The Windham County Sheriff's Department is the recipient of a $61,135 grant from State Farm Insurance's Youth Advisory Board grant.
The money will be used to purchase vehicle simulators for the Sheriff's Enhanced Teen Driver Safety Program. The program, developed and taught by Deputy First Class Michael Roj, strives to reduce safety issues related to teenage driving.
“This equipment will add to the already comprehensive and existing program which provides teens an opportunity to encounter hazardous road conditions in a safe environment,” Roj said in a news release.
According to Roj, teenage operators make up 7 percent of the driving population, but account for 15 percent of all motor vehicle crashes.
Leland & Gray Union Middle and High School is one of only 20 schools nationally to be recognized as a “School of Opportunity,” a designation honoring public high schools that build on students' strengths and create supported learning opportunities for all. The National Education Policy Center, based at the...
Rummage, tag, and bake sale in Jacksonville JACKSONVILLE - The Jacksonville Community Church will hold its annual fall rummage, tag, and bake sale on Friday, Oct. 7, and Saturday, Oct. 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the church on 96 VT Route 112. There will be four...
Tickets are still available for the sixth annual Blanche Moyse Memorial Concert, featuring the music of her beloved J. S. Bach. Past members of the New England Bach Festival Orchestra will join the Blanche Moyse Chorale under the direction of Mary Westbrook-Geha to honor the memory of their mentor, Blanche Moyse. The concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8, at Marlboro College's Persons Auditorium, according to a news release. This scheduling is a change from previous...
The Selectboard recently voted to cover the costs of running the Emergency Operations Center, which may add over $6,000 to the town's budget. For many years, the center, located on Governor Hunt Road, was occupied and run by Vermont Yankee, and then Entergy, for nuclear-power-plant-related emergency purposes. Because of Entergy's efforts to reduce costs associated with the decommissioned plant - including emergency planning - the company wants to be released from paying to operate and maintain the center, Emergency Management...
Board backs natural resources grant GUILFORD - The Selectboard voted on Sept. 12 to support a grant to inventory the town's natural resources. The town's Conservation Commission is in charge of applying for the state's municipal planning grant, which covers a portion of the project's costs and is used for things like research and public outreach. Board member Gabrielle Ciufredda estimated the town's portion as $3,300, and noted the Conservation Commission has just over $1,700 to contribute. Ciufredda noted the...
Concert organist Hans U. Hielscher will present a recital at First Baptist Church, 190 Main St., on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. The concert will benefit the Estey Organ Museum (a $15 suggested donation gratefully accepted at the door), and the Brattleboro Historical Society will mount a companion exhibit next door at the Brattleboro History Center. According to a news release, Hielscher has delighted audiences around the world with his spirited playing, lively personality, and entertaining repertoire. Hielscher has...
Technology help available at Putney library PUTNEY - People seeking assistance with a computer, device, or phone can now receive help at two different times each week at Putney Public Library, 55 Main St. On Tuesday mornings from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., people can make a one-on-one appointment with Ray Hussey, a library volunteer. Two one-hour time slots are available - one at 11 a.m., and one at noon. Call the library at 802-387-4407 or visit the front desk...
Once again this Columbus Day weekend, tents will blossom on the Newfane Common as Historic Newfane Village hosts another Heritage Festival, celebrating community, crafts, food, and entertainment from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 8 and 9, rain or shine. Visitors return year after year for this signature event in southeastern Vermont. Hundreds of people from all over New England and beyond will gather on the Newfane Common for a quintessential Vermont experience during the beautiful...
For the first time in my life I am enthusiastic about a candidate. To say I have seen a number of government officers over the years - I am 92 years old - is an understatement. I have never been as supportive of a candidate as I am of Sue Minter, who has the best qualifications to serve as governor. The aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene was horrible for small towns like Grafton, where I served as a member of...
