I support Kitty Toll for lieutenant governor.
Kitty served with me in the House and on the Agriculture and Forestry Committee, and I know her to be a dedicated hard worker with high standards for herself and others. Having grown up the youngest of 14 children on a dairy farm, Kitty knows the value of hard work and how to get along with others.
Having served as the chair of the House Appropriations Committee for several years, Kitty knows the budgeting process backwards and forwards. Not only will she make a fantastic lieutenant governor, she would also be fully capable of taking the gubernatorial reins if that becomes necessary.
Your vote is your voice, and together, we govern!...
The Brattleboro Food Co-op is pleased to share that thanks to the outstanding support of our community we are providing a meaningful increase in pay to all team members. Effective June 26, our minimum starting wage for all positions rose from $13.44 per hour to $15 per hour. Additionally,
There has been a standoff between two slogans in Putney: Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter. “All Lives Matter” is being seen by many people, including people of color, as a racist rebuttal to Black Lives Matter. When Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence “that all...
In an ironic way, as horrible as it was, the Fourth of July shooting was the perfect illustration of the United States of America in 2022. This is the America we live in. This is the one that has been created by decades of inaction around weapons of war available to the sickest minds among us. The America we may fantasize about is gone. Maybe it was never there, but once it was closer to that idyllic image than what...
I was fortunate to attend two recent events celebrating our new neighbors from Afghanistan and the large number of individuals in our community helping them to settle in. The first was an Afghan Welcome Event in March filled with Afghan culture. The second, more recently, was the Brattleboro Area Unsung Hero Award Ceremony, whose “heroes” were two staff members of the Multicultural Community Center representing the staff and volunteers of that organization and the many others who have been pitching...
I am a 10-year veteran Airbnb host. We have one guest room that we love to rent out to guests from all over the world. We need the income, and our guests enrich our lives. I have no quarrel with people who rent rooms in their homes or attached dwellings, yurts, or tents to travelers. That's great. My beef is with those who rent out standalone, winterized dwellings that could be long-term rentals. I have noticed recently there are quite...
I am voting for Wendy Harrison for state Senator from Windham County. I urge all other voters to join me. Wendy is the most experienced candidate. She has over 30 years of leadership experience in local governments and nonprofit organizations in Vermont, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Most of Wendy's work has been as a staff member (town manager, department head, program director). She was elected three times and served eight years on the Town Council in Jupiter, Florida. She has served...
Thanks to the more than 350 respondents to the Brooks Memorial Library strategic planning survey. The library board of trustees and staff are dedicated to learning what the community wants and needs so we can improve our services and be an asset to the community. Thanks also to the staff at the six community organizations that allowed us to interview regarding their constituents' use and experiences of the library. We conducted a raffle to encourage survey participation, and two of...
I'm excited to support Nader Hashim because he will bring strong leadership, integrity and experience that we need in the Vermont Senate. When we served together in the House, Nader's experience as a state trooper and his thoughtful approach quickly earned him the respect from legislators of all political stripes. He is in touch with the issues and brings a strong work ethic. Windham County will be well served by Nader Hashim.
The world needs a new New World Order. There is something fundamentally and drastically wrong with a world that tolerates one man who kills thousands, injures thousands more, destroys a country, and harms millions through food and energy deprivation. Perhaps the United Nations should change its governance to eliminate the Security Council, develop an international military, and install a system whereby a majority vote of countries allows the U.N. to act against dictators. Or perhaps NATO should defend not only...
The Windham County Democratic Committee (the organizing body for county Democrats) supports all Vermonters, including our LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and other oppressed and marginalized communities. In the last few weeks, a Trans woman was murdered in Vermont, the Burlington Pride Center had its glass doors smashed, and a Pride flag at Norwich University was stolen after being publicly displayed by students. These recent events stand against the backdrop of certain members of Vermont State Republican leadership undertaking a smear campaign against...
Robert Bashford is the local site coordinator for the AARP free tax service in Brattleboro. Bob is responsible for obtaining sites and equipment, for recruiting and training volunteers (of which I am one), and for making appointments. Also, over the last couple of years, he has had to be on top of COVID-19 safety, all of which is very time consuming. For tax year 2021, we started on Feb. 3 and ended on April 14, working two full days per...
College news • Erin Morrison of Londonderry earned a B.S. in design from the University of Utah during its commencement ceremonies in May. • The following local students have been named to the Dean's List for the spring 2022 semester at the University of New England in Portland, Maine: Nicholas Campbell, Hannah Geno, Mollie Patenaude, Riley Patenaude, and Leah Silverman of Brattleboro, and Olivia Lauricella of Saxtons River. • The following local students have been named to the Dean's List...
