To U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy: You've made it clear that no matter how the citizens of our state vote, you will give our election to Hillary Clinton because you made a “promise” to support her and you never go back on your promise.
But which promise came first? The oath of office you take each time you win our votes - an oath that demands you serve the people of this state - or the promise you made to another politician in the name of political patronage?
Your allegiance is no longer to the people of Vermont but rather to a political party. You have promised to stump for Bernie should he win the party's nomination - a rather cynical and disingenuous promise, given that the party is beholden to corporate interests and their chosen candidate, Hillary.
But that is not a promise to uphold the will and the votes of the people - it's a promise to continue working as a party hack for what has become a political brand, not a party that represents democracy.
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present country, swing, honky-tonk, and old-time music quintet The Sweetback Sisters at Next Stage on Thursday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. The Sweetback Sisters forge their own sound by delivering arrangements that combine the soul of classic '40s, '50s and '60s-era country...
Entergy has filed official notice of the next round of layoffs at Vermont Yankee, telling state and local officials that 97 positions will be cut May 5. That's a smaller number than the 150 layoffs that initially had been estimated. But a spokesman said that's only because employees have...
The Wardsboro Library, 107 Main St., is hosting an exhibit of local artist and teacher Arlo Monroe during the month of March. The Monroe family moved from Iowa to Wardsboro in 1931. Arlo Monroe's father had bought a 28-acre farm on what is now Main Street. The farmhouse is the present site of the Wardsboro Public Library. His paintings are loaned by family and friends, and include familiar scenes of Wardsboro's past. A reception for the artist will be held...
College news • William Scarlett, a marine engineeering technology major from Saxtons River, was named to the Dean's List at Maine Maritime Academy for the fall 2015 semester. • Maya Sutton-Smith of Brattleboro and Kalinda Roberts of East Dummerston were named to the Dean's List at Connecticut College in New London, Conn., for the fall 2015 semester. • Paula Merkle of Vernon, Robert Allen of Londonderry, and Eli Serota of West Dover were named to the Dean's List at Ithaca...
As the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant decommissions, so will local radiological emergency planning. Fire Chief Michael Bucossi updated the Selectboard during its Feb. 16 meeting on reductions and upcoming changes to the town's radiological planning. VY shut down in December 2014 after more than four decades of operation. According to Bucossi, plant employees moved the fuel rods from the reactor to the spent fuel pool for “hot, wet storage” on Jan. 12. “As the rods cool they become less of...
The Selectboard approved updates to the municipal ordinance governing dogs and other domestic pets and animals in town last month. Brattleboro Police Captain Mark Carignan and Town Clerk Annette Cappy first presented the changes to the Selectboard on Feb. 2. The board voted on the amendments after a second reading and public hearing on Feb. 16. The ordinance, known officially as “Chapter 3 - Animals and Fowl,” has not received an update in 13 years, said Carignan. Some of the...
WBA meeting to feature Q&A with District 1 Town Meeting Members WEST BRATTLEBORO - The next monthly meeting of the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will be held on Thursday, March 10, with a business meeting at 6 p.m., in the Hayes Court Community Room on Garfield Drive (just west of the West Brattleboro post office). The WBA will then host District 1 Town Meeting representatives at 7 p.m. This is a chance for area residents to engage in an informal...
From the “If At First You Don't Succeed” files, it took two tries for the Vernon Free Library to gain Selectboard approval to install a small Internet cafe in the building's foyer. As Librarian Kris Berberian explained to the board in January, the plan is to arrange the bookshelves in such a way that it creates a little nook in the town office building's foyer. Using donated planters, two or three tables, and some chairs, employees would turn the corner...
Town Meeting Members will be asked to vote on a question that asks if they are willing to spend $4.5 million on relocating the police station to Black Mountain Road. The warning does not indicate that vote will, in fact, authorize the spending of about $13 million above the $5 million loan already taken out. The actual loan, which will include work on the West Brattleboro Fire Station, is in fact anticipated to be $7.76 million. Interest on the loan,
While the first part of Vernon's Town Meeting happened on Leap Year Day this time around, the pace of the proceedings more resembled a car stuck in the mud. In the span of just under four hours, townspeople voted on only two of the 27 articles in the warning - and the last one, for the library budget, happened during the final few minutes just after a failed motion to decide by paper ballot. Other hot topics were the school...
