PUTNEY-Mehrnam Rastegari, who opened last year's Bandwagon summer series with retro-Mediterranean surf ensemble Habbina Habbina, returns to Putney on Friday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill.
Rastegari is a Persian musician, award-winning film score composer, singer, violinist, and virtuoso Kamancheh player. Renowned for pushing the boundaries of Persian music, she "blends traditional sounds with rock and modern fusion elements, offering fresh interpretations that resonate with global audiences," according to her website.
Rastegari's international career includes performances at events, such as the 2024 Bill Gates Goalkeepers, where she shared the stage with Grammy Award-winning artist Jon Batiste, and she has participated in GlobalFest; the Secret Planet APAP showcase; and the Ragas Live Festival.
She has also recorded music with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance in New York City and has competed in events like the International Competition named after Tlep Aspantaiuly.
-It was a slightly off-kilter opening day for the Brattleboro Bears varsity baseball team on a cold, gray, and blustery late afternoon on April 10 at Tenney Field. The field itself is still a work in progress. The most notable change is the chain-link fencing that now stretches from...
WEST BRATTLEBORO-Here's a "Thank you!" to the Brattleboro police (and volunteers?) for their respectful presence at the protest on April 5. Brian Shafford West Brattleboro This letter to the editor was submitted to The Commons. This piece, published in print in the Voices section or as a column in...
Also signing this letter: Ava Zelkowitz, Groundworks Collaborative, and Dakota Roberts, AIDS Project of Southern Vermont. BRATTLEBORO-We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the 35 community volunteers and staff from local organizations who recently showed up with heart and energy to make a difference in our neighborhood. Thanks to this collective effort, we gathered a truckload of garbage from the neighborhood, making our shared space cleaner and more welcoming. A good time was had by all and the weather...
BRATTLEBORO-Recently, The New York Times reported the Trump regime plans to cut legal-aid funds for migrant children. Under this policy, 25,000 unaccompanied children will lose their legal representation that is provided by volunteer U.S.-based nonprofit advocacy groups. These children, as young as 2 years old, have escaped trafficking, trauma, and abuse and could be forcibly repatriated to further harm. This appears to be an open violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. In 1864, the U.S. Cavalry, led by...
BRATTLEBORO-As a lifelong Brattleboro resident and current Representative Town Meeting (RTM) member, homeowner, and downtown building owner, and as a former chairman of the Selectboard, I feel compelled to address the town regarding the budget challenges it now faces. My takeaway on Town Meeting was that the representatives stressed downtown safety and financial control. Last year's board made many good-faith initiatives to improve safety but lost control of the financial end by tapping town reserve funds and hiring many new...
BRATTLEBORO-U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes slept in one of its bedrooms in 1877. Writer Rudyard Kipling drank lager in its basement bar and played poker in its penthouse suite from 1892 to 1896. Broadcaster Lowell Thomas presented his NBC radio newscast live from its ballroom in 1946. And if current owners have their way, someone new will buy this town's cornerstone Brooks House and soon make their own history. The five-story Main Street landmark - built in 1871, ravaged by...
Peter Adair is the author of the books Sacred Universe and Sacred Earth. WESTMINSTER WEST-There is no place for us in our contemporary materialist science. That science is an inheritance from the 19th century and bespeaks an indifferent and incidental universe. The perspective we have of our world is important, since the images of our cosmic origins determine the values, aesthetics, and moralities of the cultures we create from them. How we think we came into being is who we...
BRATTLEBORO-The circumstances brought on by the MAGA elites in our nation threaten every ordinary American with economic losses. But more importantly, we all face the loss of civil rights, democracy, the rule of law, and representative government to fascistic elites. This is not a fire drill. This is actually happening right now and will continue, especially if the president declares martial law on or after April 20, when he has demanded a report from the secretary of defense and the...
BELLOWS FALLS-Longtime area educator Kate Kane has been named the new principal of Central Elementary School (CES). On April 11, the Rockingham School Board appointed her to the K–4 school on the recommendation of Superintendent Andy Haas, effective July 1. Kane grew up in Cambridgeport, graduating from Bellows Falls Union High School in 1984. She was an English and classics major at Tufts University and got her teaching certificate when she decided that she was interested in a career in...
