• Stacey Conn of Keene, N.H., has joined Strolling of the Heifers in Brattleboro as its new general manager. Conn earned a Master's of Business Administration degree from Babson College in 2014. Before joining Strolling of the Heifers, Conn spent eight years at the Boston investment management firm Wellington Management as global relationship group assistant, including several years as a member of its charitable foundation grant review committee. Prior to her business career, Conn earned a M.S. in Educational Psychology from Northeastern University and worked as a school counselor in Wellesley, Mass. and Pleasanton, Cal. Because of her love for animals, she also worked as a veterinary technician.
• Steven L. Monette has been appointed as the Brattleboro Retreat's new chief financial 0fficer (CFO). He comes to the Retreat with extensive experience in health-care finance. His most recent position was at Valley Regional Healthcare in Claremont, N.H., where he served as CFO and treasurer since 2006. Before assuming that position, he served for one year as Valley Regional's controller. Past employers also include Central New England Health Alliance in Leominster, Mass., and Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in accounting from Western New England College in Springfield, Mass.
• Katie Buckley is the new director of development and community relations at the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) in Brattleboro. She has worked for the past six years as town administrator for the town of Guilford. She worked closely with WWHT in the development of the Tontine building and the extension of municipal water in the village of Algiers. Since 2009, she has been an active member of the citizen group Friends of Algiers, and in that capacity participated in the outreach and fundraising effort for the...
Thank you, Meg McCarthy, for your well-written commentary. It is important that Vermont keep its prisoners here in Vermont - especially when they have lived the majority of their lives here.
The Vermont Department of Health has released funding to help make Windham County a healthier place to live by providing access to physical activity and nutritious food through a three-year, $20,000 grant. According to Suzanne Kelley, healthy communities coordinator of the Vermont Health Department's Health Promotion Disease Prevention Division,
The Guilford Volunteer Fire Department was one of nine nonprofit organizations in Vermont to receive grants for solar energy projects from Green Mountain Power (GMP). Guiford Fire will receive a $16,400 grant toward installing a solar system at its fire station. According to GMP, nearly two dozen nonprofits submitted grant applications. Funding was awarded based on the grants' projected impact on the recipients and their communities, additional sources of funds leveraged by the grants, and educational value associated with the...
If you run a business, you undoubtedly feel many pressures on your time and money. Why would you want to add “giving to the community” to your to-do list? Here are six reasons. 1. It feels good. Making contributions to the community is personally rewarding. Our values are important to us - from helping kids to supporting neighborhood cleanup efforts. Charitable contributions enable us to support these values. 2. It's tradition. Local businesses traditionally have been principal supporters of many...
Vermonters have long committed to helping our vulnerable neighbors through support of our social safety net - a value we have held dear for generations to keep people safe, warm, and fed. But the safety net is fraying dangerously, through years of state neglect. Nearly 40 years ago, state government chose to serve its most vulnerable people through contracts with nonprofit social service agencies supported by state revenue. Vermont's human services organizations were chosen to do this work because they...
Thank you for reporting on this protest. More evil is brewing as we speak, however. H.R. 4432, otherwise known as the “Deny Americans the Right to Know (DARK) Act,” has been filed. This federal bill would preempt states' rights to label products with genetically modified organisms. Don't let VPIRG's victory in Vermont go down in flames. Vermonters voted to know; don't let Monsanto stop them. Tell your friends.
The Climate Change Café project of Post Oil Solutions has decided hold a weekly protest vigil at the TD Bank branch on Main Street “for the foreseeable future.” According to Tim Stevenson of Post Oil Solutions, on the strength of two protest vigils held on recent Fridays the protest vigils will continue to be held on Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. to coincide with the time working people typically conduct their banking. He said the vigils will have two...
Are you paying too much to heat your home, business, or rental property, or are you seeking to cut your use of fossil fuels? A new generation of super-efficient electric heat pumps, suitable for northern climates, might be the answer. These devices provide heat and domestic hot water using 25 percent to 50 percent less energy than conventional systems. They are environmentally friendly as well: 87 percent free of carbon emissions in Green Mountain Power territory. Heat pumps can also...