The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library are hosting an exhibit of “The Altered Book.” The exhibit will be on display through April 4 on the Main Floor of the Library. Friends' board member Amir Flesher states that “altered books are defined as works of art not just by the physical changes made to the book, but also by the ways in which the artist enters into a thematic and artistic dialogue with the original.” Mosaic artist and teacher Susan Rosano...
Three students from Windham County will travel to the Barre Opera House on March 9 to compete in the 2016 Vermont Poetry Out Loud State Competition. These young people will meet students from other Vermont high schools to vie for the State Championship in the national poetry recitation competition. The state winner will compete in the National Competition in Washington, D.C., in May. “The Poetry Out Loud program not only connects students to an incredibly diverse literary heritage, it fosters...
I thank all of you who voted for and approved our operating budget for the coming school year. For those who did not vote for the budget, I promise to do all I can so that our school earns your trust and confidence so that in the future you will feel compelled to support us. Besides their rigorous academics and participation in sports, theater, and arts, our students contribute to the community in numerous ways, from shoveling snow (not as...
The Windham World Affairs Council will present Dr. David Adams, who will talk on “The Culture of Peace” on Friday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m., at the Marlboro College Graduate Center, 28 Vernon St. This talk is free and open to the public. Coffee, cookies, and conversation will begin at 7 p.m. Adams has been devoting his energies to the Global Movement for a Culture of Peace for many years. He believes that we are currently going through an especially...
Shoot the Moon theater company will hold auditions for Cameo on Monday, March 14, at 7 p.m., in the the Hooker-Dunham Theater, 139 Main St. Cameo is a devised/original piece inspired by the films of Alfred Hitchcock. All ages and types are encouraged to audition, as roles will be determined largely by who is cast. Actors should prepare a 1- to 2-minute monologue for the audition. Rehearsals will begin in early April with performances scheduled for the weekends of June...
Our town celebrates its passage of a school budget that recognizes the educational benefit of relationships between culture, local economy, health, hunger, food, and our environment. A budget that is 0.4 percent higher than the spending for the current year supports project-based learning in our school meal program and guarantees that all children will have access to healthy, tasty food during the school day without stigma. We recognize that hungry children do not have the same opportunities to reach their...
Vermont Yankee's contribution to Vernon's coffers will drop by 26 percent this year, the first in a series of declines in a new tax deal between the town and plant owner Entergy. Vernon Tax Committee members say they can't yet release many details of the six-year contract pending a state review. But this much is clear: Entergy's tax payments for the shutdown nuclear plant will be shrinking, and that will start with a $266,750 decrease in the company's 2016 payment...
Since Vermont Yankee's 2014 shutdown, it's become clear that state officials have a long list of complaints about the nuclear-decommissioning process. So it should come as no surprise that they have an equally long wish list as the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission considers ways to improve that process. The state's requests range from the straightforward - for instance, enhanced public input and emergency planning - to the arcane, such as a deeper analysis of zirconium fire risks. Vermont officials are...
March is Women's History Month, and we're happy this year to celebrate some colorful history of our own: the 25th annual Women's Film Festival is happening from March 11 to 20 in Brattleboro. This beloved fundraiser for our Women's Freedom Center features 38 films by women from around the world, telling women's and girls' own unforgettable stories with sensitivity and depth, offering a liberating shift from mainstream movie portrayals. To start off this festival in particular, and honor women in...
Former Selectboard member and recent candidate Dick DeGray - who lost by a single vote on election night - has called for a recount of the March 1 Selectboard race. Town Clerk Annette Cappy said DeGray contacted her office on Monday to request a recount. “I'm not surprised,” she said. Observers of the local election also expected a recount when Cappy announced the razor-edge results. One vote was all that separated local business owner Avery Schwenk from DeGray. Schwenk received...
