• Ryall Porter Sheridan Architects has received a 2013 Award of Merit from the Vermont chapter of the American Institute of Architects for the design of Guilford Sound, a recording studio in Guilford. The sound studio was chosen in part because of its relationship to the landscape and to other buildings on the site: a renovated farmhouse from the 1800s and a compact contemporary heating plant housing a wood-fired boiler for the building.
• Norman Brooks, 78, of Newfane. Died Dec. 12 after a long battle with cancer. Husband of Barbara (Stacey) Brooks for 54 years. Father of Thomas Brooks and his wife, Kendra, of Brooklin; Dawn McCormick of Marlboro; Amanda North and her husband, Robert, of West Dover; and the late Kimberly and Jennifer Brooks. Brother of Dorothy of Parrish, Fla., and Thomas of Brattleboro. He was well-known for his immaculate lawns and the perfectly stacked woodpile that ran the entire length of his property. He worked in the automotive parts industry all his life, and was the founder of Brooks Oil Undercoating, which is now run by his son, Tom. He was a lifelong member of the NewBrook fire department, and a 32nd degree Mason and a Cairo Shriner. Memorial information: A funeral service will be held at the Newfane Congregational Church on Friday, Dec. 20, at 2 p.m., followed by a reception at the NewBrook Firehouse. Donations to the church, NewBrook fire department, or Grace Cottage Hospital.
• Amy V. Cavanaugh, 36, of Pittsfield, Mass., formerly of Dummerston. Died Dec. 1 from injuries suffered in a one-car accident in Richmond, Mass. Wife of Dwayne Strickland of Vernon. Mother of James (Jimmy) Cavanaugh of Burlington, Casey Cavanaugh and Trynity and Zaida Strickland of Pittsfield, and the late Aahlee Stickland. Stepmother of...
State police conducting sobriety checkpoint during the holidays BRATTLEBORO - Vermont State Police, with local and county law enforcement agencies, will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint and saturation patrol for the next two weeks in the Windham County area during the 2013 Governor's Highway Safety Holiday DUI Campaign. State...
I don't know about you, but it seems to me it got much colder much sooner this year than it has in previous years. And nothing makes a person want to eat full-fat, flavorful foods like a long stretch of cold weather and gray skies. Cheese, of course, is...
Show of hands: Who knows sugar-makers can make syrup from tree varieties other than the sugar maple? Varieties of sugar-producing trees, and incorporating renewable energy into sugar-making operations, topped discussions at the Windham County Maple Association's annual meeting. The meeting was held in the community room of Brattleboro Savings and Loan on Nov. 6. Michael Farrell opened the meeting, discussing both his new book and expanding the sugar industry. The tree resource and technology side of the sugar industry is...
FairPoint Communications has announced that it will expand its broadband coverage to more than 265 homes and businesses in Putney, and more than 120 homes and businesses in Halifax and Whitingham. The company's new fiber-based, high-capacity network will reach customers along all or part of the following roads in Putney: Abenaki Ridge, Aplin Way, Bellows Falls Road, Brook Road, Cemetery Road, Cox Road, Earls Way, East Putney Brook Road, East Putney Falls Road, Gassett Road, Meetinghouse Lane, Mic-Mac Trail, Mill...
Why would psychiatrist Neil Senior take time to write about the dangers of marijuana use before wrangling with the drug problems of his own field? He challenges that marijuana hasn't ever killed anyone, which it might not have. Meanwhile, proof abounds that drugs dispensed by the psychiatric field kill routinely. Doesn't Neil Senior care that psychiatrists are killing? Wouldn't he like to see a robust new oversight of the entire field? I would. From my perspective as a mom, psychiatrists...
The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library are once again participating in World Book Night - an international event in which volunteers hand out thousands of free books in their communities. This year's offerings are wonderful: authors as diverse as Agatha Christie, Joseph Heller, and Maria Semple; titles such as “The Dog Stars” and “The Tipping Point” and “Bridge to Terabithia.” To participate, visit www.us.worldbooknight.org and complete the application process, choosing the titles you'd like to give away. The deadline to...
