A love story. Breathing new life into unusual, forgotten properties is a gift for all.
May the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center's purchase inspire others to treasure history and not rebuild so fast. Thank you for sharing this piece.
...I love that building at 11 Arch St. I hope the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center renovates and restores the whole building, including the lower level, and unblocks and restores all the arched windows. Also, I hope the museum adds a pedestrian walking lane on the railroad bridge for...
Thanks, Meredith Anton, for writing such an honest and courageous essay describing things that I, too, struggle with daily. It seems ever more confusing when trying to explain to growing children these things, the inexplicable - what to say and how to phrase it so as not to judge.
Steve Cartwright was a great friend to everyone - he was such an easy person to like and to be friends with. When we happened to be together, he was fun; he always had great stories to tell and a very good wit about him. He and my husband got along very well, and we did a lot of laughing together. It's hard to believe Steve has gone on to another adventure. He loved his daughter so much. I'm sorry...
I had the privilege of meeting both Jay Karpin and his late wife, Florence - amazing people. Their daughter, Janis Broom, is a friend of mine, and I really enjoyed this article, as I had no idea of all Jay Karpin's accomplishments. Thank you for sharing this amazing piece of history. To their daughters, Janis and Jen: You are both so blessed.
Congrats to Michael Obuchowski! I wish I could have been there at the Windham County Democrats' Obie Awards. Keep swinging!
What is the best use for the former Chemco property, at the uniquely scenic junction of the Saxtons and Connecticut rivers, just below the Falls? Vermont towns along the Connecticut are just beginning to wake up to the immense potential of their riverfronts. The Whetstone Station restaurant in Brattleboro has become a huge success, with its river view. The Joy Wah restaurant in Bellows Falls has long been favored as much for its view as its kitchen. Beyond that, Bellows...
Steve Cartwright was a real gentleman with a British sense of humor and lots of class. He will truly be missed by all who knew him and, most likely, many who didn't. I am WTSA radio host Ian Kelley's mom, and I have spoken on the phone with Steve during his “Brit on Bratt” program. I am a sucker for a British accent, which Ian knows. Steve seemed like a real gentleman with a great sense of humor and class.
In addition to drastically increasing greenhouse gas emissions (natural gas is primarily methane, a potent greenhouse gas), prices for fracked natural gas have nowhere to go but up. It seems like going with a zero-fuel-cost energy source would make a lot more sense.
Recent stories: • Economic problems in southern Vermont - lack of jobs, etc. • Opposition to Justice Center in Bellows Falls. • Opposition to gas plant in Vernon. • Opposition to wind power plant. Gee, can there be a connection here?
I love Bernie Sanders. I love his passion, his message of concern for the middle class and women, his voice expressing our need for health care and education, for living wages, and for compassion. I have experienced, firsthand, his thoughtfulness. In 2002, I took my eighth graders to Washington, D.C. for a week. We visited the Hirshhorn Museum and Ford's Theatre, the Air and Space Museum and the Library of Congress, monuments and Arlington National Cemetery, and, of course, the...
I'm a young child. My family isn't perfect, but I love them, and they love me. Sometimes they don't show it perfectly, but they are the most important people in the world to me. I'm a young mother. I am innocent of the charges the state has leveled against me. It's been proven in court, but I can't have my kids back. I've gone through all the programs the state has asked me to go through. I've even figured out...
The Selectboard appointed board member David Schoales and Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland to serve on a new committee at the Windham Solid Waste Management District on Dec. 15. The seven-member committee will investigate alternatives to how the district raises revenues from its 20-member towns. Currently, the district uses a population-based assessment model. Brattleboro, with one of the largest populations in the district pays one of the highest assessments. This assessment allows residents of member towns to participate in district...
College news • Cheryl-Ann Caldwell-Lahue, a student at the Community College of Vermont's Brattleboro academic center, was one of 13 students selected for the 2015-2016 Student Leadership Scholarship. It is awarded annually to a student from each of the CCV's 12 academic centers and the Center for Online Learning. Each recipient will receive an award of $1,000, a certificate of achievement, and an invitation to a recognition lunch with CCV President Joyce Judy this spring. • Joanna Brown of Dummerston...
Although there have been few opportunities to enforce them so far this season, Newfane's winter parking regulations are in effect now through April 15, 2016. The rules, posted on the town's website, newfanevt.com, state: “Any vehicle parked on a highway right-of-way so as to interfere with snow and/or ice removal will be towed at the owner's expense. The plowing of snow onto or across a Town Highway is prohibited. Snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles shall not be operated on any plowed...
Citing “an opportunity for us to do a comparison” between the Windham County Sheriff's Department and the Vermont State Police, the Guilford Selectboard decided by a close margin to contract with the latter as of July 1, 2016. Board member Anne Rider made the motion at the December 14 regular selectboard meeting, where it narrowly passed in a 3-2 vote with no abstentions. “I don't think it locks us in forever,” she noted. The board discussed the difference between the...
