Issue #369
Flat Iron Exchange presents photography of Jimmy ienner Jr.
The Flat Iron Exchange, 51 The Square, will showcase the photographic artwork of Jimmy ienner Jr. through October.
Ienner's passion lies in landscape photography and photojournalism. He has been enamored with railroads since he was young, even having his own model-train room as a boy. His passion led him to Bellows Falls in the summer of 1993. One of only a few given private access to the Green Mountain Railroad, ienner fell in love with the environment in which Bellows Falls sits.
Submissions are sought for Ten Minute Play Festival
The Actors Theatre Playhouse of West Chesterfield, N.H., and Brattleboro is accepting submissions for its Ten Minute Play Festival in June 2017. Ten-minute plays should play in one scene, have minimal scenic requirements, not exceed 10-12 pages in length and have two to six characters, according to a news...
Around the Towns
'Paint and sip' fundraiser benefits Gerda's Animal Aid NEWFANE - Gerda's Animal Aid, a nonprofit horse rescue group based in Townshend, will have a “paint and sip” fundraiser at the Four Columns Inn, 21 West St., on Saturday, Aug. 13, from 3 to 5 p.m. The cost is $40...
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Milestones
College news • Kristina Wittler of South Newfane, a physics major and member of the Class of 2019, has earned the spring 2016 Dean's Award for Academic Excellence at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. Military news • Specialist Michael Mannhaupt of Wilmington, a member of the 1182nd Forward Support Company of the the New York Army National Guard's 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, successfully completed a training exercise at the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La. More...
Halifax votes to keep zoning regs
Voters on Tuesday narrowly voted to keep their town's zoning regulations in place. According to Town Clerk Patricia Dow, the tally was 148 against repeal, 126 favoring repeal, with three blank ballots. The vote was prompted by a public petition that circulated in town earlier this year after the Zoning Board of Adjustment last year denied a conditional use permit to Russell Denison to construct and operate a schist quarry in Halifax's Conservation District. Proponents of repeal said that the...
Vernon votes to exit BUHS District No. 6
Voters on Tuesday approved pulling out of the regional Brattleboro Union High School District, a move that allows Vernon to try to preserve its unique choice options for middle- and high-schoolers. By a tally of 374 for and 124 against, voters supported withdrawing from the district known as BUHS District No. 6. “I am pleased to have the continued support for our school by the residents of Vernon,” School Board Chair Mike Hebert said Tuesday night. “Now the board has...
Town OKs funding for new fire station
After multiple Selectboard meetings, a petition, and an hour-long public information session on whether taxpayers should fund a new central fire station, on August 9, voters overwhelmingly chose to support the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department. According to Town Clerk Laurie Frechette, the tally was 401 yes, 69 no, and two blank ballots. Fire department officials have said that the current central station is inadequate for modern firefighting needs. Some of their trucks are too large to fit inside the...
It’s Minter, Scott for governor
The race to be the next governor of Vermont in November will be between two members of the outgoing Shumlin administration. Sue Minter of Waterbury, a former lawmaker and head of the Agency of Transportation, won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination on Tuesday, besting former lawmakers Matt Dunne of Hartland and Peter Galbraith of Townshend. Minter will face Lt. Gov. Phil Scott of Berlin, who decisively defeated retired businessman Bruce Lisman of Shelburne in the Republican gubernatorial primary. With 99 percent...
Reflection on ungrounding of Groundworks
Simply put: things happen. Funding does not come through, people have opinions and reactions, and organizations have their stance that seems intractable. Parties become adversaries instead of partners. The lessons learned from this can spread a wide net, if we let it, if we tend to it. I am concerned for the people who will need shelter for the coming winter and hope a new place is found. I wanted Groundworks to be able to establish its programs here. I...
Rotary Club awards $18,000 in scholarships to six local students
The Brattleboro Rotary Club recently awarded a total of $18,000 in scholarships to six local high school students who will attend college this fall. The scholarships are funded by The Gateway Foundation, an affiliate of the Brattleboro Rotary Club, according to a news release. This year's recipients include Emily Bau of Brattleboro, who will attend Columbia University; Kimberly Bau of Brattleboro, who will attend Carnegie Mellon University; Erelyn E. Griffin of Westminster, who will attend Johnson State College; Ashley P.
White supporters of racial justice compelled to speak out
Today, I was out walking on a dirt road in our area with a friend, when an earsplitting gunshot shocked us both. Our first reaction was total fear: we never saw the shooter, and I think we both felt far more afraid after the most recent spate of gun-related killings in this country than we would have felt a even a few weeks ago. Many of us feel like we are living in a shooting gallery in this country, that...
A rude and hurtful caption
I feel the caption about someone using the cell phone at the Brattleboro Goes Fourth parade was uncalled for. I happen to know the person and she was taking pictures throughout and waving, just like every other person. In fact, she was letting me know where they were at so I would not miss them, as I am visually impaired. I feel this float had a lot of hard work put into it. I feel it is rude to point...
