Repair work finally began this week on the wing walls of the West Dummerston Covered Bridge, but now another task is looming - paying for it.
The town already has a $200,000 federal transportation grant, but more money will be needed to complete the work on the historic 1872 bridge.
So, a special town meeting has been warned for Thursday, Aug. 23, at 6 p.m., at the Evening Star Grange in Dummerston Center to see if the town will authorize expenditure of up to $42,504.37 of the fiscal year 2012 surplus for expenses on the bridge repair project.
After an administrative error forced the town to rebid the repairs, the Selectboard on July 12 awarded the project to Renaud Brothers of Vernon. They were the low bidder at $234,820. Renaud Brothers recently completed repairs to the Green Iron Bridge, located downstream from the covered bridge.
Emily Peyton, the self-styled “public-servant gubernatorial candidate,” uses an Albert Einstein quote to support her “less is more” political outlook [Candidate Corner, July 18]. She prefaces the quote by saying that Einstein was a “former neighbor of mine.” Considering that Einstein died in 1955, I guess Ms. Peyton is...
It would be a shame if the controversial actions of a few people in the national leadership of Susan G. Komen for the Cure are allowed to taint the good work of the Vermont/New Hampshire Komen chapter on behalf of cancer survivors in our two states. For the past...
Five gardens in the Saxtons River area will be open to visitors Saturday, July 28, as a fundraiser for Main Street Arts. Gardens that frame a 1905 village home, supply organic vegetables to the occupants of a solar-powered log house, and shelter in the remains of a barn are among those on display from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rain date is Sunday, July 29. Tickets are $10. Children are welcome at no charge; no pets. Maps and tickets will...
The Brattleboro Little League All-Stars were this year's host of the state tournament, so they got to avoid what teams from southern Vermont often face - long and multiple rides to games in northern Vermont. But the home cooking wasn't quite enough, as Brattleboro lost in the championship game to South Burlington, 10-1, on Tuesday night. Brattleboro, which advanced into the state tournament by winning a best-of-seven series with Bennington, 4-1, to win the District 2 title, got things going...
First of all, William Leons doesn't especially like being identified as one of the “hidden children” of the Holocaust, which he was. Nor does he necessarily like being labelled as a Holocaust survivor, which he is. “I've lived 99 percent of my life not being a Holocaust survivor,” he points out. He's more tolerant of being identified as a Freedom Rider during the days of the civil rights movement. “I see a continuity in that I was discriminated against as...
The Open Music Collective in collaboration with Headroom Stages will be starting an all new “Week of Rock” camp that will run Aug. 6-10. This is a camp for all ages and abilities; established groups are welcome. Spend the week playing rock music of different genres, getting coaching from professionals on performance and band development, including topics on gear, rehearsing, groove, soloing and accompanying. Faculty will include Aaron Chesley (guitar, band coaching), Jamie MacDonald (bass and band coaching), Doug Raneri...
Obituaries • Patricia A. Clark, 72, of Hinsdale, N.H. Died July 14 at her home. Wife of the late John H. Clark for nearly 40 years. Mother of Kevin Clark and his wife, Sharon, of Nottingham, N.H.; Michael Clark and his wife, Sally, of Greenfield, Mass.; and Kristen Clark of Hinsdale. Born in New York City, she moved to Valley Stream, L.I., with her family when she was in high school. She graduated from high school in 1957. With her...
Musician and teacher Susanna Loewy loves Vermont so much that she wanted to give something back to the area. So, she decided to throw a grand three-day party of sorts: a new free chamber music festival. On Aug. 1-3, Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival in Jamaica will showcases some of the best young instrumentalists in the country: Loewy on flute, Evan Solomon on clarinet, Lauren Robinson on horn, Kurt Nikkanen on violin, Leah Ilem on viola, Julia Biber on cello,
More than 2,000 Vermonters currently live behind bars, but Vermont's prison system has room for only about 1,600 of them. That means the Department of Corrections must ship some 480 Vermont inmates to out-of-state prisons. Since 2010, about 100 of those inmates have been housed at the Franklin County Jail and House of Corrections, a medium-security jail in nearby Greenfield, Mass. Most of the inmates in Greenfield, according to Vermont Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito, are either nonviolent offenders serving short...
Our Place Drop-in Center is holding its annual 50/50 raffle, with a special twist, to recognize its 20th anniversary. “We usually only sell 200 tickets for the raffle at 20 dollars each,” said Our Place board president John Bohannon, “but this time we're stretching it to 220. But the odds are still great.” Proceeds of the ticket sales are divided between Our Place and the four winners, with one prize each of $1,000 and $500, and two of $250. “Fundraising...