The police deserve support when they do a good job, and the Brattleboro Police Department overwhelmingly has done a good job for our community. However, our police need more staffing and resources. Downtown Brattleboro, especially the parking garage, needs a much greater police presence. The police need to be allotted the resources and tools to do their job so that they have the ability to patrol downtown more frequently. I implore residents to stand up and advocate to the Selectboard...
As state senator, Wendy Harrison will be the strongest advocate for issues specific to Windham County and be a leader in tackling the issues that confront all of Vermont. As an elected official in Vernon, I have had the distinct honor of working with Wendy in her role as a town administrator. During this time, I have observed her extremely strong work ethic, her professional honesty and integrity, and her working knowledge of how to tackle issues that confront rural...
I care a lot about global warming, guns, and the rights of women and everyone. But, more than anything, I care about Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Because, until that court decision is overturned, little legislation will be adopted in this country that serves the common good. Mitt Romney, respected senator from Utah, writes in the current Atlantic that “America Is in Denial.” He deplores our obliviousness to climate change, inflation, and immigration problems. But, as Robert Hubbell's recent...
When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, one of the first things they did was whitewash the powerful murals that had been painted on bomb-blasted walls in the capital city of Kabul. Soon after, the artists who had created those murals were targeted for arrest or worse. Those artists were members of a 50-person Afghan-led artist collective called ArtLords. Fearing for their lives under the Taliban, the ArtLords and thousands of other Afghans fled their country, became...
The Brattleboro Concert Choir welcomes all singers to a free Outdoor Sing under the tent at the Brattleboro Music Center on Saturday, July 30. The event, set for 10 a.m., will preview portions of the repertoire from the Concert Choir's fall concert cycle, says Music Director Jonathan Harvey. It will be followed by a bring-your-own picnic lunch. Singers will learn and sing four pieces by Canadian-American Black composer Nathaniel Dett, works that will be featured at the group's January 2023...
The Sundays On The Hill Concert Series will host Judy Handler and Mark Levesque for an energetic and entertaining program of music from around the world for guitars and mandolin on Sunday, July 24, at 4 p.m., at the Church on the Hill (Community Church) in Weston. A husband-and-wife duo, Handler and Levesque “blend Brazilian, Latin, Gypsy, jazz, classical, folk, and pop music influences to create their lyrical and expressive arrangements,” reports a news release. They have performed more than...
A $10,000 grant from the Ben & Jerry's Foundation will soon make deeply discounted tickets for events at Epsilon Spires available to those experiencing financial hardship. Since opening in the fall of 2019, Epsilon Spires has hosted nearly 200 concerts, film screenings, workshops, readings, lectures, pop-up dinners and panel discussions. While the venue has offered many events for free, the cost of artist honorariums and related expenses has sometimes necessitated charging admission fees of up to $25. Starting this summer,
This spring, Food Connects and Edible Brattleboro partnered up to run a Food Explorers program at The Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro. “The group was small but mighty, and Food Connects staff had a lot of fun getting to know the club kids and building stronger relationships with the amazing folks at Edible Brattleboro,” organizers said in a news release. Late last winter, Food Connects staff gathered with Boys & Girls Club staff to brainstorm ways the two organizations...
First, I'll thank Edward Morris for writing, in his reply to Joyce Marcel's recent column [“The despicable patriarchy is rising again,” June 29], that he will be voting after recently moving here. Everyone who is of voting age should want to vote. It is not only a right given to us by the Constitution but for me also an obligation. As my dad told me back when I was protesting the Vietnam War, “It is all fine and well, this...
While our churches do not endorse candidates or parties, we do advocate for human dignity and justice consistent with our beliefs. Our churches' governing boards have voted to support this letter. We urge all Vermonters to support Proposal 2, clarifying the state constitutional prohibition against slavery to include any and all forms of slavery. Slavery is a violation of human dignity, reducing a person to the status of property, whether for life or a shorter time. No human should be...
It is important that capable women step up if we are ever going to change the miasma of our present political culture. (1)From the four years we served together on the House Appropriations Committee I know firsthand how capable Kitty Toll is. Not only is she adept at adding and subtracting very large numbers, she has a keen understanding in how those numbers matter in people's everyday lives, in the economic health of our state, and in the well-being of...
