July 21: I'm only mildly anxious that my teenager is heading out to The Dark Knight Rises. Colorado is 2,000 miles away and security is heightened - everywhere. Even as far away as Morocco, Facebook friends are talking about the shooting.
Some say they'll keep their kids home from the theaters. Others say that gun laws must be tightened.
Warner Brothers cancelled their red carpet Paris premiere. I get to wondering about Christian Bale. How do all those working on the film feel? Their efforts marred; their celebration stolen.
My heart goes out to the community of Aurora (a place where I lived as a kid) and to all those whose loved ones were hurt, terrorized, or stolen.
I've been thinking a lot about Syria. Until recently, the country seemed largely absent from the news beyond the occasional CNN crawl or obligatory New York Times piece on a Sunday. Now that it's being framed as a civil war, which means it could go on for a long...
I am supporting Senator Vince Illuzzi in his run for state auditor because of his ability to get things done and his political independence. When he served as chair of the Senate Institutions Committee, he was particularly considerate to the people of Windham County, helping to secure funding for...
I carry a sidearm, usually on my hip. I also wear a smaller, concealed backup firearm. I wear them when I go to the bank and when I do farm chores. I wear them when I go grocery shopping and when I attend meetings. There is a shotgun in the back of my car and a rifle in my pickup. If you see me, then I'm not far from my tools. Look around: I'm not the only one. If you...
A recent Viewpoint (“Why I won't be your unicorn,” July 18) focused on how the gay community of colleges needs its own student organization on campus and how they need it to “decompress and just simply be.” They can't do that around the straight students? It seems to me that the author - and the gay community itself - spends more time pointing out what makes them different instead of focusing on what college students have in common. Nowhere in...
We in the disability community knew it was coming. We'd known it for days. After a young man in Aurora, Colo. took the lives of 12 people, wounded 58, and left nothing but grief and misery behind him, we knew they'd start rounding up the usual suspects. They always do. And they did - on the television, in the newspapers, and on the Internet. Pundits, reporters, and ordinary people all decided one thing: He must have been mentally ill. After...
Election time is once again upon us, and we are beginning to see those nasty little yard signs pop up like the daffodils in the spring. They certainly aren't as beautiful, they don't smell as nice, but they are almost a given every two years. While we would all rather do without them, they have become part of our campaign reality. So, to my supporters in Windham County, time to dust off the old signs and rescue them from their...
I'm supporting Bill Sorrell for attorney general in the Aug. 28 primary, and I hope you will too. It's possible to quarrel with parts of Sorrell's long record, but by and large he has done an able job, especially in defending Vermont law from corporate challenge. I don't fault Sorrell for Judge Murtha's decision in the Vermont Yankee case. Murtha's reasoning has left many scratching their heads, and there's good reason to believe it will be overturned by the court...
When Steve West, host of “Live and Local” on WKVT, asked Kate O'Connor, a District 3 Democratic candidate for state representative, to identify the particular needs of her district, she answered that it “really is a community.” That the people of her district “see themselves as family.” Although O'Connor dodges West's question, she does invite us to examine the idea of community. Her evidence was that people volunteered their time to help others in Tropical Storm Irene and that some...
Obituaries • Wallace E. Albro, 86, of Walpole, N.H. Died July 26 at Genesis Health Care in Keene, N.H. Husband of Alice (May) Richmond Albro for nearly 65 years. Father of Dennis Albro and his wife, Debbie, of Westminster. Born in Coventry, R.I., the son of the late Wilford and Mini (Fiske) Albro, he was a graduate of Coventry High School and served in the Army during World War II. He worked for Dairy Transport as a truck driver and...
Nearly three-quarters of Vermont's schools - 198 in all - did not meet the standards for adequate yearly progress (AYP) this year. With 73 percent of Vermont's schools judged as “failing” under the school accountability determinations required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Deputy Education Commissioner John Fischer says that term is a misguided label if there ever was one. “We are now trying to work in this system that is clearly broken,” he said. Many area...