The Recreation & Parks Department, 207 Main St., offers programs and activities for youth during holiday vacation. For more information on these and other programs, call 802-254-5808 or visit www.brattleboro.org. Open gym • Open Gym & Game Room is a free, supervised program with a variety of activities at the Gibson-Aiken Center. Basketball, foosball, air hockey, bumper pool, and arts and crafts. Drop kids off or stay and enjoy the games with them. The program is open Dec. 23, 26,
Just in time for those New Year's resolutions, Greater Falls Connections (GFC) and Springfield Medical Care Systems are partnering to provide tobacco cessation classes in Bellows Falls. The program consists of four weekly one-hour sessions, which will cover a variety of topics related to quitting smoking. Participants will learn about how to beat the addiction to nicotine, skills for coping with cravings, and medication and effective approaches to quitting. Participants will also receive counseling to build problem-solving skills, moral support...
The Vermont Department of Labor has renewed its support of the Windham Higher Education Cooperative's (WHEC) internship program for a second year. WHEC was formed by six area schools - Community College of Vermont, Marlboro College, Union Institute & University, World Learning/SIT, Vermont Technical College, and Landmark College - in partnership with the Brattlebroro Development Credit Corp. and Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS). The cooperative's purpose is to enhance educational opportunities and engage in economic development in the region.
The West Brattleboro Association (WBA) presented its fourth annual Community Leader of the Year award to Bill and Judy Daley, owners of the Vermont Country Deli, during its annual holiday party on Dec. 11 at The New England House. After living for 10 years in Central Vermont, the Daleys came to Brattleboro to purchase the popular delicatessen in 2007. Bill grew up in Cleveland. Judy grew up in Brattleboro. They met at Ohio's Miami University. She is the daughter of...
Southeast Vermont Building Bright Futures expresses a full-bellied thank you to all those who participated, volunteered, performed, donated to, and inspired the “Building Bright Futures: Vermont's Vision For Early Childhood” community forum on Dec. 8. The forum was an opportunity to learn more about Vermont's vision for our children and to share concrete steps we can take as a community to improve the health and well-being of all our children. Current and newly elected state legislators from Windham County listened...
Citizens of Newfane: You have all received a white card in your mailboxes from the Selectboard regarding the proposed Newfane Town Charter hearing and voting dates. I realized that there was no mention in that notification of the hearing that took place Dec. 11. Maybe that's why only about 25 citizens came to the hearing that proposes a momentous change in the way our town will be governed forever. Why did your Selectboard think it prudent to go through the...
St. Michael's Episcopal offers Christmas pageant BRATTLEBORO - Toddlers, children, and teens offer a Christmas pageant, Vermont-style, at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve at St. Michael's Episcopal Church on Bradley Ave. Several years ago youth of the parish expressed a desire to make the pageant more personal to them as Vermonters and so the church has seen different twists each year: from the entrance of a live goat to the delivery of apple pie and gilfeather turnips; from gifts of...
Post Oil Solutions, continuing its efforts to raise awareness about the growing climate crisis, is organizing Climate Change & the Arts, an evening of poetry, music, and dance that will be held on the evening of Saturday, May 2, 2015 at the Hooker-Dunham Theater. An art exposition will also be held in the Hooker-Dunham Gallery. Members of the literary, visual, and performing arts communities of Windham County, both professional and amateur, interested in contributing their time and talent are invited...
The Vermont Nature Conservancy's purchase of an additional 400 acres on Black Mountain is almost completed. The $900,000 project is within $7,000 of its goal to expand Nature Conservancy land to more than 1,000 acres at Black Mountain. The purchase includes the 275-acre ZFR property, a crown jewel of the Conservancy land. Here, hikers will be able to see much of the bowl of the horseshoe-shaped pluton, an exposed granite dome creating a unique, natural habitat. A beaver pond and...
I was so pleased to see the Rockingham Free Public Library preservation grant announced in The Commons. Emily Zervas, who is moving on to become director of the Putney Public Library, has served our library so well as reference and historical collections librarian. Few people realize all the skills she brought to the RFPL, which she will now take to her new position. In addition to successful grant writing that has dramatically enhanced our historical collection, she has been a...
