It's hard to square Jeremy Turner's lavish praise for Iberdrola with the company's past behavior. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Iberdrola Renewables has been proven to have gouged California's ratepayers out of $371 million.
Here are a couple of quotes from this article:
“'The public was clearly, palpably, seriously harmed by the energy crisis,' said Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Judge Steven A. Glazer in a 219-page ruling released [April 13] that charged Shell Energy North America and Iberdrola Renewables of gouging the state.
“Glazer ruled the companies misled state officials over the negotiations of long-term electricity deals, with Shell charging $779 million more than it should have and Iberdrola charging $371 million more.”...
As a lister for Athens since 1999, I congratulate the town of Brookline for staying the course in defense of its grand list and for upholding the work that its listers did. Being a lister is not an easy job, nor is it a high-paying job. It is for...
Robert Edsall in “College Men for Trump,” New York Times, July 14, writes, “According to a recent Pew study, white non-Hispanic male college graduates support Trump over Hillary Clinton by 49 to 42 percent[....]” What does that say about the state of higher education in this country?
A perfect Vermont day with sunny blue skies provided the perfect setting for the BHS/BUHS Annual Alumni Golf Tournament on June 18 at the Brattleboro Country Club. Known highlights of this year's tournament included the team of Hugh Barber, Dana Zelenakas, Mike Cassidy, and Jamie McAuliffe taking home the first place prize. Congratulations for a big day for Chris Haskins, who experienced the thrill of a lifetime with a hole in one. Our annual putting contest provided great entertainment, and...
I want to applaud the “Insights into Southern Vermont Businesses” series. Thanks so much, Commons, for finding the space for such an interesting and important set of interviews. And highest praise goes to Jerry Goldberg for asking such instructive and fun questions and for getting the best out of the interviewees. Jerry has a knack for finding the real stories and real people behind the business fronts. Such a series can do much to support the entrepreneurial environment we need...
More than 10 percent of the people in Vermont prisons are African American. Just 1 percent of people in Vermont are black. No other nation on earth incarcerates such a high percentage of its people. As of 2008, the USA had about 751 people in prison or jail for every 100,000 in population. “England's rate is 151; Germany's is 88; and Japan's is 63.” That's according to a 2008 New York Times article, and those numbers were virtually unchanged as...
On June 18, nearly 100 very small princesses, dragons, and other magical creatures crossed Route 30 from the Retreat Meadows on their way to the forest. Led by a medieval jester and a bagpiper, this group marched up the hill to the Retreat Tower. At the top they were met by two knights in shining armor who gave them certificates and magic wands to celebrate their achievement. A fully outfitted queen and king made pronouncements to the crowd. This was...
On behalf of the Vermont Theatre Company, we thank all the many people who helped make VTC's 27th Annual Shakespeare in the Park production of All's Well that Ends Well a great success. Nearly 500 people came out to the Rotary Stage in Living Memorial Park to enjoy a perfect Vermont summer evening with their families and friends, and to see 14 amazing actors perform one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. First of all, thank you to Cameron Cobane, the...
I strongly object to Bethany Knowles-Thompson's misguided dismissal of the young people at the Democratic National Convention as entitled and ridiculous. I, on the contrary, am inspired and heartened by their passionate support of progressive values and vision. I am grateful to them and all the other protestors who are speaking the truth and crying out for a just and sustainable world. This country is in dire straits when one candidate for the office of president is a neo-fascist demagogue...
I would also like to see the writer's source for the number and nature of the police calls she describes. I would also ask her to bear in mind that homeless individuals are vulnerable by virtue of their homelessness and may already suffer from vulnerabilities that lent to their homelessness (struggles with mental health, substances, economic insecurity, age, etc.). From that standpoint, those numbers - if accurate - most likely reflect that vulnerability, while her perspective seems to suggest a...
I think that those of us who are white and don't have friends or relations of other skin colors, have no idea what it's really like out there. I will explain with just one story of something that happened to me a few years back. I was driving through Brattleboro in the evening with a dark-skinned male passenger in my car, when I was stopped by a police officer for a missing tail light. After thanking the officer for pointing...
Pat Del Camp is the artist of the month at the Wardsboro Public Library, 170 Main St. Her work, which is called “Enchanted Woodland Habitats,” will be on display during August at the library during library hours, according to a news release. In her own words, she explains that her “Enchanted Woodland Habitats” are prime real estate for fairies and other folk - imaginary or otherwise. “Some make their home on the craggy coast, others deep in the forest primeval,”
Great coverage of a terrific event! Thank you to the Brattleboro Chamber, and specifically to Kate O'Connor and Greg Lesch, for all of their hard work on the recent governor's debate!
