Since the inception of the environmental movement with Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, there has been a concerted effort on the part of special-interest groups and related corporations to discredit and intimidate environmental and watchdog groups like the New England Coalition - and to mislead the public by disseminating false information through advertising campaigns and other means.
So let's get a few facts straight about the sale of Vermont Yankee to NorthStar.
NorthStar as a company was established in November of 2016, and the company's filings show no income for that year. NorthStar has shown very little in the way of tangible assets.
Given NorthStar has no experience in decommissioning full-scale commercial nuclear power plants, it is highly likely that unforeseen problems --and expensive problems - will arise.
“We all have a funny little map in our head that divides the world into home and away.” The speaker in Will Eno's one-character play Title and Deed is a recent arrival on our shores, disoriented from culture shock and homesickness, and he is struggling to illuminate both sides...
The Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College invites everyone to a Kick Off Party on Thursday, Sept. 14, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., to celebrate the start of its 2017-18 season of dynamic performing arts from around the world and the New England region. The Kick Off Party...
Most people care about wildlife and assume that the Vermont Fish and Wildlife (VFW) department is working to protect all wildlife on behalf of all Vermonters. Some biologists are doing important work, but other folks at VFW are working only on behalf of hunters, trappers, and anglers. VFW should be working to protect wildlife for their own sake - especially during spring and summer months when wild animals have young and should not be killed. Sadly, a lot of so-called...
AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is looking to expand its team of volunteers for the upcoming tax season. Approaching its 50th year, Tax-Aide offers free tax filing help to anyone, especially those 50 and older, who can't afford a tax preparation service. Tax-Aide volunteers make a difference in their communities by assisting many older, lower-income taxpayers who might otherwise miss out on the credits and deductions they've earned. Tax-Aide volunteers receive training and support in a welcoming environment. There is need for...
For four decades, schools and schoolchildren in Windham County benefited from having a major electric power producer, Vermont Yankee, right in their own backyard. Despite the plant's closure, it is encouraging to see that, via the Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund (VCEDF), the plant's owner continues to deliver benefits to the local community. Fortunately for local schools and for Vermont's forestry and renewable-power economy, a multi-million-dollar commitment by Vermont Yankee to the VCEDF has helped fund the installation of new...
We, the members of the Windham County legislative delegation of Vermont, decry the hatred and violence that happened in Charlottesville several weeks ago. We wholeheartedly condemn the racism, white supremacism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia that are finding encouragement at the highest levels of our government. We call on all citizens who love our state and country to stand against these dangerous and un-American values, which threaten the very foundation of our democracy. As Vermonters, we are proud of our history of...
Harmony Parking Lot closed for repairs BRATTLEBORO - As part of this month's renovations to the Harmony Parking Lot, the public can expect to see the entire lot, both the east and the west sides, closed to all vehicular traffic beginning Wednesday, Sept. 13, and continuing through Friday, Sept. 15. The contractor's hours of operation are permitted as follows: Wednesday and Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to...
Local composer Larry Siegel has written a new work about one of the seminal figures in the modern contradance movement, Dudley Laufman. Next Stage, the Monadnock Folklore Society, and the Brattleboro Music Center present Keith Murphy as Laufman in the world premiere of The Dancingmaster of Canterbury. A unique combination of music, dance, and storytelling, the work is a musical portrait of Laufman, a legendary contradance caller who almost single-handedly provides the link between the old days of rural contradancing...
Fantastic Wantastiquet, a new, multidisciplinary arts and cultural festival, opens Saturday, Sept. 16, at 2 p.m., when singer/songwriter and indigenous-rights activist Lyla June Johnston will headline a gala keynote gathering at the Latchis Theatre. “Other special guests still-to-be-confirmed will join Johnston at this gala, many of whom will be traveling from afar, as excitement in Brattleboro grows for our first Indigenous People's Day activities in early October,” says John Wilmerding, the Fantastic Wantastiquet founder and organizer. Johnston is a musician,
From homeschooling lessons to live shows to recording sessions - that's the arc of the songwriting career of Holly Hanson. She and Steve Hayes are the acoustic folk duo Neptune's Car, and will perform Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Wardsboro Town Hall on Main Street. Music begins at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door. The duo's name comes from the true story of a clipper ship captained by Mary Patten. In 1857, despite...