The following descriptions are provided by the volunteers who organize the Women's Film Festival. All films screen at New England Youth Theatre (100 Flat St., Brattleboro). Tickets are $8.50 at the door, $7.50 for students or senior citizens. Five-show passes are available for $35 at Everyone's Books in Brattleboro and World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield. Filmgoers are advised to arrive 15 minutes ahead of show time. Festival organizers note: “The films in the Women's Film Festival should be generally considered...
At Town Meeting in Townshend, I made an error in a statement that I made about the lack of visits from Windham County senators. Senator Becca Balint was there, and I - and the rest of those in attendance - thanked her for understanding that Townshend was part of Windham County and for actually dropping by for Town Meeting. She came with State Representative Emily Long. Later in the day, when I saw former Windham County Senator Peter Galbraith, I...
Toward the end of this year's town meeting, Nancy Olson gave a report on the Tax Exempt Committee's findings. After last year's lengthy town meeting debate on whether Putney should exempt three Landmark College properties, voters decided not only to defeat the associated articles, but to form a committee to explore issues surrounding property tax exemptions. That suggestion came from Olson, and at that meeting, she offered to serve on the committee. According to the document describing its mission, “The...
Putney Fire Chief Tom Goddard told voters at town meeting, “my personal vehicle has never really been my personal vehicle." For the last 14 years, Goddard's truck has been tricked out for fire department use. “He is spending a sizable amount of time in it every day, doing [the town's] work,” added selectboard member Josh Laughlin. To give Goddard and his truck some relief, voters decided whether to allow the town to borrow an amount not to exceed $30,000, repaid...
The morning of Annual Town Meeting started sunny and cool. Voters with town reports in hand filed into their local town halls, school gymnasiums, and meeting houses. Marlboro residents stepped over puddles and ice patches for their 9 a.m. meeting. The $2,734,921 school budget passed on a unanimous voice vote. According to the meeting warning, the budget reflected education spending on $16,676 per equalized pupil. This amount was 3.7 percent higher than spending for the current year. School Board members...
A Monday afternoon house fire on Auger Hole Road has left two women dead. According to Vermont State Police Lt. Dan Trudeau, the Marlboro Fire Department responded to 5113 Auger Hole Road at about 2:45 p.m. According to Trudeau, the the fire department was notified by the homeowner, Nancy Muller, 73, that her adult daughters - Laura Milligan, 41, and Elizabeth Milligan, 46 - did not make it out of the residence. The fire department later located the bodies of...
“I don't know if it will be the end-all, be-all,” Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark told The Commons last week, following his announcement of an anonymous donation of 11.5 acres of property for his controversial detention center project. The new site for the project, now called the Southern Vermont Justice Center, at the corner of Missing Link Road and Route 5, at exit 6 of Interstate 91, “meets my needs, and addresses the vast majority of comments and concerns of...
As part of its 40th birthday celebration year, River Gallery School of Art presents fundraiser, “Off the Wall,” an art lottery, on Saturday, March 19, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Brattleboro's new event venue, 118 Elliot. In this lottery, more than 75 paintings from artists near and far have been donated in support of the school. Artists such as Petria Mitchell, Mallory Lake, Ric Campman, and Barbara Campman, as well as the RGS faculty have work represented. Those interested...
I've been in Brattleboro since 1989, long enough to now be watching the children of the students I covered as a sports reporter at the Reformer become varsity athletes like their parents. Current Reformer sports editor Shane Covey provided me one of those “geez, I'm getting old” moments last week when he pointed out that three of the players from the Brattleboro girls' basketball teams that reached four consecutive Division I semifinals from 1991 to 1994 had daughters that played...
Comments from Town Meeting members on March 2 intertwined the potential ramifications of relocating the police department out of the heart of downtown with the ongoing debate over the project's costs. The conversation around the Police-Fire Facilities Project took this latest turn last week during a two-hour Representative Town Meeting informational meeting, a precursor to a Special Representative Town Meeting on March 12. That day, Town Meeting members vote on the money question, which could result in a culture change...
