What a pleasure to walk, drive, and ride a bike across the beautiful new Elliot Street bridge!
As a member of the House Transportation Committee for the past eight years, I have had oversight over funding for transportation projects all over the state. It's not often I get to see one completed practically in my own backyard.
Mike Renaud and Renaud Brothers did a professional and careful job, completing the project right on time for the start of school, as promised.
Our local public works department, under the able leadership of Steve Barrett and Hannah O'Connell, coordinated all the accessory work of sidewalks and water and sewer lines.
Wind energy is a big carbon reducer. It cut 28 million cars' worth of carbon dioxide emissions last year alone. Wind is currently on track to produce 20 percent of the country's electricity by 2030. If it hits that goal, it cut overall electric sector emissions by more than...
Even though I think about death almost every time I climb into a car - unquestionably the most dangerous activity in which I regularly engage - I've managed to put off writing my advance directive for health care for more than a decade. Writing an advance directive for health...
A community contra dance will take place at the Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center on Saturday, Sept. 17, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. “Flicker” features three local young musicians: Hilary Weitzner and Ellery Witman on fiddles, and Avery Witman on cello. They will be accompanied by local Irish music master Randy Miller on piano. Andy Davis will be calling the dance and telling a traditional folk tale midway through the evening, according to a news release. Two other dances...
The art of Matthew Ivan Smith will be on display at the Wardsboro Public Library, 170 Main St., for the month of September during library hours. Smith is a “self-taught” artist and a grandson of the composer Ernest Bloch. He showed a remarkable gift in music early, but after spending his summers in Vermont, he became fascinated by the beauty around him. He began to draw in pencil on small pads - hills and trees at first, then adding a...
A Brattleboro landlord will pay $20,000 to settle the state's claims that he filed false documents relating to lead-paint abatement at two High Street rental properties. The state attorney general's office had alleged that Robert Immler engaged in “unfair and deceptive acts and practices” by inaccurately asserting that his properties at 118 and 182 High Street were in compliance with the state's lead law. A state settlement document shows that Immler didn't admit that his documents were false and didn't...
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Medical Group Director Dr. Tony Blofson announced three additions to staff. • Stephen M. Fleet, MD, joins BMH's Center for Cardiovascular Health. Fleet received his B.A. from Columbia College of Columbia University and his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He served his internship and residency at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, as well as a fellowship in Cardiology at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts. Fleet is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine,
WKVT hosts 'Call to Action' forum on hunger, homelessness BRATTLEBORO - WKVT Radio will present a live broadcast of a public forum about hunger and homelessness in the community from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center. The station's “Call to Action” series brings local and state officials together with individuals and organizations to create awareness around critical issues and foster greater collaboration in addressing community needs. Light...
The Vermont Jazz Center will host a new 10-week session of classes beginning the week of September 19. Courses include an expanded youth program for ages 10 to 16, a bebop ensemble led by Scott Mullett (Blue Note Ensemble), Anna Patton's popular Vocal Harmony Chorus, and the Center's Latin Jazz Ensemble, according to a news release. This year's offerings include a new class from percussionist/musicologist and Board President Julian Gerstin. Gerstin will introduce a range of percussion instruments from Africa...
On Saturday, Sept. 16, at 7:30 p.m., musicians from the Brattleboro Music Center and local musicians will offer a program of classical, vocal, instrumental, jazz, and other music at St. Mary's in the Mountains, 13 East Main St. Admission is by donation and will benefit the Deerfield Valley Cares Heating Assistance program. Desserts and coffee will be offered at 7 p.m. at the church's entrance on East Main Street, according to a news release. Performers will include musicians from the...
Libraries have evolved beyond collections of books and media into institutions that provide new kinds of programs, services, and opportunities, and Brooks Memorial Library is looking for new ways to do the same. Some libraries offer classes, some loan out tools and gear, some connect patrons with community resources, and some provide space for business incubators, conversation salons, or maker-spaces. Brooks can do many of these things and already does some of them. But Library Director Starr LaTronica wants to...