In a news report on the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, Dan Rather, CBS news anchor, commented that the collapse of World Trade Center Towers 1 and 2 looked like a Las Vegas casino demolition. You never heard that newsworthy comment again until years later. The “fireball” collapse theory was force-fed by the controlled media and subsequently became the “official report.” By the end of that day, myopic patriotism rose from the dust of the three towers that vertically collapsed...
118 Elliot will re-launch its weekly series of 'Sunday Sounds' after an August hiatus. Participants are invited to engage in quiet contemplation while listening to intentional, one-hour performances by guest “sound artists” on Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon at 118 Elliot Street in downtown Brattleboro; doors open at 10:30 a.m. and tea is served following the experience. The events are free. Donations are welcome. Sunday Sounds means to create an inclusive place for the community to gather in a...
College news • Mariah Hinckley of Putney, a recent graduate of Southern Vermont College's pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), passed on the first try the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). This year's graduates of Southern Vermont College's BSN program had a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the NCLEX, the national standardized examination required for nurses to receive a license to practice their profession. • Cassidy Santorelli of Bellows Falls, a student at Fairleigh Dickinson...
Popular screenings of Met Opera Live in HD, National Theatre Live, Bolshoi Ballet Only in Cinemas, and Exhibition on Screen bring some of the world's greatest music, theater, dance, and art to the Latchis Theatre. Latchis Arts announces the slate of Metropolitan opera, National Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, and Exhibition on Screen simulcast offerings for the 2017-18 season. The ever-popular season of Metropolitan Opera Live in HD presentations opens on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 1 p.m., with the series' first-ever broadcast...
Adventures in writing, research, history, and music will be featured in “How the Muse was Manufactured: An Author's Tale of Bringing the Estey Story to Life,” a talk by Dennis Waring at the Annual Meeting of the Estey Organ Museum on Sept. 17. Waring will tell how his doctoral dissertation at Wesleyan University became the book, Manufacturing the Muse: Estey Organs and Consumer Culture in Victorian America, published by Wesleyan in 2002 and still in print. “I would like to...
An installation of ceramic Sculptures by Kathie Gatto-Gurney, “Tangled Roots Rising,” will be on exhibit through the month of September at the Crowell Gallery at Moore Free Library, 23 West St. These tangled branches and interwoven grotto-like clay sculptures, ranging from one to four feet high, were inspired by Gatto-Gurney's childhood moments spent in silence alongside Catholic statues, according to a news release. Gatto-Gurney's work as a ceramic sculptor is influenced by her experience as a dancer. She said her...
If you're going out for the running back spot on the Bellows Falls football team, you learn quickly that it's tough for an underclassman to crack the starting lineup. Shane Clark had to wait his turn. This year, he's a senior and, after two years of being a supplemental back, he is the undisputed main cog of the Terriers' offense. Clark ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries as BF defeated the Brattleboro Colonels, 52-29, before a...
Laura Barcomb, the town's long-time administrative assistant, has resigned. This comes on the tail of months of personnel-related tumult in the Town Offices. Barcomb, who was hired in August 2006, announced her departure at the Aug. 30 regular Selectboard meeting. Her last day was Sept. 12. Barcomb has taken an accounts payable/payroll clerk position with the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union. “I can't say enough about your patience with us and all of your hard work here over the years and...
At this year's town meeting, voters approved a petition to appropriate $5,000 to fund what folks hope will be an annual event celebrating all things Halifax. The result of months of planning and preparation, the inaugural Halifax Community Celebration will take place throughout Halifax village on Saturday, Sept. 23. The day's events will include a pancake breakfast, a tractor pull, lawn games for young and old, a water polo contest among area fire departments, a potluck pig roast, a bonfire...
Interim Town Manager Chip Stearns urged the Selectboard to set some goals, including pulling the plug on water and sewer scofflaws. During the Aug. 30 regular Selectboard meeting, Stearns reviewed some of what he considers the most pressing items the town is facing. Besides hiring a new administrative assistant, Stearns prodded the Selectboard to decide what they want to do about the town manager position. He reminded them his contract ends one week after Town Meeting, and asked them if...