On Saturday, July 23, the sound artists Whitney Johnson, who performs as Matchess, and Claire Rousay will play live in the sanctuary of the multimedia arts venue Epsilon Spires in downtown Brattleboro. Both Rousay and Johnson explore what a news release describes as “sounds on the margins of our consciousness.” For Rousay, this involves creating sound collages from the mundane sonic components of our daily lives, like the flick of a lighter or the chime of a text message, while...
Since you ask, Dan DeWalt, I do think your column is an exercise in cynicism, and very poorly timed. We are at a moment in history when we can either support the institutions of our democracy or stand a good chance of losing them. How does a snarky, superior-sounding takedown of almost all the candidates help that? We have some excellent choices here in Vermont. I wish I could vote for more than one U.S. House candidate. Honestly, we face...
I'm nostalgic for the America I knew growing up in the 1950s, when you could count on people to do the right thing and tell the truth. I also miss our democratic government kept in check by the venerable Supreme Court and the Constitution. We didn't have all of it right, but I truly felt we were on a path to correct our past sins and make America great. Today, a large segment of our population wants to “Make America...
The Montague Reporter, a weekly community newspaper serving Montague, Gill, Wendell, Leverett, and Erving, Mass., invites local artists to submit designs for a special Wrapping Paper Edition. This special issue of the paper will be printed and sold to be used exclusively as recyclable and unique wrapping paper. The project is also a fundraiser for this independent, nonprofit newspaper. The paper will select seven artists from the Western Massachusetts region to design wrapping paper pages based on their proposals and...
As we take in (or avoid) the news, a feeling that it is all quite hopeless is almost inevitable. In a way, many likely find this feeling reassuring, though we may not want to admit it. It gets us of the hook. Obviously, we as individuals can't solve any, let alone several, of the world's biggest problems by ourselves. OK, so we are done with this conversation, right? I can go back to whatever distraction or urgent personal need I...
Prepare for a revolution, when the young people and others usually disenfranchised rise up. The Supreme Court's rulings are deplorable and devastating. These terrible times will encourage voting to make Congress more supportive of women and children, gay men and women, and the BIPOC community. “Even though something good always seems to come from something bad, there's a gap,” Srinivas Rao, creator of the Unmistakable Creative podcast, wrote in a 2016 essay on Medium.com. “And it's learning to live in...
Don “The Con” Trump was fully informed that he had lost the 2020 election and that there would be no way to change the outcome. Yet he said this as he defended the Jan. 6 insurgents: “If you know a vote is fraudulent, right? How can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress?” If you are lying and you know you are lying - and you continue to do so - you are a fraud, and quite possibly a...
Property tax payment schedule set in Brattleboro BRATTLEBORO - Real estate and personal property taxes assessed upon the Grand List of 2022 are now due and payable to the Town Treasurer at the Treasurer's Office in the Brattleboro Municipal Center, 230 Main Street, Suite 111. Payments are due in four equal installments as follows: first installment by Aug. 15, 2022; second installment by Nov. 15, 2022; third installment by Feb. 15, 2023; and fourth installment by May 15, 2023. Real...
The Brattleboro Music Center and Retreat Farm Music Under the Stars summer concert series continues Saturday, July 23, with a performance by the Vermont Jazz Center's Big Band, joined by guest vocalist Rebecca Holtz. The July 23 celebration of the music of the swing era spotlights the talents of a 17-piece big band made up of area professional musicians who come together to enjoy the camaraderie and rich repertoire of the swing era and beyond. They are directed by Vermont...
We are angry and disgusted with the Supreme Court's recent decision on abortion rights. But how can we harness action to anger? The Brattleboro Selectboard will soon consider a resolution supporting the right to abortion. This is not enough. A resolution (or protest demonstration) can be effective if it publishes a new idea, provokes attention in a new way, or if the number of signers and their names strengthen their idea. Martin Luther King Jr. was especially effective in organizing...
The late Robert Gannett was a rare breed - and not just because he was both a direct descendant of his hometown of Brattleboro's namesake, Revolutionary War figure William Brattle, as well as the husband of a granddaughter of President Theodore Roosevelt. Gannett held one of his southeastern Vermont district's two Senate seats from 1973 to 1992 - the last Republican to do so. In the three decades since Gannett retired, only Democrats have represented Windham County in the state...
For many Vermonters, this summer has been a time of diminishing worries about COVID-19, but this status could change quickly as the new BA.5 Omicron subvariant is starting to drive an uptick in cases nationwide. Vermont is reporting an increased proportion of BA.5 cases, according to the July 13 Vermont Department of Health (VDH) surveillance report. However, it does not seem to have driven a spike in overall cases in the state thus far. In New England, BA.5 made up...
