There will be a special screening of the Vermont Public Television documentary, Headline Vermont, to benefit Vermont Independent Media, on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, 10 Vernon St.
Headline Vermont, a film produced by Daniel Lyons of Brattleboro, looks at the history of journalism in Vermont and highlights remarkable people and events as it chronicles Vermonters' passion for newspapers. The film combines archival images, interviews with historians and journalists, and re-enactments to tell colorful stories of newspapering from from the frontier era into the 20th century.
The film also features a segment about The Commons, its staff, and its unique approach to community journalism.
A reception for members of Vermont Independent Media will be held at 5 p.m., with a screening of the film at 5:30. A question-and-answer session follows the film with filmmakers Lyons and Tim Wessel and Elizabeth Ottinger of Vernont Public Television.
Just read your posting of the column from Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) site vice-president Michael J. Colomb in the Feb. 9 Commons. You do know this was also printed, verbatim, in the Reformer and on VTDigger.org, right? What's the point? Will you print anything that ENVY offers you,
I am writing to express my views as an American citizen who has lived off and on in Egypt since 1984, and who was lucky to be a witness of this incredible moment. I am aware that, depending on geopolitical and economic interest, there are many truths that vary...
The Board of Trustees has heard back from a consulting engineer called in by Bellows Falls' public works wastewater management chief operator Robert Wheeler, following complaints in The Square of escaping sewer gas infiltrating businesses late last month. Tim Powers of Powers Insurance at 35 The Square told the board on Jan. 25 that several businesses were affected and some employees had to go home as a result. The board was asked to call in an engineer to conduct an...
As we approach another year of the Harris Hill Ski Jump, I would just like to remind people how lucky we are to have such an amazing and unique event so close to home. Thousands of people will travel from all over the world to witness this historic event, which has takesn place one weekend a year since 1922. To see some of the best ski jumpers from the United States and Europe compete is exciting enough, but Harris Hill...
The utter failure of the traffic light scheme at Malfunction Junction comes as no surprise to those of us who witnessed the sad demise of the sane solution proposed in the late 1990s: remove that sorry joke of a park at the lower end of Main Street and put in a roundabout. Brattleboro is familiar with the advantages of a roundabout at the other end of town: smooth traffic flow, fewer fatal accidents, and less stagnant air from idling at...
The Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC) has been named to a new list of top-rated arts nonprofits by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user reviews for nonprofit organizations. “It feels good to know that people who you work with to support the arts appreciate what you're doing,” said Kate Anderson, vice president of the all-volunteer ACWC. “When we asked for reviews for this project, the response was wonderful and gives us a snapshot of what others think we're doing...
What makes a town tick with the peaceful regularity of a living room chime? Safety. Everyone wants to feel safe in his or her daily activities. While small towns are not immune from crime, racism, disaster, and disturbances, our town of Brattleboro benefits from having a friendly and responsive fire department, and a police department whose officers treat our community with courtesy, professionalism, and respect. In urban areas, a higher percentage of inner city tensions can disrupt the peaceful relationship...
We can't say we were surprised by the words of Entergy CEO J. Wayne Leonard last week when he threatened to take Vermont to court to challenge whether the state has the right to decide whether the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant should be relicensed for another 20 years of operation. “We strongly believe that this is federal jurisdiction,” Leonard said during a conference call with investment analysts. “We have choices that need to be made, and we'll make them...
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First off, kudos to The Commons and its excellent editorial and other staff. The Commons is a real asset to the community, and it gets better every edition. Seldom does a community resource so positively and thoroughly enhance a community in the way The Commons has enhanced the Brattleboro area. Having said that, though, I have to wonder whether someone has set up a Warmists' Kool-Aid stand in The Commons' newsroom … and the Kool-Aid is free. The Commons' editorial,
Dover e-Town Steering committee members have discussed potential projects for residents as part of its participation in e-Vermont: The Community Broadband Project. Five committee members met with Philip Petty, the e-Vermont Community Director with the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD), last Friday to discuss which projects the town wanted to roll out for residents as part of their two-year participation in e-Vermont. Dover is the only Windham County town participating in the program designed to increase Vermonters' Internet literacy...
Outgoing Windham Northeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Johanna Harpster said the district has reached an agreement following the objection of the Grafton/Athens and BFUHS school boards over wording and lack of discretionary option regarding a new requirement to provide truancy reports to the state Department of Children and Families (DCF). The boards had objected to the “one size fits all” approach to truancy developed by Vermont Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca. According to state law, school attendance is compulsory in Vermont...
