A presentation to discuss alternatives for replacement of a bridge over Whetstone Brook on Western Avenue (Route 9) just west of the intersection with Melrose Street is planned for Tuesday, Sept. 21, beginning at 6:15 p.m., in the Selectboard Meeting Room in the Municipal Center, 230 Main St.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation and the town will discuss the recommended alternative, which includes a full bridge replacement, with traffic maintained on a temporary bridge during construction.
The meeting is intended to provide an overview of this project to town officials, residents, and businesses, as well as emergency services and other interested parties.
AOT and town personnel will review the existing site conditions, proposed work, and overall schedule. They will answer questions and address public concerns.
Taxes for Peace New England (TPNE), a group of Vermont and western Massachusetts war-tax resisters and their allies, has recently formed. The group says that, in addition to providing “education about the use of tax dollars to fund violence and how people can resist that misuse of funds, TPNE...
'Mini' book sale continues at Moore library NEWFANE - The Friends of the Moore Free Library will hold their fourth “mini” book sale on the lawn of the library on 23 West St., on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme of this sale will...
Support and Services at Home (SASH) is celebrating 10 years of success statewide, offering services to help keep older adults and people with disabilities healthy, living independently, and enjoying better quality of life. SASH programs are located at congregate housing sites and serve those residents and other community members. Brattleboro Housing Partnerships (BHP) was the first housing authority to embrace the program. “Having SASH based at the housing site is what makes it work,” says BHP Executive Director Christine Hazzard.
Pat Daddona will host an afternoon songwriter's circle with Jan Sheehy and George Nostrand on Sunday, Sept. 19 at Stage 33 Live, 33 Bridge St. Artist Felicity Haselton will exhibit her bold, optimistic, celebratory, colorful work starting at 2 p.m. She'll also be on hand during the break and after the show. Prints will be available. Four 10-minute short slots with local performers Ezra Holloway, Will Stahl, Kyla Rose, and Trevor Robinson will begin at 3 p.m., preceding the songwriter's...
The public is invited to come learn about invasive plant species and how best to prevent and reverse their spread on Sunday, Sept. 26, from 1 to 4 p.m., at the parking lot next to Hetty Green Park at 2 School St. This free, outdoor event will provide hands-on instruction in the identification of common invasive plant species and preferred removal techniques. Invasive plant species may be found in urban and suburban backyards, parks, and shared public spaces. They damage...
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) presents an online conversation with artist Erick Johnson and BMAC Chief Curator Mara Williams about “Double Take,” an installation of Johnson's oil paintings and photographs. This free online talk takes place on Thursday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. Register at brattleboromuseum.org. “Following Johnson on Instagram, I noticed he tended to post pictures of patterns made by seemingly random objects seen on the streets of New York: construction scaffolding, double grids created by grates...
The Brattleboro Retreat is reopening its Uniformed Service Program (USP) as a remote telehealth service for uniformed professionals who are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other duty-related mental health and addiction challenges. In light of ongoing concerns about COVID-19 and the rise of viral variants, USP has relaunched as a remote tele-health service, where patients have secure internet access to individual therapy and medication management and can engage in group programming. The program was suspended last year as...
The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Vermont (NAMI) is actively involved in the fight to address mental illness and suicide prevention throughout the state. September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month - a time to raise awareness on this stigmatized, and often taboo, topic. In addition to shifting public perception, NAMI advises using this month “to spread hope and vital information to people affected by suicide” by ensuring that “individuals, friends, families, and the community have access to the...
Four Windham County arts and community organizations have received Cultural Facilities Grants from the Vermont Arts Council. The organization recently awarded more than $300,000 to 17 such institutions around Vermont, calling the act “a critical investment in the state's aging cultural infrastructure.” According to a news release, the program supports capital improvements to town halls, theaters, library buildings, museums, community centers, and other public spaces where Vermonters gather for arts and cultural activities. The Vermont Legislature has also allocated an...