The Governor's Institutes of Vermont invites high school student applications for its two upcoming Winter Weekends: Feb. 6-8, 2015, at Goddard College and Feb. 13-15 at Marlboro College. Like GIV's acclaimed summer programs, these accelerated mini-institutes give talented high-school students the opportunity to immerse themselves in topics they care about and make new friends who share their interests. Students in grades 9 through 12 are encouraged to apply. According to a press release, The Governor's Institutes, an educational non-profit, “is...
UVM professor Emily Bernard will look at the transformation of beloved poet and activist Maya Angelou in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library on Jan. 7, 2015, at 7 p.m. Her talk, “Delicious to the Ear: The Inspiring Voice of Maya Angelou,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council's First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public. Before she became an internationally revered poet, memoirist, and activist, Maya Angelou was mute for five years as a...
Brattleboro's Last Night Committee presents a fun-filled, substance-free day of celebration on New Year's Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 31. The day kicks off with a senior potluck luncheon at the Brattleboro Senior Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring The New Year's End Trio. From noon to 4 p.m., KidsPLAYce holds a free Toddler and Pre-School Celebration! For more information, call 802-254-5212. From 1 to 4 p.m., enjoy sleigh and hay rides at Fairwinds Farm on Upper Dummerston Road. No...
On behalf of the trustees of Friends of Music at Guilford, I extend sincere thanks to everyone who attended and supported our two annual events that allow us to support three other local nonprofit organizations. Set at Centre Congregational Church since 1980, the Messiah Sing was rededicated in 2007 as a benefit for the homeless at holiday time. Since then, we have raised close to $13,200 in door donations divided equally between the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center and Morningside...
In observance of the Christmas holiday, all town offices will close at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 24, and will be closed all day Thursday, Dec. 25, with the exception of emergency services. The offices will resume normal hours on Thursday, Dec. 26. Brooks Memorial Library will close at noon on Dec. 24 and will be closed all day Dec. 25. It will resume normal hours on Dec. 26. Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots...
The Commons will suspend publication for a week so our staff and contributors can recharge their batteries, enjoy the holiday season, and otherwise gird themselves to produce a good newspaper for you in 2015. The next issue will be dated Wednesday, Jan. 7. Deadline for news and advertising is Friday, Jan. 2. All of us at Vermont Independent Media and The Commons offer readers best holiday wishes in these waning days of 2014. See you next year.
I finally read Michelle Bos-Lun's piece outlining the increased incidences incidence of mood disorders and psychosis among those who smoke marijuana. It is straightforward, non-hysterical, and non-prescriptive. It simply argues that smoking marijuana at a young age puts teens and young adults - whose brains are not yet fully developed - at higher risk for developing mental illnesses. It also argues that the marijuana available today has a much higher THC content than that widely available several decades ago. It...
Shela Linton has always been awesome for Brattleboro. She wants to empower other people. In light of this kind of commitment, activism becomes clear as humanitarianism.
Of course, there is the little issue of Richard Gagnon having the opportunity to serve out his sentence locally. His victim, regrettably, will never have the opportunity to see his loved ones again.
In less than a week, the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon will stop generating power and shut down after over four decades. By the afternoon of Dec. 22, Senior Nuclear Training Instructor Brian Stewart had completed the last training in the control room simulator - an exact replica of the actual control room at the nuclear station - at the Entergy headquarters, a few miles north of the plant on Old Ferry Road. He stood in the 1960s-era...
The Vermont State Police will be participating in Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. According to the state police, Vermont has had 42 traffic fatalities so far in 2014. Of those traffic fatalities, they say, four operators were impaired by alcohol and six by drugs (most commonly, marijuana) and that 44 percent of occupants were unbelted, improperly restrained, or not wearing a helmet. “By using high visibility enforcement coupled with education, we will...
John Merrigan, commander of the Vermont State Police Narcotics Task Force, noted that while there may be a nationwide crackdown on websites like Silk Road, the state drug task force focus remains on heroin, noting that opiate addiction continues as widespread “in every community” in the state. “No community is untouched,” he said. “We all know someone who doesn't know they have an opiate addiction.” That, in turn, creates the demand that suppliers use as a door into any community.
