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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.
WILMINGTON-The story “Breathing new life into a seven-generation family farm” [News, Aug. 19] appeared with the wrong byline. It was written by Jackie Spinnell of The Deerfield Valley News.
This News item was submitted to The Commons.
...DUMMERSTON-A Celtic & Québécois Music Festival will bring contemporary energy to traditional music and dance Monday, Sept. 7, at 3 p.m. at Scott Farm, 707 Kipling Road. The festival, which will feature Poor Man’s Gambit, Cantrip, and Cécilia, is part of Next Stage Arts’s Bandwagon Summer Series. “Celtic and...
Safety and sobriety checkpoint planned in Windham County BRATTLEBORO — The Windham County Sheriff’s Office will be partnering with other local area law enforcement agencies to conduct a sobriety checkpoint in Windham County during the month of September. As of Aug. 24, Vermont roadways have seen 31 fatal crashes...
BRATTLEBORO-The new executive director of the Brattleboro Music Center, clarinetist Jessica Calandra, is already deeply immersing herself in the richness of Brattleboro’s music scene. Calandra, along with her husband, Peter Doyle, a chartering broker in the international shipping business, moved here from Tampa, Florida, to take the helm of the BMC from Mary Greene, who retired Aug. 1 after 12 years. Greene will remain involved with BMC’s special projects. The BMC was founded in 1952 by violinist and choral director...
BRATTLEBORO-Marble Ace Arvidson was 17, a senior-to-be at Brattleboro Union High School, when he left a note on his bedroom door at his foster home at 503 Marlboro Rd. — the red house beside the Chelsea Royal Diner — on the afternoon of Aug. 27, 2011, the day before Irene hit. One roommate had seen him that afternoon. Another heard a knock, then heard Marble talking at the door with a man whose voice he didn’t recognize, in an exchange...
BRATTLEBORO-It’s been a busy summer for Midnight Betty, the Brattleboro-based duo of Chelle Martinez and Oriana Barros. They have played a multitude of shows throughout the area, including popular spots like the Retreat Farm in Brattleboro and Next Stage Arts in Putney. “It’s been a great summer! We have played, like, 15 or 16 shows,” said vocalist Martinez, who also plays guitar alongside fellow singer, keyboard, and banjo player Barros. Since forming in 2023, Midnight Betty has become a familiar...
BRATTLEBORO-At a time with many pressing issues, I would offer something small that every landowner in Brattleboro could do to make life better for those with allergies and respiratory issues: Remove ragweed before it goes to pollen in August. It grows well in poor dry soil and along the edges of roadways, but produces huge quantities of pollen from August until snow cover. Thanks to anyone who pulls it! Ralph Howe Brattleboro This letter to the editor was submitted to...
Lucas Farrell is a writer and farmer in Townshend, where he runs Big Picture Farm with his wife, Louisa Conrad. He serves as treasurer of the board of Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital; these views are his own. His commentary on the New Hampshire Medicaid multiplier appeared in VTDigger on Aug. 25, and his public comment assembling the August hearing record is posted on the Green Mountain Care Board’s website. TOWNSHEND-Drive south from Townshend on Route 30 this coming...
COLUMBUS, OHIO-Vermont's registered-apprenticeship system is built around employer training, supervised experience and progressive skill. The Stanford Digital Economy Lab's August update found the employment shortfall for U.S. workers ages 22–25 in highly AI-exposed occupations widened from 15% in the July 2025 data vintage to 19% by June 2026. Southern Vermont employers should apply apprenticeship logic to AI. For every recurring task automated away, give junior staff a paired assignment that requires checking evidence, resolving an exception, interviewing a stakeholder, or...
BRATTLEBORO-In celebration of the 150th birthday of cellist, conductor, composer, and humanitarian Pablo Casals, the Brattleboro Music Center (BMC) will present a series of events starting with a musical salon Thursday, Sept. 10, at 6:30 p.m. The evening, hosted by BMC instructor Moby Pearson, will include videos and recordings exploring the breadth of Casals’s musical legacy. An extraordinary cellist, Casals was also a composer, conductor, and teacher. He spent 13 summers in Vermont at the Marlboro Music Festival, where “his...
