“I think it's a loss for the town,” Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark told The Commons in response to the Newfane Selectboard declining to renew its contract with his department.
At the July 6 regular Selectboard meeting, the Board voted to enter into a contract for the Vermont State Police to serve its law-enforcement needs. [See “Newfane fires Sheriffs Department,” Town & Village, July 15.]
In a telephone conversation, Clark said he anticipates Newfane residents will still call his department requesting such things as Vehicle Identification Number checks, or for deputies to look in on their homes while they vacation.
But, now those tasks are in the hands of the Vermont State Police. With the nearest barracks located at least a half-hour away from the center of Newfane, response times may suffer.
In the July 22 Commons, Tim Stevenson wrote a Viewpoint piece, “Brattleboro can provide leadership on climate change.” In fact, the town has been a leader on climate change for many years, and it continues to be a model for other cities and towns. In 2002, the town joined...
The first Brattleboro on Wheels Cruise-In pancake breakfast and car show, a benefit for local Rotary charities, is planned for Saturday, Aug. 8, in the large paved parking area across from Brattleboro Union High School. Admission to the show is free. The festivities get under way at 8 a.m.
College news • The following local students were recognized for academic achievement at Vermont Technical College for the spring 2015 semester: Emily K, Houghton of Brattleboro, Heather L. Janos of Dummerston, Jeffrey L. Harlow and Donna M. Ianetta of Putney, Caleb Bristol of Townshend, Mary Emery of Vernon, Stacy A. Chickering of West Chesterfield, N.H., Lindsay B. Colompos of West Marlboro, Ian Ingram of Westmoreland, N.H., and August Q, Conmy and Thomas J. Manton Jr. of Wilmington were all named...
The Grace Cottage Hospital Fair Day is held annually on the first Saturday in August on the Townshend Common. This year's Fair Day will be on Aug. 1, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Organized by the Grace Cottage Hospital Auxiliary, The Boston Globe has called this event “New England at its best.” The fair features a live auction, bargain booths, bingo, pony rides, face painting, jewelry, plants, food, kids' games, a costume booth for kids, a dunking booth, the...
Blasting scheduled for I-91 bridge project BRATTLEORO - Blasting operations on the north side of the new Interstate 91 bridge will begin the week of Aug. 3. Roughly 15 separate 10-minute blasts will be needed to complete the work. The blasting will be conducted on weekdays for approximately three weeks; the target time for the blasts is between 1:30 to 2 p.m. The contractor will need 5 minutes to verify clear lanes of travel. To ensure travelers' safety, rolling roadblocks...
Citing the costs of perpetual care, and that rates have not increased “since the late 1970s,” Cemetery Committee member Terry Chapman asked the Dummerston Selectboard to approve raising plot fees for the town's public cemeteries. Chapman also noted Dummerston's cemetery plots cost considerably less than those at other public and private graveyards in the area. She said mowing and tree removal are big expenses. Selectboard Chair Zeke Goodband concurred, noting “some things have gone up since” the late 1970s. Chapman...
Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) is among the first hospitals in Vermont to acquire the Olympus EVIS EXERA III video endoscopy system. This system uses a video processor, light source, endoscope, and monitor to enable physicians to look inside the gastrointestinal (GI) system to diagnose, detect, and treat GI diseases such as colorectal cancer. The advanced imaging in the EVIS EXERA III system will help BMH physicians to detect GI disease at an earlier stage when treatments are most successful. “By...
Jon Katz, best-selling author of 26 books, will headline the Dover Free Library's annual Dessert Social to benefit the library on Thursday, Aug. 6. In a telephone conversation with The Commons, Katz said he doesn't like to do readings, but he “loves conversations.” A longtime journalist and contributor to a variety of publications, including The Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, and Wired, Katz has mostly shifted his focus from technology and society to “writing about animals in a thoughtful way,” he...
The Brattleboro branch of American Association of University Women (AAUW) awarded five college scholarships for the 2015-2016 academic year. Three high school graduates and two mature women, already pursuing higher education, received $1,000 each. The high school recipients are: • Haley E. Buffum of Leland & Gray Union High School. She will attend Johnson State College this fall to major in secondary and special education, and hopes to teach in Vermont after graduation. Throughout her high school career, she was...
No one questions the need to replace the antique Arch Bridge, though many have questioned whether a new bridge should have one lane or two. I think this is the wrong debate. The question we should be asking is: How can we make a replacement bridge and its approaches safe - not just for trucks and cars, but for cyclists and pedestrians as well? In the public meetings with the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the safety issue that has been...