Author Bill Lockwood debuts his first book, “Buried Gold,” at Village Square Booksellers, 32 The Square, in Bellows Falls at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16. Lockwood retired in 2015 after decades of working in social services in Maryland and Vermont. An avid amateur theater participant and writer, he grew up in Baltimore and was active in founding Fells Point Theatre, starting a theatrical career that continues today, according to a news release. He went on to write articles and...
Is the key to supporting local agriculture simple arithmetic? A group of local technologists and agriculturalists think so, according to a news release. On one side of the equation are the high-end food service providers who take pride in, and get a marketing edge for, using unique, fresh ingredients. On the other end of the equation are the many thousands of small-scale farmers, homesteaders, and land/forest owners who are growing such products on their land or could easily learn to...
Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 183 Main St., will host an Artist Talk on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 5 p.m., as part of current exhibits featuring the work of Jackie Abrams and Karen Kamenetzky. The exhibits, “Jackie Abrams: Elemental Vessels” and “Karen Kamenetsky: Hidden Agenda” will continue through Sept. 18. Abrams' unique pieces showcase 40 years of basket-making experience; new, nontraditional materials reflect the artist's shift toward more intuitive, abstract sculptural forms. According to Abrams, “These are forms that are universal, familiar...
BRATTLEBORO - The Brooks Memorial Library has begun renovations made possible by the recent bequest of Ronald Read. Read left the library more than $1.2 million in 2015. The Board of Trustees has invested the bulk of the funds in an endowment to support the library for generations to come. The balance is being used to offset the costs of restored staff hours and to make improvements to the building, which will be 50 years old next year, according to...
Next Stage Arts Project continues its literary series, Next Stage Speaks, on Friday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m., with Bianca Stone hosted by poet Chard DeNiord. There is a suggested donation at the door of $10. Bianca Stone is a poet and visual artist and the author of several chapbooks, most recently “I Saw The Devil With His Needlework” (Argos Books), and the poetry-comic “I Want To Open The Mouth God Gave You, Beautiful Mutant” (Factory Hollow Press). Her first...
Obituaries • Nancy B. (Massey) Chasse, 81, of Vernon, formerly of Wethersfield, Conn. Died Aug. 28 in Vernon. Wife of the late Normand J. Chasse. Mother of Grace Head and her husband Carl, of Vernon, and Lisa Collado, of Nashua, N.H. Also survived by her grandson Andrew Chasse-Felix and his wife, Kimberly; her step-grandson Nathan Head; her brothers Carroll Cyr and his wife, Priscilla, of VanBuren, Maine and Herman Cyr and his wife, Rachel, of Grand Isle, Maine, and many...
A new round of Ukulele for Beginners classes taught by Lisa McCormick will start Sept. 20 and 21, according to a news release. No previous musical experience is required. Daytime and early evening options will be offered. Students from McCormick's summer ukulele class helped power the success of the recent free public celebration, the “Ukulele Flash Mob” which filled Harmony Place in August. A renowned music instructor, McCormick specializes in teaching adult beginners through intermediate level students, with an approach...
Town officials say they may not meet a developer-imposed deadline to vote on the controversial Stiles Brook Wind Project proposal. Developer Iberdrola Renewables has said it will abide by the results of a November vote from Windham and Grafton residents on whether the 28-turbine Stiles Brook plan - which would be the state's largest turbine site - should proceed. While Windham has committed to a Nov. 8 vote, Grafton Selectboard Chairman Ron Pilette says he doesn't think residents will have...
Next Stage Arts seeks the town's support in applying for an “Our Town” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. But, as Next Stage Executive Director Maria Basescu told Selectboard members at their Aug. 31 meeting, the town would assume no responsibilities other than a letter of support and future advice. Because of the recent renovations to Next Stage's venue, the building on Kimball Hill is now fully handicapped-accessible. This, Basescu said, positions Next Stage to apply for NEA...
