Does breathing new life into an old building reshape a community, or does the community reshape an old building?
With the aim of fueling the Brattleboro renaissance, the co-owners of Simply Love Life - Jacob Alan Roberts and Jessica Weston, with Dr. Samantha Eagle, owner of Biologic Integrative Health - pulled together on short notice a re-visioning community meeting for 47 Flat St., also known as the Sanel Auto Parts building.
Business owners and community members met July 3 with Denys Candy, a community builder and musician, about community engagement and re-imagining an old neighborhood. He spoke often of his experience shepherding and studying similar efforts in Pittsburgh, Pa., and abroad.
“Just because we live in proximity doesn't mean we're in community,” said Roberts.
The Public Service Board has finished up two weeks of hearings on whether the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant's continued operation is in the best interest of the public and therefore merits a new license. The rebuttal hearings roamed in topic from decommissioning to the plant's economic status to thermal...
The detective/mystery genre would not be what it is without the contribution of English crime writer Agatha Christie, who in her time penned 66 detective novels and more than 15 short story collections, along the way introducing the world to iconic sleuths Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple, and Tommy...
The federal government will decide in mid-August if it will continue funding the Brattleboro Retreat. The Retreat, the state's largest private psychiatric hospital, faces decertification because it failed to meet federal standards in a review last spring. If the hospital cannot satisfy the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, the agency could terminate Medicaid funding for the retreat or shut down the facility entirely. Doug Racine, the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, says if the Retreat loses...
On Saturday, July 13, and Sunday, July 14, community volunteers will host the 19th annual Glove, Sweat and Cheers: Safe at Home women's softball tournament at Living Memorial Park. Last year's tournament generated more than $4,000 for the Women's Freedom Center (formerly the Women's Crisis Center). Organizers say they hope to surpass that amount this year. “Over 100 women will take to the fields to help raise funds for the important work of the Women's Freedom Center,” said event volunteer...
The questions are: How do people at the top of some corporations come to work against the common good? Do they believe that what they're doing is OK? And how far down in the ranks is their story about the enterprise shared? Big businesses, of course, are not alone in willingly doing harm. The same can happen with small businesses, zealous religions, corrupt nonprofits. And individuals: slumlords, doctors who fleece the government, scam artists, tractable accountants. But except for Congresspeople...
RE: “The family life of Canada geese” [Tails of Birding, June 26]: We here at Crescent Lake, and many other places, have been invaded by these fluffy, cute things for quite a few years now. They used to fly north to Canada. Not anymore! Canada geese are dirty, mean, and make messes of everyone's green lawns. Not fun. Boo! So recheck with any landowners whose properties include lawns. Too bad Canada geese are protected and not that good to eat!
Drivers on Interstate 91 might some day catch a glimpse of a 12-acre solar farm off the highway between Exits 2 and 3, should the company seeking to develop the project land a state Certificate of Public Good, as it has petitioned. On July 2, representatives of Winstanley Enterprises and consultants from Weston Solutions, Inc., met with commissioners and staff of the Windham Regional Commission in the Hooker-Dunham Building. Later that evening, they appeared before the Brattleboro Selectboard. Public response...
Four-time Grammy-award winning cellist Eugene Friesen teams up with pianist extraordinaire Joel A. Martin on Friday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m., to explore the acoustics of the “Stone Church,” the Immanuel Episcopal Church, at 20 Church St. The concert, the first of two public events that weekend offered as part of the concurrent Vermont Improvisation Intensive, melds Friesen's cello artistry with Martin's trademark “Jazzical” approach, which draws from the soundscapes of Brazil, Europe, and the United States. The Vermont Improvisation...
Transitions • The Rev. Emily C. Heath, pastor of West Dover Congregational Church, was elected to the United Church of Christ Board, the national board of directors for the denomination, on July 1 at the UCC's General Synod in Long Beach, Calif. Rev. Heath has been the pastor of West Dover Congregational Church for the past three years, and also serves as chaplain to the West Dover Fire Department and as a regular contributor to the Huffington Post's religion section.
