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Let’s Meet

by fidel | Op/Ed

A Town Meeting–be it open (OTM) or representative (RTM)–provides a critical opportunity for citizens to check the Selectboard.

Over the past several years, the Selectboard has made decisions that have had a tremendous effect on our community—adopting the Downtown Safety Action Plan, creating a Town emergency medical service, eliminating funding for human services, choosing a new arrangement for solid waste collection, adopting a community conduct ordinance, and allocating federal COVID funds. Not to mention, in the last two years, substantial increases in spending and related tax increases. You may like or dislike some or all of these decisions but, without a Town Meeting, there is little recourse to reverse a Selectboard decision and no avenue for publicly debating it.

Leda’s Kitchen (mostly Mexican) Menu for 2/26

by LedaS | Food

“Happiness is having one Leda’s meal in your belly and another waiting for you in the fridge!” —Tim W.

This coming week’s menu is mostly Mexican inspired:

Chicken Tinga (GF/DF): Chicken thighs simmered in a savory, smoky, and slightly spicy red sauce based on tomatoes, onions, garlic, lime, and chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. Accompaniments: lime wedges and optional sour cream $28 for 24oz container (2-3 servings)

Opening Doors Project Brings “Race & Song” to Next Stage Arts

by hahrenholz | Music

PUTNEY — Music, memory, and meaning will take center stage at Next Stage Arts on Saturday, March 14, when the Opening Doors Project presents Race & Song: A Musical Conversation with Pamela Means and Alastair Moock.

The performance begins at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:45 p.m., at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill in Putney. Tickets are available at nextstagearts.org for $20 in advance, $25 at the door, or $10 for the livestream option.

Brattleboro Committee Meeting Agendas

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Finance Committee will meet on Sunday, February 22, 2026, at 11:00am in the Brattleboro Co-op Community Room and on Monday, February 23, 2026, at 6:00pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room.

The Brattleboro Human Services Committee will meet on Monday, February 23, 2026, at 6:30pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room and on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 5:45 in the Selectboard Meeting Room. Both meetings will also be held over Zoom.

The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 5:00pm in the Brooks Memorial Library Community Room.

Media Bias and Kidnapping

by RDavis | Activism

In our world of celebrity worship, you can garner mainstream media attention if you are famous or a close relative of a famous person. That means that ordinary people who are not considered newsworthy by the media can wallow in obscurity even if they suffer indignities that media attention could help relieve.

Case in point is the incessant media attention that the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, mother of news celebrity Savannah Guthrie, is receiving. She was kidnapped on February 1 and, as of this writing, she is still missing. There are few clues to her disappearance, but the mainstream media and law enforcement have given her case an inordinate amount of attention.

iBrattleboro Selectboard Candidate Interview – Randall “Randy” Blodgett

by cgrotke | Politics
randall blodgett

Randall “Randy” Blodgett is running for a one year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.

Introduce yourself. Who are you and what would you say are your qualifications for the job?

I hold a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Marketing from Albright College. My career has consistently focused on finance, entrepreneurship, and business development.

I began my professional career with New York Life Insurance Company, where I earned licenses in life, health, and securities. I later founded and operated a successful photography studio for 22 years, while also consulting within the studio industry on finance and marketing strategy.

A Lifeline for Difficult Times: The Taking Solace Series March: Come See Me in the Good Light film

by CenterforSolace | Media

Wednesday, March 4th at 6 pm: “Come See Me in the Good Light”. This is a poignant and unexpectedly funny love story about poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley facing an incurable cancer diagnosis with joy, wit and an unshakable partnership. Through laughter and unwavering love, they transform pain into purpose, and mortality into a loving celebration of resilience.

This will be held on the Main Floor of Brooks Memorial Library.

Howard Prussack on “Here We Are”

by Wendy O'Connell | Education

HOWARD PRUSSACK works hard to produce vegetables, plants and hemp on his farm, High Meadows Farm in Westminster West – he serves our community and beyond. His bounty is available locally and at the Brattleboro Farmer’s Market which he co-founded. Howard also tells wonderful stories of his travels with an international farmer-to-farmer exchange program.

Brattleboro District 9 Forum

by fidel | Town News

District #9 Meeting

All Brattleboro residents of District 9 * are invited to meet:

Tuesday, February 24 at 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Quiet Reading Room (Room D) on the mezzanine.

There is so much going on ….