Frank the Welder 14 Granger St., Bellows Falls • Website: www.frankthewelder.com • Email (preferred contact method): frankthewelder@comcast.net • Facebook: facebook.com/FrankTheWelder/ • Tumblr: frankthewelder.tumblr.com • Instagram: instagram.com/franktheweldervt/ • Flickr: flickr.com/photos/frankthewelder/ • Founded: 2009 • Employees: 6 (equivalent to 4 full-time employees) • Products/services: “I make bikes for anyone who wants them. I use mostly alloy steel tubes or 7005 aluminum, but 6061 is my true love. There are always options available for those with more eclectic tastes.” “If you are looking...
After reading Elayne Clift's column about Hillary Clinton having “earned her seat at the table,” I felt compelled to respond. Google the following names: Juanita Broadrrick, Kathleen Willey, Paula Jones, Gennifer Flowers, and the infamous Monica Lewinsky. Hillary Clinton tolerated from a man exactly the disgusting, misogynistic behavior that we should be teaching our daughters not to tolerate: constant cheating, womanizing, and total disrespect for his married partner for life. Hillary not only stood by him like a doormat, she...
Aww! After all these years eating at the Chelsea Royal Diner, it's so sweet to know the story. I wish I had known it earlier on! I know where we're going out next! Beautiful writing, Wendy M. Levy!
I hope that you're having a good moment whenever it is that your eyes reach this printed page. I also hope that you enjoy autumnal weather conditions, because there will be no shortage of them in the coming week. We do have a couple of chances at rain, and although it's a low chance, we could enjoy a longer-duration rainfall this coming Sunday and Monday, if we're lucky. For Wednesday, we find ourselves in atmospheric transition. A southwesterly flow will...
I wonder how many of the people who live in the Broad Brook area speed along that road and other area roads? After state police monitored the Center Road in Broad Brook and found only one car doing 1 mph over the posted speed limit, it seems to me that locals are the ones doing the speeding. The covered bridge has been closed all summer and people driving the detour through Halifax have no problem speeding on the winding dirt...
I was recently up in the Grafton area and while in a store picked up all of the anti-windmill literature. It was a little bit of science, a lot of pseudoscience, and a bunch of outright nonsense. Sounded like Trump arguing against immigration. He has no logical argument against it but throws everything against the wall because he knows something will stick. If you just don't like it, say so. There is nothing wrong with the not-in-my-backyard argument as long...
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the horrific tragedies that took place in the USA on Sept. 11, 2001. The official story of what happened on that day is the raison d'être for the seemingly neverending war that we are still waging in countries on the other side of the world - all due to those “foreign” terrorist attacks, right? Not so. Stick with me. All I'm saying here is that if you believe that two airplanes flew into...
I read this story, and the first thing I did was check the Vermont Assessors and Listers Association website to see if I had missed something. Then I went to the Property Valuation and Review (PVR) website to see if there was important information from the state concerning a four-day seminar, and I checked Vermont League of Cities and Towns. I found a two-day “town fair” that alternates between Essex and Killington. It is not mandatory to attend and is...
In a basement meeting room just a short walk from the front gate of Vermont Yankee, federal, state, regional and town officials spent the afternoon hours of Aug. 29 discussing ways Vernon might bounce back from the nuclear plant's closure. They focused on two ideas floated by Vernon residents - a business incubator and a high-speed fiber optic internet network. The general conclusion is that neither of those ideas is ready for prime time, with experts saying Vernon needs to...
Interdisciplinary and award-winning choreographer Ann Carlson will be in residence at Vermont Performance Lab for two weeks this month to develop “Doggie Hamlet.” According to a news release, Carlson's performance pieces borrow from the disciplines of dance, performance, theater, visual, and conceptual art, and often dismantle conventional boundaries between artist and subject. “Doggie Hamlet” is no different: Its cast features dancers, musicians, herding dogs, and a flock of sheep. Carlson is the recipient of more than 30 commissions and numerous...