Some members of the Rockingham Free Public Library's Board of Trustees alleged at the June 25 board meeting that Library Director Célina Houlné had, last year, improperly and without board approval made changes to the library's personnel policy by granting pro-rated benefits to part-time staff. In fact, in January 2012, the director proposed to the Library's Personnel Policy Committee a new leave policy granting two days of pro-rated personal leave per year to all staff. This proposal was made to...
FairPoint expands broadband service in Guilford GUILFORD - FairPoint Communications has expanded broadband Internet service to more than 130 homes and businesses in the Guilford area. According to FairPoint, the expansion will provide residential speed options up to 15 megabytes per second. FairPoint's broadband Internet service will be available to customers along all or portions of the following roads: Briggs, Carpenter Hill, Clark, Country, Deer Park, Green River, Hale, Harris, Hinesburg, Josh, Lee, Metcalf, Sugar House Hill and Thomas. Methane...
This past March, Representative Town Meeting members approved $14.1 million for a police and fire department facilities renovation project, persuaded that the project solved numerous problems with these two departments and that the solution presented was the best possible. The proposal is the response to an array of minor and major infrastructure deficiencies. Some were recognized 15 years ago. The Town Meeting members were asked essentially two questions: • Did they agree with the administration's assessment and solution? • And...
Spybird Theater's “Eye of the Storm” returns to Sandglass Theater on Friday, July 12, and Saturday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m. Jana Zeller and Zak Grace's first staging at last fall's “Puppets in the Green Mountains” festival was sold out. In their return, Zeller and Grace have revamped and revised their darkly comic puppet show. “Eye of the Storm” is a full-length theater piece set on a slowly sinking island. A storm blows in, shadow sequences unveil a distant world,
Towns in Southeastern Vermont pride themselves on their independence and individuality. These divisions, however, may have halted economic development for the region. According to representatives of Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategy and Vital Economy, the goal is to dissolve the silos and build organized redevelopment that fosters prosperity for all. SeVEDS and Vital Economy (VE), which specializes in helping rural areas build sustainable regional economies, presented economic data and suggested strategies to reverse any negative trends during four community meetings...
After months of delays, The Mesabi Group, LLC, announced on Tuesday that it has completed the closing process and it is set to move forward with the next phase of the Brooks House redevelopment. A ground-breaking ceremony with Gov. Peter Shumlin is scheduled for Wednesday, July 17, at 1 p.m., at the River Garden on Main Street. Construction will begin before the end of July and should last roughly a year. Mesabi is an investment group composed of Bob Stevens,
The Brattleboro 9-10 and 11-12 Little League All Star teams weathered a rough weekend in their respective District 2 tournaments. Both teams lost the first two games of their series against their Bennington counterparts on Saturday and Sunday. The 11-12 All Stars dropped their opener at Bennington, 5-2, on Saturday. Brattleboro, trailing 5-0, rallied for two runs in the top of the sixth and scored the tying run at the plate at game's end. Brattleboro's Jeremy Rounds hit an RBI...
The heavy rains of the past couple of weeks have made swimming in Windham County's rivers and streams quite dicey. Last week, two swimmers drowned in Barre and Bristol. Swift-moving water from record-breaking rainfall was a factor in both incidents, authorities said. No drownings have been reported this summer in Windham County. The American Red Cross recommends swimmers always swim with a buddy and not allow anyone to swim alone. The Red Cross also recommends that swimmers take care in...
Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland will step in as interim Town Manager at the end of this month. At its meeting June 2, the Selectboard appointed Moreland to take over for Town Manager Barbara Sondag, who is leaving July 23 to take a new job out of state. Moreland will take the helm on July 23 at 5 p.m., but says he is not interested in filling the position permanently. The vote was 5-0, and groundwork for a search for...