Deeply held racial biases demand police reform
This accelerating season of racial violence has not triggered, so much as revealed, the deeply held racial biases that can kill innocents on both sides of the blue line when they are not explicitly examined. I believe no one in the United States comes to adulthood without some problems and biases around race. Active engagement with what are often unconsidered prejudices, along with purposefully stressing that the police are servants of the people, not the other way around, is absolutely...
OK with nuclear, but with a few conditions
I'm OK with nuclear energy, too, with a few caveats. The government must fully insure against all losses caused by a nuclear plant; the government must guarantee that a closed plant be fully removed in 10 years; the government must guarantee that all spent fuel be removed from a plant site withing the same 10 years as decommissioning, and the government must provide as much economic development funds as it takes to maintain a stable economy with the same period.
Second suspect in Elliot Street assaults arrested
Police arrested a previously unidentified suspect wanted in connection to a robbery and two assaults on Elliot Street. Police located the suspect, Patrick Wayne Poillon, on Aug. 3 hiding in the bedroom closet of an Elliot Street residence. According to court documents, suspect Poillon was arraigned on three counts. The first, a felony, assault and robbery with injury. The other two, are misdemeanors - simple assault and aggravated disorderly conduct, including being maliciously motivated by the victim's perceived race. On...
Choreographers from Vermont, Montréal will present works in progress
Choreographers Michael Bodel from Putney and Audrée Juteau from Montréal will have overlapping residencies at Vermont Performance Lab this August as part of VPL's SEED Program, a new initiative that supports regional dance makers with fees and residencies at VPL and Studio 303 in Montréal. Bodel and Juteau are developing dance works that will be presented in a shared evening as part of VPL's In The Works series on Saturday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m., in the Arts Barn at...
Town breaks ground at fire station
After almost four years of starts and stops, overturned budgets, passionate Representative Town Meeting debates, and hard work by supporters and opponents alike, the construction phase of the Police-Fire Facilities Project has begun. For anyone who has attended a groundbreaking, the following will feel familiar: a line of town officials and volunteers, complete with hardhats and shovels, posed before a pile of dirt. For the town officials, volunteers, firefighters, and police officers who attended the groundbreaking for Fire Station 2...
Rain raises E. coli levels at local swimming spots
Last week's rain was a welcome sight for everyone except swimmers. In round three of the Southeastern Vemont Watershed Alliance's summer water-quality monitoring program on Aug. 3, according to a news release, all but two sites in the West River and Whetstone watershed failed the “suitability for swimming” standard set by the state of Vermont and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of a maximum of 235 E. coli per 100 milliliters of water. Volunteers are collecting samples from 30 sites...
Marlboro Music wraps up 66th season this weekend
In a tradition that dates back to 1957, the final work in the last concert of Marlboro Music's 66th season on Sunday, Aug. 14, at 2:30 p.m., will be the Beethoven Choral Fantasy, which brings together the resident artists and staff and their families playing in the orchestra or singing in the chorus, according to a news release. It's the culmination of the seven-week retreat, where 181 works were explored in depth with the freedom of unlimited rehearsal time, but...
Damage to Green River Bridge extends detour
Travelers expecting to cross the Green River Covered Bridge at the beginning of September must make new plans. Because of newly discovered damage to part of the bridge's truss, the detour is extended to Friday, Sept. 30. The bridge was originally supposed to reopen at the end of August. Town Administrator Katie Buckley issued an announcement Aug. 4 with details on how the damage was discovered and what locals and visitors can expect. Workers found a significant section of rot...
Property taxes to increase in Vernon
As the town acclimates to the shuttering of Vermont Yankee, residents will see a higher tax bill this year, according to a news release. “This is approximately $185.20 more per $100,000 per assessed value for a homestead [tax] rate,” Treasurer Cindy Turnley told Selectboard members at their July 25 regular meeting. Turnley was there to present the proposed 2016 tax rate, which the Board unanimously approved. For Vernon residents, the total homestead tax rate is $1.7537 per $100 of assessed...
Correction
The headline to a letter from Bob DePino of Westminster in the special election letters section in last week's Commons should have read “DePino and Cutler stand strong for gun rights.” DePino's wife, Bonnie, will join Eddie Cutler in running as Republicans for the two-representative Windham-4 district, which spans Westminster, Putney, and Dummerston. The headline, obviously in error, accidentally referenced Connie Baxter, another letter writer who criticized both candidates. My apologies to our readers - and to both our letter...
Free concert will introduce BMC Movin’ Into Music program
A free concert will introduce children and their parents and caregivers to the magic of music and movement in the Brattleboro Music Center's popular Movin' into Music program. The concert will be held Monday, Aug. 15, at 10 a.m., at the BMC, 38 Walnut St., according to a news release. Performing will be singer-songwriter Kim Wallach, who currently teaches elementary school music in Northfield and Warwick, Mass., and is director of the “Movin' Into Music” program. Wallach is from nearby...
