Expenses for the town's administrative operations in the next fiscal year are holding fairly steady, with few surprises.
The Selectboard and Town Manager Peter Elwell continue to work on the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget in their weekly meetings.
At the Dec. 11 special Selectboard meeting, the group went over expenditures and revenues for many of the town's administrative departments, such as the town manager, finance, town attorney, and town clerk's offices.
• Town Manager: In the town manager's office budget, “The only thing that's changing there is the compensation” for the staff, which will go up 2 percent in FY20, said Town Manager Peter B. Elwell.
Whetstone Brook hydrology analysis contract amended BRATTLEBORO - The Selectboard has approved a modification to the town's contract with Dubois & King for an additional $15,000. This amount will cover a data gap in the hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, which will provide information for the Tri-Park Housing Cooperative's master...
This February, 14 Leland & Gray Union High School students and two teachers will spend 13 days in Spain, traveling some of the time, getting to know the culture and historic sites. But the highlight of the trip will be when the students settle into Monachil, a small village...
2019 dog licenses now available BRATTLEBORO - Brattleboro dog and wolf-hybrid licenses are available for the 2019 licensing period. Vermont dogs and wolf-hybrids 6 months and older must be licensed on or before April 1. Renewal licenses may be obtained in person at the Town Clerk's office, through the mail, or online at www.brattleboro.org. Dogs licensed in Brattleboro for the first time may be licensed in person or through the mail by printing the license form from that website. Vaccination...
The West Brattleboro Association named Carol Corwin and her late husband Bruce the recipients of the civic organization's 2018 Community Leader of the Year award. The Corwins were both teachers in Brattleboro for many years, Bruce for elementary school instrumental music and Carol primarily for kindergarten. The award was presented during the WBA's annual holiday party on Dec. 13 at Dalem's Chalet. Bruce directed the American Legion Band for 25 years; Carol served as president of the Friends of the...
From Jan. 12 through Feb. 24, Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 183 Main St., presents “Winter Group 2019,” an exhibition of new work by Josh Bernbaum, Bruce Campbell, Lyell Castonguay, Liz Chalfin, Jon Gregg, Emily Mason, Petria Mitchell, and other gallery artists. An opening reception will be held Jan. 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. According to a news release, among the pieces introduced in “Winter Group 2019” are Bernbaum's large, blown-glass vessels inspired by flowering cacti of the Southwest, and Campbell's...
Main Street Arts and the Saxtons River Historical Society continue the Fireside Chats series Sunday, Jan. 13, at 5:30 p.m., in the dining room of the Saxtons River Inn with an evening of reminiscences by folks who grew up in the village. Members of the Williams, Campbell, and Aldrich families and others will give new arrivals an idea of what life was like in the '50s, '60s, and '70s when the “River Rats,” as they were known, held sway. Anyone...
Multi-instrumentalist folk duo Dan and Faith will give an intimate Stage 33 Live performance at 33 Bridge Street in Bellows Falls on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m., in advance of touring the Midwest and South. According to a news release, “their writing and delivery conjure the urban coffeehouse folk scene of the '60s and '70s - progressive, thoughtful, friendly. Dreams and everyday life inspire their original songs.” There is a suggested $5 minimum donation. Seating capacity is 40, plus...
Obituaries • John Noller Baldwin III, 51, of Westerly, R.I. Died Dec. 30, 2018 in Providence, after a brave struggle with several conditions. John was the beloved partner of Frederick E. Mitchell, Jr.; they were together 29 years. John was born in Brattleboro, the son of Jack Baldwin, Jr. of Spofford, N.H. and Julia Baldwin of Mystic, Conn. He graduated from Brattleboro Union High School and received a B.S. from Xavier University, as well as an associate's degree from the...
The Baker Street Readers are pleased to announce their first season of dramatic readings. Once a month, from January to June, the Readers will present a dramatic reading of one of Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories at the Hooker-Dunham Theater in Brattleboro. Each reading will feature well-known local actors James Gelter as Sherlock Holmes and Tony Grobe as Watson, with a rotating cast of guest actors. The Readers' first season includes six short stories from Conan Doyle's first...
Town Clerk Hilary Francis says that petitions are now available for town officers, town school district officers, and Town Meeting members. Town elections take place Tuesday, March 5, at American Legion Post 5 on Linden Street. The Annual Representative Town Meeting takes place Saturday, March 23 at Brattleboro Area Middle School. Petitions for town and town school district officers must contain at least 30 valid signatures of registered Brattleboro voters and be filed in the town clerk's office no later...