College news • Riley Barton of South Newfane has enrolled at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass., as a member of the Class of 2025. Obituaries • Lois Marie (Baldwin) Kenan, died April 1, 2021 at age 78 in Vancouver, Wash., at Community Home Health & Hospice from ovarian cancer. As always, she was surrounded by love from family and friends, far and near. She was born on May 7, 1942 in Claremont, N.H., to John “Jack” Noller Sr. and Dorothy...
On Sunday, Sept. 19, at 2 p.m., Bruce Mandel will perform a free concert at the Town Hall on Main Street. This is a return engagement for Mandel, having played in 2018. “Bruce's acoustic guitar, keen lyrical ear, and intimate and honest voice have traveled with him across the country and through musical territory both new and familiar,” as described in the musician's publicity materials. “Lyrically driven, the diverse sounds of his recordings straddle and expand the contemporary folk, Americana,
Vermont has, by all measures, led the nation in safeguarding its citizens from the coronavirus pandemic, creating a public perception of safety and stability, a reputation of sanctuary from life-threatening danger. Yet, since the coronavirus struck in March 2020, 186 Vermonters have lost their lives from an altogether different public health crisis. Drug overdoses. According to preliminary statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in July, the death toll from the opioid epidemic in the state jumped by...
Carol's daughter was 47 when she died of an overdose in a Burlington motel last January. Her daughter had fought substance abuse disorder and other mental health problems for much of her life, beginning in adolescence. Carol is a pseudonym, and the names in this account have been omitted or withheld to protect the privacy of her grandchildren. Like so many stories about the tragic and untimely deaths of people who came to depend on opiates, it did not start...
My daughter turned 23 on March 12, 2021. On March 14, 2021, we found her in her bed, in my home, dead from an overdose. I had no idea she did anything other than occasional pot. She had a good job - everyone there liked her, supervisors went to her for problem solving, new jobs, training folks, etc. We worked for the same company. She was very smart, funny, loved by everyone who met her, and would give the shirt...
Since 2007, the Nature Museum has been welcoming visitors from across New England to its annual Fairy House Festival, described in a news release as “a family-friendly celebration of nature, creativity, inspiration, and community.” This year's edition takes place on Saturday, Sept. 25 and Sunday, Sept. 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the fields and woods behind the museum, at 186 Townshend Rd. Guests of all ages can walk the forested fairy house trail and discover a magical...
Since its official classification as a public health emergency in 2017 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, overall numbers have begun to wane, if only a little. The wheels are turning, but is it enough? The question of how best to stem the tide of the substance addiction pandemic is daunting. Other nations, like Switzerland and Portugal, have attempted far more wide-ranging strategies, with evident success. Might those more-radical steps work in the United States? Switzerland once...
Three organizations - the Putney Foodshelf, Putney Community Cares, and Senior Solutions - have come together to launch a campaign to ensure that all town residents are both food and fuel secure. According to a joint news release announcing the Putney 100% Campaign, this is to be accomplished through “an intense, community-based, collaborative effort designed to reach each household in the town with clear, concise information through trusted communication channels as to the availability of resources and to assist them...
Utilities Division crews from the Department of Public Works will start fall flushing of the town water mains on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 10 p.m. and continue work through Saturday, Oct. 9. Some daytime flushing will continue throughout the weeks of Oct. 10 and 17. Water main flushing will occur during both night (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) and day (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Customers are asked to check the work schedule closely, as flushing causes water discoloration, low...
Registration is now open for the 25th annual Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) Source to Sea Cleanup from Friday, Sept. 24 to Sunday, Sept. 26. The event - organized in all four states of the 410-mile Connecticut River basin - is one of the largest river cleanups in the country, as thousands of volunteers remove trash along rivers, streams, parks, boat launches, trails, and other public venues. Anyone interested in getting dirty for cleaner rivers can get more information and register...
High 5 Adventure Learning Center has announced the launch of a new, online professional development program to support upper elementary through high school educators as they re-engage students in those grades post-pandemic through social-emotional learning (SEL). Founder and Executive Director Jim Grout noted in an Aug. 17 Zoom presentation that the “Rebuilding After COVID” program is High 5's first digital course. “It's pretty simple,” he said. “We have been in adventure learning for 20 years, and social/emotional learning is something...