The Southern Vermont Deerfield Valley Jazz Concert series continues in downtown Wilmington's Historic Memorial Hall on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 8 p.m., with a program dedicated to the Great American Songbook. Saxophonist James “Ace” Leonard, bassist Ron White, and drummer Denny Ray Pelletier join pianist and series musical director Chris Bakriges in an evening dedicated to interpreting the enduring songs from the 1920s to 1960s. Special guest vocalist Eithne Eldred will join the band this evening. Admission is by a...
Town considers hazard mitigation plan DUMMERSTON - The town may soon get its first hazard mitigation plan, and the public is encouraged to comment on it. For the past few years, Windham Regional Commission Emergency Planner Alyssa Sabetto has worked with town officials to create a document that will “assist the Town of Dummerston in identifying all of the hazards facing the town and to identify new and continuing strategies to reduce long term risks from identified hazards,” says the...
The Vermont Climate Action Commission will host a series of public sessions through the state in September and October to gather input and recommendations from Vermonters. A session will be held in Brattleboro on Thursday, Oct. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Marlboro College Graduate School, Room 1-E, 28 Vernon St. Other sessions will be held in St. Johnsbury, Manchester, and St. Albans. According to a news release, the Commission says it hopes to hear people's experiences in dealing...
“Time for a Change,” the Greater Falls Diaper Bank, donated swim diapers to the Rockingham Recreation Center this summer so everyone could enjoy swimming with their children without the expense or hassle of bringing extra diapers. These diapers were free of charge and were available in a variety of sizes. No paperwork or eligibility was required - all people had to do was ask. “Time for a Change” also has diapers and wipes available for anyone who needs them all...
In June, Vermont policymakers approved a $35 million bond to invest in workforce and affordable housing. A regional public meeting is being held in Bellows Falls to identify high priority and needed projects in the region. The meeting will take place at the Rockingham Free Public Library, 65 Westminster St., on Monday, Sept. 18, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The $35 million in bonding will be used for the development and improvement of ownership and rental housing for very low...
State regulators have signed off on a big security change at Vermont Yankee. The Vermont Public Utility Commission on Aug. 31 approved Entergy's plan to downsize the idled nuclear plant's “protected area” from 10.5 acres to 1.3 acres. The move is expected to save about $1.2 million per month, mostly in security costs. The commission overruled objections from Brattleboro-based New England Coalition, which had asked for a more extensive review of the plan. But the approval comes right on time...
Big solar may be coming to southern Vermont. New documents show that Connecticut-based Freepoint Solar has plans to develop three arrays - each capable of generating 20 megawatts of power - in Vernon, Shaftsbury, and Fair Haven. Only one array of that size has been approved in Vermont at this point. And large photovoltaic projects have spurred debates about siting and transmission capacity. But officials are taking a wait-and-see approach, given that many details of the Freepoint projects, including their...
An evening of community contra dances will take place at the Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center, on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Andy Davis will be calling the dance. He will be joined by Flicker, which features Hilary Weitzner and Ellery Witman on fiddles and Avery Witman on cello. The band is from Brattleboro, and the Village Dance Series is honored to open the season with this extraordinary group of young musicians. All proceeds will be...
RAMParts Presents, in partnership with Exhibition on Screen, brings Rembrandt - Master Works to the Bellows Falls Opera House on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. The 90-minute feature was filmed in London's National Gallery and the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, revealing the masterworks of a soulful, honest, and deeply moving artist. The film includes behind-the-scenes footage of the galleries as they open their exhibitions and examinations of Rembrandt's biblical masterpieces and the then-revolutionary art form of printmaking, with commentary from art...
Sarasa Chamber Music Ensemble opens its 2017-18 concert season at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15. The concert, entitled “Telemann and his World,” will take place at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St, according to a news release. 2017 marks the 250th anniversary of Georg Philipp Telemann's death, one of the Baroque era's most prolific and popular composers. A cosmopolitan traveller, his music displays a consummate and persuasive understanding of the French and Italian national styles, as well as an...
What can we do, as individuals, to turn all the rain that a big storm brings into an asset rather than a disaster? After Tropical Storm Irene, towns in Vermont were mandated to come up with plans to deal with flood waters. Sadly, they have been very slow in doing so, but there are many ways they can. One way is to have places where floodwaters can be caught. The Vermont Land Trust put protections in place on Bull Creek...
