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Brattleboro and VT COVID-19 Regional Dashboard Summary – March 2024

Here’s the March 2024 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them. Scroll down the new comments for the latest.

VT, NH and MA do weekly updates, near the end of the week, so we update on Fridays usually. All three have changed their dashboards since the start, so it is now tough to easily compare how things have changed. Variant updates are every two weeks.


Construction Update Brattleboro-Hinsdale Bridge – March 28, 2024

The contractor’s crews have been accessing the Vermont Abutment off of Vermont Route 142 and will continue to access this location next week. No traffic impacts are anticipated, but motorists are advised to watch for vehicles, including concrete trucks, entering and exiting the construction site.

Delivery of steel girders to Pier 1 is scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday, April 9th, 10th, and 11th, and Monday, April 15th.


Viado Promoted to Co-Director of Youth Services’ Restorative Justice Programs

Brattleboro, VT–Cassandra “Kaci” Viado plays a key role in Youth Services’ mission to build resilience and be a catalyst for change as the new Co-Director of the agency’s Restorative Justice Programs.

Promoted from her position as the Restorative Panel and Pre-Charge Programs Coordinator for the last 18 months, Viado is well-versed in working with volunteers, participants, harmed parties, and facilitating restorative justice panels. In that capacity, Viado attended one-on-one meetings for over 100 cases annually, collaborated with local law enforcement, Probation and Parole, and the States Attorney’s Office.

In her new role, Viado manages five restorative justice-based programs for youth and adults in Windham County: Pretrial Services, Court Diversion, Driving with License Suspended, a diversion-based program for substance use and/or mental health needs called Tamarack and the Youth Substance Awareness Safety Program, which emphasizes healthy choices over punishment.


aBrattleboro

Writing from outside and away from the area now, not quite self-imposed exile but with the place in the rear view mirror.  What comes to mind; ghost roads, places only inhabited in memory, a distilled distance.  A somewhat heavy thing to have a home and then not live in it. Circumstances, fate, who knows what controls our comings and goings?

Clearly space and time are connected as being far away throws spectral light on long years of residence. People, snippets of conversation, smell of certain hallways, the bank of various turns, particular potholes… funny what’s recalled of its own accord. 


Officer Did Not Falsify Evidence

CORRECTION: The officer did not falsify evidence. To falsify evidence means to alter it after it is admitted into a court record. That’s really serious and worse than what happened. Here’s what happened.

The Brattleboro “health officer” came to our emergency homeless shelter February 7 2023. We had three RVs for free shelter. He had been told that there were no sewer connections to the RVs. See the video. at brmse.org .


Those People

I have been trying to understand why having a visible population of people who either appear homeless or, who look as though their body or their mind is in a troubled state, cause people to react strongly to their presence. I don’t think there is a simple answer to this question, but I do believe that if we try to look at “those people” from different perspectives we just might be able to soften the fear and anger that is aroused.

It is frightening to many people to have to walk in close proximity to people they believe to be homeless or troubled. Part of the problem is that panhandling has become a common activity and when people are asked for money they feel violated and they may fear that they will be accosted if they don’t give people what they are asking for.

We live in a free society and that means that all of us have rights to pursue a vocation, whether or not it is socially acceptable, as long as it does not break any laws. Some places have tried to outlaw panhandling. Panhandling is a confrontational act and some people might say they have the right to walk in their own town without experiencing the fear that panhandling arouses in them. A lot of people react when they see a panhandler by assuming they are too lazy to get a job.


Brattleboro Planning Commission Meeting: April 1, 2024 at 6:00 pm

6:15 – 6:50 Downtown Economic Development
Guest: Kate Traszkos, Downtown Brattleboro Alliance Executive Director
Presentation about downtown economic development efforts, data, and opportunities for the Planning Commission to engage in inventory efforts.

6:50 – 7:05 Vernon Dam Relicensing
Endorse comment letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the Vernon Dam relicensing.


Top Floor of Brattleboro Transportation Center Temporarily Closed

Please be advised that the top floor of the Transportation Center has been closed for maintenance starting March 22, 2024. The closure will remain in effect throughout the next few weeks as a fence is installed around a portion of the top deck.

To prioritize safety, a temporary fence will be erected while preparations and construction of a permanent installation are underway.


Brattleboro Dog and Wolf-Hybrid Licenses Due April 1

Annual Brattleboro dog and wolf-hybrid licenses are available for the 2024 licensing period. All current dog owners were mailed a renewal notice in early February. To renew an existing dog license, return your payment and renewal notice with updated rabies vaccine information by April 1, 2024.


Brattleboro Selectboard Organizational Meeting Agenda – March 26, 24

The Brattleboro Selectboard’s Organizational Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 6:15pm, in the Selectboard Meeting Room (230 Main Street, RM 212) and over Zoom. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.”  Closed captioning will be available for the deaf and hard of hearing.


Construction Update Brattleboro-Hinsdale Bridge – March 21, 2024

Work has continued on the cap for Pier 1 with the rebar being flown into place and tied atop the stem. Form work for the cap will be completed, bearing seats fully constructed, detail work finished, and everything fully adjusted to match plan location and elevation prior to the scheduled concrete placement next Tuesday.

Additional crews may begin work on the drainage installation required in the Barrows and Fisher yard late next week.


Awful Feeling! ‘Starving Palestinian Children Are Watching Me Eat Their Food ‘- Can’t Take It Anymore

Am feeling some slight pangs of hunger as I sit down to my dinner, and the thought automatically arises, ‘how could a starving person take the immeasurably more severe hunger pain caused by the strong contractions of the stomach when it’s empty,’and that makes me think of the poor desperately hungry children being starved in Gaza. Am still aware of the good taste of the food in my mouth but suddenly am not enjoying eating.