There have been many articles talking about affordable housing here and elsewhere. Some people just don't get it. The folks who provide rental housing are being constantly handed down laws (that have a price tag on them) they must follow in order to rent their properties.
The state and towns dictate to us what we must do, and the state and towns wonder why we can't provide so-called affordable housing.
Affordable for whom?
Brattleboro, the state, and other towns in Vermont have themselves to blame.
When I moved to Vermont, 56 years ago, one of the things I was told by many locals who have been living here for years was that you are not a Vermonter until you enjoy apple pie with cheddar cheese and sugar on snow, accompanied by a doughnut and...
State Rep. Heather Chase, you will shortly be voting on the so-called “Affordable Heat Act” (S.5), formerly the “Clean Heat Act.” The intent of the legislation is a statewide switch from heating systems that run on fossil fuels such as oil, gas, propane, and kerosene, to energy sources like...
Project Feed the Thousands' 29th annual campaign was a resounding success, collecting $138,748 in cash contributions, along with food items, providing 369,839 meals. We thank all of our generous supporters and numerous area businesses for participating in what has become this area's largest annual food drive. We support families and individuals in our area who are food insecure and need a little extra help, and during these challenging financial times, with your help, we were able to assist them. Nine...
The Vermont Jazz Center celebrates the vital impact that the piano has played in the history of jazz by hosting its seventh annual Solo Jazz Piano Festival on Friday, April 21, and Saturday, April, 22. The artists headlining this year's festivals are Michael Weiss, Dan Tepfer, Myra Melford, and Orrin Evans; emerging artists are Shiyu Fang and Remi Savard. On the performance evenings at 7:30 p.m., two headlining pianists will present back-to-back solo sets. April 21 will include sets by...
Leaf collection schedule announcedBRATTLEBORO - Curbside spring leaf collection will take place on Friday, April 21, and Friday, May 5. These are the only days scheduled for curbside pickup. All leaves and clippings must be contained in brown-paper leaf bags available for purchase at local businesses. No plastic bags or other containers will be accepted, as the materials collected will be used for compost. The bags must be left at the curb by 7 a.m. on scheduled collection days. Acceptable...
Utilities Division crews from the Department of Public Works will start spring flushing of the town water mains on Friday, April 21, at 10 p.m., and continue work through Friday, May 5. Some daytime flushing will continue throughout the week of May 5 through May 12. Customers are asked to check the flushing schedule closely, as flushing causes water discoloration, low water pressure, and, in some areas, periods of no water. Water main flushing will occur during both night (10...
College news • Community College of Vermont (CCV)-Brattleboro student Krystal Martin has been named a 2023 New Century Workforce Scholar and will receive a $1,250 scholarship. Martin works full-time in finance for C&S Wholesale Grocers and is pursuing an associate degree in accounting. The scholarship is the first of its kind to support students at associate degree-granting institutions on a national scale as they plan to enter the workforce upon the completion of a degree or certificate. Scholars are selected...
The public is invited to attend a panel discussion: “Social Media Influencer Marketing - What Is it? What Are the Benefits?” The program, sponsored by Vermont Independent Media's Media Mentoring Project, will take place on Wednesday, April 19, at 7 p.m., via Zoom. Basically, social media influencers are social media users who have many followers, serving to spread the word about what's good. Some say they tend to trust these third-party endorsements more than traditional advertising. Vermont businesses who are...
Thomas Berry, cultural historian and Earth “geologian,” wrote: “In the known universe, Earth is more alive, more intelligent, more beautiful, more sensitive, and more complex than any other galaxy or star or planet we have examined. Earth then can be considered the primary revelation of what the universe is aiming to accomplish.” We belong to a miraculous planet. That we as humans can realize this, and in our daily lives respond to Earth's qualities with feelings of awe, wonder, empathy,
On Saturday, April 29, at 2 p.m., staff of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and Brattleboro Area Hospice will lead a workshop presented in connection with the exhibition “Mitsuko Brooks: Letters Mingle Souls,” at the BMAC, in which participants will create mail art or a letter to a loved one who has passed on, . Brooks is a Brooklyn-based artist and archivist. Her mixed-media collages and sculptures address issues of mental health. Brooks collaborates with suicide-loss survivors and...
Celebrate National Poetry Month with an evening of poetry readings and a conversation with Bethany Breitland, winner of the Sundog Poetry Book Award, on Saturday, April 22, at 7 p.m., at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill. Breitland will read from her acclaimed debut collection, Fire Index, and will be joined on stage with the book award's final judge Shanta Lee for an intimate conversation on craft and the healing power of poetry. Additional poets will read, including former Vermont...