Kinhaven, located on a 31-acre campus in Weston, celebrates its 75th Anniversary in 2027, as well as the second year of its Semester Program intensive for high school string students, in collaboration with Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester. The first of its kind in the nation, the Semester Program combines high-level academics at Burr and Burton with rigorous musical training at Kinhaven, where students live, study, and perform with each other and artistic faculty, the Trillium String Quartet, with...
GUILFORD-A local, progressive church is upgrading its children and youth programming for the fall, featuring the return of a staff member and a locally designed, progressive middle school curriculum. Starting Sept. 6, Guilford Community Church (GCC) will hold Sunday School for three age groups: • Batunga Bibimba will supervise the youngest children through preschool in the playspace, which houses toys, books, and places for parents to join their children as needed. • JoAnne Heckman will be returning to the area...
BRATTLEBORO-For 50 years, the Brattleboro School of Dance (BSD) has offered generations of dancers training and performance opportunities while cultivating a dance community in the Brattleboro area. In 2026, BSD transitioned from private ownership to nonprofit management, marking a new chapter for one of Brattleboro’s longstanding arts institutions. This fall, the school begins its first semester under its nonprofit structure, building on its legacy while expanding its programming and working toward a sustainable model that makes dance accessible to a...
NEWFANE-The First Congregational Church of Newfane has received a second grant to support the restoration of its historic steeple and bell. The $5,100 grant is provided by a partnership between the Lawrence and Mary Schwanke Fund for Rural Vermont Communities and the Preservation Trust of Vermont. The steeple project was earlier awarded a $20,000 state grant from the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. The Newfane Congregational Church was built in 1839. The steeple is the tallest structure in Newfane Village,
BELLOWS FALLS-The Rockingham Free Public Library (RFPL) invites local teens to take over the library this September with “Teen Takeover: After School, Your Space,” a series of social and hands-on programs designed to give teens a place to connect, create, explore new interests, and spend time together. The series includes a variety of experiences throughout September, beginning with Zine Making (Thursday, Sept. 3, 3:30 p.m.), when teens can create their own mini-magazines using art, collage, writing, and design. Other activities...
BRATTLEBORO-Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC), through its Windham Leadership Series, and the Brattleboro Regional Chamber of Commerce will host a southern Vermont Lieutenant Governor Candidate Luncheon Thursday, Sept. 10, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., at American Legion Post 5 in Brattleboro. The luncheon will provide an opportunity for both candidates, Lt. Governor John Rodgers and former Lt. Governor Molly Gray, to introduce themselves and speak directly with southern Vermont business, municipal, nonprofit, and community leaders about economic development, workforce,
Obituaries • Maryann Boese, 66, of Newfane. Died peacefully at her home August 3, 2026, surrounded by her family, following complications from liver cancer. Throughout her battle, she faced every challenge with remarkable strength, resilience, and grace, inspiring everyone who walked beside her. Born in Amityville, New York, Maryann moved with her family to Fieldstone Lodge in Newfane in 1971 and graduated from Leland & Gray High School in 1977. After graduation, she returned to Amityville for a time before...
TURNERS FALLS, MASS.-Unnameable Books, 66 Avenue A, an independent bookstore selling new and used books, will host a reading featuring writers Edite Cunhã, Robin Lippincott, Pamela Mandell, and p.j. melton Saturday, Sept. 19, at 6 p.m. The featured readers will present poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Cunhã is a writer, artist, and activist. Her work has appeared in Puerto del Sol, The Massachusetts Review, and SWWIM Every Day, among others. She reports her honors include a Heekin Group Foundation Prize,
BRATTLEBORO-The exhibition “Magos de la Tierra (Magicians of the Land)” brings together works of artists Orlando Estrada and Jacoub Reyes that explore displacement, identity, and the lasting effects of colonialism. The exhibition is on view at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC), 10 Vernon St., through Nov. 1. In sculpture, assemblage, painting, and printmaking, Estrada and Reyes transform organic, synthetic, and reclaimed materials into hybrid forms and imagined landscapes. Curated by David Rios Ferreira, “Magos de la Tierra” takes...
