“It's not money that makes the world go around, it's power,” said author Liza Marklund in a phone interview.
Swedish writer Marklund said digging into power was one reason she started writing crime fiction.
Humans will do almost anything to get, maintain, and abuse power: power of the limelight, power of the public eye, political power, the power of love, the media's power.
According to her biography, Marklund worked as an investigative reporter for 10 years and a print and broadcast editor for five years. Even while working on novels, Marklund continues her journalism work by producing documentaries and writing articles. Some of her documentaries focus on Cambodian and Russian children with HIV/AIDS. She also produced a series about domestic violence called Take a Little Beating.
Crack open that new paperback. Press “download” on that e-reader. Chapter one. Read that first line. Murder. Family. Power. Love. Redemption. Mysteries. Into that good story, dissolve. Technology and retail options from local bookstores, to online shopping, to e-readers may have changed the methods of delivering books but readers'
Last spring, when I was touring Windham County with a friend during a day of birding, we kept an eye on the sky for soaring birds. The atmosphere was rather heavy, and these soaring birds were not getting lift off the ground. In the early afternoon, my friend matter-of-factly...
A new approach to health and safety that goes beyond just assessment and remediation of lead exposure in older homes has begun in Windham and southern Windsor counties. The Lead Safe and Healthy Homes [LSHH] program, formerly Lead Safe Homes, was initiated last fall and is now being run by Parks Place Community Resource Center. The program seeks to address all the safety and health hazards assessed in homes where there are children age 6 and under, and then provide...
What are the links among climate change, health care, and transportation policy? For Dr. Rebecca Jones, developing transportation policy that's bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly would get more people out of their cars, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are linked to climate change. And having people walk and bike more makes them healthier, which in turn, reduces health care costs. “A transportation system designed around walking and biking can make an incredible difference in all three areas,” she said. “We need...
In the first two games of the season, the Brattleboro Colonels are looking like a baseball team with great pitching and not much hitting. In the season opener on April 2, Soren Pelz-Walsh scored on a fielders' choice in the third inning for the only run of the game in a 1-0 win over Burr & Burton in Manchester. Sawyer Olson threw a complete game three-hitter to pick up the victory on a day when he had to be nearly...
What can possibly hurt a man who has already lost everything? “It's an awful liberation,” said author John Connolly of his protagonist, Charlie Parker, whose wife and daughter were viciously murdered in Connolly's first book, Every Dead Thing. “Compared to the original, any pain will largely pale in significance,” he said. According to Connolly's publisher, Atria Books, “Every Dead Thing broke new ground in crime fiction by fusing hard-boiled realism with glimpses of the supernatural.” In The Burning Soul, the...
The nonprofit Tasha Tudor Museum presents the PBS documentary, “Take Joy: the Magical World of Tasha Tudor,” on April 18 at 7 pm, at the Jacksonville Municipal Center on Route 100. Renowned children's book author and illustrator Tasha Tudor (1915-2008) dressed in the style of the 1830s. She cooked over an open fire in her New England farmhouse and lived by the light of candles she made herself. She milked her own goats, and tended a flock of chickens and...
Obituaries • Tanya Cutler, 42, of Jacksonville. Died April 2 at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, in Bennington after a long battle with cancer. Wife of Robert Cutler Jr. for seven years. Mother of Daniel, Charlie and Kimberly Cutler. Sister of Taro D. Woodcock and Tina P. Westfell. Daughter of Edda Woodcock Philips and the late Anthony Alfred Woodcock. Memorial information: A celebration of her life was held April 11 at Covey & Allen Funeral Home in Wilmington. Donations to either...
It took almost 300 days and several well-publicized rancorous exchanges, but the teachers and school boards of the Windham Northeast Supervisory Union (WNESU) averted a strike on April 3 by reaching a tentative agreement on the terms of a new multi-year contract. While the terms of the new contract will remain confidential until it is ratified by all parties, Darren Allen, a spokesman for the Vermont-National Education Association, told The Commons on Monday that “The teachers have already unanimously ratified...
Eighteen high school students from Leland & Gray Union High School and other area schools will head to China for a month to perform as part of the program “Journey East: Leland & Gray's Sino-American Academy and Arts Exchange.” Beginning this past January, the 18 students, ranging in age from 14 to 17, have been enrolled in China-related courses at Leland & Gray in preparation for their month-long performance/study tour of China. Initiated at Leland and Gray in 2000, the...