A few weeks ago, during a trip to Boston, I picked up The Boston Globe to read coverage of the Patriots' unfortunate loss to the Denver Broncos. On the front page, above the fold, a headline read “Police look to cut a backlog: Complaints against officers to be mediated.” The article described a glut of citizen complaints against Boston police officers. Like most departments, the majority of these complaints relate to rudeness, poor judgment, and failure to provide expected services.
Wear green and attend the 11th annual St. Patrick's Fiddle Frenzy on Friday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m., when Stone Church Arts celebrates St. Patrick's Day at the stone Church on the hill, Immanuel Episcopal Church, 20 Church St. On tap is music from Celtic countries and the regions inspired to carry on the musical traditions. This year, they feature Vermont's own Pete's Posse. The show will be opened by fiddler Sarah Blair and guitarist Flynn Cohen. Pete's Posse is...
When Betty Friedan, the mother of second-wave feminism, died in 2006, someone made up a bunch of car decals that said “Thank You, Betty.” I attached one to my keyboard. But now, with right-wing Republicans attacking women's health care, their right to work, their right to walk through the streets without being raped, their right to live and love or not love, and their right to laugh - definitely attacking their right to laugh - I think it's time I...
Dance 'n Biscuit is a dance show to delight the senses. On Saturday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m., SoBo Studio in Brattleboro will showcase original contemporary dance pieces by local and regional artists. Featuring seven works of contemporary and modern dance, each with different themes and stories, 11 professional artists will perform in a one hour show without intermission. Scheduled to appear are Zombie Nation and the Trumpet Kids, Tara Dance Company, Cyndal Ellis, Toni Nagy, Elora Way, Erika Klemperer,
Officials continue to investigate the cause of a fire on March 2 that gutted the Newfane Café & Creamery at 550 Route 30 as the community continues to come together to raise thousands of dollars to relieve the business owners and employees affected by the three-alarm blaze. “We so appreciate the love and outreach during this difficult time,” wrote owners Ken Schatra and Denise Kiss on the restaurant's Facebook page. “We are blessed that no one was hurt. Words cannot...
Karla Baldwin wants to tell everyone about the new play she is directing, Other Desert Cities. But she finds it hard to describe. Her reason is not that the play is too weird or complicated for words. In fact, the play is a fairly traditional drama. “Rather, there is a huge secret that is revealed at the end of the drama that I do not want to reveal,” confesses Baldwin. “If I talk too much about the play, I am...
“Oh, the thinks you can think” when Dr. Seuss's best-loved characters collide and cavort in an unforgettable musical caper as Bellows Falls Union High School Drama department presents Seussical, a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza. The cast will lovingly bring to life everyone's favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant played by Paulryan Chipman, The Cat in the Hat, performed by Jackson Purdy, Gertrude McFuzz, played by Zoe Schemm, lazy Mayzie, performed by Sophia Cardini, and a little boy with...
There's a tradition at Town Meeting for the moderator to begin the proceedings by appealing to civility and community. Reminders of the importance of respectfully disagreeing - because tomorrow, that person may pull your car out of the ditch, so don't lose your temper today - are heard across the state in Grange halls and elementary school gymnasiums on the first Tuesday of March. But what if your “sense of community” has yet to be forged as you take your...
The battle over long-term storage of Vermont Yankee's spent nuclear fuel has spilled into criminal court. Clay Turnbull, a trustee and staffer of the Brattleboro-based New England Coalition, was cited March 3 by the Windham County Sheriff's Department for unlawful trespass at the plant property in Vernon. Turnbull is scheduled to appear in Windham Superior Court Criminal Division next month to answer the allegation. But in an interview the day after the incident, the 53-year-old Townshend resident said he was...
Let's just get it all out there. I am super in favor of many of Bernie Sanders' policies, and in some areas I think he doesn't go far enough. Also, I am a woman, and I am on the fence about voting for Hillary Clinton if she gets the nomination. (Yes, Hillary, you still have to earn my vote. You don't just get it because we both are women. Fun fact: I also didn't vote for Sarah Palin.) I am...