Blanche Moyse, one of Vermont's most influential musicians and the last surviving founder of the Marlboro Music Festival, died Feb. 10 at her home in West Brattleboro. She was 101. Moyse likely did more to create Vermont's current vibrant music community than any other individual. She co-founded three of the state's most respected musical institutions - the famed Marlboro Music School and Festival, the Brattleboro Music Center, and the New England Bach Festival, which she led until her retirement in...
To all who helped in some way, Dummerston Cares wants to thank everyone who helped make the recent Dummerston Heat Fund baked bean supper such a success. This was truly a community effort, supported by the Evening Star Grange, the Dummerston Congregational Church, and many townspeople. Together, they provided the publicity, worked on all the arrangements, and did the cooking, serving, and cleaning up. We also thank everyone who came on that cold night or donated money. A special thanks...
The selectboards of 13 Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts towns in close proximity to the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant reactor in Vernon have recently written to state and federal authorities expressing concerns about possible ways Vermont Yankee's shutdown in 2012 may affect their towns. In many cases, these selectboards voted to send a letter drafted by the Safe & Green Campaign, a three-year-old grassroots education and outreach project based in towns within 20 miles of the reactor. The Safe...
I am writing regarding your excellent article about Jamaica and specifically about the office of Town Clerk [“Jamaica voters give the nod to town charter,” Feb. 2]. First, however, I congratulate Bonnie West for her devoted and excellent performance in that office. Later in this letter, I will surprise the reader with a remark made by the Town Clerk whom Bonnie followed. Let's go back about 50-plus years - 1957 to be exact - when I was Town clerk and...
Thank you for printing Michael Colomb"s “transparent” explanation of Vermont Yankee's operating record [“'An extraordinary level of operational transparency,'” The Commons, Feb. 9]. I say “thank you” because it reminded me of something I learned a long time ago - whenever someone tries to convince you of something by only telling you what's good about that thing, they're selling you a bill of goods. I think this is the case here. I will grant, for the discussion, that everything Mr.
The Harris Hill Ski Jumping Tournament is fast approaching, as some of the world's top jumpers will be coming to Brattleboro on Feb. 19 and 20. Now that the 90-meter jump has been refurbished to meet International Ski Federation specifications, Harris Hill is back on the map as one of the premier ski jumping venues in the nation, and is again attracting world-class competitors. One of them is Vladimir Glyvka, who competed for Ukraine in the 1998 Winter Olympics. He...
Every Vermont hospital, as well as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and most of the state's nursing homes, have joined together with the Vermont Department of Health, the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a statewide collaborative to prevent health care-associated infections such as MRSA (multidrug-resistant Staph aureus). Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is working with Brattleboro Retreat, Grace Cottage Hospital, and local nursing homes in a group they call The Windham County Healthcare Cluster Intervention...
For the first several days after the assassination attempt against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the ensuing shooting rampage that killed six innocent bystanders, the key question among legislators seemed to be, “Are we safe from similar attacks?” The media beat to death the question of whether we need to tone down political rhetoric, with plentiful asides about which side was more likely to incite violence. But where were these two key inquiries: Isn't it time to revisit gun laws in...
Music • Open Mic Night in West Townshend: On Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m., there will be an open mic night at the old West Townshend Country Store on Route 30. Robert DuGrenier will be the master of ceremonies. All who wish to play or listen are invited, and any donations of refreshments are welcomed. For more information, contact Sally Newton at [email protected]. • Mitch Easter at Main Street Arts: Mitch Easter is one of a kind. Producer of...
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. • Helen Parda Aiken, 93, of Westminster West. Died Feb. 2 at her home. Wife of the late Maynard Aiken. Mother of Shirley Fish, Charles Aiken and Frank Aiken. Memorial information: There will be no service. Donations to Westminster Cares, P.O. Box 312, Westminster, VT 05158. • Geneva E. Blanchard, 89, of Keene, N.H., formerly...
Three businesses in downtown Bellows Falls - Works on Paper, Vermont Pretzel and Cookie Company, and Corrine's Fine Tailoring - are joining for an exhibition of watercolor and oil pastel paintings by Brooklyn, N.Y., artist Linda Striedieck. Striedieck's latest pieces evoke the colorful shapes and rhythms of the world around us. The forms in her paintings are organic in the sense that they emerge and evolve out of themselves. Color is used to indicate direction and structure of the shapes.