It appears that some who are opposed to Vermont Yankee are in agreement that they do not want spent nuclear fuel stored alongside the Connecticut River, or anywhere else in Vermont. The nuclear industry doesn't want Vermont Yankee's spent fuel stored there either, nor does it want any other nuclear plant to store their own spent fuel on site. Vermont Yankee's spent nuclear fuel is safely stored in the spent fuel pool or in dry-cask storage. Although this is safe,
Vermont Academy students flexed their academic muscles on March 31 when they brought home awards and prizes from Vermont History Day, a state competition that took place at Spaulding High School in Barre. Organized by the Vermont Historical Society, Vermont History Day provides middle and high school students from across the state with the opportunity to conduct research and produce projects related to an annual theme, which they submit to judging at the annual event. This year's theme was “Revolution,
I have some things around the house that I would be happy to contribute to Vermont Yankee to be used in their maintenance/repair program. Here's a partial list: • Most of a roll of duct tape, in pretty good shape; • Half a roll of electricians' tape; • A partial can of contact cement (sorry, no epoxy); • A can of mostly straight #8 nails (brights); • Some leftover scraps of wood I got from ReNew that I pulled the...
There has been considerable discussion over the past few weeks about how Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) should rebate $21 million owed to its customers. So what is all the fuss about? We should start with some history. Back in the 1990s, CVPS (Vermont's largest electric utility) entered into contracts to purchase electricity from Hydro-Québec, a large power producer owned by the government of Québec. The contracts proved to be financially lucrative for Hydro-Québec but not quite so for CVPS.
Spaces available in Community Garden BRATTLEBORO - The Recreation and Parks Department will take reservations for the Stockwell Drive Community Garden Site from April 13-20, when returning gardeners can register. On Monday, April 23, registration will begin for new gardeners. The site offers 20 garden plots for $25. Each is 100 square feet. Reservations will be on a first-come, first-served basis. To reserve a plot, stop by the Recreation and Parks Office at 207 Main St. weekdays between 9 a.m.
Forest Moon: Celebrating Cancer Survivorship seeks to increase its public presence and to expand its free support programs to meet the increased emotional needs of cancer survivors in the region. After being based in home offices for the first eight years of its development, the nonprofit has opened an office at 38 Park Place. Forest Moon will also hire a new executive director and executive assistant and will complete a $50,000 Catalyst Campaign by June 1. Demand for the organization's...
I urge all Vermonters to join our neighbors from Massachusetts and New Hampshire on Saturday, April 14, from noon to 2 p.m., at a public rally on the Town Common in Brattleboro to support the efforts of Vermonters and our elected representatives to close and decommission the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor in Vernon. Vermont Yankee's original 40-year federal license has expired, and it is operating under a state Certificate of Public Good that has been extended only because its Louisiana-based...
Folk singer John McCutcheon, who will be in town for an April 15 concert, remembers Windham County from the good old times when he used to play at the Chelsea Cafe House, as it was then called, in the barn of the Old Locke Farm in West Brattleboro. “That was back in Brattleboro's hippie era,” he says. “The town was quite a center for folk music.” As Alan Lewis puts it, “The Chelsea House, with its concerts, contra dances, song...
At this time of year, people are concerned about how their tax dollars are being spent. Vermont teachers are struggling to keep their contracts and jobs in the face of mounting opposition from school supervisory unions that are reluctant to meet the teachers' demands. Undoubtedly, teacher salaries are at the heart of the problem. There is not enough money available to educate our children and provide for the many social services that people require. So where is the money going...
The theme of reincarnation weaves through the family fabric of author M.J. Rose. At age three, Rose related to her great-grandfather a memory about when they broke windows with apples. But, said Rose, that never happened. At least not for her. Rose's mother told her years later that her remembrance stopped great-granddad in his tracks. Great-grandfather and his cousin Shlomo, as children, broke windows with apples. In Russia. In the late 1800s. As a Kabbalist who believed in reincarnation, Rose's...
Almost 200 people gathered at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center April 3 to financially support a movie about Vermont. Addressing the boosters of the film Northern Borders, director and Marlboro film professor Jay Craven compared the event to an old-fashioned Vermont barn raising. The film's community liaison Dede Cummings agreed, saying, “We were completely blown away by the community support for this project.” The event raised money for the Kingdom County Productions film currently in production in Marlboro, Guilford,
Now that Gov. Peter Shumlin officially supports nonviolent protest against Vermont Yankee's continued operation, the protesters are acting on his behalf. Meanwhile, his administration had agreed that Vermont Yankee can continue operating while the courts are deciding Vermont's appeal in Entergy's lawsuit and the Vermont Public Service Board is deciding the certificates of public good. Shumlin and his administration now are in conflict of interest between due process in due time and direct action now. The three members of the...