Transition Dummerston initiates food sharing program with potluck, evening discussion DUMMERSTON - Transition Dummerston will hold its next Community Potluck and evening program on Friday, July 27, from 6-8:30 p.m., at the Dummerston Community Center in West Dummerston. The program for the evening is “SOS: Share Our Surplus…Garden Produce, that is!” As the height of the vegetable harvest approaches, the Transition Dummerston group is exploring ways gardeners can share excess food from their gardens and spread the wealth around: the...
The Brattleboro Rotary Club recently inducted Newfane resident Martin Cohn as its 63rd club president for the 2012-2013 year. Cohn is president of Cohn Public Relations, a full-service public relations firm based in Brattleboro. Rotary Club members serving as officers with Cohn this year are president-elect Stacy Kritsas of Stacy Automotive Center, secretary Jeff Hagstrom of Newton Business, treasurer Jolene Belair of Hampton Inn, vice president June Howe of Raptor Trading, and immediate past president Liz Harrison of Nutrition Education...
With summer in full swing, a new map will help residents and visitors with planning their bike rides around eastern Windham County. The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) has recently produced updates to their series of Bicycle Suitability Maps. The two maps show data on many things of interest to cyclists, including shoulder condition, traffic volumes, steep hills, riding hazards, and bike shops. While the maps do not identify specific biking routes, some roads popular with cyclists are highlighted. The maps...
The Brattleboro Housing Authority Housing Alternative Study committee has revealed its short list of eight potential public housing sites.. Adam Hubbard, a committee member and a project manager with Stevens & Associates, told an audience of about 25 gathered in the Hayes Court community room last Thursday that the BHA-owned Melrose Terrace and Hayes Court properties also made the cut. The other sites included BHA's Moore Court property on School Street, the large parking area next to Academy School on...
Yes! Summer! Friends and neighbors come to celebrate the solstice and climb the stairs up to the barn porch, carrying roast leg of lamb, roasted potatoes, black rice salad, lime cheesecake, beet salad, strawberry-mint tea, homemade rye bread, and more: enough deliciousness to feed 20 people. I am convinced that there are more great cooks per capita in Vermont than in any other state. Yes to great cooks and neighborly communion and the privilege of earth's bounty. Yes to the...
In my five years living at the corner of Elliot Street and the Harmony Lot, I've noticed a great paucity of air traffic compared to the many other places in the U.S. and Canada where I've lived. I enjoy a fairly unobstructed view of the sky south and east of downtown Brattleboro. On the afternoon of (I believe) Tuesday, July 10, I had the displeasure of seeing my first domestic surveillance drone. Likely launched from the Westover Air Force Base...
RE: “No bull” [Counterpoint, July 18]: In recent years, several letters to the editors of both local papers from readers in several states around the country have responded to news reports (and other letter writers) decrying irresponsible dog owners and calling for change in how we address dog-related problems in Brattleboro. A central theme in these comments has been the need for dogs to be leashed at all times while in public spaces, and Jennifer Kozlowski also emphasizes this point...
RE: “TransCanada seeks to lower taxes for dam,” The Commons, July 18: The value of the Bellows Falls Dam is a long-term proposition, not something that should fluctuate year by year with, say, the price of natural gas. If energy-generating properties weren't of great value, Entergy wouldn't be fighting to keep Vermont Yankee open beyond the end of its designed life, and wind developers wouldn't be coveting Vermont's ridgelines. TransCanada, a corporation that, as the article notes, does not honor...
To look at the town of Greensboro on a topical map or road atlas would prove unremarkable. In the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, distance on Route 16 is measured between country stores and gas stations on a great black strip of pavement pointing north. As I drove, the temperature dropped, and the mist wrapped thickly around the trees. The road names weren't matching the directions I had. I admitted I was lost, and pulled over to ask for directions. At...
On a hot July morning, Holton Home residents give their names to Activities Director Ellenka Wasung-Lott. No, they say, we're not registered to vote. Wasung-Lott and volunteers help the residents register on the spot. She said that Holton Home, a 35-room home for the elderly on Western Avenue, assists residents who are looking to vote in local elections, the primaries, and the general election. Members of the staff put together candidate synopses, help residents who are interested in early voting,
When we lived in Pennsylvania, some winters our yard was visited by thieves who descended upon the birdfeeders in a flock of 10 to 20 birds, cleaned the seed from the feeders, then flew on. The attack was repeated every two or three weeks, until Spring finally returned. Then they would be gone, not to be seen again for another two or three years. Evening Grosbeaks were irruptive winter birds in my previous home. In spite of the spike they...