The Southern Vermont Deerfield Valley Jazz Concert Series returns on Saturday, August 20, at 8 p.m., to Memorial Hall, 14 West Main St., with an evening of performances from the Great American Songbook to benefit The Gathering Place. According to a news release, the concert will feature Chris Bakriges, piano; Bidi Dworkin, vocals; John Kozinski, guitar; Mark Dunlap, bass; and Denny Ray Pelletier, drums. Admission is by donation at the door. Food and drinks will be for sale. The Gathering...
Voters will get a second chance to decide whether Jamaica should leave the Leland & Gray regional school union. Jamaica residents on July 12 approved their school district's departure from the five-town union by a three-vote margin. But 44 people have signed a petition asking for reconsideration of the matter, and the town school board responded by scheduling an Australian Ballot revote for Sept. 13. The leader of that petition drive, Patti Dickson, is a Leland & Gray school board...
'Load the Latchis' food drive is Aug. 18 BRATTLEBORO - WKVT and Latchis Arts will hold the sixth annual “Load the Latchis” food drive Thursday, Aug. 18. From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., volunteers will be on Flat Street outside the Latchis Building for curbside drop-off of food and monetary donations, which help stock the Groundworks Collaborative food shelf. Last year's event placed a full bag of groceries on each of the 750 seats inside the main theater of the...
Bartleby's Books will present an evening of poetry with Tim Mayo and Jeff Friedman on Thursday, August 18, at 6:30 p.m. Both poets will read from their recent work, answer questions, and sign books. Mayo holds an Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies from Harvard University and a Master of Fine Arts in writing and literature from Bennington College. For the last few years, he has been studying flying trapeze. Currently, he is a mental health worker at the...
The Actors Theatre Playhouse will present George Bernard Shaw's “Mrs. Warren's Profession” as part of its Saturday Staged Reading Series, with two performances, August 20 and 27, at 7:30 p.m, according to a news release. An early work of Shaw's, “Mrs. Warren's Profession” helped propel the Woman's Movement onto the world stage with the usual wit, insight, and upside-down logic for which Shaw was to become world famous. Vivie Warren, a thoroughly modern young woman, has just graduated from the...
The Summer Cinema Slam is back! On Saturday, Aug. 27, from 5:30 to 11 p.m., the Brattleboro Film Festival and Northern Routes Film Collaborative presents the second annual Summer Cinema Slam, an indoor/outdoor event with a lineup of Vermont-made films, live local music, food trucks, and summer brews. Building on the success of last year's sold-out event, the Film Festival teamed up with the newly-formed Film Collaborative to stage this fundraiser for both organizations at the New England Youth Theatre...
To help celebrate the 100th birthday of Union Station, Write Action, a Brattleboro based organization that seeks to “encourage, nurture, and promote the literary arts” is sending out a call for poetry whose subject is trains or train travel. The poem should be original and written by the submitter, according to a news release. Dancers from SoBo Dance Studio, led by Cyndal Ellis, will choose a group of poems from the submissions and choreograph dances to them. On the evening...
Entergy has agreed to give the state $600,000 for Vermont Yankee emergency planning over the next two years, and officials say some of that money will be allocated to towns in the vicinity of the shut-down nuclear plant. The funding is part of a new contract between Entergy, the plant's owner, and the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Due to changes in federal safety regulations at Vermont Yankee, Entergy's mandatory emergency planning payments to the state ended...
Ben Pratt brings his magic to a show at Main Street Arts on Saturday, Aug. 20, at 7:30 p.m. A news release describes “breath-taking sleight of hand, birds and humans materializing out of nowhere, and Pratt himself walking through a solid glass mirror” as the performer combines mystification, quick wit, and sarcastic charm to get the entire audience involved. Pratt fell in love with magic while growing up in Stoddard, N.H. and later won the award for best stage magician...
Two years ago, Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark began experimenting with a new, 24-hour electronic monitoring program designed for suspects who might otherwise have been sent to prison to await disposition of their cases. Now, after receiving a positive review from a nonprofit crime-research group and backing from the state Legislature, Clark will try to expand the program statewide. Though the monitoring program got off to a somewhat slow start in Windham County, officials say it has shown clear financial...
I have always been an independent who has voted for Republican, Democratic, and third-party candidates in federal, state, and local elections since my first ballot was cast in 1970. And under no circumstances am I voting for Donald Trump. While I don't agree with everything Steve West posits, I, too, have been told the six things he outlines in his very first paragraph. I, too, have been told that the country cannot afford for me to vote the convictions of...