“There/There” is an exhibit of abstract landscape paintings by Frank Jackson, made on burlap using the quick-drying medium of fresco. The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) will present two events in connection with the exhibit: a transfer prints workshop with Jackson on Saturday, July 23, and a conversation with Jackson and Sarah Freeman, the exhibit's curator, on Sept. 16. At the workshop, Jackson will guide participants of all skill levels in creating transfer prints, a process that begins with...
After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, the Marlboro Alliance will hold its 63rd Summer Benefit Sale on Saturday, July 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.- outdoors and under tents - at the Marlboro Elementary School grounds at 2669 VT Route 9. Sales are by donation to benefit the Marlboro Alliance. The sale will include good-quality used clothing for children and adults and baked goods, homemade snacks, and beverages will be for sale. Treasures, books, toys, and household goods...
Izabel Estrin of Putney, Hannah Gallivan of Bristol, and Sean Plumer of Huntington will each receive a Deborah Lisi-Baker Youth Leader Award from the Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL) during a celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on Tuesday, July 26, at the Capitol Plaza. This year's award ceremony is particularly memorable as the disability community has been mourning the loss of Lisi-Baker after her unexpected death earlier this year.
What is othering? This is the destruction of our understanding of the basic connectors of humanity. We all are familiar with the old strategy “divide and conquer,” yet why do we fall prey to it over and over? Things seem to be really falling apart. Our economy is hurting. Those who already can't compete are doing worse than before. Why should we have to compete simply to partake in life honorably? Why is the economy about competition - why can't...
I support Becca Balint in the primary race for Vermont's lone Congressional seat. We are lucky in Vermont to have better candidate choices than most states. Molly Gray has been wonderful interacting with students in my youth leadership programs, as was Kesha Ram, a former challenger. Still, at this time the experience in legislative leadership from Sen. Balint is unmatched in the state. She is the clear choice to go to Washington, D.C. For many years, I have watched Becca...
On Saturday, July 23, starting at 6 p.m., The Stone Church in association with Vidhi's Bollywood Jukebox will be screening the Bollywood super hit film, PK (2014). The screening will open with a special introduction by Vidhi Salla, host of the international radio show, Vidhi's Bollywood Jukebox. Also on sale at the venue will be Indian snacks and Indian handcrafts such as shawls, leather purses, and silver jewelry, curated by Vidhi. As a gesture of welcoming our new neighbors, Robin...
I first met Nader Hashim in 2016 while he was still a state trooper. As a participant at the Putney Huddle, my first impression of Nader was that he was genuinely curious, asked intelligent questions, and listened actively to those in his community. When he ran for state representative, I was proud to be able to vote for someone who used these skills to learn about how our community is affected by the opioid crisis, someone who is committed to...
I met Nader Hashim several years ago when he ran for Windham-4 state representative, but I had seen him around the community for years. He would regularly stop into the Putney Food Co-op at the end of his shift as a Vermont state trooper, still wearing his uniform. He was always smiling and pleasant, always infinitely calm. Nader had a great impact on me as the mother of two Pakistani American children. When Nader ran for state rep, I could...
Wendy Harrison is the most experienced of the three candidates on the Democratic Party primary ballot for Windham County Vermont Senate. All three are good candidates with policy positions that don't differ a great deal. What distinguishes Wendy from the other candidates is her decades of government experience at the town and state levels. We need someone like Wendy Harrison who can hit the ground running in a Senate seat and work well with other colleagues and also take a...
Rory Thibault, a candidate for Vermont attorney general, came to Brattleboro for our July Gallery Walk, and I was privileged to accompany him through our streets. Fifty years ago, I began my journey in law and politics. During the journey, I was blessed with the opportunity to run for elective office. My service included five terms in the Vermont House of Representatives. During the journey, and prior thereto, I had the opportunity to know many great lawyers who devoted themselves...
I have had the privilege of serving for several years alongside Wendy Harrison on the steering committee of RowBOC, the rowing section of the Brattleboro Outing Club. During that time, I've been continually impressed by Wendy's administrative chops and her deep understanding of how institutions large and small function. Wendy is eminently qualified to represent Windham County in the Vermont Senate. She gets things done!
I am voting for Wendy Harrison, and I hope you will, too. I met Wendy in 2016 when we both were serving on the Windham Regional Commission. She immediately struck me as someone who is rational and thoughtful, yet also brings her whole heart to improving our communities and our quality of life. Later, I saw her bring these same qualities to her work as municipal manager in Bellows Falls and Rockingham. Wendy is an unflinching problem solver. She listens...
