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Your support powers every story we tell. We're committed to producing high-quality, fact-based news and information that gives you the facts in this community we call home. If our work has helped you stay informed, take action, or feel more connected to Windham County – please give now to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
Several area towns will be hosting rabies vaccination clinics for dogs and cats, set up by the Windham County Sheriff’s Office. Owners must provide proof of prior rabies vaccine to receive a three-year vaccine. The cost is $26. Clinics will be held on Saturdays at the following locations:
• Brattleboro: Jan. 17, Feb. 28, and March 21: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Windham County Sheriff’s Office, 185 Old Ferry Rd.
• Newfane: Jan 24, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Town Office, 555 VT Route 30.
• Grafton: Jan. 31 and March 7, 10 a.m. to noon, Town Hall, 117 Main St.
BRATTLEBORO-The morris dance group “Windham” offers an introductory class at the Winston Prouty Center on Austine Drive beginning Thursday, Jan. 15, from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. The six-class session will teach the basic steps and build a repertoire of ready-to-perform dances. “These vigorous, athletic dances have roots in Lichfield,
BRATTLEBORO-Opportunities for available "workforce" housing seem to have taken a positive turn in town. But there's a problem. Not many are applying to rent them. "It's an interesting dynamic because a few months ago - four to six months ago - that was not the case," says Susan Bellville,
BRATTLEBORO-The Brooks House has experienced multiple phases over its more than 150 years, including as a hotel rumored to have hosted Rudyard Kipling, a mixed-use residential and commercial rental property, a fire-ravaged shell, and a successful example of community-led investing. In December, the iconic downtown building entered a new, albeit quiet, phase: new ownership. Harry May, LLC, purchased the building from Mesabi, Inc. for $8.5 million on Dec. 30. Tenants and community members can expect the building to operate as...
DUMMERSTON-The Dummerston Historical Society (DHS) will present a program at its museum in Dummerston Center on Sunday, Jan. 18, about the granite quarries of Black Mountain in West Dummerston that operated from 1875 until 1935. This presentation will explore the history of granite quarrying, from early hand tools and stone-splitting techniques to the introduction of steam and compressed air. It highlights the skilled workers, their daily labor and working conditions, and the methods used to transport massive stone blocks by...
BRATTLEBORO-Artist Mark Barry will lead a walking tour and discussion of his outdoor exhibition, “Petals to Metal and Other Stories,” at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) Saturday, Jan. 24, at 3 p.m. The event begins outside the museum, with a tour of Barry’s large metal sculptures, and then moves indoors for a presentation and further conversation. “Petals to Metal and Other Stories” showcases the North Bennington–based artist’s dual practice as both a painter and sculptor, a dynamic approach...
BRATTLEBORO-Swamped, a new play written and directed by Court Dorsey, makes its Brattleboro debut on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 17 and 18, at 2 p.m. at the New England Youth Theatre (NEYT), 100 Flat St. It has played to sold-out houses in western Massachusetts. The play is “a culture clash of red and blue state values,” says Dorsey. “It’s a healing saga, a cautionary tale. All told, it’s a story of personal contact, which may be the only road to...
MARLBORO-Marlboro Music’s residency series continues this month with a free concert from the award-winning Formosa Quartet, Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. in Ragle Hall on the Marlboro campus, 2582 South Rd. Formosa features past Marlboro Music participants — violinists David Bernat, Deborah Pae and Jasmine Lin — and violist Matthew Cohen. Now in its second season, the residency program brings chamber music ensembles to Marlboro’s campus throughout the year for creative work and concert opportunities. Each residency culminates with...
-The Brattleboro Bears girls’ basketball team faced two tough opponents last week, with two very different results. On the road against undefeated Rutland on Jan. 7, the Bears could not get shots to fall on offense, struggled on defense, and generally looked out of sync in a 58-36 loss. Three days later, in a Saturday matinee at the BUHS gym, the Bears played excellent defense and got just enough scoring to beat the St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers, 38-28. What accounted for...