There is a fabulous exhibit about Brattleboro in the Vermont Historical Society Museum in Montpelier. The exhibit, titled Brattleboro-The Defining Decades, 1870-1920, has been produced by the Brattleboro Historical Society , the Estey Organ Museum, with installation design by Chris Grotke. The exhibit has several parts and each section is filled with photos, artifacts, artwork, published and printed materials. There is a large 1896 floor map of downtown Brattleboro; this is a blow-up replica of an original Sandborn Fire Map...
Latchis Arts' popular Movies for Kids series continues in January with a theme of “Heroes, Big and Small.” Series screenings take place on Sundays at 11:30 a.m., and admission is by donation. “Heroes, Big and Small” screenings begin on Jan. 13, at 11:30 a.m., with The Tale of Despereaux. This 2008 film is Rated G and tells the tale of Despereaux, a brave mouse banished to the dungeon, who joins forces with several other unlikely heroes in a story of...
I have to strongly disagree with Nancy Braus's opinion that adding a penny to the existing sales tax that her customers already pay would be hurtful to Brattleboro. The data from the 1-percent tax added to meals, rooms, and alcohol, instituted 10 years ago, clearly shows no dip in sales in Brattleboro, and indeed has averaged a 3-to-4-percent rise per year, and a 15-percent rise last year. These figures show that visitors and residents (since local residents actually do pay...
When you have a young team without seniors, perhaps the best advantage a coach can have is to have five of your first six games of the season at home. Playing at home helped the Brattleboro Colonels boys' hockey team get off to a 3-1-1 record at Withington Rink. And, with each game they play, the Colonels are building up confidence in each other. Exhibit A would be a 1-0 win over Milton that concluded the homestand on Jan. 2.
Good day to you, citizens of southeastern Vermont! We've got snow to contend with today, and some substantial accumulations are possible in the highlands of western and northern Windham County, where up to six inches of snow could fall by Thursday morning! After this system departs, very cold air will sweep in behind it with blustery conditions Thursday and Friday. We're watching potential for some snow on Sunday, but for now it's a low chance of transpiring. Thereafter we remain...
For the first time at the Met, Anna Netrebko sings the title role of “Adriana Lecouvreur,” the great 18th century actress in love with the military hero Maurizio, as “The Met: Live in HD” simulcast series continues at the Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St., on Saturday, Jan. 12, at 1 p.m. Tenor Piotr Beclaza sings Maurizio as Gianandrea Noseda conducts Cilea's tragedy in a new staging by Sir David McVicar, with the action partially set in a working replica of...
“Putney Immigrant Stories,” short films made by Putney Central School eighth-graders about individuals in their community who came to the U.S. from other countries, will be shown at Next Stage Arts Project, 15 Kimball Hill, on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. According to a news release, each student was paired with, interviewed, and photographed an individual in the local community who was born outside the U.S. Countries of origin of the community members include Afghanistan, Mexico, Japan, the Netherlands,
What a burst of fresh air and perspective from Gerard Cloutier! It's wonderful to know that others feel the American dream of our parents and grandparents is being brought forward. Technology has brought forward a newer ease of living that has severely compromised basic values in so many social and economic issues. Our “ivory tower academics” are taxing our system beyond the tenets of survival. The office of the president is not a popularity contest, and the country will function...
Thank you for your detailed coverage of the Dec. 16 meeting in Putney about fair and impartial policing in Vermont. I've heard Lt. Garry Scott speak before, and every time I learn about new initiatives. I appreciate the efforts of the Vermont State Police to improve diversity in their ranks, to train officers on a variety of social justice issues, and to reduce bias in traffic stops. What wasn't mentioned, though, was that the Vermont State Police have refused to...
Those of us who are bewildered that Gerard Cloutier could express such strong support for Donald Trump can look to two contradictory paragraphs in his letter: 1. “Finally, one thing my father taught me - maybe the most important thing - is to judge a man by his actions and his deeds.” 2. “I voted for Donald Trump for president in 2016 because I felt that he spoke to the kind of America I grew up in, hard-working, conservative, and...
In response to a recent letter in the Reformer about people falling through ice at the Retreat Meadows, I will reiterate a letter I sent in about 10 years ago on the same subject. It is not anyone's job to test and affirm the safety of the ice. You must treat being on ice with caution, as you would crossing a road. When people fall through the ice, it usually means they are not using common sense. • Two inches...
Toward the end of last summer, the Department of Public Works asked residents, while they were out and about, to breathe deeply. And the DPW further asked, if they smelled the particular methane-and-hydrogen-sulfide aromas that scream “sewer,” to call and report their location. Up until a few years ago, the department received numerous complaints of a sewer smell in a few locations around town. After the town's Waste Water Treatment Plant operators made some changes to its procedures, the odor...