The West Brattleboro Association has been awarded $2,000 from the Thomas Thompson Trust. This award will support the Association's Neighborhoods Project, formed more than four years ago to strengthen neighborhood ties in the West Brattleboro area. The funds will be used to provide seed money and material support for volunteer efforts to bring neighbors together in ways appropriate to each neighborhood. Thanks to this program, West Brattleboro neighborhoods have been able to fund gardens, flower beds, field trips, senior meals,
An additional 500 feet of new fire hose will replace aging hose in the Saxtons River Volunteer Fire Department's supply, thanks to a grant from TransCanada. According to a news release, TransCanada's U.S. East Community Relations Officer Matthew Cole presented a $5,000 check to Fire Department Chief Arthur Smith Jr. at the village's fire station as part of the fire company's project to replace 6,000 feet of its worn hose. Village volunteers also have raised about $5,000 toward the project...
Entergy Vermont Yankee was named as a Silver People's Choice winner in the 37th Annual Telly Awards for its monthly cable television show, “SAFSTOR Matters.” The program was selected from more than 13,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries, according to a news release. SAFSTOR Matters, produced in the studio of Brattleboro Community Television, features experts who address identified issues about the decommissioning of Vermont Yankee. Over the course of 12 months, topics included an overview of the...
Mount Snow can't access $52 million in foreign investment money because of an ongoing federal review of Vermont's EB-5 Regional Center, a resort executive claims. Timothy Boyd, president and chief executive officer of Mount Snow parent company Peak Resorts, said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' questions about the state's EB-5 center don't directly involve the Dover resort, its EB-5 projects, or associated funding from foreign investors. Rather, Boyd said Mount Snow's EB-5 approvals have been delayed only because of their...
Voters receive a lot of information during campaigns, and it's important to check the facts. For example, Lt. Governor Phil Scott, the Republican nominee for governor, recently said “We've lost nearly 2,500 workers per year since 2010” (Aug. 31, Burlington Free Press). This is true, but misleading. Workers are part of the labor force, which consists of those who are working and those who are unemployed but want to work. The issue is that counting workers is not the same...
Thanks to a grant from the Federal Transit Administration, daily direct bus service between Brattleboro and Boston began on Oct. 1. MAX Bus, operated by Shelburne Falls, Mass.-based TrueNorth Transit Group LLC, will run a round-trip daily bus between Boston's South Station and the Brattleboro Transportation Center, with Massachusetts stops in Greenfield, Orange, Athol, Fitchburg, Leominster, Worcester, and Framingham. “Our service is a little different as we're geared to local residents and businesses needing a day trip into Boston during...
The Brattleboro Retreat announced the appointment of two new trustees, Kate O'Connor and Adam Grinold, who officially joined the hospital's board of directors on Sept. 23. Brattleboro resident Kate O'Connor currently serves as the executive director of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce and the vice chair of the Brattleboro Selectboard, according to a news release. She began her career in public service as an aide to former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin. For 14 years, she was a top policy...
Vermont Yankee administrators waited two years for the state's permission to build a new storage facility for nuclear waste at the defunct Vernon plant. When they finally received that permit in late June, they didn't waste any time getting started. Entergy administrators last week said the construction of a spent fuel storage facility is well under way, with a few dozen contracted workers having recently installed a massive generator that will provide emergency power to the complex. Construction will continue...
To the residents of Brattleboro and, more specifically, residents of Windham 2-1: I took this time to write to you based on facts, not the wishful thinking that seems to impair judgment on very important issues that will inevitably affect us all. For those of us who have been living under a rock the last couple of years, I will point out a few things about our choices for November's election. To be transparent: I attempted to garner enough support...
“Chocolate As You May Not Know It” is the theme of the second in the Main Street Arts Taste of the Arts series Thursday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m. Michael Klug will bring his own take on the confection (and perhaps some samples of his craft) when he shares his expertise as chocolatier for L.A. Burdick Chocolates of Walpole, N.H. As a chocolatier, Klug develops the flavors, textures, and complexities found in Burdick confections, while seeking to maintain integrity and...
The West Dummerston Fire Department's annual pancake breakfast, held the same morning as the famous apple pie festival, is a major fundraising event for the small, rural department, which serves the 30.8-square-mile town of just under 2,000 residents. According to longtime member Lester Dunklee, who co-chairs the event with Randy Hickins “and a few others,” last year's breakfast brought in “around $3,500 [to] $4,000.” Although in a typical year this money is crucial for the department's survival, this time the...
I am glad to see John Moran back in the race for state representative! He has served our community well in the past. Our community needs people like John who is dedicated to the people he serves. John has a history of working tirelessly for the district residents with a focus on what is needed to be done.
