstating water disconnections for those commercial and industrial businesses that have fallen behind on their utility bills. Town Manager Peter Elwell told the board that 10 businesses owed the town a combined total of $173,877.32 for these services. While he was reluctant to...
‘Good luck to us all’
We have arrived at another historic moment in the time of corona, and finally learned who Joe Biden has chosen to be his running mate. The choices were dramatic as we waited to hear who among the infinitely qualified women would be the best to bolster the candidacy of one older white man running to replace another older white man. This decision has become the strategic card played in a game with the highest stakes ever: whether the destruction of...
Arts benefit raises more than $8,000
The Next Stage Arts Project says that the Aug. 2 “Arts Unite Windham” event raised more than $8,000 for local social justice organizations. More than $6,700 came through the online portal, and more than $1,500 came through an anonymous donation after the concert. Net proceeds were split evenly between the Windham County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Root Social Justice Center, a Brattleboro-based, people-of-color-led collective dedicated to racial justice organizing, community...
Complete the census — it’s critically important
We, your Windham County Legislators, are writing to urge you to complete the census questionnaire. Windham County, with a high number of engaged and active citizens, currently has an embarrassingly low response rate of 45 percent. This is one of the lowest response rates of all the 14 counties in Vermont! By contrast, Chittenden County, which includes the city of Burlington, has the highest rate, at 72 percent. Why is it important to get an accurate and comprehensive census count?
Participating in a young life
To say that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many changes in people's lives is an understatement. It has certainly diminished the frequency with which we see friends and even family. We have learned to plan ahead with great care and to efficiently run errands less frequently. We have also learned to improvise meals, projects, and personal entertainment based on whatever we have on hand. In short, we have learned to simplify many tasks to minimize going out in public and...