I have served in the House of Representatives since 2015 as an elected independent for rural communities here in southern Vermont.
While our state is full of innovators and cutting-edge businesses, it is the scenic farms and villages, rural startups and arts culture, trails and smallness of places like our Deerfield towns, that Vermonters identify with, that comfort us and that beckon to new Vermonters.
But our rural communities have fallen behind in our demographics and economy and our physical and social infrastructure.
To preserve that which we love, we must transition to an economy where businesses and residents in all of our towns are able to use modern infrastructure to connect to the global economy, education, and health care, and we must work together to protect our communities and ourselves from climate change.
Thank you, Wendy M. Levy, for so perfectly expressing my own feelings about not only Mr. Abbott's “plight,” but every Trump supporter who appears to have confused hate speech with free speech. I've had my fill of giant U.S. flags being waved in honor of a man who is...
Yellow Barn's summer season of concert streams concludes this week on Friday, Aug. 7, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 8, at 7:30 p.m., with international rebroadcasts on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. The concerts, from both Big Barn and the Yellow Barn Music Haul, are presented free...
While the “grandparent scam” has long plagued older Vermonters, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a new twist that scammers are exploiting. Scammers, posing as the grandchildren of unsuspecting grandparents, call and pretend to be in the hospital, in jail, or stranded overseas and in urgent need of wire transfers, gift cards, or cash. By presenting an emergency which their “grandchildren” need help getting out of, scammers pressure panicked grandparents into acting before they can realize it's a scam. The Attorney...
Everyone Eats! provides meals to those in needBRATTLEBORO - Everyone Eats! is a federal stimulus program that helps support restaurants in town during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing meals to anyone in Brattleboro, Guilford, Vernon, Dummerston, or Putney who has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis due to unemployment, underemployment, homelessness, or other challenges. This program, which launched Aug. 3, will continue through the end of the month, with meals from A Vermont Table, Dosa Kitchen, Duo, Hazel, Indian Masala,
College news • Celia Feal-Staub, an art and visual culture and anthropology major from Putney, and Neil Thorley, a politics major from Londonderry, were both named to the Dean's List for the spring 2020 semester at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. • Connor Corbeil of Brattleboro, Abigail Sargent of Dummerston, and Nathaniel Tyler of Brattleboro were all named to the spring 2020 Dean's List at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. • Ben Shumlin, a member of the Class of...
Many Americans are feeling deepened anxiety, loneliness, and uncertainty about the future, all of which takes a heavy toll on daily life. Vermonters are no exception. To help alleviate the extraordinary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID Support VT offers self-help tips, resources, and a way to connect to existing mental health and community services, all of which promote resilience, empowerment and recovery. “The people of Vermont have done an incredible job keeping our state as safe as possible with...
Beginning this week, Selectboard meetings will take place on Zoom. The decision to change the platform came after the board's discussion about the advantages of using Zoom for Representative Town Meeting, Selectboard Chair Tim Wessel said in a news release. According to Wessel, Zoom is more user-friendly and “more well-known to regular users than GoToMeeting,” the service that the town has been using for remote public meetings during the pandemic. Another plus for using Zoom for Selectboard meetings: The town...
Despite some caveats and details still to be ironed out, Town Meeting members will meet virtually on Sept. 12 for Annual Representative Town Meeting in a process that a committee says will fundamentally preserve the democratic elements of the traditional in-person deliberations. COVID-19 derailed the meeting's original March 21 date. Since then, town staff and Selectboard have struggled to find a meeting structure that balanced the need to protect meeting members' health with the need to protect Representative Town Meeting's...
In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Next Stage welcomes Dr. Meg Mott, professor of politics emerita of Marlboro College, for a spoken word, online-only event, examining the ambitions and aspirations of women's suffrage. The event takes place on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. The 19th Amendment, ratified on Aug. 18, 1920, prohibited states and the federal government from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of...
The motto for my campaign is “For People and Planet.” Policies that promote justice and an opportunity for people to thrive, that prioritize sustainability and address climate change, are the heart of my campaign. I am eager to work with other state representatives to increase renewable energy, improve public transit, and keep small Vermont towns viable. So much of our economy is dependent on visitors who come to our state to enjoy its natural beauty. For Vermont's people to thrive,
The heightened publicity in mainstream media of police brutality against people of color, together with the COVID-19 pandemic, has vividly illuminated the inequality within our communities. Both of these “pandemics” have evolved out of structures that uphold a system of profit for the few and exploitation of the many. Policing - along with its brutality against people of color - has roots in the 1700s, when white folks were recruited, and sometimes forced, to join slave patrols, in order to...