Preparations for the 2014 season has begun at the Actors Theatre Playhouse in West Chesterfield, N.H. A wide variety of dramas, comedies, and musical events creating ATP's 39th season is taking shape. You might be able to lend a hand, or know someone who can: The search is on for production/stage managers, box office help, and a variety of other volunteers who'll make it all possible. Stage managers and box/house manager volunteers are sought for the season opener (yet to...
Be on the lookout for Vermont State Police troopers, who'll be out in force in the business community speaking with business owners, managers, and line workers about what everyone can do to stay safe and alert in a robbery - and increase the chances of a successful prosecution. A weapon in the police arsenal that you can use: a form identifying what to do, what to look for, and what to listen for in the event of a robbery. These...
The economy of the town of Brattleboro is fragile, to say the least. We are, however, continuing to make ends meet even if those ends are, year by year, drawing closer together - that is, we manage to pay our bills but, each year, our services are slightly reduced. Representative Town Meeting has approved a $14.1 million bond for the police/fire facilities project. The bond was subsequently split, and if interest rates don't rise in the next eight months, there...
The Vermont Attorney General's office says Rockingham Free Public Library Trustees Chair Jan Mitchell-Love had violated the Open Meeting Law several times this year, but said that there is no proof that she “knowingly and intentionally” did so. That was the conclusion of Assistant Attorney General Bill Reynolds, who responded on Monday to complaints of violations of the law in a letter to Mitchell-Love. The investigation stemmed from allegations filed in April, May, and June by Trustees Elayne Clift and...
Three Brattleboro artists - Mollie S. Burke, Joan Peters, and Jude Roberts Rondeau - recently joined forces to present an exhibition focused on the threat posed to our Vermont winters by rising global temperatures and erratic weather. “Endangered Season: Winter in Vermont,” which runs until Dec. 20, is simultaneously a celebration of the season and an urgent call to consider the impact of climate change on it. Burke, also a member of the Vermont House of Representatives serving District 2...
Are you looking for a family-friendly, nonalcoholic event to ring in the New Year? Turning Point of Windham County is hosting a Sober Dance at the River Garden on Tuesday, December 31, from 9:00 p.m. to about 12:30 a.m., and it might be just what you're looking for. This event is for both those in recovery and those who choose a G-rated alternative to celebrate the New Year. This time of year tends to be jam-packed with parties, concerts, and...
Could this be a big season for the Brattleboro Colonels girls' basketball team? They have many returning players, including senior standout Ari Harrison, with significant varsity experience. What they don't have is size, but coach Paul Freed hopes that speed and good ball movement can make up for it. In the Colonels' 53-46 win over Mill River last Saturday at the BUHS gym, you could see the outlines of Freed's vision. Freed likes to use a deep rotation, and he...
Delaying decommissioning of Vermont Yankee up to 60 years overlooks that decommissioning of Maine Yankee to a green field was completed successfully within budget in just 7{1/2} years, the first decommissioning of a large (900 megawatt) nuclear-power plant. Why not here? Experienced, skilled plant employees applied their inside knowledge in consultation with the Maine Yankee Community Advisory Panel. Rapid decommissioning of Vermont Yankee is in everyone's best interests, even Entergy's, because inflationary ongoing costs of decades of SAFSTOR will deplete...
On Dec. 7, at the VECAN/Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network conference in Fairlee, the Brattleboro Energy Committee won the Best Overall Energy Committee Award. At the same time, progress has stalled on weatherizing/tightening up the Brattleboro's town-owned buildings. While the challenging municipal budget deliberations for next fiscal year are going on, the Energy Committee is requesting $3,400 this fiscal year for detailed energy audits of five town-owned buildings. These audits will show what kind of savings the town can...
The Selectboard met with members of the Windham County legislative delegation on Dec. 14 to ask their support for reducing the town's municipal tax burden, one of the higher rates in the state. “We pay more because we're an economic regional hub,” Selectboard Chair David Gartenstein told legislators. Gartenstein said Brattleboro property taxpayers fork over more in taxes to fund multiple municipal services and infrastructure projects, like water, sewer systems, roads, and the industries that grew up around them. This...
There's a new theater company in town: Southern Vermont Lyric Theatre, or SVeLT for short. Several local artists have come together to create a platform upon which they can bring productions of lyric theater, or theater that is sung, which will encompass works from opera, operetta, and Broadway. What sets this company apart, organizers said in a press statement, is that they will tour their productions so as to reach the widest audience possible. The first venture for SVeLT: a...