Voters reject bond for new Town Offices
With the defeat of Tuesday's bond vote seeking $950,000 for a new office building, workers in the town offices will have to stay put for the foreseeable future. By a vote of 286 to 226, townspeople voted against the article. After many years of making piecemeal repairs to the current town offices, the Selectboard last November formed a full working committee to address the building's deficiencies, among them a lack of privacy, heating issues, insufficient room in the vault, and...
Fair weather departs, potential drought dent arrives
Good day to all whose eyes are meeting this page! Our fair weather train has left the building, as we move into more warm and oppressively humid conditions through early next week. This incoming deep layer of moist air should help to produce an abundance of hydrometeors (the meteorological term for rain). Farmers and gardeners love hydrometeors! For Wednesday, high pressure builds off to our southeast, allowing more warm and humid air to enter southern Vermont. The clockwise flow around...
Newfane briefs
Slow down on Grimes Hill, and everywhere else NEWFANE - According to discussion during the “unscheduled members of the public” portion of the Aug. 1 regular Selectboard meeting, many of Newfane's roads are plagued with speeding drivers. When resident Deb Luskin addressed the Board about ongoing speeding on Grimes Hill Road, nearly every Board member added their own story of drivers going too fast on town highways, including roads where small children live. Some Board members attributed the poor driving...
Between the disastrous and the unpalatable
I've been sweating a lot this summer, and not just because of the high temperatures and humidity. It's mostly due to the scorched-earth tones of the 2016 presidential election and what the outcome could portend for our country. As the famous economist, diplomat, and intellectual John Kenneth Galbraith said, “Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.” He's long gone, but his words nailed this election for me. Donald Trump is the disastrous part of the...
Coming home for parades, geocaching, and a variety show
With less than a week to go before Whitingham's Old Home Week festivities, the event's legion of volunteers are all hands to the pumps. “We often say it's great because we remember how much fun it was and forget how much work it was,” laughs Leon Corse, who is marking his fourth Old Home Week. Started in 1906 and repeated once a decade, the event serves to welcome people home for a visit, Corse explained. Old Home Week runs from...
Crucial conversations
Yes, implicit bias exists and law enforcement in Vermont is no exception, panelists said during a July 27 community discussion on policing Brattleboro. As an example, panelists and audience members pointed to data from the Vermont State Police on its agency's traffic stops. According to the data on the state police webpage (vsp.vermont.gov), black drivers are stopped, searched, and ticketed at rates higher than white drivers. Panelists answered questions from the audience and highlighted efforts by law enforcement agencies to...
It’s Greek to them
The narrator began. “And so King Agamemnon went to war,” Brattleboro Area Middle School student Julius Jensen said. “And Paris taunted him... and they began a bloody fight.” As Jensen read these lines, his classmates stood frozen in poses illustrating the ancient Greek tale. Breaking out of character, Caleb Reale announced to the narrator, “Julius, don't worry, I won't wear these pants tomorrow.” Reale's pants were printed with a colorful, Jackson Pollock–inspired red, black, and gray print - not exactly...
Pastry chef, author Louise Miller visits Bartleby’s to tout new novel
Bartleby's Books will host an event with Louise Miller, author of the just-published novel, “The City Baker's Guide to Country Living,” on Friday, Aug. 11, at 6:30 p.m., according to a news release. Miller is a writer and pastry chef who lives and works in Boston. According to the release, she was born to two Teamsters, then raised in urban Boston until the age of eight, when she moved to a posh suburb where “she quickly learned that in order...
Vermont wins Shrine game, ends 15-year losing streak
It had to happen sooner or later, and it finally did last Saturday night as Vermont ended a 15-game losing streak to New Hampshire with a decisive 50-2 win in the 63rd annual Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl at Castleton University's Spartan Stadium. Some might put an asterisk next to that score, since many of New Hampshire's best high school senior football players opted to play in their state's East-West all-star game earlier this summer. But it was still the most...
A harvest of dance
What a lot of people think about ballet is sitting in a stuffy hall watching some tutus and tights as dancers prance across a stage. But imagine being in an open field on a summer night watching a dance performance designed to celebrate Vermont's farming culture. That's exactly what will happen on Saturday, Aug. 20, when the Retreat Farm in Brattleboro presents the Farm to Ballet Project, a celebration of arts and agriculture in Southern Vermont. Outdoors on the Harris...
Timber company defends turbine proposal
As he gazes across the hilltops of Stiles Brook Forest, Jeremy Turner can easily recount the property's century-long history of timber production. But Turner, who is managing forester for Stiles Brook owner Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd., also sees an uncertain future due to the effects of climate change. He lists warning signs such as stunted trees, increasing numbers of insects, and a dwindling moose population. That's one reason New Hampshire-based Meadowsend - in spite of vehement opposition from some residents in...