The Vermont Jazz Center welcomes Helen Sung and celebrates her Chamber Music America-sponsored project, “Sung With Words” on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 8 p.m. The pianist/composer will present a new body of work that embodies the alliance of poetry and jazz and then takes it to new places. The performers in the octet are Helen Sung (piano and composition), Jason Palmer (trumpet), John Ellis (woodwinds), Christie Dashiell and Alina Engibaryan (Vocals), David Wong (bass), Kush Abadey (drums) and Samuel Torres...
Yellow Barn welcomes a duo of alumni for an exploration of Olivier Messiaen's Chants de terre et de ciel (“Songs of Earth and Heaven”) and Oliver Knussen's Whitman Settings, Op. 25. Soprano Kristina Bachrach and pianist Daniel Anastasio will conclude their residency with an evening performance at Next Stage on Friday, Jan. 11. The event begins at 7:30 p.m., lasts approximately 70 minutes, and ends with an open discussion between musicians and audience members. According to a news release, Bachrach...
The moment of artistic inspiration is a fleeting experience. Now, put the artist out into nature, where encounters with animals are even more fleeting. Artist Susan Brearey has pursued these elusive images of nature for many years. Her paintings currently on display at the Putney Public Library capture the essence of this phenomenon. “The Putney Public Library exhibits diverse work throughout the year. I selected Susan Brearey's artwork for the bold beauty and tenderness that mark the spirit of the...
The painting and gourds of Colleen Grout and Kim Grall will combine in a display at Main Street Arts from now through February in a show they have titled “Where Would We Bee?” An opening reception will be held Thursday, Jan. 10, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. According to a news release, the show brings together Grout's encaustic painting and Grall's crafting of gourds as inspired by nature and the singular entity that connects their very different media: the honeybee.
For some time, I've been reading about Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's threats toward Central European University (CEU), a U.S.-affiliated institution where I had the privilege of teaching in the late 1990s. But I never really believed the Hungarian government would be foolhardy enough to shut it down, as was recently announced. I would have hoped - and, a couple of years ago, I would have expected - the U.S. government to do everything in its power to prevent the Hungarian...
I have over 25 years of professional experience working with computer systems and communications networks. I founded the first 100-percent-broadband-end-user internet service provider in the nation in 1994. I've been on the internet since 1986. I got my first computer in 1982. I've been using computers since 1978. I also loathe programming with a passion. Teaching programming languages to young children is utterly useless, but you won't realize this unless you already have a firm grasp of information systems technologies.
Anyone hoping for Shin La's yaki mandu dumplings in 2019 is likely out of luck. After almost 40 years of business, the restaurant's owner, Yisoon Kim, served her last customers on Dec. 31, 2018. But maybe not for good, she said. Last week, said Kim, a “young man, 30 years old, from New York City, came in to eat” and expressed interest in buying the restaurant. Kim said he still has to find a lawyer in Vermont, and his New...
There is positive political momentum right now, but it's fragile, and it needs to become more energized at the grassroots, where the Bernie Sanders bashers are at it again. There's again a misinformation campaign from Democrat leadership about Sanders' staffers being mean to women and minorities. Remember the Bernie bros? The cartoon version of the Sanders campaign that Russian Facebook propaganda pushed and ran with in 2016? It's back. A Pew poll showed that a higher percentage of Bernie Sanders...
New York-based fiber artist Orly Cogan, whose work is currently on view at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center in the exhibit “Don't Call Me Princess,” will give a free artist talk at BMAC on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 2 p.m. According to a news release, the night before “Don't Call Me Princess” was slated to open at BMAC last fall, Cogan's tapestries were in place and their labels were affixed to the walls. Then Cogan asked the installation crew...
As Jonathan Harvey gears up for the first public performances as the Brattleboro Concert Choir's new music director, he makes a sweeping proclamation. “I have loved it so much!” he exclaims as he reflects on working with the choir, which will present “Mozart, Beginnings and Endings,” in two performances at the Latchis Theatre: Friday, Jan. 11, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 12, at 3 p.m. The choir will perform Mozart's Requiem and Allegri's Miserere. “This group of singers in...
One of the last major paper mills in the region is starting the new year under new ownership, saving more than 100 jobs in the process. On Dec. 31, Long Falls Paperboard (LFP), an investment group based in Starbuck, Wash., purchased the business and assumed operations of the Neenah Paper manufacturing plant at 161 Wellington Rd. The purchase price for the business was $5 million, according to Neenah's Jan. 2 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On...