Beloved Winter Shelter Mid-Winter Report

by EileenBAH | Town News

We are halfway through February (and halfway through Winter!) and the last few weeks have been a busy time for Beloved Winter Shelter as our region’s Extreme Cold Weather Shelter.  We have been open for 26 nights straight when we had been struggling to keep our doors open for just 5 days a week.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

It takes a great deal of work to shelter so few of our neighbors,  but those of us who show up to do the work are providing  more than shelter from the cold.  What we lack in amenities we make up for in hospitality.  We are giving folks who have nowhere to be a place where they can feel like they belong.  Many of our hosts have experienced first hand what it is like to be homeless – what it’s like when there’s not  a single place in this world where their presence isn’t questioned, their every move watched, and all that’s expected to be done in the privacy of their  own home must be done in public.   We take for granted what comes with the roof over our head.  While we cannot offer the amenities a home of their own would provide, we do offer a feeling of belonging.  A feeling of being home for the night.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – February 17, 2026

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center (230 Main Street, Room 212) and over Zoom.  Prior to the regular meeting at 5:30pm, the Board will convene and is expected to move directly into executive session to discuss contracts, labor relations agreements with employees and the appointment or employment or evaluation of a public officer or employee. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.”  Closed captioning will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members. The backup materials for this meeting will be available on the town website by the end of the day.

Windham Southeast Supervisory Union Implements Interim Plan to Support Oak Grove School Students During Facility Repairs

by Not Signed In | Education

[WINDHAM SOUTHEAST, BRATTLEBORO, FEBRUARY 12, 2026] — The Windham Southeast Supervisory Union has developed a comprehensive interim plan to ensure continuity of learning for Oak Grove School students while repairs to the school’s heating system are completed.

Oak Grove School was closed on February 9th and 10th as crews worked to identify and repair a heating unit and conduct required safety testing. While progress is being made, the timeline for completion is likely another week.

To minimize disruption to students’ education, Oak Grove School students and staff are temporarily attending Academy School and Green Street School. The interim placements were thoughtfully designed with students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs as the primary consideration.

Traffic Restrictions on Linden Street on Feb. 12 Due to Water Main Repair

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Town of Brattleboro Department of Public Works will be performing emergency water main repairs on Linden Street near the Brattleboro Retreat on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. Utility crews will be on-site beginning at 6:30 a.m., and traffic restrictions will remain in place until approximately 5 p.m.

Motorists should expect lane restrictions, potential delays, and alternating one-way traffic in the work zone. Traffic control personnel and signage will be in place to guide vehicles safely through the area.

The Olympic$

by RDavis | Living

The Olympics are a great escape from the crazy world we live in, if you can afford to watch them. Television cable bills are outrageous, but they are still showing the most popular events on major networks. The Olympics include lots of other events that are only available to watch if you pony up even more money than your cable bill and opt for the premium level of Peacock.

The modern-day Olympics always had a large financial element to it, but in 2026 it seems to me that the situation has reached a new level where the big media outlets hold the public hostage unless they dole out more and more money for viewing. There may be free ways to watch events that I am not aware of, especially with so many live stream options.

Peter Elwell Support for In-Person Town Meeting

by jakitony | Op/Ed

Here is a statement supporting Town meeting by Peter Elwell, our former Town Manager. He does not post on social media and wanted his view to be known.

February 9, 2026

Please vote to save in-person town meeting in Brattleboro. We have the rare privilege of coming together as a community to discuss and address the major challenges and opportunities facing our town. Voluntarily surrendering that privilege would be a shame.

iBrattleboro Selectboard Candidate Interview – Deena Chadwick

by cgrotke | Politics
deena chadwick

Deena Chadwick is running for a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.

What would you say are your qualifications for the job?

My name is Deena Chadwick, and I’m a third-generation Vermonter and longtime Brattleboro resident. I’ve lived in a number of neighborhoods in Brattleboro, as well as in Vernon and briefly in Guilford. I graduated from BUHS in 1993 and raised my two children here; they both attended Green Street School and BUHS and are now in their early 20s.

For the past 31 years, I’ve worked as a hairstylist in Brattleboro—17 years at Whitman’s Hair Salon, over 14 years running my own business, and the last 8 years as a co-owner of a cooperative hair salon. I also previously co-owned a downtown cycling studio. Over the last decade, I’ve been involved in rehabbing older homes and turning them into business spaces and affordable housing.