Marlboro Music, the Vermont retreat celebrating its 65th season, just completed a residency with noted Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, offering performances of two of her works – Nymphea and Mirages. This coming weekend's concerts will feature two major woodwind works - the Mozart Quintet in A Major for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581 on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 8:30 p.m. and the Beethoven Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 for clarinet, bassoon, horn and strings on Sunday, Aug, 2 at...
The Police-Fire Facilities Project will return to the drawing board. Town Manager Peter Elwell said at the July 21 Selectboard meeting that he wanted architects to develop new concept plans for the Central Fire Station and Police Station. Plans for Station Two, the fire station in West Brattleboro, are okay to go. The board approved $7,500 from the operating budget to develop the new concept plans. Elwell added that he came before the board for approval because he thought the...
Hinesburg Road to be closed for construction work BRATTLEBORO - From Aug. 3 to Aug. 19, a portion of Hinesburg Road will undergo substantial reconstruction between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day in preparation for upcoming paving work. For the safety of the public and the construction crew, traffic will be detoured onto Abbott Road during those hours. The road will be reopened each evening. For more information, contact the Department of Public Works at 802-254-4255. Tri-Park overdue utility...
In response to Newfane's interest in a compromise on the Arch Bridge replacement, the town received a new set of plans from the Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT). The so-called “third option” sees the Arch Bridge rebuilt the width of two lanes, but striped as a single-lane span. This plan also makes the intersection on the northwest end of the bridge a three-way stop. This may satisfy residents, especially those living along Dover and Grimes Hill roads in South Newfane...
The Brattleboro Little League 12-year-old All-Star baseball team had mixed results in the Vermont State Tournament over the weekend at Legion Field in St. Johnsbury. On July 25, Brattleboro defeated Northwest of Swanton, 9-2, in Game 1. Winning pitcher Tyler Millerick kept Northwest off balance with a nice mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches. He struck out nine batters, and the only run he gave up was a solo homer by Moses Gonyon. After Millerick reached the 85-pitch limit in...
Rock Voices, the area's only community rock choir, will present a concert at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St., on Friday, July 31, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Concert organizers describe the event as “a summer fun evening of rock and pop classics like you've never heard them before.” The community choir's program - a tribute to rock bands from the 1960s and 1970s who recorded hits in California - will include tunes by the Beach Boys;
The Putney School invites adults of all skill levels to attend its annual Adult Studio Arts & Writing Week, Aug.9–15. Workshop offerings from a roster of accomplished faculty for this one week, studio-intensive program include blacksmithing, fiber arts, glass arts, metal jewelry, painting, and creative writing. In classes of six to eight students per studio, each participant selects one workshop for six hours of intensive daily instruction, with opportunities for independent studio work during the evening. Participants may receive a...
The 109th annual pilgrimage to the Rockingham Meeting House will take place Sunday, Aug. 2, beginning with a picnic at noon at the historic landmark structure. This year's pilgrimage includes musical presentations by resident Erik Johansson and the Main Street Arts String Band. Residents are asked to bring along their own picnics, or they can enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on site by Lisai's, before the main program. The band will provide background music during the picnic. In case...
Brattleboro Area Jewish Community (BAJC) in West Brattleboro announces the ordination of Cantor Kate Judd. She was ordained through the Cantor Educator Program (CEP) at Hebrew College in Newton, Mass. The program at Hebrew College draws on renowned faculty from three Hebrew College schools ― the School of Jewish Music, Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education and Rabbinical School ― as well as resources from Andover Newton Theological School and other member institutions of the Boston Theological Institute. Cantors in...
The Crowell Gallery at Moore Public Library, 23 West St., presents “The Pantyhose Installation” by West Brattleboro fiber artist Sharon Myers, part of her ongoing series exploring women's lives through underwear and clothing. “Pantyhose are the daughters of nylon stockings and the granddaughters of silk stockings - gossamer, suggestive forms that women once draped over racks to dry,” Myers writes in her artist's statement about the exhibit. “In work preceding this one, I draped pantyhose over picket fences, deer fencing,
Cellist and multi-Grammy award winner Eugene Friesen will perform a solo concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 31, at the stone church on the hill in Bellows Falls. Friesen is a founder and the artistic director of Stone Church Arts, which began presenting concerts in Bellows Falls in 2004. Since then, Friesen has brought many master musicians and talented students from all over the world to perform with him at the stone church, but this is his first solo...