On Saturday, Sept. 18, at 8 p.m., the Vermont Jazz Center kicks off its 2021–22 concert season with a bang by presenting the vibrant organ trio of Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, and Bill Stewart, called “the best organ [trio] of the last decade” by The New York Times in 2007. Catching this top-level band here is a rare experience; this concert has been three years in the planning and postponed twice due to the pandemic. The Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart Organ Trio have...
River Gallery School (RGS) is planning a fall semester that will increase in-studio classes and offer many online classes and workshops. Art students of all ages can choose a weekly class or a shorter workshop in RGS's Main Street studios, with tall windows affording great natural light, or opt for a virtual art experience with small and personal online classes. All indoor classes will follow state COVID-19 guidelines and require masks. The RGS studios are equipped with a wide range...
Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC), has opened applications to compete in the 2021 Windham County Business Plan Competition. The multi-year competition is funded by the Windham County Economic Development Program (WCEDP) and, according to a news release, “will create an opportunity for scalable and growth-focused businesses in the region to refine their business plans, hone their pitch, and receive an award that will assist their startup operations or growth plans.” The winner receives a $20,000 cash award; $5,000 in Amazon...
Brattleboro Queer Dance Party (BQDP) and Cabaret has been in hibernation for nearly two years. They hoped to be back at the Stone Church on Friday, Sept. 17, but the recent quick rise of COVID-19 numbers in the area has prompted organizers to put this event online for free, with the now-virtual Dance Party set to be hosted at twitch.tv/XandraXero. Taking the helm as producer, Francesca Bourgault shared her thoughts in a news release about BQDP, which she described as...
Landmark College has been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, an award that will fund undergraduate research opportunities, cohort support, and scholarships for neurodiverse students studying in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The award is the largest grant that the college has received from the National Science Foundation. Funds will provide scholarships for as many as 36 students over six years. First-year students may receive up to four years of support, while transfer and...
For the opening of the BMC's 2021–22 Season Guest Series, the Sarasa Ensemble presents “Points of Transition” in a concert at the Brattleboro Music Center on Friday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Traveling through the many points of transition in music, the concert will feature the transformative energy of Arvo Pärt, Boccherini, Pohle, and Beethoven, encompassing works from the 17th to 20th centuries. Performers will include violinists Christina Day Martinson and Jesse Irons, violists Jessica Troy and Jenny Stirling, and...
The Vermont attorney general's office (AGO) has issued a “notice of no objection” to the planned sale of the former Marlboro College campus to an entity owned by the Marlboro Music Festival in a transaction totaling $4.34 million. That nonprofit entity - Potash Hill, Inc. - will acquire the property's 533 acres and 52 buildings from Democracy Builders Fund, a New York City–based nonprofit that purchased the campus in the summer of 2020, only to have its plans for a...
Tri-Park Cooperative Housing Corporation has hired M&S Development LLC of Brattleboro to address complex infrastructure projects at Vermont's largest privately-owned mobile home park. M&S will also provide residents living in flood-prone areas with options for relocation for the cooperative's three mobile home parks: Mountain Home, Glen Park, and Black Mountain Park. The firm is seeking funding to upgrade sewer systems at Glen Park and Black Mountain, relocate 42 homes out of the floodway, replace two bridges, and do floodplain restoration.
When you think “silent film,” you may imagine the classic black-and-white capers of Chaplin or Keaton, hijinks, pratfalls, and century-old sensibilities. But Charles Lane's Sidewalk Stories, which will be shown at Epsilon Spires, is an “entirely different experience,” according to organizers of the event in a news release. As they describe it, “Shot in Manhattan in 1989, this silent film considers similar themes to some of Chaplin's more thoughtful films (notably, The Kid), but brings it into a contemporary lens...