Parker Huber would've fully agreed with Mary Harris “Mother” Jones that we should “pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.” Parker was a thoughtful but humble person who was green before the political party was ever in existence. His method of activism was the silent vigil, always a presence and witness for peace and the Earth. He bicycled everywhere, no matter the season or the weather, modeling behavior for all of us in the age of...
Nada told her story of escaping Taliban Afghanistan in her honors student graduation speech at Brattleboro Union High School. Her story was evocative, vivid. Nada's story is ours. Surely those wonderful Brattleboro folks who helped Nada, and all of our other new refugee neighbors, could feel the shared connections. In this country, most of us are immigrants, and many of us - or our ancestors - are refugees. Some of our ancestors 400 years ago also had to face their...
Bombajazzeando and the Julian Gerstin Sextet will appear in their debut concert on Friday, July 22, at 8 p.m., at the Vermont Jazz Center, 72 Cotton Mill Hill. “Lively and joyous, Bombajazzeando is jazz plus Puerto Rican bomba - an African-based tradition of drums, singing, and dancing,” say organizers. A collaboration of the Springfield, Massachusetts-based group Bomba de Aquí and composer Julian Gerstin, Bombajazzeando and the Julian Gerstin Sextet combines the bomba drummers and singers with a jazz lineup of...
Next Stage's Bandwagon Summer Series presents Underground System on Friday, July 22, at 6 p.m. at the Putney Inn. “Dancing at the outdoor summer series is an opportunity for us to shake off the stress of Covid, politics, and the stress of life,” Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts, said in a news release. “Underground System is a New York-based party dance band that holds space for us all to experience the zen of movement and the opportunity...
Brattleboro artist Ruth Shafer's soft sculpture show, The Weight, will open at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester on Friday, July 22, from 5 to 7 p.m. It will be part of the SVAC's exhibition, “Dwell: Home Is Where The Art Is,” featuring four women artists whose work centers on themes of domesticity and belonging. Shafer was awarded a Creation Grant by the Vermont Arts Council in 2021. Creation Grants support artists in creating new work, with $4,000 awarded...
Guilford Free Library trustees, meeting last month for their first meeting since a proposed library expansion plan was re-voted and defeated, hope to move forward with a new plan for renovation. According to minutes for the trustees' June 20 meeting, Town Administrator Peder Rude has said the trustees can move forward with an addition if a proposal to do so is approved by library trustees and the Selectboard and if it doesn't require town money. Librarian Cathi Wilken says that...
It may be mid-summer, but volunteers are already thinking about winter. Living Memorial Park Snow Sports, Inc., the nonprofit that operates the Brattleboro Ski Hill, has started raising money for snowmaking upgrades as well as some needed repairs to the hill's pump house to improve snowmaking capacity. To date, $850 has been raised on the group's GoFundMe page at bit.ly/673-ski-fundraiser, and an anonymous donor has pledged another $2,000 toward the $5,000 goal, but more is needed. “We're making progress,” says...
The first-ever Riverfest Weekend, hosted by the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC), will take place Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 6 and 7. “We're very excited to have this event in Brattleboro and with local partners, reinvigorating the Riff Raft race, working with the New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association, and just having a great time on the river in Brattleboro,” says CRC Executive Director Andrew Fisk. CRC says Riverfest is intended to “showcase the area's rich array of outdoor recreational...
A person of interest who was being sought in connection with the suspicious death of a missing Massachusetts woman was shot dead Tuesday night while walking in West Brattleboro by members of the Vermont State Police and the Brattleboro Police Department. According to a press release from the VSP, during an attempt to speak with the man at about 7:45 p.m., “he was shot by police and has been pronounced deceased.” Police were investigating the disappearance and death of 23-year-old...
For almost as long as human beings have walked the Earth, they have been making baskets, as evidenced by some found in the pyramids of Egypt to artifacts dating back thousands of years old and preserved in the museums of China. Here in southern Vermont, baskets have been made of strips of oak and ash for centuries, first by Indigenous peoples and then brought by those who colonized the region in the 1700s. Greg Wilson is the seventh family member...
The Brattleboro Little League 12-year-old All-Stars swept Bennington in the District 2 finals over the weekend to punch their ticket for the state championships in St. Albans this weekend. “This isn't easy,” Brattleboro coach Chad Gundry told his team after they defeated Bennington, 11-0, in the deciding game on July 17 before a big crowd at South Main Street Field. But Brattleboro, undefeated in tournament play, made it look easy with a pair of shutout victories on their home diamond.