It was a gray and very cold Saturday morning, but it wasn't cold enough to deter a dozen people who were curious about the Interstate 91 Bridge Project. Caleb Linn, the project manager for PCL, the lead contractor that's building the new bridge that will carry traffic over the West River, led a brief trail walk on Dec. 14. The walk offered area residents a glimpse at how much work has been done so far - and how more there...
In observance of the Christmas holiday, all Brattleboro Town offices will close at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 24, and will be closed all day Wednesday, Dec. 25, with the exception of emergency services. The offices will resume normal hours on Thursday, December 26. Brooks Memorial Library will be open on Dec. 24, from 9 a.m. to noon and will be closed all day Dec. 25. It will resume normal hours on Dec. 26. Parking is free at all metered spaces...
The folks from the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) want to coax the sun back toward Earth with song, art, and light. On Saturday, Dec. 21, the BMAC Winter Celebration will include live music, food, and a luminaria display outside the museum. This free event is appropriate for solstice celebrants of all ages. The winter solstice occurs on the day in December with the shortest amount of daylight, when the sun's daily maximum elevation in the sky is the...
In the year since a gunman entered the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and slaughtered 20 students and six teachers, nearly 200 other children under the age of 12 in the United States were killed by guns, according to a recent investigation by Mother Jones magazine. And, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that figure has been consistent each year for the past decade. The average age of the victims is 6. While the focus...
Once again, Brattleboro's Last Night Committee will present a fun-filled, substance-free day of celebration on New Year's Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 31. The day kicks off with the senior potluck luncheon at the Brattleboro Senior Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. featuring guests, “Sing, Sing, Swing” (Scott Sizer, Lynn Lovell, and Rob Fletcher). From 1 to 4 p.m., folks can enjoy sleigh and hay rides at Fairwinds Farm on Upper Dummerston Road (no pets, please) for $8. Children up to...
The Commons will suspend publication for a week so our staff and contributors can recharge their batteries, enjoy the holiday season, and otherwise gird themselves to produce a good newspaper for you in 2014. The next issue will be dated Wednesday, Jan. 1 and distributed one day early, Dec. 31. Deadline for news and advertising is Friday, Dec. 27. All of us at Vermont Independent Media and The Commons offer readers best holiday wishes in these waning days of 2013.
It's really impossible to write about the passing of my mentor and dear friend, trumpeter Howard “Dr. Bebop” Brofsky, and to reflect on his legacy as president emeritus of the Vermont Jazz Center without looking through the lens of his life accomplishments. Those of us who knew Howard are still processing the news of his peaceful death at the age of 86 on Oct. 17. Since his passing, many individuals have come forward to express how he changed their lives...
Two graduate students, one African-American and one Latina, were accused of stealing beer from Hannaford. It took multiple steps for the incident to get cleared up, and as of this writing, the supermarket still has not apologized directly to the students who were wrongly accused. Thankfully, community leaders at Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity and the Community Equity Collaborative are applying ongoing pressure on Hannaford to take further action to ensure that incidents like this won't continue to happen.
I very clearly remember when I first discovered the true importance of food. My family had transplanted itself in the early 1950s from suburban New Jersey to a small grocery store/gas station in central Vermont - Coutant's Country Center, doomed, unfortunately, from the start by the poverty of the area and my father's willingness to extend credit. There were a few great years that I remember, though, when I had unlimited access to Creamsicles and Almond Joys, huge wheels of...
One year ago, the shooter was walking into Sandy Hook Elementary School. It is still so raw. As the news reports came in, I know all of us were left cycling through disbelief, anger, and deep, deep sadness. We were taken to our knees. It was as if it had happened to our own family. And in a sense, it had. It was a tragedy so horrible that suddenly it didn't matter what state someone lived in or what house.