BRATTLEBORO-Windham County educators and community members have been quick to stand up for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and programs in schools in response to a series of actions at the state level in recent days. On April 4, state Agency of Education (AOE) Secretary Zoie Saunders directed superintendents to certify compliance with federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, and national origin in federally funded programs, per the Trump administration's initiative. Specifically, Saunders...
Students who are members of the Brattleboro Union High School Student Advisory Committee include Willow Sharma, Jude Anders, Maeve Bald, William Lin, Indigo Rosenzweig-Davidovits, Eason DeMarsico-Thorne, Theia Wepaloki, Riley Bristol, Elijah Kitzmiller, and Eli Welch, who collectively sent this letter to Gov. Phil Scott. Deborah Stanford and Tim Maciel of the Windham Southeast School District school board are the committee advisors. BRATTLEBORO-Dear Gov. Scott: We are the Brattleboro Union High School Student Advisory Committee, an organization of about a dozen...
BRATTLEBORO-May the 4th: Be with us! Edible Brattleboro is rallying the community to kick off the spring gardening season at the new Brattleboro Food Forest at 805 Western Ave. When it feels like the world is falling apart, it's time to grow together. This is an invitation to the whole community to grow more resilient and connected, through local food and cultivation. The event will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Food will be provided, as well as tours...
WEST BRATTLEBORO-At no other time since its inception in 1970 has preserving what remains of the Earth been so urgent. Globally, since that first Earth Day, vertebrate wildlife populations have decreased by a staggering 73% with nearly 200 species gone extinct. Heartbroken, I tried to fathom the enormity of the die-offs. For over 30 years, I and scores of others labored in conservation, yet we're losing animals by the billions. Feeling powerless, seeking ways to help at this late stage,
Moss Kahler has served as recycling coordinator in Brattleboro. BRATTLEBORO-The Selectboard members are facing difficult budget choices, and finding ways to reduce the budget without cutting services or personnel will be a challenge, to say the least. The new solid waste contract with Casella is one of the driving forces in the budget increase. I have some suggestions to soften the blow for that particular line item. The former contract and methodology with Triple-T that included pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) and curbside...
Transitions • The board of trustees of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) elected three new members to its ranks on March 27. Bruce Berg, Christopher Chapman, and Matthew Toepfer were each elected to three-year terms. A resident of Brattleboro, Berg served on the BMAC board from 2008 to 2015, including terms as president, vice president, and development committee chair. In 2011, he oversaw the renovation of the museum's Wolf Kahn & Emily Mason Gallery. Like Berg, Chapman is...
BRATTLEBORO-Compassionate Brattleboro announces the launch of their website, compassionatedining.com. According to organizers, this volunteer group "inspires people to eat compassionately, sustainably, and healthfully by increasing the availability of plant-based dining options." They say businesses and the community at-large will benefit and "thrive by fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for locals and visitors alike." The list of business partners grows every day, say group members, and now includes High Thai, India Masala House, Superfresh!, Tavernier Chocolates, and Vegan A.F. These...
BRATTLEBORO-Danish artist John Kenn Mortensen is known for his detailed drawings of creepy creatures made on common yellow Post-it Notes. A dozen of Mortensen's tiny creations is currently on view at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) in "Dream Homes," the artist's first solo museum exhibition in the United States. They appear alongside six larger drawings by Mortensen, each one overflowing with monsters and humans cavorting in, on, and around a variety of dwellings, such as castles, churches, mansions,
BRATTLEBORO-A new circus show is launching - and Brattleboro audiences will get to see it before the tour begins. "Circus Springboard: Thank you for Waiting" begins on Saturday, April 19, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 20, at 3 p.m. in conjunction with World Circus Day. World Circus Day, declared by Her Royal Princess Stephanie of Monaco to be celebrated annually on the third Saturday in April, is a worldwide event that recognizes and promotes the art of circus, paying...
Lasse Jeppesen Schmidt, a native of Denmark, is a former journalist. BRATTLEBORO-I will be frank with you: This piece is the result of self-imposed psychotherapy. I am still processing the events that took place in the Rose Garden recently, and the more I learn, the more I feel both angry and afraid. I find that writing about it helps me stay sane. So I would like to invite you on a journey around the world. It starts in the Rose...
BRATTLEBORO-Green Writers Press and ByWay Books & More will launch In the Hushed Thunder by the late Ken Hebson of Guilford and Brattleboro, with a special reading by Hebson's editor, Michael Fleming. The celebration of Hebson's book will take place on Tuesday, April 22, from 4 to 6 p.m. at ByWay Books & More, 399 Canal St. "The event will be an intimate gathering to listen to selected poems by Ken, who was so happy to know his book was...
PUTNEY-It's time again for the Putney Public Library's annual Peeps Diorama contest. Those brightly colored marshmallow treats are on the shelves and ready to star in a diorama about readers' favorite books. Entry forms are available at the library and can be printed from putneylibrary.org/peeps. There is no cost to enter. Here are the guidelines: • Anyone may enter as an individual or part of a family team, even if they are not a Putney resident. Only current Putney Public...
Grumbine discusses wildflowers of Putney in library talk PUTNEY - On Monday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Putney Public Library, Rich Grumbine will share a PowerPoint presentation of his journey of creating and publishing his latest book: A Guide to the Wildflowers of Putney, Vermont. He will share highlights and statistics about Putney's herbaceous flora and give audience members a chance to identify a mystery plant using his guide. Copies of the guide will be available for purchase...
BELLOWS FALLS-World-class jazz comes to Stage 33 Live in Bellows Falls with guitarists John Stowell and Draa Hobbs performing as a duo on Sunday, April 27, at 7 p.m. Stowell's take on harmony, chords, and improvisation "sets him apart," said organizers in a news release. "A jazz guitarist influenced as much by pianists and horn players as he is by guitarists." Based on the West Coast, Stowell's footprint is global. He's been Artist-In-Residence at centers in Germany, Indonesia, Argentina, the...
BELLOWS FALLS-Unlike several of her Republican colleagues who have faced some very vocal voter outrage at town halls around the country, U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., was greeted by cheers and a lengthy standing ovation from the crowd at a packed-to-the-walls Bellows Falls Opera House on Monday evening. In her invitation to the meeting, Balint pledged her commitment to "standing against policies that undermine our democracy, attack our rights, raise prices and prop up billionaires at the expense of working...
BRATTLEBORO-Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 181–183 Main St., welcomes everyone to "Painter's Ethos," a group exhibit featuring paintings by David Brewster, Jim Giddings, Petria Mitchell, David Rohn, Donald Saaf, Joseph Salerno, James Urbaska, and Dan Welden. The exhibit opens with an artist reception Saturday, April 19, from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition continues through June 15. The eight artists in "Painter's Ethos," in spite of obvious differences, share the ethos - the culture, the joy of painting - as they search...
BARRE-The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Vermont highway safety advocates have launched a high-visibility enforcement effort this month as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month to deter distracted driving. Law enforcement officers nationwide will make extra efforts to enforce laws pertaining to texting and distracted driving as a reminder to all to drive with their full attention and avoid distractions. "Distracted driving is a leading cause of vehicle crashes on our roads, and...
BRATTLEBORO-"Our culture has a way to go in talking about death," said Shari May, the advance care planning coordinator at Brattleboro Area Hospice (BAH). Death and end-of-life care remain subjects that many don't want to talk about. BAH's Advance Care Planning program has done a lot to get people thinking about how they can take the burden off the shoulders of their family and friends and have control over what kind of death they would like to have. The program...
Selectboard members were all ears at an April 8 "listening session" and spent most of an April 10 meeting discussing where and how to start to peel the budget onion, once again. "This is not going to be an easy lift, but Brattleboro is worth it," said State Sen. Wendy Harrison, speaking via Zoom, at the listening session. That meeting saw a full room of more than 40 residents along with an almost equal number in attendance on Zoom. "We...
BRATTLEBORO-It was no April Fool's Day Joke. On April 1, five Administration for Children regional offices were shuttered and staff put on administrative leave. Entire programs, divisions, and teams have been gutted. These five offices, including the one in Boston, serve 23 states and provide oversight and support to Head Start and Child Care and Development Fund programs. The knowledge, expertise, and guidance of these federal workers is crucial to the 2,809 grantees and almost a million children these programs...