To me, one of last year's more interesting news stories was about urine in a library.
For those who don't remember, in November, the Lamont Library at Harvard revealed that 36 books on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered issues (usually abbreviated as LGBT) were damaged by “what appeared to be urine,” according to The Harvard Crimson.
The predictable national uproar that followed - in newspapers, on talk shows, and all over the Internet - was over hate and hate crimes.
Obviously, some homophobic person had deliberately damaged the books. Obviously, that person or persons had to be caught, punished, held up as a bad example, and shunned. Obviously, hate has no home here.
Music • Beaucoup Blue at Hooker-Dunham: Twilight Music presents an evening of Americana and acoustic blues music with Beaucoup Blue, the Philadelphia-based father and son team of David and Adrian Mowry, at Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 p.m. Beaucoup Blue's traditional and contemporary style...
Union Institute & University (UI&U), a private, nonprofit university with two locations in Vermont, will offer a new addiction studies specialization as part of the psychology and human development concentration of the university's Bachelor of Arts program. The specialization provides learners with the educational content, credits and 2,000 hours...
The town of Guilford's 250th anniversary celebration, a year-long series of events in 2011, kicks off with a day of free, family-oriented activities on Saturday, Jan. 8 from noon to 9:30 p.m. at two different venues in town. From noon to 4 p.m., there will be a sledding party at Sportsmen's, Inc. To reach the club, proceed about a mile on Guilford Center Road to the right turn onto Tater Lane, and very shortly take the right fork onto Creamery...
With the beginning of a new legislative biennium, and the inauguration of a new governor, this week is a festive one in Montpelier. But the festivities will soon pass, and the reality of yet another difficult year for Vermont will soon become apparent to Gov. Peter Shumlin and the Legislature. There's still a projected deficit of about $150 million for fiscal year 2012, and tax revenues are still anemic. The federal stimulus money that propped up the last three state...
The Leland & Gray Rebels hammered the Twin Valley Wildcats, 77-20, to win the championship game in the Green Mountain Holiday Tournament on Dec. 30 in Chester. Matt Bizon led a balanced attack with 10 points, 6 assists and 7 steals. Drew Barnum and Noah Chapin each scored 9 points and Josh Fontaine pulled down 12 rebounds and made 5 blocks. In the opening games of the GM tourney on Dec. 29, the Rebels beat Mount Everett of Sheffield, Mass.,
Winter. For some people, it means skiing, sledding, and long evenings in front of a well-fed fire. For many working Vermonters, winter is a test to be met with grim determination. People who work outdoors struggle through long days loading lumber onto trucks or cutting firewood. “Winter is the price you pay for living here,” someone once told me. Some places have riots, mudslides, or hurricanes. Vermont has winter. For the back-road poor, winter is a nightmare. They shiver under...
It's interesting to me that the Tea Party types who are so agitated over governmental interference in their lives and constrictions of their freedom by unnecessary laws (and I heartily agree with that libertarian stand) show so little awareness of the much greater constriction of our freedoms under the iron-fisted domination of the mega-corporations. These mega-corporations rule that very government that the Tea Partiers conceive to be the problem. Right in front of our faces and without any sleight of...
The United Way of Windham County recently renewed its funding grants to 19 local agencies, for a six-month funding period. “We are so proud of the work these agencies do in our community, and we are grateful for the generosity of United Way donors who ensure we can offer this level of support,” said United Way of Windham County Executive Director Carmen Derby. “We are truly grateful to be recipients of United Way funding,” said Morningside Shelter Executive Director Paul...
The Brattleboro Union High School music department will present an evening of chamber music on Friday, Jan. 7, at the New England Youth Theatre on Flat Street. The first half of the concert will begin at 6 p.m., and the second half at 7:30 p.m. An admission fee of $2 will be charged and will apply to both halves of the concert. A food sale at intermission will benefit the NEYT scholarship fund. Featured on the concert will be 17...
Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • Thomas Edward “Tommy” Finnell, 47, of Putney. Died Dec. 21 at the home of his sister, Kathleen Babbitt, and her fiancé, Mike Lowe, with whom he resided with for the past several years. Son of the late Michael and Theresa (LaValley) Finnell. Brother of Brian Scott Finnell of Westminster West. Predeceased by a brother,
It's late. Crossing the dark parking lot, you notice two of the streetlights have gone out. Another person walks toward a car at the other end of the deserted lot. The person pauses to look at you. Do you confidently amble on your way? Do you double-check that your car keys are at the ready and walk faster? Most women do the latter. It's one of the many habits acquired over the lifetime of a woman in American society. Do...
Despite what many people believe, domestic violence and abuse are not due to the abuser's loss of control over his or her behavior. In fact, abusive behavior and violence are deliberate choices made by the abuser in order to control the abused. Abusers use a variety of tactics to manipulate their targets and exert their power: • Dominance – Abusive individuals need to feel in charge of the relationship. They will make decisions for you and the family, tell you...
In November, Remi Tilkin, a Belgian exchange student at Leland & Gray High School, did a presentation on Belgium for two classes of fifth- and sixth-graders at Newbrook Elementary School. Every exchange student from PAX, a non-profit educational organization that promotes and arranges international student exchange, is asked to do a presentation about his or her native country, including reference to a book or a song, for a school in his host area. Tilkin's presentation was in the form of...
The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department will offer the following programs in January. To register, or to learn more about the offerings, call the Recreation & Parks Office at 802-254-5808, weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 5 p.m. Chess class There will be a chess class on Fridays from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Gibson-Aiken Center, 207 Main St. The class is for children in grades 1 through 6. Classes begin on...
“If I couldn't get something from you, I didn't want to know you,” says James, who describes himself as a much different person six years ago. He also says that this way of thinking let him justify his abusive treatment of his wife and children. “I used to think, 'Well, at least I didn't hit you,'” he says. Resolving violence against women - from domestic abuse to rape, to muggings, to women afraid to walk home alone at night -
It's not often that a small nonprofit operating out of an old mill in Bellows Falls can give away $500. But the folks at WOOL-LP 100.1 FM, Black Sheep Radio, did just that on Dec. 18 after the finals of their five-round “Radioke” series, which was a karaoke competition broadcast live on the community radio station. First place went to Karen Bays of Alstead, N.H. Second and third place ended in a tie between Megan Avila of Saxtons River and...
A routine afternoon train stop turned interesting for some, and terrifying for others, after Brattleboro and Vermont State Police arrested Donald Doutre for disorderly conduct. Monday's incident occurred around 5:30 p.m., while passengers waited for Amtrak's northbound Vermonter to arrive. According to Police Chief Eugene Wrinn, two Brattleboro police officers on patrol responded to a call at the Amtrak station of a man “threatening to shoot people.” Wrinn said that a state trooper also responded to assist the officers. Wrinn...
Michael Obuchowski of Bellows Falls, who has represented the Windham 4 House district since 1973, was asked last month by incoming Gov. Peter Shumlin to take the position of commissioner of the state Department of Buildings and General Services. Obuchowski resigned his House seat last week to take the post, touching off a scramble to succeed the longtime lawmaker. In a phone interview on Friday, Shumlin said of Obuchowski that “no one is smarter, works harder or has the tenacity...
If the article by Thelma O'Brien [“Newfane voters decide to keep zoning bylaws,” The Commons, Dec. 22] is correct, well over 100 of the “[m]ore than a third of the town's 1,360 registered voters” that “drifted through the polling lines” must have done so without casting a vote! It would take that many to make up for the 97 absentee voters not being there plus a few more to make more than a third of 1,360 (454). More significant, I...
As the municipal election season begins, three Selectboard seats are open, and hopefuls are ready to toss their hats into the ring. Selectboard members Jesse Corum, Martha O'Connor, and Daryl Pillsbury have decided not to run for re-election this year, freeing two one-year seats and a three-year seat. “I got other things to do,” said Jesse Corum, of his decision to step down after serving three one-year terms. Corum said he had a lot on his plate. The practicing attorney...
Free access to information is critical to a democracy. That's why it is upsetting to see the hours of the Brooks Memorial Library, the public library in Brattleboro, reduced due to budget cuts, and why it's a problem that residents of smaller towns like Guilford and Dummerston have free access only to tiny libraries with very limited hours. Most U.S. states allow any resident to check out books from any library in their state. I encourage everyone to contact their...