The Brattleboro Women's Chorus offers a six-week winter session for women on Thursdays, Jan. 8 through Feb. 12, 2015, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Centre Congregational Church parlor. Chorus leader Becky Graber will teach some favorites from the nearly 20 years of women's chorus repertoire. This session is not leading up to a concert; it's just a time for singing together. Songs from BWC's eclectic, world folk music repertoire will be taught by ear with occasional word sheets...
When Earl Grennan of Springfield approached the biggest step of his scouting life - his Eagle Scout project - he wanted to do something out of the ordinary, something that would last a lifetime. At the same time, the Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association [WHPA] put out a plea for just such a project: a log shelter to be built set back from a ridge in Grafton. Grennan took on that challenge. He planned the design of the shelter, figured the...
Brattleboro gave up five unanswered goals against Woodstock in the first period, then scored five unanswered goals in the second period before the Colonels ultimately came up short against the Wasps in a 7-6 loss at Withington Rink on Dec. 17. This was a game of surges. Woodstock outshot Brattleboro, 15-2, in the opening period as they took a 5-0 lead. Brendan McCarthy scored just two minutes into the game, then his brother Connor scored three goals over a span...
The Bellows Falls Police Department has arrested five people for drug violations involving mephredrone - “bath salts” - since May, a full 21 percent of the number of heroin arrests during the same period. “That's a trend,” said Detective Lt. Shane Harris. But that trend is not reflected statewide. John Merrigan, a former Southern Vermont Drug Task Force lieutenant who commands the Vermont State Police Narcotics Unit, said this trend in Bellows Falls does not reflect bath salts drug abuse...
Next Stage Arts Project welcomes you to join it for a fresh look at recitation of traditional and contemporary poems by a handful of young performers. The event, at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, features Poetry Out Loud Vermont State three-year finalist Maia Gilmour and is hosted by Chard DeNiord. Presenters will recite, from memory, a published poem, bringing it to life as part of Next Stage Speaks and the NSAP Youth Initiative. A $7 suggested donation is...
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present award-winning contemporary folk singer/songwriter Antje Duvekot plus Hayley Reardon and Hannah Hoffman at Next Stage on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. Duvekot is a German-born, American-raised singer/songwriter whose songs have been critically praised for their hard-won wisdom, dark-eyed realism, and street-smart romanticism. Her bicultural upbringing and relative newness to English have helped shape her unique way with a song, giving her a startlingly original poetic palette. She has won the...
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Vermont was the only state in the nation declining in population. The census data also shows that Vermont ranks just behind Maine as having the second highest median age, at 42.3 years. As a result, Vermont has an older workforce, and those older workers have to stay on the job longer as businesses struggle to recruit younger workers. And the state has struggled mightily to balance its budget in recent years, in the face...
Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin left heads spinning last week when he announced the state is putting the brakes on financing single-payer health care. For health-care-reform advocates who thought they could finally see such a system on the horizon, Shumlin's news felt like whiplash. Opponents of single-payer health care, worried about the new program increasing costs, welcomed the news. In a Dec. 17 press conference, Shumlin said the numbers didn't work for transitioning to single-payer. “Pushing for single-payer health-care financing when...
A new and acclaimed biography, “Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man,” about the man widely regarded as the forefather of modern hip-hop, was largely written, incongruously, in a remote cabin in the woods of Southern Vermont. But then perhaps it not so odd. The author of this definitive biography, Marcus Baram, grew up in the village of Green River in Guilford, and in Belmont, Mass. He now lives in Green River and Brooklyn, N.Y. “I have spent a lot of...
I was full of Christmas cheer as I took a trolley from Cambridge to Boston to wait for the train to Brattleboro. It was snowing heavily. I was excited about spending a Vermont Christmas with my brother Paddy, his wife Betty, and their little daughter Leish, but I was also excited at the thought of meeting my girlfriend Tina in New York after Christmas. To my surprise, I began to realize how very close we'd become in a short time.
Sometimes you're born with an older brother, and sometimes one is matched to you. In the case of Austin Powers, that match came at just the right time. Keith Clark was working two jobs: one in the Vermont Army National Guard, and the other as Windham County Sheriff. He also had a wife and two daughters and was very active in the community. In his spare time, he signed up to be a “Big.” He had originally thought to sign...