On Aug. 3, 1948, the Northfield Drive-In opened for the first time. The first film shown was a single feature, Thunder in the Valley (a.k.a., Bob, Son of Battle), a 1947 potboiler about young love and sheepdogs set in the Scottish Highlands. Today, it is one of fewer than 20 drive-ins still in operation in New England. Its original arc and carbon projectors were bought used from an indoor theater in Northampton, Mass. They served the drive-in faithfully until 2014,
A group of young Israeli, Palestinian, and American teenagers invite the community to join them on the Brattleboro Common for an afternoon of arts and celebration on Sunday, Aug. 2, from noon until 4 p.m. Fifteen young adults from three countries who are learning leadership skills at the Jerusalem Peacebuilders (JPB) Acer Farm Camp in West Brattleboro want to share with their Vermont neighbors the music, poetry, and skits they worked on during their two-week peace camp experience. The community...
Vermont in 2013 led the nation in Lyme disease infection rates, and Maine and New Hampshire ranked second and third. Yet in 2002, Vermont was not even mentioned in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control report ranking the top 12 states in the incidence of Lyme disease. What has changed? It is the significant northward expansion of blacklegged “deer” ticks carrying Lyme disease into communities throughout northern New England. In March, the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine reported deer...
The Putney community is invited to participate in the statewide read of Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the 2015 Vermont Reads selection from the Vermont Humanities Council. This funny and touching story of a father and son is, at its heart, a reflection on the importance of stories, imagination, and creativity. Vermont Reads brings communities together around stories, ideas, and activities that are important to the life of towns of all sizes. In Haroun, Rushdie has created...
Despite increased demands on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, the director of the White River Junction VA Medical Center says that northern New England veterans are getting access to care in a timely manner. At a town hall-style forum held at the Brattleboro VA outpatient clinic on July 24, Deborah Amdur said the White River facility books 24,000 health care appointments a month, and 95 percent of those appointments are scheduled within 30 days. Access to...
Former Ambassador and State Senator Peter Galbraith knows a thing or two about diplomacy. After many years as a diplomat and consultant in places ranging from East Timor and Croatia to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Townshend resident says he has one simple rule to test the worth of a deal. “No negotiated agreement does everything that you want,” he said during a talk arranged by the Windham World Affairs Council on July 24 at 118 Elliot. “The measure is, is...
The record will show that the Brattleboro 15-year-old Babe Ruth all-star team went 0-3 at the 2015 New England Regionals. What it will not show is how hard the three-time Vermont state champions competed against some very tough teams from across the region. Vermont gave Cranston, R.I., all it could handle in the first game behind the pitching of ace right-hander Leif Bigelow in a 3-0 setback on July 24 that could have easily gone the other way. Brattleboro then...
When the Grafton Village Store closed late this spring, it left residents high and dry, with no choice but to drive 20 minutes to one of the surrounding towns for basic needs. But at a small gathering of concerned residents at the Grafton Tavern last week, Windham Foundation's CEO Bob Allen said he was in the process of approving a business plan for a new enterprise for the building owned by the charitable nonprofit - one that fits with the...
“We have a fire truck in our department than cannot fit in our own firehouse,” Dummerston Fire Chief Rick Looman told the Selectboard at its July 22 regular meeting. Looman shared this story to explain why the town needs to support his department's efforts to build a new fire station to replace the one on East-West Road, behind the Congregational Church. He hopes to break ground next spring. The Dummerston Center Fire Station also cannot house other towns' trucks when...
Vermont author and Commons columnist Elayne Clift will read from her latest book, Children of the Chalet: New and Selected Stories, Grand Prize Winner for Fiction in the Greyden Press 2014 Book Competition, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 6 p.m., at Bartleby's Books, 17 West Main St. Clift's collection has two parts. The first, “Children of the Chalet,” from which the title is drawn, is a set of connected stories based on a year Clift spent in the 1960s as...
Billie Slade saved pennies in a jar for four years to attend her first teachers camp. Years later, she not only facilitates the camp she attended as a child, she also helps fellow teachers rediscover their love of teaching. “This is a place where you will feel heard and you will be both inspired and you will inspire,” said Slade, who took over running the Green Mountain Camp's (GMC) executive director in 2012. GMC, a summer camp for girls since...