Twilight Music concludes its 14th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, Aug. 21, at 6 p.m., with an evening of high energy accordion/guitar driven dance music of Louisiana by Planet Zydeco. The concert takes place in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. Zydeco music...
Local and state fire investigators ruled the cause of a fatal fire at 3 Record Drive as “undetermined.” The Brattleboro Fire Department Investigation Team, Brattleboro Police, the Vermont State Police Fire Investigation Unit, and the Vermont Division of Fire Safety completed their investigation Aug. 11. “It has been concluded that the fire started in a front bedroom, though the cause is undetermined,” Brattleboro Fire Chief Michael Bucossi said. “It is not suspicious.” An “undetermined” fire means investigators couldn't pinpoint a...
Town officials are urging townspeople to attend an Aug. 18 community meeting on public safety and law enforcement. At the meeting, hosted by the town's Public Safety Committee and the Selectboard, town officials hope to get input from residents on their public safety concerns and what type of police service the town should have. Although the Selectboard expected to renew their contract with the Windham County Sheriff's Department, this year presented an unexpected challenge. At the end of May, just...
Good morning, afternoon, evening, or night to you! The heavy duty air soup we've all been cooking - I mean living - in is starting to finally break down in terms of its influence in southern Vermont. We've had a strong Bermuda High in place in the western Atlantic Ocean, and that has been pumping the moisture into the region lately. While some isolated shower chances are possible Wednesday and Thursday, we should enjoy drier and sunnier weather Friday through...
As we all know, a violent act took place on Elliott Street recently. Local news agencies and social/racial justice activists have reported it as a “hate crime.” The charge of a hate crime is a pretty significant charge and shouldn't be taken lightly. But the question that keeps coming up for me was, is this really a hate crime? One online dictionary defines “hate crime” as “one motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence.” How could...
The biggest threat now in old age to the savings of most people is nursing home costs, which start at more than $100,000 per year. Long-term care can easily wipe out a lifetime of careful savings. The good news is that, with some careful legal planning, much can be done in Vermont to protect your savings for your spouse and heirs. There is much misinformation, even among legal and financial professionals, about what options are available to protect your savings.
The second annual Brattleboro on Wheels cruise-in, pancake breakfast, and car show, a benefit for local Rotary charities, will be held Saturday, Aug. 20, in the parking area across from Brattleboro Union High School on Fairground Road. Admission to the show is free for spectators. The festivities get under way at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast. Registration of classic cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles also starts at 8 a.m. Special vehicles expected include an 1850s Concord stage coach...
Holstein Association USA, Inc. 1 Holstein Place, P.O. Box 808, Brattleboro 802-254-4551; 800-952-5200 • Website: holsteinusa.com • Facebook: facebook.com/HolsteinUSA • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/1171463 • Founded: 1903. Incorporated in 1910. • Corporate structure: Vermont Foreign Nonprofit Corporation (originally located in New York). Classified as tax-exempt agricultural nonprofit under IRS section 501(c)(5). A charitable 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, tax-deductible nonprofit, the Holstein Foundation, Inc., formed in June 1989 by the Holstein Association to support its charitable, youth, educational, and scientific activities. • Employees: 140 (100...
Thank you to all the voters of District 2 Brattleboro who came out to the primary election and who voted to support me as their representative in Montpelier for the coming term. I will be running in November, with the support of the Democratic Party and the Progressive Party and with an endorsement from Bernie Sanders. I love our town; I know the district where I live and work very well. I am always eager to listen to your opinions...
Ironic, isn't it, that you chose not to print my letter opposing the Newfane Town Office building bond vote, yet you saw fit to publish Wendy M. Levy's supposed “news” article, which didn't even pretend to hide its bias toward the other side of the issue? I'm certainly not naive enough to believe that bias doesn't seep into the media's presentation of the news, but The Commons has embarrassed itself with this article, which completely ignores all the valid reasons...
After a white supremacist attacked Shela Linton, a prominent African American racial justice activist, recently, you might be asking yourself, “Now what?” The threat of racial violence against Vermonters of color across the state is very real. We all want the perpetrators brought to justice; however, justice for Shela and all survivors of racial injustice must move beyond the judicial system. Now, if ever, is the time for white allies in the movement for racial justice to become co-conspirators in...
A federal judge ordered our Vermont Public Service Board to let citizens exercise our First Amendment rights to attend their recent hearing that they had attempted to close to the public. Unwilling to eject any disorderly citizens, they instead closed this hearing to all but six citizens admitted by police to an out-of-town venue behind a security fence: avoiding lèse-majesté; disdaining noblesse oblige. Meanwhile, the Act 174 Working Group, already mandated by our legislators, comprising representatives of the Vermont General...