The Red Barn Affair, scheduled for Aug. 11, will be held in the Wardsboro Library's big red barn at 170 Main St. Two summers ago, the first evening cocktail party and silent auction known as The Red Barn Affair was held, and this year's reprise will support the town's library and capital campaign to expand library space into the barn. The event will take place rain or shine. The Red Barn Affair, 5 to 7:30 p.m., is a cocktail party,
Chris Moore grew up in the same district he now hopes to serve. “I feel compelled to effect change,” said Moore of his inspiration to run for state office. Behind his candidacy is a deep caring for his community and the belief in civic duty, he said. Moore, running as a Democrat, is challenging incumbent Rep. Carolyn Partridge, D-Windham, and Rep. Matt Trieber, D-Bellows Falls, appointed by Gov. Peter Shumlin in 2011, for one of two House seats in the...
What makes Frank Gehry's architecture so outstanding and influential? Architectural consultant and author Lila Shoshkes of Williamsville will attempt to answer that question during a talk at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center on Thursday, Aug. 9, at 7:30 p.m. Shoshkes has lectured at the Museum of Modern Art, New York University, and the New School. Labeled by Vanity Fair as “the most important architect of our age,” Frank Gehry has reinvented architecture. His fans say his buildings surge with...
As the adage goes, if you want something done, give the task to a busy person. Or, maybe, just give the task(s) to a farmer, like long-serving Rep. Carolyn Partridge. Farmers do not shy from hard work. Over her previous seven terms in the state House of Representatives, Partridge also served in the House leadership. She is also a member of the Windham School Board and raises sheep on her small farm, spinning and dying yarn for retail sale. This...
Road work closes South Main Street in Wilmington WILMINGTON - South Main Street in Wilmington will be closed from the intersection of Route 9 to the Castle Hill Bridge on Thursday, Aug. 9, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Peckham Industries will be working on the road at that time. Methodists host annual blueberry festival BRATTLEBORO - The First United Methodist Church, 18 Town Crier Drive, will hold its annual Blueberry Festival, rain or shine, on Saturday, Aug. 11. Festivities...
Vendor applications are now being accepted for the seventh season of the Winter Farmers' Market at the River Garden on Main Street. Space for new vendors is limited but interested parties are encouraged to submit an application before the Sept. 1 deadline. The Winter Market opens on Nov. 3 for the 2012-13 season and will be open every Saturday through March 30, 2013, for a total of 22 markets. The regular market hours for the Winter Farmers' Market will be...
The Vermont losing streak in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl is now up to 12, as New Hampshire once again beat the Vermonters, 62-24, on Saturday in the 59th annual showcase of the two states' recently graduated high school seniors. New Hampshire scored eight touchdowns - five on offense, two on defense, one on special teams - en route to setting a new Shrine game record for most points scored. This year, the Vermont team loaded up with players from...
Rep. Matt Trieber made it through his first biennium in the Vermont House. Trieber, D-Bellows Falls, was appointed in January 2011 by Gov. Peter Shumlin to fill Rep. Michael “Obie” Obuchowski's seat after the long-term representative became Commissioner of Buildings and General Services. Now, the appointee has set his sights on his first House race. Trieber admits to not having the same stature as “Obie,” whom he describes as “a legend to follow” and who served the district for 38...
I want to thank Senator Peter Galbraith for so ably representing all of us in Windham County during his two freshman years in the Senate. He has certainly kept his campaign promises by working for the welfare of our state - especially so on behalf of the following four key issues: its environmental integrity, an improved economy, a just and workable single-payer health plan, and the reform needed in campaign financing. To highlight one of Peter's various legislative actions on...
Amelia Struthers wants people to know that “learning happens everywhere, and it happens all the time.” “I'm concerned that people will see us on the playground and say, 'They're just playing,'” says Struthers, site coordinator for Putney's longstanding OASIS (Open After School In School) program. Working parents often need safe after-school programs, and research also affirms such programs' positive educational impact. Struthers notes, “the hours of 3 to 6 p.m. are studied as the most vulnerable hours for children between...