Brooks Memorial Library has trustee vacancy BRATTLEBORO - The Brooks Memorial Library Board of Trustees is seeking “an enthusiastic and dedicated Brattleboro resident and library user” to fill an open position on the board, according to a news release. Reiki class coming up BRATTLEBORO - A Reiki I certification class will be presented on Saturday, Jan. 9, from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Brattleboro Holistic Health Center, 62 Elliot St. The day will include teaching and practice time, the...
Over the last 16 months, the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel has taken on some weighty, timely, and highly technical issues related to Vermont Yankee's shutdown. So far, the panel has done so on a shoestring budget, relying mostly on a mix of donated time and services. But that strategy might not work for the long term, and several key panel members are asking whether the state of Vermont should be taking on more financial and administrative responsibility for...
Vermont's new water-quality law comes with a lot of new requirements for farmers. But the ways in which the state will enforce that law - the state's “required agricultural practices” - are still under consideration, and those rules will be a hot topic in the Legislature's 2016 session. In the session that kicked off this week, the House and Senate agricultural committees might consider a long list of issues ranging from departmental fees to honeybees. But officials said they'll likely...
A suspect in the robbery of the People's United Bank on Main Street surrendered to law enforcement in the early hours of Dec. 27. According to a press release from the Vermont State Police, Matthew T. Martin, 31, of Weathersfield, surrendered without incident in Weathersfield. Martin was arrested on multiple warrants. He is alleged to have committed robberies in New Hampshire and Vermont. He is suspected in the Dec. 14 robbery of People's United Bank on Main Street in Brattleboro.
Members of the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance unanimously approved the organization's 2017 budget and work plan last November, including raising funds through a special tax levied on properties in the downtown. Getting the budget past the Selectboard? That might take longer than expected. The alliance promotes economic activity in the downtown. Or, as DBA President Michelle Simpson-Siegel said, the organization looks for ways to “entice people to downtown and delight them once they arrive.” Each year, the organization, once known as...
The New Year is only days old, but Town Clerks are looking ahead to Town Meeting season and municipal elections. Brattleboro Town Clerk Annette Cappy has her 2016 town and school district election calendar at the ready. According to Cappy, candidates (town and school) seeking re-election must file with her office by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 19. New candidates for town or school positions and Town Meeting Members have until Monday, Jan. 25 by 5 p.m. Petitions for Town Officers...
With the holidays over and the winter stretching ahead, Vermont Theatre Company (VTC) will counter the seasonal doldrums with two performances of a reading of the comedy, The Dixie Swim Club. The play's authors-Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten-were writers for the popular television series, The Golden Girls, and their talent for writing vibrant characters and dialogue that is by turns comedic and poignant is clearly evident in the voices of Sheree, Lexie, Jeri-Neal, Dinah, and Vernadette. Premiering in...
Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard presented the fiscal year 2017 highway department draft budget to the Selectboard at their Dec. 16 regular meeting. The numbers show an increase of 1.4 percent over last year's budget. One of the line items due to increase is salaries. The budget shows a 2 percent increase in highway department workers' salaries, but state levels show an increase of 2.75 percent, Stoddard said. Stoddard said she and Highway Superintendent Brian Harlow had discussed adding a sixth...
As Vermont lawmakers convene at the Statehouse this week for the 2016 legislative session, Rep. Mike Hebert might not be able to get to work around 6 a.m. every day, as is his habit. But he'll be there, and that was far from a given just a few months ago. After falling “gravely ill” in the fall due to surgical complications, the Vernon Republican is on the mend. As Hebert gears up for a busy session, he's also taking time...
The Vermont Jazz Center will begin its 10-week long semester of spring/winter educational programs. Most classes will begin the week of Feb. 8. Sessions are 10 weeks long (except for Youth Jazz which is 8 weeks). Starting dates are listed below. Fees are $250 for 10 week semesters, except for Latin Jazz which is $200 and Youth Jazz which is $100. Call for scholarship/work study options. The semester will culminate in a concert with a short set performed by each...
Thanks for the interesting article about the new Brattleboro Museum & Art Center building. I have often paused to look across the water and wonder about that building, so it was fun to read about its history. I look forward to seeing how it evolves!
The last of the families displaced by the Nov. 7 fire on Valgar Street in Brattleboro have now found a place to live, according to Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA), which worked to resettle the families. The fire, determined to be the result of arson, initially displaced 45 people from this Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) affordable housing development. SEVCA worked closely with WWHT and other local organizations to respond to this crisis, providing intensive services to assist families...
Director Tony Lechner invites one and all to join Rock Voices, the area's only community rock chorus, for a warm winter evening of rock and pop classics like you've never heard them before. The concert will take place at Centre Congregational Church, located at 193 Main St., on Friday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. The group will also be holding a 50/50 raffle at intermission, as 50 percent of the proceeds will benefit the AIDS...
At the Dec. 16 regular Selectboard meeting, Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard shared information she received from the Windham Regional Commission (WRC) about the Windham Wood Heat Initiative. She said officials with the WRC made recommendations for Putney's Town Hall and Fire Department buildings. According to the WRC's website, ”This $1.6 million program-funded through of the state's settlement agreement with Entergy Vermont Yankee via the Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF)-will assist municipal and school buildings convert to heating with local,
Slight change in Social Services Budget for FY17 PUTNEY - Because of the merger of the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center and the Morningside Shelter into one organization, Groundworks Collaborative, the town's social services budget for fiscal year 2017 will change slightly. At the Dec. 16 Selectboard meeting, Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard explained that the merger now leaves a bit more money to divide between all groups receiving social services funding from Putney. The board and Stoddard discussed whether Groundworks...