A look between the covers of the magazine publishing business will be the topic of a talk at Main Street Arts Thursday, Sept. 15, at 6 p.m. The first in this year's Taste of the Arts series features Saxtons River residents Meg Lucas and Barbi Schreiber, who founded and publish the quarterly magazine Vermont's Local Banquet, which is “devoted to covering local food, sustainable farming and the many people building the Vermont food system,” according to a news release. Recent...
“I miss a lot of the paintings,” said artist Jim Giddings. A week after fire destroyed his studio, Giddings sat in the gallery he runs with wife and fellow artist Petria “Petey” Mitchell. They scrolled through photos of the fire's aftermath on Mitchell's smartphone. Investigators ruled that the Aug. 29 fire at 562 Stark Road was not suspicious. Multiple departments responded to the blaze. Firefighters used approximately 8,000 gallons of water to bring the fire under control. In photos, Giddings...
On Saturday, Sept. 17, Luminous Crush will perform in Wardsboro to celebrate the release of the band's album, “Lumina.” Members Ben Campbell and Laura Molinelli are just as at home with acoustic guitars and mandolins as they are with drum kits and amplifiers, and it will be the amplified band coming to Wardsboro's Town Hall - the first of several release shows around the state, according to a news release. Luminous Crush is composed of Molinelli on vocals and guitar/ukulele,
Brattleboro football coach Chad Pacheco adopted the motto “Win The Day,” for his team. The Colonel booster club handed out white “rally towels” printed with that motto to fans at the home opener at Natowich Field last Friday. But it was the visiting team, the St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers, who won the day with a strong second half in a 28-12 victory over the Colonels. Ill-timed penalties and so-so tackling did in the Colonels, who had a chance to win this...
Award-winning author Karen Hesse published a new book this summer, adding to her ever-expanding collection of literature for children and young adults. Of all Hesse's books, “My Thumb” is intended for the youngest audience, ages two to four. Hesse has written other picture books, but she said those are for older children. “My Thumb” is a first-person account of a determined little red-haired girl who insists upon sucking her thumb, regardless of what challenges it may bring, such as eating...
In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, a young textbook salesman and his wife took ownership of a small publishing house in Brattleboro. By the time it closed its doors 10 years later, the imprint run by John S. and Marion R. Hooper - the Stephen Daye Press - was not only a modestly profitable venture, it was also a book publisher whose influence can still be felt in our region. “As to its place in the history...
It's September 7 and day two for Brattleboro's new assistant fire chief, Leonard “Lennie” Howard III. He has organized his new office, but the candy bowl inherited from outgoing Assistant Chief Peter Lynch, Howard admits, is empty. “I still need to get to the grocery store,” Howard says with a grin. The Selectboard announced Howard's promotion last month. Town Clerk Annette Cappy officially swore him into office during the Selectboard's Sept. 6 meeting. Howard's predecessor, Lynch, left the department last...
To prep for a forthcoming chat with bicycle fabricator Frank Wadelton, I looked him up by his alias, “Frank the Welder,” on the internet. I found - along with the expected nuts and bolts - an unexpected trove of blog posts. One, a January 2016 posting called “onehundredpercent,” caught my eye. “Prior to my first 'professional' job in the bike business[...], I worked on bike-related projects in my folks' garage during the long summer days and endless nights. I started...
The town of Rockingham has notched a major victory in its years-long tax battle with energy giant TransCanada. The Vermont Supreme Court has ruled that TransCanada's Bellows Falls hydroelectric station should be valued at $127.4 million, just under the $130 million appraisal advocated by the town and set by a lower-court judge. The justices' ruling stands in stark contrast to TransCanada's proposed $84 million valuation. Though not all of that tax value lies within Rockingham's borders, the majority of it...
I had always been an incidental driver, limiting my excursions to local errands and avoiding more miles than necessary. But recently I had taken on driving a 130-mile round trip twice every week - a major change of lifestyle for me. Although my route was along what must be one of the country's prettiest interstate highways, the time spent in my car cut into my domestic routines. Eager to get to my destination and back home again, I began speeding...