Twilight Music concludes its 18th Twilight on the Tavern Lawn series of summer concerts on Sunday, Sept. 19, with zydeco sextet Planet Zydeco. Co-presented with Next Stage Arts Project, the concert begins at 5 p.m. on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket), or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. Planet Zydeco captures the essence of traditional rural-style accordion-driven dance music as it is played in clubs and dance halls in southwest...
I started covering the opioid crisis with my wife Shanta in the winter of 2019. We were working together then as investigative reporters for The Commons, focused on reporting a package of stories on homelessness and housing insecurity. During an interview, Kate O'Connor, then chair of the Selectboard, mentioned a drug house a few doors over on her street. She had seen a lot of trouble with it. So did her mother and father, who lived next door. Then a...
Voters will need to wait for an opportunity to weigh in on both cannabis legalization in the community and the establishment of a 1-percent local-option sales tax, as the Special Town Meeting originally scheduled for Sept. 17 cannot proceed due to a complication with public notice for the meeting. According to Town Administrator Shane O'Keefe, while the legal warning and notice for the Special Town Meeting was properly posted on the town's website and various public locations within the community,
This Special Focus section was reported and written by MacLean Gander, with editing, design, and additional reporting by Jeff Potter. Gander volunteers his time as an investigative reporter for The Commons and teaches journalism at Landmark College. Three of his students proved instrumental in the creation of this project: recent graduate Adam Sherman, who did in-depth research on the fentanyl angle; student Jack Belinski, who put in 90 hours providing research “instrumental to the story [that] will provide a model...
In preparation for an upcoming visit from a prominent author, local attorney Ray Massucco orchestrated a crowdsourced search for a flat-top lectern. “Mr. Sedaris prefers a lectern that is not very slanted, so the hunt is on,” Massucco wrote on Facebook on Sunday. Within a couple of days, local book merchant Pat Fowler informed Massucco that she had found one - a suitably quirky piece of furniture that should please one David Sedaris, the 64-year-old humorist and essayist whose work...
The latest chapter in an emotional election over whether the smallest elementary school in Vermont should stay open ended with a murky outcome and a potential revote. By a 137–135 vote in a special election on Sept. 8, voters approved an article to close Windham Elementary School at the end of the 2021–22 school year. However, an article to authorize the town School Board to pay for tuition for students who want to enroll at a state-approved independent school was...
The town's new police chief, Norma Hardy, got her degree at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and worked for more than 20 years in high-stakes urban environments as a public safety official with management responsibilities. She takes over a depleted department in Brattleboro, where only 16 of 27 positions are filled(1) and the police force has had to change the structure of its shifts to manage the shortfall. The first Black woman to run a police department in...
In recognition of rising Covid case numbers, Empty Bowls will take place virtually again this year. For 18 years, local potters have created and donated artistic and functional bowls to raise funds for the food shelf now known as Foodworks. In that regard, this year is no different, but in lieu of an in-person dinner, the bowls will once again be sold at local stores. The fundraiser was a success last year “due to the community support for this important...
There are many ways to lose a football game, and the game between the Lyndon Vikings and the Brattleboro Colonels at Natowich Field on Sept. 10 featured all of them - penalties, turnovers, and sloppy play. And yet, after seeing a 14-point lead slip away in the second half, the Colonels still had a chance to win the game in the final seconds. Reed Sargent, who had a point-after kick blocked in the third quarter, got the opportunity to be...
The 46.96 miles of Vermont Route 9 from the Chesterfield, N.H., bridge to the New York state border has been around in one form or another since the 1760s. Route 9 - officially the Molly Stark Trail through the entirety of its length in Vermont - is part of a key east-west route between Portland, Maine and Albany, N.Y. While the traffic on Route 9, designated a National Scenic Byway in 1995, has evolved over the centuries from slow-moving horse-drawn...
JoAnne Rodriguez Heckman had already contacted The Commons to talk about what it has been like for her and her husband, Benjamin Heckman, to live at Great River Terrace, in one of the small apartments that replaced the old Lamplighter Motel on Putney Road. They originally talked off the record about the drugs, prostitution, and crime that they witnessed, because they were afraid of retaliation from neighbors in the complex, owned, and operated by the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust.