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News

With Lady Liberty in the background, the Bellows Falls Middle School band performs in New York City in 2012.

Mr. Rumrill’s opus

Stan Rumrill Jr., honored as Vermont Music Teacher of the Year, has opened the world of music to generations of students at Bellows Falls Middle School
By
Robert F. Smith
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 — Issue 798

ROCKINGHAM-Longtime Bellows Falls Middle School (BFMS) music teacher Stanley Rumrill Jr. has been named the Vermont Music Educator of the Year by the Vermont Music Educators Association (VMEA).

Last spring, Rumrill was named the Vermont District 6 Music Educator of the Year and, this fall, he was chosen from that group of district awardees for the statewide recognition. All music educators in grades K–12 qualify to be nominated.

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County’s sole medical cannabis dispensary closes

Patients relying on CeresMed South, one of Vermont’s first medical cannabis dispensaries, now must drive at least two hours for access to tax-free products

By
Devan Monette
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 — Issue 798

BRATTLEBORO-The only medical cannabis dispensary in the region, CeresMed South on Putney Road, closed its doors on Dec. 12, significantly disrupting access for Windham County's 235 residents with active state-issued medical cannabis cards. For customers who relied on the firm to access medical cannabis products, the closure created a...

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C&S Wholesale Grocers to lay off workers in Brattleboro

By
Klara Bauters
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 — Issue 798

BRATTLEBORO-The Vermont Department of Labor has received notice that C&S Wholesale Grocers is planning layoffs at its Old Ferry Road warehouse and distribution center starting in March. Labor Commissioner Mike Harrington said on Jan. 10 that the planned layoffs will involve fewer than 50 employees and will not take...

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WSESU will manage food service for schools in three towns,

By
Virginia Ray
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 — Issue 798

BRATTLEBORO-In the hope that students will eat more nutritionally and feel more healthy, the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU) board voted unanimously last month to transition to a self-operated food service program. The program will be fully in place by June for the Summer Food Service Program prior to the start of the 2025–26 school year this fall. Food Program Coordinator Susan Grabowski called the move "groundbreaking" in her announcement. "This decision marks a pivotal step toward aligning our meal...

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Dummerston rep. resigns from WSESD board

By
Virginia Ray
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 — Issue 798

BRATTLEBORO-After serving two years of her three-year term on the Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) school board, Dummerston representative Eva Nolan has resigned. "I have made the difficult decision to resign from WSESD so that voters can have ample time to choose their representative for the rest of the year," Nolan wrote in her resignation letter, effective Jan. 1. "I genuinely feel that under the current board structure there isn't a clear path toward meaningful progress." Asked to further explain...

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Brattleboro residents call for municipal staff cuts

By
Kevin O'Connor
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 — Issue 798

BRATTLEBORO-Facing a 22% municipal property tax hike this coming fiscal year, town leaders have suggested lowering expenses through everything from curbing office-supply purchases to closing the public pool. But the eight-resident Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee is questioning why officials aren't slicing into the biggest percentage of the budget pie: personnel. Municipal leaders in Vermont's 247 cities and towns, now drafting 2025-26 budget proposals for March Town Meeting consideration, are reporting challenges with costlier health insurance, continuing 2023 and 2024...

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‘Real Solutions’ forum draws crowd upset about Brattleboro crime

By
Joyce Marcel
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 — Issue 798

BRATTLEBORO-Residents are angry about what is going on in their town, with drugs and crime heading the list. And Hank Poitras, 42, otherwise known as Planet Hank, knows how to rev them up. On Friday night, he filled American Legion Post 5 to overflowing with people who wanted to express their outrage at open drug dealing, needles on the ground, people defecating and urinating on Flat Street, and their extremely high taxes. At least 200 residents, including police in uniform,

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Local lawmakers get committee assignments

By
Randolph T. Holhut
Tuesday, January 14, 2025 — Issue 798

-With the start of the 2025-26 legislative biennium at the State House in Montpelier came the reshuffling of committee assignments in the House and Senate. Windham County's two incumbent Democratic senators, Wendy Harrison of Brattleboro and Nader Hashim of Dummerston, will be in charge of committees in that chamber this biennium. Harrison will lead the Institutions Committee, replacing Russ Ingalls, R-Essex, who led the committee in the last biennium. Ingalls will now lead the Agriculture Committee. Hashim will chair the...

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