WESTMINSTER - Income-eligible Windham County residents can schedule an appointment for free tax preparation assistance through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program offered by Southeastern Vermont Community Action in collaboration with the United Way.
SEVCA has experienced, IRS-certified volunteers trained and ready to prepare tax returns for area taxpayers with household income up to $54,000. Appointments are available starting Jan. 31 and continuing through the second week of April.
VITA volunteers can help with special credits, such as the Earned Income Tax and the Affordable Care Act's Premium Tax Credits. They also prepare Vermont income tax returns, property tax adjustments, and renter's rebate claims.
In addition to free tax-return assistance, VITA sites offer free electronic filing. Individuals taking advantage of the e-file program receive their refunds in half the time compared with returns filed on paper - even faster, when tax refunds are deposited directly into a bank account.
After losing their first three games, the Bellows Falls Terriers boys' basketball went on a five-game win streak. The fifth win in that streak came against Black River, 49-38, on Jan. 16 at Holland Gymnasium. BF led 27-7 at the half and managed to withstand a second-half rally by...
Town awards mowing bidDUMMERSTON - The Selectboard unanimously voted to award the 2017 mowing bid to Brett Castine at their Dec. 21 regular Board meeting. The $5,370 fee includes spring and fall cleanup and mowing the town cemeteries and the commons. Roads Foreman Lee Chamberlin told Board members the...
The Windham County Sheriff's Department recently announced the recipients of numerous awards. Sheriff Keith Clark presented the awards Jan. 21 at the fourth annual Awards Ceremony to recognize the actions of his staff. The Deputy Mark H. Dooley Award was presented to Captain Robert Lakin, for his tireless dedication, compassion, enthusiasm and initiative in policing. Lakin served as the Chief Deputy from 2008 to 2016. During his tenure, Clark said Lakin led by example, establishing a standard of conduct for...
In the humid air, people line up along the streets, solemnly holding up the blue, white, and red flag, a tribute to their fallen idol. An ocean away, people crowd the roads, cheering, drinking, and shooting off red, white, and blue firecrackers, celebrating the demise of that very same ruler. Such vastly different reactions to the death of a leader call into question the legacy he leaves behind. How will people remember him? As a brutal tyrant who destroyed the...
Taking the stage on Friday, Feb. 3, at 8 p.m., six regional high school a cappella groups will give a rousing concert at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. Started more than a decade ago to pair with the next day's annual collegiate concert at the Latchis, the annual High School A Cappella Concert gets rave reviews each year. All proceeds benefit the In-Sight Photography Project, according to a news release. The lineup for Friday evening includes two top-notch high...
Farmland Committee gets back togetherVERNON - The town's dormant Farmland Committee came back to life at the Dec. 19 regular Selectboard meeting. Farmer Arthur Miller notified the Board he and others want to “rejuvenate the committee” and get it on the upcoming Town Meeting warning. Board members expressed their encouragement, and unanimously approved appointing Miller, Maddie Arms, Skip Baldwin, Eileen Hardy, and Jeff Hardy to the committee. The Farmland Committee plans to hold a public meeting in February to share...
College news • Soren Pelz-Walsh of Brattleboro graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in physical education from Castleton University following the successful completion of the fall semester in December 2016. He was also named to the President's List for the fall 2016 semester. A standout wide receiver for Castleton's football team, Pelz-Walsh was selected as Castleton's most valuable player in 2016 for the second straight season after finishing with 61 catches for 785 yards and nine touchtowns. He was...
During the year's first few Selectboard meetings, Town Manager Cynthia Stoddard and members of the Board continued working through next year's budget to have it ready for March's Town Meeting. Highlights from the Jan. 4 and 11 discussions include law enforcement, water and sewer fees, recycling, and restructuring the town's financial department. Law enforcement After the Windham County Sheriff's Department announced earlier this year it was raising rates and cutting patrol hours, town officials and the Public Safety Committee began...
“Heating it up with the Ladies of the Rainbow,” on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. at the VFW on Black Mountain Road, will be this year's major fundraiser for the Windham County Heat Fund. In 2005 Daryl Pillsbury and Richard Davis decided to find a way to help people struggling to pay for home heating fuel who were not eligible for existing programs. They simply decided to raise money and then figure out who was in need and help...
The YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program helps adults at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes reduce their risk for developing the disease by taking steps that will improve their overall health and well-being. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's evidence-based program is delivered over a 12-month period in a supportive, small-group classroom setting. Sixteen weekly one-hour sessions are followed by eight monthly sessions, according to a news release. Facilitated by trained lifestyle coach Elisha Underwood, the class is scheduled...
“The Nature of Windham County: Past, Present, and Future,” co-sponsored by the Dummerston Conservation Commission and Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center, is a four-week lecture series that seeks to educate people of the region about their environment and their rich store of natural resources so they can make good decisions about the future protection of these resources. The talks will take place on Feb. 1, 8, 15, and 22, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Learning Collaborative, 471 US Route...
Following several rounds of severe winter weather in many parts of the country, the American Red Cross urges eligible blood and platelet donors to help restock its shelves to overcome a shortage. Since Dec. 1, about 300 blood drives across 27 states have been forced to cancel due to inclement winter weather, resulting in more than 10,500 blood and platelet donations going uncollected, according to a news release. Despite the weather, hospital patients still rely on transfusions. Upcoming blood donation...
Main Street Arts and the Saxtons River Historical Society conclude their series of Fireside Chats to highlight the area's history on Sunday, Jan. 29, at 5:3o p.m., at the Saxtons River Inn, when the topic will be wool production in Vermont. Putney sheep farmer Betsy MacIsaac will share the joys and challenges of raising colored Merino and CVM/Romeldale sheep on her Crooked Fence Farm in a tradition of wool production that stretches back in Vermont's history to a time when...
Vermont Theatre Company announces its auditions for its 28th annual Shakespeare in the Park production, A Midsummer Night's Dream, which will be performed in Brattleboro's Living Memorial Park June 29 through July 2, and July 7 through 9 in Putney, as part of the Great River Theatre Festival. Auditions will be held in the Brattleboro Union High School auditorium on Sunday, Jan. 29, at 2 p.m., and Monday, Jan. 30, at 6 p.m. Actors are asked to prepare 12 lines...
BMAC presents a juried photography exhibit annually, but Mara Williams, chief curator of the Brattleboro Art Museum (BMAC), hoped to make this year's show different. Although she felt that the 2016 exhibition was very good and assembled many wonderful individual pieces, she didn't think it hung together that well as a whole. “In order to be more cohesive, this year we were searching for works that are great photographs which employ mixed media,” she says. Williams will lead a tour...
The Vermont's Farm to Ballet Project will host a dancer interest session and audition to cast dancers of all levels for the third summer season of Farm to Ballet. Stipends are available to performers cast as soloists and principal dancers. There will be eight performances around the state with shows starting in July and ending mid-August. “We are looking for a diverse cast of dancers from adults that are just beginning to explore ballet classes to more experienced dancers, or...
When a Leland & Gray sophomore and student traveler Aiden McCormack asked his neighbor Archer Mayor for a signed copy of his latest novel as a raffle prize, Mayor went one step further. “Would you like to raffle off being a character in my next novel?” Mayor asked. McCormack brought back the offer to his Spanish teacher and trip leader, Jeryl Julian-Cissé, and the response was, “Si, muchas gracias!” Mayor's series of crime novels has received much critical acclaim over...
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present an evening of world music featuring contemporary acoustic ensemble Dunham Shoe Factory (Anna Patton, Mac Ritchey, Todd Roach, and Dave Haughey), plus Argentine guitarist, singer, and composer Cecilia Zabala with Brazilian pianist Philippe Baden Powell, at Next Stage on Friday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m. Dunham Shoe Factory plays original compositions influenced by world traditions. Combining the clarinet, oud, percussion, and cello, their music draws from myriad styles including Brazilian, Egyptian, jazz,
Bellows Falls Union High School will host nearly 200 talented young musicians from southern Vermont high schools and middle schools for the annual District VI Winter Music Festival on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28. The Winter Festival will feature students who auditioned and were selected to represent their district in high school concert choirs, high school jazz ensembles, and middle school concert bands. Students who participate in Districts have the opportunity to audition at a competitive level and...