WEST BRATTLEBORO-From Sept. 11 through the 13th, the Brattleboro Area Jewish Community (BAJC) will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, together with Jews all over the world, to begin the Jewish Year 5787. The 10-day period, known as “Days of Awe” or “Days of Repentance,” begins on the first of the month of Tishrei. During the month of Elul, immediately preceding Rosh Hashanah, Jews reflect on their actions in the previous year and contemplate how they can help create a better world. Seeking...
BRATTLEBORO-Center for Solace invites the community to “Dance for Solace,” its seasonal dance party fundraiser, with a “totally tubular throwback twist”: an ’80s-themed dance party, Thursday, Sept. 10, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Saxtons Distillery, 155 Chickering Drive. “Dance your way into fall. Fall back to the ’80s. Move your body. Be home by 9,” said organizers in a news release. DJ Mālama will spin a set spanning synth-pop, new wave, classic rock, “and all manner of lively, feel-good...
BRATTLEBORO-Brattleboro Harmonia (formerly the Brattleboro Women’s Chorus), led by Musical Director Anna Patton, opens its doors to new singers this fall with two open rehearsals Thursday, Sept. 10 — the first at 10 a.m. at the Brattleboro Music Center, 72 Blanche Moyse Way, and the second at 6:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 880 Western Ave., in West Brattleboro. The non-auditioned community chorus offers a choice between morning and evening weekly rehearsals and welcomes women, girls, and nonbinary and...
GUILFORD-I don’t think anyone in Vermont who is paying attention and who is not a Republican will argue with the fact that economist Amanda Janoo is a unique and exceptional candidate for governor of Vermont. Her close but decisive Democratic primary win was unexpected by the establishment, but many of us who volunteer for Amanda know how excited people are when they learn about who she is and how she wants to help Vermont become a better place for us...
Tim Maciel is a longtime teacher, a former college administrator, and an education consultant. BRATTLEBORO-Recently, Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke in Brattleboro about national politics and said something that stuck with me: "The status quo ain't working." He was talking about Washington, not Vermont. But after 10 years of Gov. Phil Scott, I find myself wondering: Is the status quo working for Vermont? I don't ask that because I think Scott has been a terrible governor. His handling of Covid was,
Ralph Meima is an executive with 35 years of global experience in renewable energy, clean technology, information technology, management consulting, and sustainability-oriented education. BRATTLEBORO-Signs are appearing that the Trump regime may deliver one of the most breathtaking geopolitical own-goals of all time, leaving traumatized American economic and military strategy to adjust to new, unimagined circumstances that unfold as a direct result of the president's destructive romp through our nation's institutions and alliances. I am not referring to the Iran war,
BRATTLEBORO-To mark the 50th anniversary of an assassination by car bombing carried out in Washington, D.C., by agents of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, the program director ofthe Institute for Policy Studies (IPS),will speak in Brattleboro about U.S. policy in Chile and how a U.S.-backed coup there three years earlier led to the political violence on American soil. Until the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, that car bombing was, in the words of the event...
WEST CHESTERFIELD, N.H.-Actors Theatre Playhouse (ATP), will present Untethered, a play by Carol Mark, with performances Fridays and Saturdays, Sept. 11, 12, 18, and 19, at 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Sept. 13, at 2 p.m., at Brook and Main streets. The show will be a fully staged, script-in-hand production of the play, a drama about a young woman who, after returning home to a horse ranch in Montana, struggles to reconnect with her estranged father. Mark wrote Untethered to capture...
BRATTLEBORO-The Brattleboro Labor Film Festival begins Sunday, Sept. 6, at 4 p.m. at the Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St. The festival will open with Partners, a short documentary about Starbucks worker-activists, and will continue each Sunday through Oct. 4. Set in Buffalo, New York, Partners takes viewers behind the scenes with labor activists and shows how workers organized despite the company’s anti-union activities. A panel discussion after Partners will include Casey Moore, one of the baristas featured in the film;