The town is now armed with a lighting proposal to increase visibility and safety for workers, residents, and other visitors to the Town Office, the voting facility, and the historical society. Energy Committee member Stan “Smokey” Howe presented the Selectboard on Dec. 11 with a range of options that would, if approved as presented, replace eight existing exterior light fixtures burning 1,080 watts with 17 energy-efficient models in a new layout that would tap only 632 watts. “Before and after”
Charlie Hunter: The writer should relax a bit. The “shop local” edict is - pretty obviously - an admonition to those with discretionary income. Only an insane person would advocate that people should starve their kids in order to shop locally. Sarah Hudock: The writer doesn't need to “relax” at all. She is bringing up an important point that clearly needs to be articulated: that there are many, many families in our area in the same boat as she is,
For those of you who have heard the recent news that the Brattleboro Retreat and the United Nurses and Allied Health Professionals (UNAP) Local 5086 have reached a new two-year contract agreement, we would like to share with the community certain aspects of the negotiation process that did not make it into the press releases and news stories. If there is a hidden headline here, it is this: Both sides agreed beforehand to try an innovative new approach that ended...
Thanks to positive response from the public and a generous offer by the owner of the space, “14 Artists, 3 Days,” a show and sale featuring members of Brattleboro-West Arts (BWA), will continue Thursday, Dec. 19, through Sunday, Dec. 22, from noon to 5 p.m. each day, in Suite 106 of the C.F. Church Building at 80 Flat St. The large space was filled at times to near capacity during the Dec. 13 opening reception, and attendance was steady Dec.
As the weather bites down hard and cold, another round of holidays has begun. Our Crazybusy Culture is now heightened to a crescendo-like peak, as people cram cooking, baking, party-making, party-going, community-serving, fund-raising, church-attending, and merriment-expecting into their already gridlocked schedules. Oddly, in a time when the landscape begins to hibernate - drawing its energy into its core and preparing for winter's calm slumber - human inhabitants choose to trample over this natural cycle with mall-thronging, hymnal-howling, and a cocktail-sloshing,
This holiday season marks the 114th annual Christmas Bird Count, a favorite tradition among Vermont's birding community. Birdwatchers across the state are participating in the count. Many hope to catch a glimpse of majestic snowy owls, which have been seen around Vermont in unusually high numbers this year. “I've been participating in the annual count since 1980, and it's really worthwhile,” said Vermont Fish & Wildlife biologist Steve Parren. “You can see some cool species such as horned grebes or...
The town's Social Services Advisory Committee is requesting level funding for the fiscal year that starts on July 2014. According to Cindy Jerome, reporting for the committee at the Dec. 11 Selectboard meeting, $10,350 is needed to help 17 requesting social service organizations meet vital needs affecting residents of Dummerston. “There are several organizations we wished to give more money to, but there were none that we were willing to recommend less be given to, in order to keep the...
The Blanche Moyse Chorale, an affiliate of the Brattleboro Music Center, is holding auditions for several new members of its tenor and bass sections. Auditioners should be experienced in choral singing, capable of learning music independently, and not intimidated by foreign languages. The Chorale, founded in 1978, is a chamber chorus of about 30 voices striving to attain the high level of musical artistry exemplified by its original director, Blanche Moyse. Although based in the Brattleboro area, the Chorale includes...
Next Stage Arts, The Gleanery, and the Putney Co-op present a January film series that's all about the food, with “Dinner and a Movie” Thursday evenings in January. Seating starts at 5:30 p.m. at The Gleanery, where chefs will serve a menu inspired by some of their favorite films about food. At 7, diners will head over to Next Stage and take in those films on the big screen. Ticket holders will be treated to snacks courtesy of the Putney...
A dull sky the color of papier-mâché, and frigid air coat downtown Wilmington. Yet not even predictions of a foot of snow can quell the celebratory atmosphere inside the snug and renovated Dot's Restaurant. Dot's, a Deerfield Valley landmark and popular breakfast joint famous for its chili, quietly reopened last week after an extensive two-year rebuilding necessitated by Tropical Storm Irene. Irene launched the restaurant owned by Patty and John Reagan to dubious national stardom on Aug. 28, 2011. The...
Outgoing Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. Executive Director Jeffrey Lewis says his legacy is what's happening now: the region's economy is still growing into what it will become. “You have to trust other people,” said Lewis, who retires this month from the nonprofit commercial economic development organization after 7½ years and as one of the leaders of the Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategy (SeVEDS), a nonprofit that, as its website says, “exists to reverse the Windham Region's economic decline.” The organization...