Thomas Jefferson never knew the Monticello of today - in perfect condition, impeccably furnished. Dartmouth College senior lecturer Marlene Elizabeth Heck explains the lifelong project Jefferson called his “essay in architecture” during the February edition of the First Wednesday lecture series presented by Brooks Memorial Library and the Vermont Humanities Council, on Feb. 1, at 7 p.m., at the library. Heck's work focuses on the architectural and social history of America in the “Age of Jefferson.” She is particularly interested...
Come spring, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be digging in the dirt at Townshend Dam. And that's good news for advocates of the man-made lake, where large amounts of sediment have choked off public recreation and the economic boost that once accompanied it. The Army Corps plans to remove approximately 7,000 cubic yards of sediment from the dam this spring “in order to restore beach usage for the upcoming recreation season,” said Tim Dugan, a spokesman for the...
The newest room inside Grace Cottage Hospital's Emergency Department doesn't have a lot of high-tech bells and whistles. But some of the space's most important features aren't easily spotted: There's a door that swings both ways; reinforced walls; a security camera connected to the nurses' station; and remotely activated electrical outlets. It's all part of Grace Cottage's new “safe room,” a space designed to help the Townshend hospital deal with an increasing number of emergency patients struggling with mental health...
After several inches of snow and sleet earlier this week, we will see another descent into more seasonable winter temperatures which opens up the potential for more snow and ice in southeastern Vermont. I have been intimating that cold will be returning by the end of January or beginning of February, and its arrival has manifested. Having said that, it probably lasts for a couple weeks. Beyond that, there are mixed signals as to whether it continues into March, or...
I woke up on the morning after the Women's March and rallies with genuine gratitude toward Donald Trump and his supporters, who have shown us - in Technicolor, on a jumbotron screen - something that has been operating in this country and around the globe for several centuries. For eight years we liberals have been lulled and cooed into a false sense that the direction of this country either “is not too bad.” Or that it “will get better' or...
One of the public faces of Vermont Yankee's closure, decommissioning, and possible sale is leaving Entergy Corp. next month. Bill Mohl, president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities, will retire effective Feb. 28, the company announced. Mohl has overseen Entergy's ongoing exit from the wholesale nuclear power business, including the 2014 shutdown of Vermont Yankee. That strategic shift was one of the company's key objectives that Mohl has helped achieve, said Leo Denault, Entergy's chairman and chief executive officer. “The successful transition...
The Vermont Judiciary wants to put the brakes on an alimony overhaul effort led by a Brattleboro businessman. In a new report, the state Supreme Court's Family Division Oversight Committee recommends adoption of new guidelines aimed at providing more “predictability and consistency” in the alimony process. But the committee also argues against adopting any mandatory regulations that might curb the ability of judges to consider unique factors in each alimony dispute. Guidelines that are too “rigid,” the committee's Jan. 13...
The Windham Solid Waste Management District's Old Ferry Road facility welcomed a new tenant in the final days of 2016. The day after Christmas, staff of the Rich Earth Institute began moving desks and computers into the offices of the former Carbon Harvest building, located near the Swap Shop and the giant compost piles. The nonprofit, EPA-funded, Rich Earth Institute, co-founded in 2012 by Kim Nace and Abe Noe-Hays, “engages in research, education, and technological innovation to advance the use...
In a town where he received only 15 percent of the vote, it was almost a certainty that the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump would be greeted with protests. And, over three days, the people of the Brattleboro area held quiet and thoughtful events to express their resolve to oppose the policies of the incoming administration. Light in the darkness The theater community in Brattleboro expressed their opposition to Trump on Jan. 19 by participating in a nationwide vigil...
It's been almost 50 years since I was a grade-schooler and first introduced to the Pledge of Allegiance. As a little boy I had no idea what that pledge meant, or that I was being indoctrinated to unquestionably accept the United States of America as a land that assures liberty and justice for all, and as a nation serving a single Christian God. Like most of my schoolmates I did what I was told. I blindly accepted the truthfulness of...