Veteran experimental musicians John Levin, John Singer, and Ron Schneiderman will perform at Turn It Up! at 85 Main St. on Friday, Jan. 8, the first Gallery Walk of 2016. Performances will be followed by an in-depth panel discussion with the artists and a question and answer session with the audience. Levin is an improviser, electronic musician, wind player and composer based in Brattleboro. His most recent music explores a world of sustained tones, harmonics, and changing tunings that are...
It had the potential to be a major disaster, but an early-morning fire on Jan. 5 at Soundview Paper Company was quickly brought under control. No injuries were reported, and the fire was not suspicious, said Putney Fire Chief Tom Goddard. Goddard said the fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m. in the Lower Mill building of the Soundview complex on 8 Water St. Putney fire crews were on the scene at 3:18 a.m., and were soon joined by mutual...
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) opens the new year with Open Call NNE (North-Northeast), its annual juried exhibit that showcases established, mid-career, and emerging New York State and New England artists working in all media. The exhibit, which runs from Jan. 9 through March 12, features 12 artists from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont will display work in various media including painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramic, and textiles. In addition to NNE, BMAC is presenting “Recovering...
State Rep. Mike Mrowicki, D-Putney, recently paid a visit to the Selectboard to provide a review of the past year's legislative session and a preview of what will be happening at the Statehouse when lawmakers return in January. Mrowicki said he was there “to hear what's happening on the ground level for you here,” so he can bring Putney's concerns to the Statehouse. Water issues Mrowicki said Act 64, known as Vermont's water quality bill, was “years - maybe longer...
In the 1960s the Republican party formed a “Southern strategy” that sought to attract southern, white conservatives by appealing to their racial resentment around the civil rights gains made in the 1950s and 1960s. The presidential campaigns of Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon were among the most notable. In 1980, Ronald Reagan, the revered icon of the Republican party, launched his presidential campaign just a few miles from Philadelphia, Miss., the site where the infamous 1964 civil rights murders took...
A former Putney man is having a free screening of his documentary on the sentinels at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Jan. 7. The Unknowns is a film about America's sacred shrine, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the soldiers who guard it day and night, and what it takes to become a sentinel there. It will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, at the Bellows Falls Opera House in downtown Bellows Falls. The training of...
In most ways, the expansion celebrations held Dec. 28 at two area businesses didn't have much in common. But there was one key driver behind both a groundbreaking at G.S. Precision Inc. and a ribbon-cutting for the Ironwood Brands: The Windham County Economic Development Program, funded by a state settlement with Vermont Yankee owner Entergy, which pumped a combined $2.2 million into the projects. Those who run the program say that, after a slow start, they've revamped and refocused it...
Among all the students in Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, only those in Vernon get to choose where they want to go to class starting in seventh grade. While some head to Brattleboro with their peers from elsewhere in the union, others head south into Massachusetts-often to Pioneer Valley Regional School. It's an arrangement that could be threatened by new school-governance structures taking shape across Vermont under Act 46. However, it now appears that Vernon's unique school-choice setup may be codified...
Linda Burke wasn't planning on coaching the Brattleboro varsity girls' hockey team this season. However, as was the case last season, work commitments kept Detective Lt. Kraig LaPorte, who is now the commander of the Vermont State Police's Major Crime Unit, from coaching the girls' team this season. So Burke again stepped up to take the reins, along with Linda Strom and Larry Doucette. The leadership continuity has made a difference, as the Colonels have won two of their last...
After 13 years in the state Legislature, Windham County Sen. Jeanette White is fine with the fact that her name has become synonymous with marijuana-decriminalization efforts in Vermont. But as lawmakers prepare to tackle pot legalization in the 2016 session, the Putney Democrat wants to make a few things clear. First, she wants a serious debate - meaning she'd like to be spared “silly” jokes about brownies and munchies. Second, White said she doesn't smoke marijuana and isn't pushing a...
Some of the best undergraduate singing groups in the nation will perform at the Latchis Theater on Saturday, Feb. 6, at 7:30 p.m., in Brattleboro's 13th annual Collegiate A Cappella Concert. A benefit for the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) sponsored by Brattleboro Savings & Loan, The Richards Group, and Twombly Wealth Management Group, the concert will feature the Dartmouth Aires, Tufts Beelzebubs, and four groups whose ranks include singers from Brattleboro - Castleton University Vocal Unrest, Skidmore Dynamics,
The Republican Party has played the fear card for years, but it is truly breathtaking to see the cynical way that the current crop of that party's presidential candidates is whipping up fear for political gain. Is there a reason to be afraid of terrorism? Not if you are an American living within the friendly confines of the U.S. of A. Statistically, you are more likely to be killed by a lightning strike - a 1-in-83,930 chance - than to...