“Between Dark and Night: New Pastels by Mallory Lake,” on display at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) through Oct. 20, stands out for several reasons. First, it's the first museum show for the acclaimed Marlboro artist. Second, it's your chance to see 12 masterful works she created over the past 18 months specifically for BMAC. Third, the exhibit showcases Lake's work as she takes off in a new direction. In a departure from the pastels of Tuscany landscapes...
The Dover School Pre-K Program has been awarded Five Stars by Vermont's Step Ahead Recognition System (STARS). Participants receive recognition for instituting practices that demonstrate quality of programming that exceeds the requirements for becoming licensed by the State of Vermont. This achievement represents effort and serious commitment on the part of teacher Carrie Dix and The Dover School. Created and led by the Child Development Division of the Vermont Department for Children and Families, the STARS program is Vermont's quality...
In 2011, the Vermont Department of Public Service issued a comprehensive energy plan that asserts that 90 percent of all energy used in the state - including electricity, transportation, and building heating - will be provided from renewable sources by 2050. Who could argue with the idea that almost all of the state's energy should come from renewable energy by mid-century? Probably nobody would argue, until they realize that what is called a “plan” isn't actually a plan; it's a...
Yellow Barn Music finished its young artist residency in June, is beginning its core program for more seasoned musicians, and on Saturday, July 20, is presenting its annual Scholarship Benefit Concert, which this year honors Stewart Miller, headmaster of the Greenwood School. It has also navigated its first year without its founder, David Wells, who died in 2012. “Life without David is a tricky thing,” says Yellow Barn Executive Director Catherine Stephan. “We want to honor his legacy, yet go...
Over 60 years ago, one of my heroes, Ammon Hennacy, was arrested for refusing to pay his taxes because so much of our money was allocated for war and the development of nuclear weapons. Ammon was one of the most frequently arrested activists in the peace movement in the 1950s and 1960s. At one of his hearings for tax resistance, the judge said, “Ammon [they were on a first name basis by now], I am citing you for non-payment of...
Youth Services is again providing a seven-week summer work program for low-income youth in the Bellows Falls area. The program runs through Aug. 9. Thirteen youth have been selected to benefit from paid summer jobs in landscaping, service and agriculture as well as gain important life skills that will better prepare them for entering the workforce and living independently, organizers said. “Thanks to Department of Labor funding, we are pleased to be able to offer this much-needed program for a...
Circus Smirkus, Vermont's award-winning international youth circus, returns to Brattleboro on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 16 and 17, as part of its 26th annual Big Top Tour. Performances are 1 and 7 p.m. both days on the grounds of the Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center (VABEC). The show is presented by KidsPLAYce. For this year's show, “Oz Incorporated,” grab your ruby slippers and click your heels together for a new spin on “The Wizard of Oz” with acrobatic thinking, high-wire...
Curtiss Reed Jr., executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, has expressed frustration with the Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategy and Vital Economy process. At a recent meeting, he asked pointedly whether SeVEDS and VE “even attempt” to include people of color. Young professionals who are also ethnic racial minorities remain in the Brattleboro area only about a year, he estimated, saying by then they'd had enough “unconsciously unskillful encounters” with whites. “The community is dysfunctional on...
Marlboro Music opens its 63rd season on the hilltop campus of Marlboro College with concerts on Saturday, July 13, at 8:30 p.m., and Sunday, July 14, at 2:30 p.m. With pianist Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida as artistic directors, Marlboro offers resident artists the chance to explore works in a depth not possible elsewhere. The pieces to be heard on the opening weekend will have had three weeks of rehearsal, including rarities such as Paul Hindemith's “Hérodiade,” conducted by Leon...
The Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition (BAPC) is designating the 2013 summer season as a “Summer Above the Influence” with the launch of its youth media campaign, “ATI 802.” Created by Brattleboro area students during the 2012-13 academic year, with the support of BAPC, ATI 802 features the faces and voices of local youth as they send a powerful message to peers: stay above the influence of negative pressures to drink, do drugs, or do anything else that goes against who...