We were two of the many folks directly involved with the movement to preserve the entrance to the Morningside Cemetery as green space. In the process of organizing neighbors around this issue, we became aware that many residents in this part of Brattleboro feel somewhat disconnected from the town's political process.
If you feel this way, now is a great time to become more involved.
At the Town Meeting budget informational evening last Thursday at the Academy School, we learned that our district, District 2, was nine members short in our representation.
Luckily, five residents have signed on as new members, but we are still four short. (We have learned that District 2 is perennially short members.)...
Alert reader Charlie Hunter caught the enormous gaffe in Randy Holhut's account of Tom Salmon's DUI arrest last fall [ The Commons, Feb. 23], but Hunter went easy on both Salmon and Holhut. Far from writing a balanced article, Holhut let his piece read like campaign PR with its...
Following are the Town Meeting representatives as of Monday, according to a list provided by Town Clerk Annette Cappy. District 1 Marion Abell Peter Abell Robert Bady Carol Barber Orion Barber William Bedard Donna Borofsky Stanley Borofsky Hugh Bronson Sally Brunton Annette Cappy Lorie Cartwright Christopher Chapman Peter Cooper...
In the story of the the death of jazz musician Dave Shapiro [The Commons, March 2], the accompanying photo showed Shapiro, a renowned bassist, playing the bass. The caption on the photo listed the wrong instrument. A memorial and celebratory jam session for Shapiro will take place at the Vermont Jazz Center in Brattleboro on Sunday, March 20, from 2-6 p.m.
After the first week of the boys' basketball playoffs, only one local team is left standing. The Leland & Gray Rebels are headed to the Barre Auditorium, while the Brattleboro Colonels got knocked out by their arch-rivals, Mount Anthony, in the quarterfinals. Twin Valley never made it out of the first round. In hockey, the Brattleboro girls made it to the semifinals before elimination in a sad end to a great season. Boys' basketball • By earning a No. 2...
Financial Director/Treasurer John Leisenring calls the fiscal 2012 budget of $14,377,294 “pretty vanilla.” “We did everything we could to keep costs down and to keep the taxes down,” he said. Still, Leisenring said he's concerned about the town's infrastructure needs. To cut costs in fiscal 2012, he said that the town has deferred capital improvements, such as sidewalk maintenance, replacing a 40-year-old fire truck, and maintaining town buildings. According to Leisenring, Brattleboro's fiscal year 2012 capital improvement plan totals $5...
Saxtons River musician Jesse Peters is the featured presenter for the final event in the Main Street Arts Taste of the Arts, Tales from a Community series Thursday, March 24. He will offer a program of original music, including new songs inspired by tour350, his bike trip across the country last summer. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a light supper featuring a variety of inspired pizzas, salad, dessert and beverages provided by Harvest Moon catering and friends of...
Performing arts • Country Comedy Tour comes to BF: The Bellows Falls Opera House will host the Country Comedy Tour live on stage Thursday, March 17. The all-clean, family friendly show features comedians MG Gaskin and Kelly Terranova. Both comics bring their own brand of Southern flavor to their crowd-pleasing insights on everyday life. The show is high energy and interactive, and is suitable for all ages. The doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 7:30. Tickets...
Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • Nicolas Adam Apgar, 92, of Brattleboro. Died March 9 at Thompson House. Husband of the late Nancy Ellen Lonergan. Father of Nancy A. Olson and her husband, Victor, of Putney; and Jonathan Mitcalfe Apgar, and his wife, Bonnie, of Roanoke, Va. Born in Gaillon, Eure, France, son of Agatha Mitcalfe, an Englishwoman, and Theodore...
In Vermont, we stand up for human rights, fighting against atrocities like the death penalty, knowing that if we allow the state to kill its own citizens, surely we have lost sight of the value of humanity. So what is happening now with the introduction, again, of a bill that would allow the taking of human life? I am referring to the pleasantly renamed “Death with Dignity” bill. In 2007, it was called “Physician-Assisted Suicide,” and our Vermont legislature rejected...
In preparation for Brattleboro's annual Representative Town Meeting on March 19, Town Meeting members met last Thursday night to discuss articles they will vote on with the Selectboard and municipal department heads. At an informational meeting at the Academy School, Town Meeting members asked for clarification on issues that range from establishing a reserve fund for post-employment benefits to authorizing the purchase of a new fire truck. Finance Director/Treasurer John Leisenring presented the first issue of the evening, establishing a...