Why is it that we tolerate all these concealed-firearm laws that allow people to carry guns hidden on their bodies into schools, churches, shopping centers, and other public places in the name of the Second Amendment? Whether I agree with the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocates, I believe that better laws ought to be enacted - laws that would keep us better informed and, in the end, safer. Those laws are open-carry laws. After all, who benefits most...
Bartleby's Books will host a discussion and book signing with Newfane's Archer Mayor, author of the highly acclaimed Joe Gunther detective series, on Friday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m. In addition to writing The New York Times bestselling detective series, Mayor is a death investigator for Vermont's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, a detective for the Windham County Sheriff's Office, the publisher of his own backlist, a travel writer for AAA, and travels the Northeast giving speeches and conducting...
I support Mollie Burke for state representative for Brattleboro District 2. I have known and appreciated Mollie as a friend for 40 years. Mollie is a deep, clear, and careful thinker, problem solver, innovator, team builder, and community member. She has been an advocate for families and children ever since she moved to Brattleboro in 1970. She is the founder, executive director and lead teacher of Art in the Neighborhood, a nonprofit organization that provides year-round tuition-free arts classes to...
If you live in Vermont, you can vote for president, governor, and other politicians any time between now and Nov. 7 at your town office. You can also vote by mail now, or at a polling place on Nov. 8. The most important thing the governor and Vermont legislature do is protect farmland and forestland from development. The U.S. is losing an average of 6,000 acres of open space every day, according to www.tpl.org/ourland. The pavers are busy in Vermont.
I am writing in support of Mike Mrowicki and David Deen for Windham-4 (Dummerston, Putney, Westminster) representatives to the Vermont House of Representatives. These two individuals have demonstrated exemplary service to our district and to the state of Vermont. David's work to protect waterways throughout Vermont has been and will continue to be invaluable. Similarly, Mike's work for Vermont's families and children deserves kudos from all. Neither of these incumbents is a single-issue candidate, and neither is above compromise -
The Southern Vermont Deerfield Valley Jazz Concert Series concludes its season on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 8 p.m., with a benefit for the West River Habitat for Humanity, according to a news release. The local Habitat affiliate serves the towns of central southern Vermont from Jamaica to Readsboro. West River Habitat for Humanity is part of the larger Habitat for Humanity International founded by Jimmy Carter in 1976 to address the issue of affordable housing worldwide. Members of the community...
A group of young actors will perform a seminal modern classic of theater. For two consecutive weekends, beginning Oct. 7, New England Youth Theatre will present the still-innovative play, “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” by Nobel Prize-winning Italian author Luigi Pirandello. Rebecca Waxman directs NEYT's Senior Company in this sophisticated drama which, due to mature content, is recommended for ages 13 and older. Written in 1921, “Six Characters” marked a turning point in theatrical history in which theater...
As the federal government works to come up with new rules for decommissioning nuclear plants like Vermont Yankee, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch can distill his hopes into two words. “We're trying to say over and over again - 'community involvement, community involvement, community involvement,'” said Welch, D-Vt. Welch doesn't believe the nuclear industry has the same goals. That's why he and 14 other federal lawmakers - including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. - have sent a letter...
We have been reading and hearing a lot about dams lately. All in the news recently: the rehabilitation of the Bennington dams, the proposed purchase of the 14 hydroelectric sites by Green Mountain Power, the ongoing fuss about whether Vermont should buy the hydroelectric dams in the main Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers, the recent removals of two dams from the Wells River and one from the Third Branch of the White River. More than 1,000 active and remnant dams remain...
Board manages building committeeNEWFANE - As officials continue to work on the many issues plaguing the Town Office building, the Selectboard recently provided some guidance and new committee members. At the Sept. 19 regular Selectboard meeting, Board members unanimously voted to retain the remaining members of the Town Office Building Committee - Gary Delius, Carol Hatcher, Doris Knechtel, and Frank Suponski - and appoint Karen Astley, Mel Martin, and Meghan Monro. At Administrative Assistant Shannon Meckle's urging, the Selectboard also...
On Oct. 10 and 17, the Actors Theatre Playhouse will close their 2016 season with a return engagement of “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” the best-seller by Ilene Beckerman adapted for the stage by Nora Ephron and her sister Delia. According to a news release, ticket demand for last year's season closer was so high that a return engagement for this year's finale was booked. Sitting before music stands, five actresses recreate memories and colorful sketches of clothing and...