Ashley Matson teaches English at Leland & Gray Union Middle and High School. TOWNSHEND-When the Brattleboro Reformer reported that Leland & Gray Union Middle and High School and the Windham Central Supervisory Union had agreed to a $250,000 settlement over racial and sexual harassment, the framing was immediate and familiar: The school had failed. The article emphasized what educators allegedly failed to do, quoted officials stressing the “essential role that Vermont law entrusts to educators” in stopping student-on-student harassment, and...
BRATTLEBORO-Christine Scypinski, an organizer for Indivsible Brattleboro, says she has a simple yardstick for determining how many people will show up for a protest: “Take the number of people who sign up, and multiply that by 10.” She wasn’t far off the mark. Scypinski said approximately 80 people signed up online to attend the Jan. 11 protest at Pliny Park to honor the life of Renee Nicole Good, who was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
STEVE GELLER is retired from a four-decade career in anti-poverty work, including 18 years as director of SEVCA, the local Community Action Agency. SPRINGFIELD-Remember when candidate Trump constantly promised an “America First” policy in which the U.S. would pull back from virtually all foreign entanglements, reduce foreign military involvement, and prioritize domestic needs? He said we would “never send our finest into battle unless necessary” nor “go abroad in search of enemies.” Rather, he would always prioritize American interests and...
College news • Davin Visconti of West Townshend and Nora Ward of South Londonderry were among 23 young Vermonters who Vermont’s congressional delegation is nominating to United States military service academies for the class of 2030. Visconti, who was nominated by U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch; and Ward, who was nominated by Sanders, Welch, and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint; both seek to be accepted at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The five U.S. military academies provide...
GUILFORD-Guilford Center Stage (GCS) enters its second decade with the traditional spring and fall productions at Broad Brook Community Center. The 2026 season opens the first weekend in May with “Shorts,” a program of small plays. The stage manager will be Sue Kelly. Several works by regional playwrights are already in the lineup, and the group welcomes script submissions until Jan. 23. Plays of 8 to 10 pages are ideal, and a maximum of 12 minutes running time is suggested.
BELLOWS FALLS-Stage 33 Live presents a two-for-one 3 p.m. matinee with Carl Goulet and Sandiland & Vincent on Sunday, Jan. 25. “Like many rural musicians, Carl Goulet is a hidden gem who flies a little under the radar,” wrote organizers in a news release. They described him as “an honest and heart-forward performing songwriter with the chops and fluency of artists who get a lot more attention,” as well as “passionate, sometimes political, sometimes humorous, always thoughtful.” A description on...
PUTNEY-Get ready to hit the dance floor at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, for a high-energy Dance Party with DJ Bob Thies, spinning hits from the ’80s and ’90s. The party takes place Saturday, Jan. 17, with doors opening at 6:45 p.m. and the show starting at 7:30 p.m. DJ Bob Thies “will bring the ultimate throwback experience, featuring classic pop anthems, dance tracks, and all the irresistible grooves that defined a generation,” wrote event promoters in a news...
BRATTLEBORO-Families in Brattleboro are encouraged to begin registering their children for kindergarten for the 2026–27 school year. Kindergarten registration is open at Brattleboro's three elementary schools for children who turn five years old on or before Sept. 1, 2026. Registration information and required forms are available on the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU) website under the Enrollment tab at wsesu.org. Families who prefer paper copies of the registration packet may request them by contacting Kerri Beebe, pre-K coordinator, at 802-579-1013...
PUTNEY-Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, presents a special screening of the documentary Join or Die Sunday, Jan. 18, at 2 p.m. Directed by Rebecca Davis and Pete Davis, Join or Die (93 minutes, 2024) is a timely and deeply engaging film that explores a simple but powerful idea: joining a club can help save American democracy. The film follows Harvard social scientist Robert D. Putnam, author of the book Bowling Alone, as he traces the decades-long decline in civic...