On Sept. 7, Thompson House residents joined with other senior Olympians from around the Northeast to compete in the 2017 Senior Olympics at Applewood Rehabilitation Center in Winchester, N.H. Events included Name that Tune, Bowling, Wheelchair Races, Horseshoes, and Darts. Thompson House residents brought home the silver medal for their wins in Darts. “This is a wonderful chance for the most able of our residents to really compete and push themselves in competition,” said Thompson House administrator Dane Rank, in...
For Rich Holschuh, the Vermont Yankee property is rife with contradictions. On one hand, it's an idled, contaminated nuclear plant in need of the biggest environmental cleanup project Vermont has ever seen. On the other, it's part of the ancestral homeland of the Elnu Abenaki, the Native American tribe Holschuh is representing in the state's regulatory review of Vermont Yankee's proposed sale to a New York cleanup company. Now, those two versions of the site may be edging a little...
After relocating from New York City to Brattleboro in the early 1980s, my then-partner, now-wife Donna and I found ourselves feeling somewhat isolated. To our surprise, we felt unwelcome by our town's “alternative community.” With one or two exceptions, we found that the Common Ground Collective members - whom we had hoped would be our community - seemed to be cliquish and judgmental. I took some comfort in realizing that I must not be imagining this when the managing editor...
With great sadness, I need to comment, once again, on social injustice impacting our community and our country. The reversal of the executive order shielding young, law-abiding, undocumented immigrants from deportation is cruel to the hopes and aspirations of a group of young people who have grown up in our midst, and it is directly contradictory to the national ethos of the United States. Whereas the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program aimed to provide a pathway to a...
I should have known better than to include, in my review of the new documentary Burned, a sentence with the word “accounting” in it. Specifically, the “faulty accounting” discovered by folks at Princeton University is that the carbon cost of cutting and chipping and transporting wood for biomass fuel is the only cost figured into the carbon accounting. Pollution from biomass burning smokestacks was not and is not being figured into the calculations. As Mary Boone, director of the Partnership...
The disarray in Washington continues. Can we help restore civil civic discourse by example? We have been hearing regularly from our D.C. delegation that a great many vital issues can and need to be dealt with. All three lawmakers - senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch - are being creative and aggressive, proposing legislation and working with their colleagues across party lines to break the logjam, Vermont style. And they have each, in their own...
As I have written often, Vermont has the 51st largest economy of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C. Our state lags the nation by significant margins in growth of the gross domestic product, both gross and per capita. We pride ourselves on our ecological consciousness, yet we lead the nation in miles driven per capita. And our population is slowly but surely eroding. What to do? Many people believe they have the answers - some say lower taxes and businesses...
Many of us are having a hard time accepting the fact that we have a mentally unstable, narcissistic bully for a president (calling him a clown would be disrespectful to clowns), and we feel helpless to do anything about it. But there is some glimmer of hope, and that exists on the local level. We still have the ability to effect change in our state and town, and that means that if we organize and mobilize we can make the...
Thank you, Becca Balint, for sharing your grandfather's words. It is beyond sad that such a kind, thoughtful man was murdered in Austria years ago, yet this hateful energy is still alive today.
This column is astoundingly refreshing, hopeful, and perceptive. Yes, we are worried - not just Democrats, but all those left-thinking persons who had the slightest hopes for change and serious, enlightened social, economic, and environmental policies. I am highly encouraged to learn there are ideas out there, and highly anxious that these ideas will find stalwart, intelligent, and determined citizens unafraid to march forward with them. Indeed, where is the new policy platform? Where are those with alternatives to the...
As a consulting forester helping landowners manage thousands of acres of forest land across Massachusetts, I support more utilization of forest biomass because without low-grade timber markets, we cannot practice great forestry. This movie Burned is nothing more than anti-forestry propaganda. We do not clear-cut forests for biomass. Only junk wood is chipped. Biomass is, in essence, stored solar energy and is a byproduct of our forestry operations, all of which allows us to grow more high-quality saw timber, which...