Republican State Auditor Tom Salmon, who was elected to his third term last November, is considering a run against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, next year. Last month, Salmon announced he would not seek a fourth term as auditor. Earlier this month, he said he's forming an exploratory committee. Although Salmon has not formally made up his mind, by all appearances, he wants to take on Sanders. Sanders - who served eight terms in the U.S. House before trouncing...
By a 4-0 vote, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant a 20-year license renewal. “This is the final step in the NRC's detailed technical and legal process of examining whether it's appropriate to issue a renewed license,” said NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko in a press release on Thursday. Jaczko said that Vermont Yankee's daily operations meet the NRC's high standards. He said the commission issued the license based on the safety and technical reviews...
Adam Howard wants to make Windham County a center for the arts. With the many artists living and working in the area, and the region's proximity to and easy access from both New York and Boston, Howard, a blacksmith, believes that Grafton has the potential to become a major destination for art lovers over a wide area. Howard serves as president of the newly-organized Grafton Valley Arts Guild, which will present its inaugural event, Sustaining The Arts, Sustaining Communities, on...
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“There's that town line again,“ joked Whitingham School Board Chair Seth Boyd. “We need to get rid of that town line.” Last week, representatives from the Twin Valley and Deerfield Valley Elementary school boards hashed out questions regarding a joint agreement and the proposed closing of one of the three school buildings in Wilmington and Whitingham. To save money, the towns are looking to consolidate either their elementary or high school populations. In preparation for a series of public hearings...
The Irish have a long history in America, but their story in Vermont often gets overshadowed by those of other ethnic groups. Vincent E. Feeney, an adjunct professor of history at the University of Vermont and author of Finnigans, Slaters, and Stonepeggers: A History of the Irish in Vermont, has been doing his part to make the story more visible. At the Brooks Memorial Library on Saturday, Feeney spoke about the various waves of immigration that brought the Irish to...
After a one-year break, the Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. (BDCC) has revived its Business Plan Competition, but this time with a few new changes - namely a new Farm/Food category and multiple prizes totaling $67,500. From 2006 to 2009, BDCC offered the competition with two categories - existing businesses, and startups or new businesses. This year, there will be two divisions - a general business category, and one specifically for agricultural or food-related enterprises. A partnership with Strolling of the...
With the second half of this year's legislative session revving up, Windham County's lawmakers addressed the perennial complaint of Windham County residents - poor Internet and cell phone service. They responded to the concerns of more than 100 Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce members who attended a breakfast meeting at the Brattleboro Retreat on Monday. “I have a cell phone, and it is not usable in any of the six towns I represent,” said Rep. John Moran, D-Wardsboro. Rep. Richard...
Benazir Bhutto didn't consider herself a feminist. “She just happened to be the best,” state Sen. Peter Galbraith said of his long-time friend and the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Galbraith, who had known Bhutto since their “teen days,” said that the two-time Prime Minister saw herself as a politician, a patriot, and a leader. She viewed those roles as her destiny. Although she recognized the “historically terrible” conditions for women in Pakistan, and set up organizations like the Women's...
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A local grocer recently shared with me the story of a customer who purchased a 12-pack of soda, a two-liter bottle of soda, and four candy bars with a food stamp card. There was not a single item of nutritional value in this customer's shopping cart, yet it was all perfectly legal to purchase with food stamps. Clearly, we must promote better nutrition with our food stamp program. The food stamp program, known as the Supplementary Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)
Growing up in an old labor union family , this story was often brought out: A corporate boss brought some workers in for a meeting. He sets out a plate of 12 cookies on the table, puts 1 in his pocket then says to the workers, “Watch out for that last cookie. The unions want a piece of it.” In Wisconsin, the governor is blaming unions for the state's economic troubles, while taking a page from the Dick Cheney plan...
In the past weeks, we've seen hundreds of thousands of people rise up in Arab nations across the Middle East, in what has been called The Awakening. The people's willingness to risk their lives to achieve democracy has inspired many of us. Their struggle has given me an acute appreciation for the freedoms that we tend to take for granted. But The Awakening has also prompted me to look more closely and critically at what we do have, to think...
Leslie Staudinger It is very easy to put myself in the shoes of a mother in Japan right now. I live four miles from a nuclear power plant that is a 40-year-old General Electric boiling-water reactor, like the ones melting down in Japan. I imagine being told to evacuate my family (three children and two pets), along with 140,000 other people, into a homeland that is already a disaster from an earthquake and a tsunami. I imagine myself knowing I...