While most Windham County towns are using Zoom, Windham County towns are using several other online videoconferencing services, based on a review of public documents on Aug. 1. • Towns using Zoom: Brookline, Dover, Dummerston, Jamaica, Londonderry, Marlboro, Newfane, Rockingham, Townshend, Vernon, Westminster, Wilmington, Windham. • Towns using Google Meet: Athens, Guilford. • Towns using GoToMeeting: Putney, Wardsboro, Whitingham. • One town, Grafton, is using Microsoft Teams. • One town, Halifax, is meeting via conference call. Selectboards of several Windham...
Dear Governor Scott, I will not vote for you and will encourage all voters I can to do the same unless you rescind the addition of the excess spending threshold to Act 68. This has decimated our local schools for years as we have tried to provide a quality education for our deserving students in Windham County. To add insult to injury, for the past 20 years we have been struggling under an error in the formula used to calculate...
I am voting for Molly Gray for lieutenant governor for many reasons. First of all, I like the fact that Molly went to small rural schools in Newbury and Oxford and went on to graduate from UVM and the Vermont Law School - all Vermont schools. Molly was born and raised on a successful vegetable and dairy farm in Newbury. She thoroughly understands and appreciates rural communities and small rural schools and knows the value of having a small school...
My ballot is filled out, and though in some regards I don't care who sees who I voted for, but given the current state of surveillance and near-state of autocracy, I noticed the sticker on the “voted ballot envelope” has my name and address on it, and find that very disconcerting. I pretty much trust no one. Please advise. May I remove that sticker? Is the sticker there only because it was mailed to me - and then, should not...
Of all Donald Trump's abuses of power, the use of unmarked law enforcement officers (LEOs) against U.S. citizens in Portland, Oregon, is the one that makes me want to curl up in a hole or flee. Unidentified LEOs tear-gassing and abducting citizens exercising their First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly too closely resembles the Nazi Party's brownshirts who helped Hitler come to power through brute intimidation and disruption. To hear this president then say he...
David Zuckerman would be an outstanding governor of our “brave little state.” As a Progressive, this former legislator and lieutenant governor has fought for the interests of regular Vermonters who deserve a secure home, clean environment, union-protected jobs, universal health care, and quality public education. Vermonters know that David and his list of endorsements is impressive, from Bernie Sanders to a broad array of citizen organizations such as unions (VT AFL-CIO, CWA, AFSCME), the Vermont chapter of the Sierra Club,
Now is the time to fly the Civil Rights For All banner. We are calling on all Brattleboro voters. Under the current political, social, and racist unrest, and with the COVID-19 threat and the curtailment of public events and Main Street banner raisings, we think it appropriate to ask them to petition to their Selectboard: “I am a registered voter of the Town of Brattleboro and hereby petition the Board of Select People of the Town of Brattleboro to fly...
Back in March, during the stress and insanity of our COVID-19 shutdown and shifting of services at the Brattleboro municipal level, I received a call from Molly Gray. She told me she was running for lieutenant governor and wanted to talk about how Montpelier could be more responsive to the needs of our town and our county. I found her to be an excellent listener with very good ideas, and I promised that I would look more carefully into her...
The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) presents a free studio tour via Zoom and Facebook Live with artist John Gibson on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 7:30 p.m. Gibson's work is currently on view in BMAC's window bays. In 2018, BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld approached Gibson, of Greenfield, Mass., about creating an installation for the Museum's front windows. “I found the prospect of working with the windows thrilling,” Gibson said in a news release. “First of all, the building itself...
Five Republicans, four Democrats, and two Progressives are running in their respective gubernatorial party primaries on Tuesday, Aug. 11. It's an unusually crowded primary field, but in an unusual year filled with uncertainly on every front, anything could happen. Republican incumbent Phil Scott, seeking his third two-year term as governor, is seen as the prohibitive favorite in his party's primary. He is being challenged by Douglas Cavett of Milton, John Klar of Brookfield, Bernard Peters of Irasburg, and Emily Peyton...
The Retreat Farm will unearth stories buried in the history of the property, starting with the Abenaki people and continuing through its days housing a tavern and its decades of connection to the Brattleboro Retreat psychiatric hospital. The nonprofit has received a $40,000 Historic Places planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which will fund planning and creating interpretive walking paths and interactive museum exhibits that encompass generations of human activity on the 600-acre site. The farm is...