I really appreciated this piece, Shanta Lee Gander. It has been on my mind quite a bit lately, and others I know are thinking about it as well. Who our community is for is such an interesting question, because the answer seems easy. Yet it is not, as it differs for each who answers. Most everyone would say, “Our community is for all!” But that “all” is subjective and based on our own bias and expectation. Some say all but...
These old cars at the fundraiser bring up memories. As a kid, I used to raid a garden in Bellows Falls with all the other rug rats from the neighborhood. One night, the old Polish man who owned the property put a load of rock salt to our behinds. Well, we waited till November 1960 and buried his old clunker of a Studebaker in his backyard. We waited till he woke up. Oh, mama, he screamed. We hollered in Polish...
Thank you, Katheen Hawes, for a brilliantly written piece, which tells the complicated story of the tragic plight of Sri Lanka's captive and wild elephants - an issue that has grabbed my heart and won't let go. Correction: The correct spelling of the name of my project partner is Dr. Susan Mikota of Elephant Care International. Our other key veterinarian partner was Dr. Ashoka Dangolla of the University of Peradeniya. Tharaka Deepal assisted our team with field logistics. Many thanks...
At sundown on Wednesday, Sept. 20, Jewish people all over the world will welcome Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish year 5778. Rosh Hashanah begins a sacred period known as the Days of Awe that culminates 10 days later on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, observed this year on Sept. 30. Laura Berkowitz and Stephan Brandstatter, co-presidents of Congregation Shir Heharim, announced in a news release that the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community will offer Rosh Hashanah services beginning at 7 p.m.
The Selectboard has conducted the first reading of two proposed ordinance changes. The first change affects parking on Elliot Street, between Elm and Church Streets. At the board's Sept. 5 meeting, Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland went over the new parking plan for the area, which will allow firetrucks to safely enter and exit the Central Fire Station. If approved, the town will put in three new metered spaces on Church Street. Four metered spaces in front of T.J. Buckley's...
Because the contractors renovating the Central Fire Station on Elliot Street have worked so well together, the division between Phase I and Phase II of the project has blurred, said Town Manager Peter Elwell. But, he said, the construction has left the building temporarily unhealthy for firefighters. To provide overnight quarters for on-duty firefighters, Elwell has contacted officials with the Brattleboro Housing Partnership to see if they had any vacancies at the Samuel Elliot Apartment building, located next to the...
Good day to you! Luckily for us, what used to be Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest tropical cyclones recorded in the Atlantic Basin, will provide us with nothing more than a whimper by late this week. And, as of this writing, it looks like Hurricane Jose will be kicked out to sea by a stronger-than-expected jet stream after it meanders around east of the Bahamas into this weekend. Good news all around for southern Vermont! For Wednesday, we should...
Can a municipality simultaneously have a town clerk and treasurer, but not have a town clerk and treasurer? As town officials have learned, the answer is “yes.” Denise Germon, Putney's town clerk and treasurer, has stopped showing up for work. But the town still officially has someone filling those positions, because Germon hasn't resigned. The ability of the Selectboard and the town's voters to do anything about it is limited. And this isn't just true for Putney. According to state...
For 175 years, Brattleboro has enjoyed a love affair with books. “Since 1842, Brattleboro readers have been privileged to borrow books,” begins the 1965 prospectus for a new, modern, $560,000 library building on Main Street that would open on Sept. 23, 1967. It's your 50th birthday, Brooks Memorial Library building! In celebration, the Trustees of Brooks Memorial Library, the staff, and the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library are throwing a big party for the public on Sept. 23 - the...
The Vermont Jazz Center will kick off its 2017-18 season with an energetic blast. On Friday, Sept. 15, at 8 p.m., The Cookers - a septet heralded by Downbeat Magazine as “a group of the world's best musicians”- will present two sets of jazz at its highest level. The musicians in The Cookers are Billy Harper (tenor Sax), Eddie Henderson and David Weiss (trumpet), Donald Harrison (alto saxophone), George Cables (piano), Cecil McBee (bass), and Billy Hart (drums). Each of...
I don't know how many of you - though I'm betting it's a lot of you - know the street my mother, Rupa, has lived on for the past 30 years. It's called Canoe Brook Road, and if you turn on to it right off of 5, you get rewarded with the stupidest steep hill you've ever encountered, which levels out a little if you then follow the road to the left, where it meanders its way past Mom's place.