Is Shakespeare breaking bad? That's what Keely Eastley, who compares one of Shakespeare's earliest plays with the popular cable crime drama, contends. This weekend, Aug. 10-12, New England Youth Theater (NEYT) presents Titus Andronicus in a production directed by David Vann from the Birmingham School of Acting in England, with the vocal coaching of Eastley, from the Yale School of Acting, who now teaches in Boston. The play stars 17 youths who are participating in NEYT's Senior Shakespeare Summer Camp.
Twenty-four students and three administrators from China recently visited the West River Valley for an intensive language and culture summer camp at Leland & Gray Union Middle and High School. The students, ranging in age from 15 to 17, are part of Leland & Gray's international program with Yuhang and Yunhe, two “sister schools” in Zhejiang Province, China. The students stayed with 14 host families in the communities served by Leland & Gray and interacted on a daily basis with...
My name appears in the first half-dozen words in the first sentence written by Jeniffer Kozlowski [“No bull,” Counterpoint, July 18], who continues, apropos of nothing, to say that “random citizens with no scientific credentials whatever” are reported in media to evolve or generate pit- bull statistics. She continues, saying a national veterinary association says that ”[dog bite] statistics are not really statistics,” and that media reports are not accurate. This is as if I had written that they were...
The Selectboard voted last week to cancelled the Special Town Meeting that was planned for Aug. 23. According to Town Clerk Pamela McFadden, the town was notified late last month by the state Agency of Transportation (AOT) that it will be receiving an additional $36,000 from the transportation enhancement grant for the West Dummerston Covered Bridge wing wall project. Selectboard member Tom Bodett, who has been overseeing the project, wrote in an email that the Special Town Meeting was originally...
RE: “Clearing up the VY euphemisms” [Letters, Aug. 1]: Good questions are raised. It's called an “Emergency Planning Zone” because that's what it is. In the event of an accident and release, not everyone would have to evacuate. The wind doesn't blow in all directions at once, so only those likely to be affected would need to seek shelter in place or leave. The emergency plan includes: recognizing and declaring an emergency with its potential; notifying local, state, and national...
RE: ”VY employees allow water to drain from spent fuel pool” [Aug. 1]: I've been visiting Vermont and the Brattleboro region for the past week. I had no idea that Vermont had a nuclear power plant. “Shocked” is the only word I can use! Stop this madness! Shut it down, Vermont! While I was seeking to possibly move to this region, I will not consider it after finding out Vermont is allowing this plant to go on - let alone...
A river flows through the center of the city. The water is dark and mysterious, murky and deep. There are eddies and small whirlpools, miniature falls and tiny bridges. But no one stops to look. They hurry past, and the river flows on. Once the river powered great factories that helped defeat an unspeakable evil. The Germans wanted to destroy the city, to bomb the factories and shut them down. They failed, but today the factories sit idle. The city...
RE: “Drain the river, close Vermont Yankee” [Letters, Aug. 1]: Wow, Peter Van der Does - you, sir, are brilliant! With all that backed-up water, maybe you could reverse the flow of the river to Canada and sell it to them so you can recoup some of that money you're spending to send American jobs overseas! While we're at it, why don't we just build giant fans in front of all the windmills so that wind will finally be a...
RE: “Drain the river, close Vermont Yankee” [Letters, Aug. 1]:: Nice try, Peter Van der Does, but there's a major hitch. Vermont only owns the western banks of the Connecticut River; New Hampshire owns the river itself, as well as the eastern banks. Dramatic environmental concerns aside, shutting off the Bellows Falls dam would have New Hampshire, Connecticut, and the federal government sending a horde of lawyers to invade the Brattleboro Federal Courthouse to the point where Vermont would be...