Two days, two vastly different performances for the Bellows Falls Terriers baseball team. On April 12 in Brandon, they beat Otter Valley for the second straight game, 6-2, as the Terriers got six shutout innings from winning pitcher Trenton Fletcher and got two-hit games from Jamison Nystrom and Eli Allbee. The next day at Hadley Field, against the Brattleboro Colonels, the Terriers fell flat on their faces in an 11-2 loss. BF coach Bob Lockerby was unsparing in his assessment...
“I'm convinced that economics as currently taught and practiced will ensure a planetary path to ruin,” says economist and author Jon D. Erickson. On Thursday, April 20, at 6:30 p.m., he will explain why and what must be done in his newest book The Progress Illusion: Reclaiming Our Future from the Fairytale of Economics (Island Press) at 118 Elliot, 118 Elliot Street. The event is sponsored by 118 Elliot, Everyone's Books, and Epsilon Spires. Books will be available for purchase...
Canal Street Art Gallery, 23 Canal Street, presents “Charles W. Norris-Brown: Distant Thunder Studio,” on view from Friday, April 21, through Saturday, June 10. Join the Gallery on 3rd Friday Gallery Night in Historic Downtown Bellows Falls on April 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. to celebrate the opening of the show. All Gallery events are free and open to the public. All the original artworks from the late artist's unfinished graphic novel, Thunder Basin, will be on view within...
Arts Alive is bringing together several Brattleboro arts organizations to enrich the lives of local artists. This is part of a series for creatives to network and explore artistic resources. On Saturday, April 29, at 10 a.m., Arts Alive invites the artist community to gather at Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts on Main Street for the next field trip. Gallery owner Petria Mitchell will introduce the business, including its history, programming, and available resources. Attendees will also hear from representatives from nearby...
The Green Mountain Conservancy is inviting everyone to participate in Earth Day activities, such as invasive species removal and hikes, at the Deer Run Nature Preserve. Participants will join them at the Deer Run Nature Preserve Trailhead (940 Camp Arden Road) on Saturday, April 22, at 10 a.m. and choose the activity that best suits their interests and abilities. Attendees are asked to bring their lunch, snacks, and water. On the Deer Run Nature Preserve, some well-known invasive plants must...
Rock Voices Brattleboro, the area's only community rock chorus, and director Bob Thies invite people to join them for an evening of choral music “like you've never heard it before,” says Thies. The concert will take place at the Brattleboro Union High School, 131 Fairground Road, on Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Backed by a professional rock band, the choir will deliver the harmonies of songs by Janis Joplin, the Four Seasons, Justin Timberlake,
For the month of April, Centre Congregational Church, at 193 Main St., is displaying The Putney School's Tempestry Project. This is the beginning of their 88 Tempestry Project, as 14 tempestries (a combination of words temperature and tapestry) have been completed thus far. These beautifully colorful temperature gauges demonstrate each year's temperature in a knitted or crocheted piece of art. “The Tempestry Project is personal and collaborative fiber art, environmental education, and climate activism through data representation all rolled into...
Palaver Strings, the innovative and dynamic ensemble known for their genre-bending performances, is set to take the stage at Next Stage Arts on April 27, at 7 p.m., with special guests clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and percussionist Brian Shankar Adler. Azmeh, a member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, and Adler, who has collaborated with a diverse range of musicians including Vijay Iyer and Esperanza Spalding, bring their unique talents and musical styles to the table. Palaver Strings is a (1)chamber...
The Brattleboro Camerata presents the world premiere of a work by composer Kitty Brazelton on Sunday, April 23, at 4 p.m., at the Brattleboro Music Center (BMC). “The Want of You: Renaissance Music and the Future” will feature pairs of Renaissance and later works, elucidating the ties between them. In a BMC media release, Camerata Director Jonathan Harvey notes the choral pieces are “all very emotionally intense - whether filled with religious ecstasy or romantic yearning, they explore extremes of...
Hospital executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do. Insurance executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do. Drug company executives make big, big salaries. Who pays them? We do. Drug companies and insurance companies and private equity owners of health care facilities make big profits. Where does that money come from? Us. The health care industry pays huge amounts of money to lobbyists. Where does that money come from? Us. The health care industry contributes...
For the past 30 years my wife, Kathy, and I have kayaked on Wilmington's Lake Raponda. It's a quiet lake, and we're grateful that we can experience it with swimmers, anglers, other paddlers, and a variety of wildlife. Last fall, I became aware of the efforts of Responsible Wakes for Vermont's Lakes (RWVL) to have the state establish rules for the operation of wake boats on our lakes and ponds. For more than two years, the group has been working...
