BRATTLEBORO-When the first train steamed into town in 1849, a regional newspaper reported how "exhilaration of the moment burst forth" as residents celebrated the arrival of an easy route to seemingly everywhere in the world. Everywhere except neighboring New Hampshire, that is. The new rails ran beside the Connecticut River and a wooden covered bridge that carried horse-drawn buggies across to the Granite State, local historians recount. Transportation morphed into a steel span, and automobiles with the start of the...
BRATTLEBORO-According to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets, there are approximately 60 summer farmers markets and 15 winter markets in the state. Of those 15, a key player is the continuously running, November-through-March Brattleboro Winter Farmers Market (BWFM) which is in its 19th season. Support structure under the state's farmers markets is Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), which assists markets around the state with promotion and consulting, and the Vermont Farmers Market Association, which promotes the...
NEWFANE-As a rural emergency medical services (EMS) nonprofit, Rescue Inc. faces formidable challenges on any number of levels. Case in point: 650 pages of new requirements recently received from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). "These 650 pages of new regulations will affect every aspect of what we do at Rescue Inc.," said Drew Hazelton, chief of operations, as he calmly explains that a plan is already in place. "Meet Corey Miner," said Hazelton. "Her new position at...
WINDHAM-The Windham School District Board addressed a variety of concerns over the merger that resulted in the closing of Windham Elementary School and also responded to letters from residents who called on Board Chair Abby Pelton and Vice Chair Daniel Roth to resign. At issue has been confusion around public use of the now-shuttered elementary school, once one of the smallest in the state, since voters approved the measure at a May 18 School District Special Meeting. Windham resident Russ...
BRATTLEBORO-A nonprofit that created housing rapidly and under duress during the pandemic is looking to further develop the 17-acre property with 60 apartments and 10 homes. Preliminary details of the plans come amid criticism of the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) management track record by members of the Selectboard and an admission by WWHT Executive Director Elizabeth Bridgewater that drug use and safety issues at the nonprofit's multiple properties need to be addressed. At the Nov. 19 board meeting,
BRATTLEBORO-Bullying is a distinctive pattern of repeatedly and deliberately harming and humiliating others, specifically those who are smaller, weaker, younger, or in any way more vulnerable than the bully. It's the power imbalance that marks it as bullying, according to Psychology Today. With that in mind, it is interesting to wonder why a political party would seek to demonize a tiny 0.9% of the population - those people who identify as transgender - in order to seek power. Or to...