BRATTLEBORO-Vermont dogs and wolf-hybrids 6 months and older must be licensed on or before Friday, April 1. For dogs not previously licensed in town, a new dog license application form is available at brattleboro.gov/dog-licensing. The licensing fees, due by Wednesday, April 1, are $21 for neutered animals and $25 for un-neutered animals. Specially trained assistance dogs may be eligible for a reduced licensing fee. Dogs and wolf-hybrids licensed after the due date will be charged a penalty. In addition, any...
BRATTLEBORO-One year ago, the Trump administration halted all foreign aid and refugee resettlement and subsequently closed the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Members of the Windham World Affairs Council (WWAC) wrote in a news release that halting donations from the world’s biggest provider of development aid was a shock to the international development system and has had far-reaching ramifications in many countries of the world. At that time, WWAC convened a “Members + Friends Salon” with local residents affected...
WILLIAMSVILLE-The Rock River Players (RRP) present a “No Kings Cabaret” Friday and Saturday, Jan. 23 and 24, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 25, at 3 p.m., at the Williamsville Hall, 35 Dover Rd. Producer Annie Landenberger notes in a news release that “the cabaret, with deep roots in France and Germany in the late 19th through early 20th centuries, has historically been a trend-setting form of entertainment featuring a variety of performance styles that’s typically enjoyed from small café...
BRATTLEBORO-The Windham Philharmonic will honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a special concert on Monday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Latchis Theatre, presenting a program that organizers say “celebrates dignity, imaginative freedom, and the complex histories that music can illuminate.” The performance will include Franz Schubert’s Overture in E minor, Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major featuring French horn soloist Noah Fotis Larsson from Tundi’s 2025 Ring Cycle, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Symphonic “Variations on...
BRATTLEBORO-When Clap Your Hands Say Yeah performs at the Stone Church in Brattleboro this Friday, Jan. 16, at 8 p.m., it will be a different experience from last year’s full band tour that celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut album. This time Alec Ounsworth, the driving force behind the indie rock band, will take the stage alone to play a stripped-down piano and voice show. Since 2014, Ounsworth has performed his solo work under the same moniker as the...
BRATTLEBORO-Now through March 1, the Vermont Center for Photography (VCP), 10 Green St., presents “Icons In Hand: Masterworks from a Local Collection,” an exhibition that brings museum-caliber black-and-white photographs by many well-known photographers to Brattleboro. “Drawn from a remarkable local collection, these prints invite you to get close — see the paper, the grain, the edge of the negative — and slow down with images that carry time and story across generations,” organizers said in a news release. “It’s a...
ALBANY, N.Y.-Gov. Phil Scott's nomination of former U.S. Attorney of Vermont Christina Nolan to the state Supreme Court should be strongly opposed to safeguard public trust in our judicial system. While serving as U.S. attorney of Vermont, Christina Nolan received from me detailed evidence of health care fraud at the Brattleboro Retreat. In my letter, I offered to testify before a federal grand jury, including waiving immunity, and provided Ms. Nolan with a USB drive containing supplemental evidence of commercial...
Dan DeWalt, a frequent contributor to these pages and one of the founders of this newspaper, writes that if he didn’t love his country, he “wouldn’t spend so much time trying to get it to live up to its purported principles.” NEWFANE-Trump has gone off the deep end: freeing a convicted narcoterrorist Latin American president; choosing instead to murder over 80 Venezuelans and kidnap another Latin American president and charging him with narcoterrorism; recruiting his own personal militia, under the...
Fric Spruyt represents District 9 as a member of Brattleboro’s Representative Town Meeting. BRATTLEBORO-The turn of the year seems like as good a time as any to reflect on what we want for our collective future, as well as individual. Some are just waking up to the fact that the two are, in fact, largely inseparable. As a young adult working on stopping things that seemed like terrible ideas, I discovered that I really needed to give a portion of...