Tropical Storm Irene may have knocked down South Newfane and Williamsville, but these two villages are rising again. And to mark the one year anniversary of the storm that wreaked so much havoc along the Rock River, and to celebrate the resilience of South Newfane and Williamsville, the villages are putting on a parade and a barbecue on Sunday, Aug. 26. The Rock River Revival Parade will begin at noon near the green iron bridge in South Newfane, and finish...
The exploded house belonging to Carlton Smith on the Grafton Road in Townshend is slowly sinking backwards on a diagonal, reported Brett Gaylord, one of the several Windham County Sheriff's deputies guarding the place around the clock. He pointed out empty spots in the collapsed rubble, formed by door frames and windows, that have shrunk. The explosion took place not long after 2 a.m. on July 19. Representatives from Cota and Cota of Bellows Falls, which supplied the owner with...
The Vermont State Police has opened an investigation into a potentially fraudulent marriage license signed by a Brattleboro Justice of the Peace who did not officiate the ceremony. Mary Cain, also a Democratic candidate for State Senate, signed a marriage license on May 4, 2012 for a wedding that ostensibly occurred on Oct. 31, 2010. But in a document addressed to Dummerston Town Clerk Pam McFadden, Cain stated that she did not officiate at the wedding of Michael Martin and...
Vermont's Congressional delegation announced last week that the Federal Transit Administration has awarded the Deerfield Valley Transit Association (DVTA) $3 million to build a new administrative and maintenance facility in Wilmington. The project was selected on a competitive basis through the agency's 2012 State of Good Repair Program. The DVTA will use the $3,084,831 grant to construct a new building to centralize its administrative, maintenance, operations, and biodiesel production facilities in Wilmington. These operations currently are split between Wilmington and...
Several members of Townshend's Board of Selectmen see public safety as someone else's responsibility. It is not, dear reader; it is yours, and it is mine. As individual citizens, we are responsible for ourselves and for one another. Public safety is not a job that needs to be outsourced all of the time. It is a job that must be in-sourced. It is a job we must take upon ourselves. Most of Vermont is rural, and rural living means there...
Singer, guitarist, and composer Claire de la Fontaine's music is an entrée into the romantic world of French chanson. She will sing at a house concert on August 2. De la Fontaine's passionate interpretations of classics from Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel, as well as newer artists like Zaz, sound authentic. She also covers Charles Trenet, Jos Dassin, Marcel Mouloudji, Yves Montand, and Charlie. Deniz Cordell will accompany de la Fontaine on accordion and piano. Cordell is a pianist, accordionist,
The town of Brattleboro will distribute donated curbside containers and kitchen counter top containers to the 150 participants of the Curbside Compost Pilot on July 28 and Aug. 4. Distribution will take place on the grassy area between the Department of Public Works and the Recycling Drop-Off Center on Fairground Road at 9 a.m. Eight manufacturers of containers and biodegradable bags are participating in the pilot project, which will collect compost and organics from the curbside of Brattleboro residents. Collection...
Can the arts transform a community? Brattleboro and the Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC) said “yes” all the way through the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant process. The NEA agreed with Brattleboro and ACWC's vision, awarding the municipality and the nonprofit a $50,000 two-year planning grant for the Brattleboro Project. The project will bring arts into the community's center through cultural asset mapping, cultural district planning, and the creation of a public art installation or event.
Two major milestones have been met in the efforts to bring broadband Internet to locations throughout Windham County. Sovernet Fiber Corp. and the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) announced on July 19 that the Vermont FiberConnect (VFC) project has recently completed constructing the first 100 miles of fiber optic network. According to Gregg Noble, Sovernet's business development manager, those 100 miles of fiber include stretches of Routes 5 and 9 in Windham County. When the 821-mile network is completed by June...
In next week's paper, we plan to publish a roundup of points of view that tackle some of the difficult issues in the aftermath of the tragic shooting in Colorado which has gripped the national debate. People can disagree - reasonably and otherwise - on the constellation of topics surrounding this shooting, ranging from gun control to behavioral health. We welcome readers' thoughtful contributions.
If you like words and you like games, chances are you'll love playing Scrabble on Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. (or later) at Marlboro College Graduate Center, 28 Vernon St., second floor. Ed Liebfried created this Scrabble club late last year, having moved back to this area after a stint in Oregon. If you played when you were younger but feel a bit rusty, two-letter word (there are more than 100) and three-letter word lists are provided, as are...