When we were expecting our first child, my husband Tim and I visited local cemeteries in search of old-fashioned, New England names. I was drawn to the flat, black slates that predate the Revolutionary War. I read with some foreboding about 20-year old Elizabeths and Susannahs who were buried with their infants in their arms. As an older first-time mom, I knew pregnancy carried risks for me as well as our child. But I was healthy, optimistic and had access...
Each year, the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) recognizes the efforts of individuals, organizations, or citizen groups to preserve and enhance the region's environment through the presentation of the Paul and Dorothea Stockwell Environmental Award. The award is named in honor of the Stockwells, who sowed the essential seeds for BEEC's success by providing them with a place to call home on Bonnyvale Road in West Brattleboro. The forests, fields, and facilities - and their many environmental programs - are...
Here at Immanuel Episcopal Church in Bellows Falls, we watched with concern this past winter when the Great Falls Warming Shelter was denied its permit to operate and could not serve the area's homeless. We have donated to the Greater Falls United Network (GFUN) through Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) to support the Warming Shelter each year and have been represented by one of our deacons, Rev. Charles Mansfield, at the planning meetings. We pledge $6,000 as seed money to...
“I'm the poster child for it's never too late,” said author William Kent Krueger from his home in St. Paul, Minn. Krueger didn't publish his first novel until he was nearly 50. Readers now know him for his Minnesota-set Cork O'Connor mysteries about an Iron Lake Ojibwe-Irish detective turned private eye. He released the 11th in the series, Northwest Angle, last year through Atria Books. Book No. 12 is in the editing process, and he has started book No. 13.
The Townshend Selectboard held a ribbon-cutting ceremony March 31 to celebrate the reopening of Townshend Dam Road. But the celebration was dampened by the possibility that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) won't reimburse the town for 75 percent of the $550,000 cost of construction. The road had been closed since last August, when flooding from Tropical Storm Irene washed out a culvert and cut off access between Route 30 and State Forest and West Hill roads. The town had...
Rep. Sarah Edwards' cell-phone signal crackles as she walks from the House floor through the Statehouse hallways. The Brattleboro Progressive/Democrat talks about nuclear power, Belize, listening to voters, and her decision to not seek re-election to a sixth term in the Legislature. After 10 years in Montpelier, Edwards will leave the Legislature to devote all her time to the Lighthouse Reef Conservation Institute (LRCI), her family's foundation. Edwards will manage the nonprofit side of the foundation, based on Long Caye,
In the battle over the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vermont, one valid question is what will happen to the local economy if the plant shuts down. The good news is that there are a lot of creative, intelligent people who are not waiting around for the answer to that question. In just the last couple of weeks, Brattleboro has seen a flurry of progress on several fronts. If everything falls into place, a lot of construction...
The Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) is not convinced that the company that owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station will live up to its obligations. The plant, which is owned by Entergy Corp., is currently operating on an expired state permit while the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) considers approving a new license for it. Meanwhile both the state and Entergy have appealed a federal court decision finding a law requiring legislative approval before the plant could get...
On March 22, well over 1,000 citizens descended on the Brattleboro offices of the Entergy Corporation, owner and operator of Vermont Yankee. This event did not happen spontaneously - the planning involved was intense and long-term. In the midst of this preparation, one of my colleagues mentioned an action being planned by a small group of anti-nuclear activists, most of whom were from New Hampshire. This group needed someone from Vermont to join them in New Orleans (NOLA) in a...
The Windham County economy may be down - think a 20-year-long recession, the lowest wages in Vermont, and the economic fears around losing Vermont Yankee. But as the committed organizations and business owners who testified to state senators on March 30 showed, the county is far from out. Members of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs (SEHGA) gathered testimony on the health of Windham County's economy at the Vermont Agricultural Business Economic Center. Committee Chair Vince...
A number of groups and citizens of Vermont and surrounding states will assemble on Saturday, April 14, from noon to 2 p.m., on the Town Common to show support for elected officials of Vermont in their efforts to force Entergy, the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, to decommission the reactor now rather than extend its original 40-year license. The rain location for the rally will be Brattleboro Union High School. Scheduled to speak are Vermont Gov.