Henry Bailly came to the Bellows Falls Middle School at the beginning of the current school year as assistant principal. He will end it as interim principal, a role he had served in since this past fall, and will start the 2023-24 school year as the school's new permanent principal. “It's going to be an adjustment,” Bailly said. “But I like to feel that I was chosen principal because of the work I was able to do this year.” Just...
I noticed that Bill Dunkel hit all the major points that gun grabbers would have us believe so as to carry out their nefarious gun-grabbing schemes. Selective outrage at greedy gun manufacturers and heartless NRA executives provides a pretense of populism and care for the working class. I hope that here in Vermont the working class is not buying it. I moved to Vermont from Florida, and the only thing I liked about Florida was the broad support for gun...
Just as the repaving of Route 9 in Brattleboro did not yield so much as an inch of bike lanes, now we have the state pouring huge amounts of money into Route 30: new guard rails, paving, etc. Where are the bike lanes? I was in the Burlington area this summer: beautiful bike lanes. I just drove on Route 9 in western Massachusetts: brand new bike lanes. Why is Brattleboro the last place in New England to have any bike...
On April 7, Brattleboro's beloved Chelsea Royal Diner, having already been closed for three months, made a post on its Facebook page. “Don't worry,” the announcement said, “we will announce when we are back in action[.] I know it's hard to wait [heart emoji] we appreciate your patience.” But this past weekend, owners Todd Darrah and Janet Picard announced that the popular restaurant will not reopen again - at least not under their management. “With heavy hearts, we unfortunately will...
Meara Seery has placed third - second runner-up - in this year's Miss Vermont competition. The contest was held April 16 at Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe. “I had a great weekend,” said the 2018 Brattleboro Union High School graduate, who competed with 10 other women. “It was such a fun time. The women were incredible, and I feel very lucky to get to know all of them. I'm very glad I did it.” So, are pageants anything...
A year ago, Nicole James vowed that a chronic autoimmune disease wouldn't stop her from fulfilling a childhood dream of running in the world's oldest annual race, the Boston Marathon. Waking morning upon morning before sunrise, she trained mile upon mile for the event's 2022 Patriots Day return after a pandemic of postponements. Then, just days before the start, James caught Covid. Seeing the 49-year-old Brattleboro resident sidelined, friends pointed to a silver lining: James' accompanying fundraising efforts had reaped...
Thank you for being here today. Thank you for coming out and showing up in the memory of Leah Rosin-Pritchard and in support of Groundworks. As I struggled to find the words I wanted to say, I realized that words are important as containers for the thoughts and feelings we want to express. Yet at the same time words say so little - they cannot seem to convey everything we are feeling. The clients and staff of Groundworks are deep...
A Boston-based multimedia artist, filmmaker, and graphic designer will lead a hands-on workshop that will dive into participants' inner reflections and new internal discoveries. Daniel Callahan, whose exhibit “Daniel Callahan: En-MassQ” is on display at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center through Sunday, June 11, will share his work in MassQing, a form of decoration of the body that uses the face as a canvas for line, shape, and color to express what is inside. “We often think of a...
Poetry around Town (PAT) is back. For a third year running, the pandemic-spawned project has posted close to 100 poems in nearly 50 businesses' windows around Brattleboro. With poems from throughout Vermont, nearby Massachusetts, and New Hampshire by both published and well-known poets, as well as by those who are fairly new to the art, the collection was curated by a small group of collaborators, then prepared for hanging in 14-point type. A collaboration among Write Action, the Brattleboro Literary...
The 1817 Brick Meetinghouse in Athens is a recipient of a 2023 Historic Preservation Grant. Established in 1986, the state-funded Historic Preservation Grant Program helps municipalities and nonprofit organizations rehabilitate the historic buildings that are a vital part of Vermont's downtowns, villages, and rural communities, as well as its iconic landscape. Since its inception, the program has provided over $6 million to support over 600 historic community building preservation projects. This is the second state grant award for the Athens...
Tim Stevenson, a potent, intelligent voice on climate change and cofounder/director of Post-Oil Solutions (postoilsolutions.org), has published his second book, which launches this month. Transformative Activism: A Values Revolution in Everyday Life in a Time of Societal Collapse (Apocryphile Press) is, according to a publisher's release, “an effective guide to growing into the spiritual maturity we need to be agents of transformative change in a collapsing world.” The book “invites us into spiritual practices that foster the human liberation we...