Many of our members are already aware of the pending partnership between River Valley Credit Union (RVCU) and Members Advantage Community Credit Union (MACCU). This is a very unique and exciting opportunity to partner with a like-sized and like-minded Vermont credit union. This partnership will have many benefits for members, including lower fees, improved rates, added products and services, and the ability to keep up with the electronic and digital services for members. This will also help ensure the long-term...
Last week, I voted for Brenda Siegel for lieutenant governor. Vermont is in a crisis along with the rest of our country, one that goes beyond the current pandemic. It is a crisis of wealth disparity. According to the annual Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report, the U.S. has the greatest wealth disparity in the world. The massive transfer of wealth to the top 1 percent of our country started in the 1980s. It has amplified the suffering of Vermonters and...
David Zuckerman and Brenda Siegel would be the duo that Vermont needs to move the state forward with vision, compassion, and commitment. Most of us know what Zuckerman, a Democratic candidate for governor, stands for. He has been a longtime surrogate and worker for Bernie Sanders and represents those ideals: economic and social justice, respect for the environment, and the urgency of consequences of climate change. Brenda Siegel is a less-known figure, but the candidate for lieutenant governor increasingly has...
Last week brought grim news about the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis in the United States. The stock market is still holding its own, but in the real economy unemployment is still rising. New funding for supplementary unemployment benefits has not yet been agreed on in Congress because of Republican intransigence. The moratorium on rental evictions has expired. For many working Americans, the loss of benefits and the rent coming due is a perfect storm. The second-quarter economic report...
I am pleased to join Emily's List and other individuals and organizations in endorsing Rebecca Holcombe for governor of Vermont. I have had the opportunity of meeting Rebecca and talking with her subsequently about issues of personal concern including health care, education, and ethical government. I am convinced that she has an in-depth grasp of the issues before us as we move Vermont forward in these challenging times, coupled with a passionate desire to address those issues in consultation with...
One of the town's most long-lived and beloved local events is going virtual. The first-ever virtual Gallery Walk will take place as four installments, every Friday in August at 6 p.m. Shanta Lee and MacLean Gander and Brattleboro Union High School students Priya Kitzmiller and Xiaohan Brunton are among hosts that will guide attendees through Gallery Walk venues like Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, River Gallery School of Art, C. X. Silver Gallery, Vermont Artisan Designs, and Wheelhouse Clay Center.
A proposal to review how the town provides community safety will go before the Selectboard at a special meeting on Thursday, Aug. 6. The request for proposals (RFP) is designed to create a deep, community-led assessment of safety in town. Once approved, the RFP would seek and fund proposals from facilitators who would design and shepherd this review. According to the document created by a group of citizens and submitted to the town on Aug. 3, the review will dive...
I'm super fussy about wearing Coast Guard–approved personal flotation devices when I'm aboard any type of boat. Today, while paddling on the Connecticut River, we lost my husband Wayne's phone, our water bottle, a towel, and our canoe; but our life jackets may have saved our lives. We started out later than planned - one day later, to be exact. Wayne, always the heavy lifter, put our red Old Town Penobscot canoe on the car while I loaded the paddles...
The last few months of global pandemic, economic upheaval and civil unrest have many feeling uncertain and fearful of the future. The Windham County Delegation is keenly aware of this, and we want to play a meaningful part in shaping a more just, fair and prosperous Vermont. We support the efforts of all of the members of our community who engage in constructive dialogue, peaceful protest, and civil disobedience. Without public discourse and freedom of expression, our society would not...
Ceramic artist Stephen Procter will show his monumental sculptural vessels alongside painter Laurie Goodhart's images of ancient vessels and goddess-inspired motifs at a three-day pop-up art show and sale Friday, Aug. 7 through Sunday, Aug. 9. Their work in the show, hosted by Main Street Brattleboro, will be framed by a collection of historical and contemporary Persian rugs curated by Jaja Laughlin of Nomadic Rug Girl. Procter and Goodhart have collaborated on a series of painted vessels. “I love the...
Black lives matter. These three words continue to evoke anger, hope, or indifference depending on your political persuasion. As with so many issues in these polarized times, people at the ends of the spectrum are likely to be animated regarding their significance. I will state unequivocally that Black lives matter, but I will explain my position with cool and dispassionate reasoning. For people who are not Black/Indigenous/people of color (BIPOC), the question becomes, “Why do Black lives matter, and what...