Back in April, I was wandering around the Armory show in New York City, an event that has become a huge and important showcase for cutting-edge art from all over the world. A large abstract painting caught my attention among all the hundreds, maybe thousands, of self-conscious searches for something new and fresh. Among art of heightened realism in the drawing of a frying pan, brightly striped canvases, or shiny chrome objects that seek to mirror the razzamatazz of our...
I am writing in reference to Thelma O'Brien's interview with William Leons [July 25]. I found the article to be very interesting and informative. William Leons and his wife, Kim, are currently my neighbors, so we have become friends, and he has shared some of his story with us. There is one notable error in reporting that I feel compelled to report. As a child of 6 during the German occupation of Rotterdam, his mother warned him if he were...
As Howard Fairman's letter [“Is this a senior solution?,” Aug. 1] pointed out, Senior Solutions will no longer have an office in the Brattleboro Senior Center. We regret the need to move. Consolidating our two Brattleboro offices into one was necessary to save money. Due to repeated cuts in federal and state funding, we must find ways to balance our budget. We had hoped to consolidate at the Senior Center. There was not enough space for all our Brattleboro staff,
Featuring live music in the open air, picnic-style comfort food, and a cash bar catered by Popolo, the annual WOOL-FM Block Party happens Saturday, Aug, 11, from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Waypoint Center on The Island across from the Amtrak station. Musical entertainment includes Alex Fenton, the young singer-songwriter with the big voice and the big guitar; a return appearance by audience favorites The Milkhouse Heaters with their original edgy folk-and-roll; the band DV8, featuring Josh Adams, playing...
My wife and I would like to publicly express our support for Tristan Toleno for Brattleboro District 3 state representative. Those of us who have the good fortune to know Tristan are aware of his passion for politics and commitment to community service. He is well regarded as a culinary entrepreneur with a conscience, devoted to supporting local businesses and sustainable agriculture. Over the years, his staff have known him to be a supportive boss who has created a work...
Heavy equipment will once again be heading into riverbeds as the road sections that were repaired in a rush after Tropical Storm Irene are rebuilt. This time, however, as the Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) constructs permanent infrastructure, state officials assured critics that serious planning and inter-agency consultation has gone into the process, and activities in the riverbed will be limited as much as possible. “None of this is a surprise,” said Justin Johnson, deputy commissioner of the Department of...
Officials at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announced today that the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) has awarded a grant in the amount of $22,560 to help continue providing nurse navigation services as part of the hospital's Comprehensive Breast Care program. The NBCF awarded BMH a similar one-year grant in 2011. The amount was increased by more than $2,000 this year, reflecting both the need for nurse navigation services in the area and the benefits it provides for patients with breast cancer.
Twilight Music continues its tenth annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues, and bluegrass summer concerts on Friday, August 10 with southern Vermont based funk and world beat band Simba. The seven concert series continues every other Friday through August 24. All concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in...
Two Brattleboro-area businesses have earned recognition for their efforts to promote alternative transportation: bicycling, walking, taking the bus, and carpooling. Landmark College and New Chapter, Inc., joined several Vermont businesses in receiving awards for their participation in the Way To Go! Commuter Challenge, held May 14 to 18. Both businesses signed up more than 20 percent of their employees to take the challenge, each earning recognition in the medium size business category (100-299 employees). “We were thrilled with the response...
The following is a district-by-district listing of how Windham County's school districts fared in the Vermont Department of Education's accountability determinations for the state's schools. According to the Vermont Department of Education website (education.vermont.gov), for every school, Vermont's Adequate Yearly Progress “must be determined for all tested students, regardless of the number of students and for any of the following groups for which there are 40 or more students in the Mathematics Achievement Index or 40 or more students in...
The Rockingham Free Public Library (RFPL) has installed a temporary lift to assist patrons with library access. The lift will be in place while a new stairwell and elevator are being constructed as part of the RFPL's $2.95 million renovation project. Now that these temporary steps are built, library staff said that the old elevator will be closed off. Partition walls will then be built on the first floor in preparation for building the new stairwell. Using the temporary lift...