Country Roads, take me home - no longer in Halifax! The roads look like they were made by the retreating Polish army in World War II: wide swatches dug through the hills without notice or concern for the trees or historic stone walls, wide enough for two tanks abreast. The roads are layered on top with a scree of slippery small stones, sand, and pebbles. They are unsafe for small cars to stop adequately; rather, they slide on that scree.
Act 46 is not the only challenge facing our school district (Windham Southeast Supervisory Union). Our superintendent is retiring at the end of this school year. The process for hiring his replacement is currently limited to an “internal” search - looking strictly within our current WSESU pool of employees for a candidate. There might be as few as one applicant. This strikes me as an inherently flawed and rushed process. People volunteering to serve on review committees are being asked...
Independent television is growing and opportunities abound for content creators who have the right idea at the right time. Beginning Oct. 5 and running through Oct. 9, content creators from across the globe will gather for ITVFest, the original Independent Television and Film Festival. Close to 500 submissions were received for this year's festival, and nearly 100 independent TV pilots, web series, and short films will be screened in conjunction with five days of panel discussions and workshops. Some of...
Good day to all of you in southern Vermont! After some needed rainfall, we've got a stretch of fair weather on either side of the upcoming weekend. However, the potential exists for Hurricane Matthew to make landfall over Long Island as a Category 1 or 2 storm and pass to the southeast of Windham County with substantial impacts late this weekend. Do I think that's going to transpire? I honestly don't at the moment of this writing (Tuesday), but that...
Although not everyone needs a trust agreement, everyone should have a power of attorney, since we do not know what the future holds. A power of attorney is a written document whereby you appoint some other person, known as your agent, to make decisions and act on your behalf. Most of our clients have appointed agents to make a broad range of financial decisions for them if they become unable to make those decisions themselves. In light of the broad...
At the two-day Heritage Festival, artists and craftspeople sell their creations, community groups spread the word, musicians play, and thousands of people stuff their faces with goodies from the “church deli,” including the famous apple pie, available whole or by the slice. That pie-making process takes about a month from preparation to final consumption. On most Wednesday mornings leading up to the early-October event, approximately 20 volunteers gather in the basement of the First Congregational Church, in assembly-line fashion, to...
Think of it as a green-building advocate's version of “touch a truck.” Brattleboro-based Sustainable Energy Outreach Network is hosting its first “sustainable home tour” on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It features seven specially outfitted, environmentally friendly houses in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Saxtons River. The idea is to let the public get up close and personal with new and renovated homes that have been designated as “high performance.” Energy efficiency plays a big role...
It's hard to believe, given Donald Trump's constant and egregious lies, his frequent name-calling and hate speech, his puerile tongue lashings, his visible ineptitude, and his recent debate performance, that he can be viewed as a serious threat to Hillary Clinton's election in November. Issues and behavior that would have brought down any other candidate - ranging from imitating a disabled reporter to insulting a Gold Star family, to being involved in three serious lawsuits, to refusing to reveal his...
A group of locals trying to open a community café are so intent on meeting their goal, they won't even let a lack of a storefront stop them. The morning of Sept. 27, the Vernon Store Committee turned the Town Hall lobby into a one-day pop-up café, with coffee, hot tea, and home-baked goodies like cookies, doughnuts, and cake, all available by donation. Tables and comfortable chairs hosted groups of friends and neighbors chatting and snacking. In one corner, the...
Often it's tough to know the value of water until you can't drink it, you can't swim in it, you can't fish in it, it can't support the creatures and plants that are supposed to live in or around it, it's too muddy or warm or cold, or it's simply not there anymore. Especially in the humid East, we assume it's just there and will be there as it's always been there, until it's not. But when it comes to...
It's turnip time again! On Saturday, Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., hundreds will gather to celebrate Vermont's new state vegetable at the 14th annual Gilfeather Turnip Festival. The free event, whose proceeds support the town library, takes place rain or shine. The humble root vegetable - which some say is actually more of a rutabaga - has attracted much attention to the small town even after leaf season has peaked. Bushels of turnips along with craft and...