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in nuclear medicine as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose and treat a variety of disease, including many types of cancers, heart disease, and certain other abnormalities within the body. The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient...
In the summers of 2009 and 2010, Strolling of the Heifers conducted successful summer programs that placed young people in six-week full-time internships on southeast Vermont farms. These programs benefited farmers and youth alike: they provided much-needed summertime help for farmers, and they provided the participating youth with an introduction to farming as a career, a paying summer position in a difficult jobs market, and coaching on employment skills, money management, and personal responsibility. We're very pleased that this program...
The influence of the life of Blanche Moyse on others is profound and is going to go on for a long time. Let me make a personal testimony. During the almost 30 years during which I was a member of the Blanche Moyse Chorale under her direction, she influenced and shaped my life in ways that went far beyond the music which we rehearsed and performed. She is one of the most important people in my life. The music was,
If you are looking for low-cost recreation opportunities this winter, one of your best options is free: walking. But not just any walking; this is the season for hiking on snowmobile trails. You may have mixed feelings about the noise snowmobiles make or the gasoline they require, but the trails left in their wake make this winter's deep snow passable for walkers. These transitory paths offers a unique way to experience your landscape, and it can be as close as...
Yoga can be practiced in your home at your convenience once you have learned the basic poses, but a class gives you invaluable instruction and positive reinforcement. If done incorrectly, for example, a yoga pose can do more harm than good. Classes are good places to meet people and socialize as well. Yoga classes are available in countless settings, from community centers to churches to teachers' homes. There are several businesses in Windham County that specialize in yoga as well,
At the risk of bringing up a taboo subject, I have to ask: Have you noticed how cold it's been lately? I hate to say anything because it's February in Vermont, after all. Cold weather is no surprise. And you can't complain about it, especially if you're a flatlander; there are too many natives around who will cheerfully advise you to move somewhere warmer -- specifically, back to where you came from. Not that Vermonters like the cold. They just...
The Commons has won three prizes for reporting and editorial writing in the annual New England Newspaper & Press Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest. In the biweekly/monthly division, Reporter Olga Peters took top honors in the general news story category for her chronicle of the November 2009 fire that leveled the Putney General Store. The Commons was preparing to go to press with Peters' front-page profile of Bellows Falls grocer Lonie Lisai, who was preparing to lease the Putney General...
According to the final results from the 2010 Census, the population of Windham County has gotten a little bit bigger in the past decade, but the overall rate of growth has been negligible. Recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed Windham County had 44,513 residents as of April 1, 2010, compared to 42,216 in 2000. That's a growth rate of around 1 percent. According to data on the Census Bureau's website, Brattleboro gained 41 residents in the 2010...
Vermont joined New York and Connecticut on Tuesday in filing a lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. According to Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, the lawsuit challenges two decisions by the NRC - the “Temporary Storage Rule” and its accompanying “Waste Confidence Decision Update.” The suit alleges that the NRC has not fully evaluated environmental risks associated with long-term onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel at locations such as the...
The following is the schedule for the 55th annual Brattleboro Winter Carnival. For additional information, visit www.brattleborowintercarnival.org: Friday, Feb. 18 • 4:30 p.m., Brattleboro Winter Carnival Torchlighting at Wells Fountain, with Frosty. • 6:3o – 8:30 p.m., Scavenger Hunt, starting at Gibson-Aiken Center. $5 per team. Registration starts at 6 p.m. See program for details. Saturday, Feb. 19 • 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Winter Carnival Outdoor Fun Day at Living Memorial Park. Snowmobile Rides, Free Skating, $5.00 Skiing and much more!
The West River Park Committee recently selected Corwin “Corky” Elwell and Charles “Chuck” Cummings as the honorary chairmen of West River Park. On Oct. 27, 2010, the town of Brattleboro purchased 10.7 acres on Route 30 from Cersosimo Industries. That land parcel is now known as West River Park. For many years, there has been a search for an area where additional field space could be developed to complement the fields at Living Memorial Park. In the summer of 2007,
The Windham Development Group, LLC has two new investors and is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in re-opening the Hotel Windham restaurant this spring, group member Tony Elliot said. Elliot said that Patricia A. Fowler and Alan Fowler, co-owners of the Village Square Bookstore, are the newest investors in the project, along with Erik Leo, Jay Eshelman, and himself. “[The Fowlers] offered to get involved when the former restaurant tenants backed out,” Elliot said. “As anchor...