Candidly, this is all about the profits for Iberdrola and Meadowsend. If Meadowsend were truly concerned about preserving the Stiles Brook, as Jeremy Turner contends, then the company would do what any responsible citizen would do and establish a land trust. In my home state of Rhode Island, environmentally concerned citizens lacking the resources of Meadowsend willingly deed their valuable Block Island oceanfront land (probably valued at more than $1 million an acre) over to public land trusts to prevent...
It's been a good year for baseball in Brattleboro, but it's also been a good year for the Brattleboro Swim Team (BST). They won the Southern Vermont district meet for the fifth straight year on July 30 in Rutland, then won the Division II title at the Vermont Swim Association Championships held Aug. 6-7. at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction. BST's age 10 and under swimmers established a solid lead in the morning and the afternoon...
The Rock River Players present “On Golden Pond” by Ernest Thompson at the Williamsville Hall, diagonally across from The Eatery on Dover Road, according to a news release. “On Golden Pond” is the story of Ethel [Debbi Reed-Savory] and Norman Thayer [Stewart McDermet], who return to their summer home on Golden Pond for the 48th year. A retired English professor, Norman is nearly 80, with heart palpitations and a failing memory but still as acerbic, sharp, and eager for life...
Weddings • Rachel Hesse and Matthew Johnson were married on July 2 at Fountain's Abbey in Ripon, England. The bride, born in Williamsville, attended Newfane Elementary School, Leland & Gray Middle School, and the Putney School before graduating from Brattleboro Union High School in 2000. After completing a B.S. degree at McGill University in Montreal, she relocated to England, where she met her future husband while they were both pursuing graduate degrees at Oxford University. The groom, born and raised...
Bonnie Mennell's recent work, “What has been offered - 2016,” is now on display at the Putney Public Library, 55 Main St., through the end of September. According to a news release, it seeks to offer “the simple inherent forms, colors, beauty in what catches her eyes, her heart, and her tactile senses as she moves through her days - be it scraps of paper, pieces of tree bark, grasses, seed pods, shells, stones, broken bits of loved objects, sticks,
A “community ukulele flash mob” hosted by renowned guitarist and singer-songwriter Lisa McCormick and Parks and Plazas Inc. is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 25, at 6 p.m., at Harmony Place, behind the Brooks House. All are welcome to come and play, sing along, or just listen and enjoy. Anon's Cuisine Thai food truck will be on site from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. According to a news release, players from McCormick's Ukulele for Beginners class will participate, ready to flash their...
John Meyer and I met in late 2005 when I was brought on as executive director of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce. John was a member of the Chamber board and though he had no direct hand in my hiring, he was from the first one of my champions. I was then and am now most grateful to him. When we sat down in a meeting room at the Holstein Association USA's headquarters at 1 Holstein Place in Brattleboro,
Staying true to the spirit of her astrological sign, jazz and blues vocalist Samirah Evans has hosted a party that is part concert, part jam session nearly every year for the past two decades in celebration of her own birthday and that of fellow Leos. The 2016 Leo Party takes place Sunday, Aug. 21, at 4 p.m., at the 118 Elliot performance space in downtown Brattleboro. This year's celebration will also serve as the concert debut of her choir, the...
On Aug. 4, Town Manager Peter Elwell released an in-depth overview of town operations, a draft document he calls “a to-do list in context.” On its surface, it is a list of 50 action items, such as creating a long-term financial plan to accompany the annual town budget. At a deeper level, the goal of overall long-term stability for the town and its tax rate underscores every item on Elwell's list. “We can be methodical in our planning and stable...
A Westminster man was killed Aug. 13 while working to put out a wildfire near Baker, Nevada. According to the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service, Justin Beebe, 26, a firefighter with the Lolo Hotshots based in Missoula, Montana, died from injuries suffered when he was struck by a tree. The U.S. Forest Service says it is currently investigating his death. The wildfire is located in the Great Basin National Park in Eastern Nevada, about 10 miles from...
Randolph T. Holhut describes the wild, or “poison,” parsnip as “a new invasive species for Vermonters to be worried about,” and also as a “genetic mutation of garden parsnip.” However, in reviewing the literature, I could not find evidence that this is true. A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Invasive Plant Science and Management found no genetic difference between wild parsnip and cultivated parsnip, both known as Pastinaca sativa. There was high genetic diversity within populations of both...