Not long after announcing their intent to shut down Vermont Yankee, Entergy executives agreed to hand over $10 million to boost economic development in Windham County and ease the pain of the nuclear plant's closure. At this point, the state has distributed or committed about half of what Entergy will pay to support what's been dubbed the Windham County Economic Development Program. And officials say they're seeing “a very positive impact” in spite of the program's slow start. A new...
Weddings • Emily Millard, daughter of N. Hellon Millard of Ozark, Ala., and Steven L. Millard, also of Ozark, wed James Christian Landenberger, son of Ann C. Landenberger of Williamsville, and Bruce H. Landenberger of Newfane, on Aug. 27. The ceremony was held in the upper field behind the groom's mother's home; the reception followed on the front lawn. Justice of the Peace Richard Marek presided. The bride is a graduate of Carroll High School in Ozark and Troy University;
Paul Cameron will miss Brattleboro. “It's a unique and wonderful place,” he said. Cameron stepped down as town energy coordinator Sept. 30. He plans to leave Brattleboro to return to his family in North Carolina. His mother is in her 90s, Cameron said, and it no longer felt right living far away. Cameron spent 14 years working out of the town Planning Department as the town's energy coordinator. He completed much of the town energy committee's hands-on efforts. In 2002,
Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 183 Main St., will present an artist talk with Michelle and David Holzapfel in conversation with Gregory Sharrow, director of the Vermont Folklife Center on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. Passaggi is a collection of art by Marlboro artists Michelle and David Holzapfel that continues through Oct. 23. David's locally sourced hardwood furniture and sculpture highlight both his material's inherent beauty and the artist's unexpected and sensitive response to it. Michelle's exquisitely turned and...
Most field hockey coaches wouldn't complain about their team winning a game by a 5-0 margin. But Bellows Falls field hockey coach Bethany Coursen is not like most coaches. Not that Coursen objected to the Terriers shutting out Brattleboro, 5-0, on Sept. 26 at Tenney Field. She said she was happy with the first half that her team turned in, scoring four goals and smothering the Brattleboro offense. However, she was very unhappy with the second half. “Being 7-0 is...
The Vermont Arts Council, in association with the governor's office, has announced the recipients of the 2016 Governor's Arts Awards. These awards began in 1967 and are presented annually to celebrate educators, artists, performers, advocates, administrators, volunteers, and scholars. Robert McBride of Bellows Falls, founding firector of the Rockingham Arts and Museum Project, is the recipient of The Margaret L. Kannenstein Award for Arts Advocacy. This award was inaugurated in 2015 and McBride is the second person to receive the...
Musician and filmmaker Wyatt Andrews is leading the charge to get his friend Laura Momaney a new power-assist wheelchair. Andrews is producing a multimedia benefit show on Oct. 13 at 118 Elliot. It features what he called “a nice eclectic mix” of musicians, including Elliot St. Alibi, If Not I Than Who Then, Jatoba, Deep Seize - Andrews' two-man band with percussionist Jed Blume, who wrote the text accompanyng the crowdfunding appeal - and visual artist Ben Keating. The show...
During the weekend of Oct. 7, Guilford Center Stage will present “A Battle of Wits,” a comedy melodrama in four acts, directed by William Stearns. All performances are at the theater company's home base, the Broad Brook Grange. Don McLean and Laura Lawson Tucker are co-founders and co-producers of the theater company, and “A Battle of Wits” is its third production. “Part of using the grange is an attempt to get Guilford Center going again, to get people conscious of...
Moments before Elsie Smith helped to break ground for a $2.5 million building project in Brattleboro, a hard-hatted man on stilts loomed over the crowd. “It is starting to look like a real circus around here, don't you think?” Smith asked. It was an appropriate vibe for the Sept. 29 event. Smith and her sister, Serenity Smith Forchion, were celebrating the pending creation of a new home for New England Center for Circus Arts, the school they founded here more...
Fourteen area youth rock bands and solo artists took the stage at 118 Elliot on Oct. 1 for BrattRock. Participation was open to youth bands and solo performers from Brattleboro and surrounding areas, with all members below the age of 20. Proceeds from the event - approximately $4,000 - will benefit Youth Services, with a portion held in reserve for future BrattRock events, said Jaimie Scanlon, one of the organizers.