In May of 1885, Brattleboro formed a village improvement society. They called it the Rural Improvement Association, and many of the big names in town joined the executive committee. Dr Draper of the Retreat was chosen as president, and vice presidents included Gov. Holbrook, Jacob Estey, George Brooks, Edward Crosby and others.
(To P. Baxter, Derby Line, Vt. M.C. 1stVt. District)
Philadelphia, May 15, 1864.
Honored friend:
I have received yours of the 12th inst. That money came most opportunely as I hardly knew how I was to get through here. I am sometimes fearful that I cannot pass here. If I do I shall be very sure of the other examination. They do not mean to pass a man here that will be rejected by the board. If I cannot pass here, I think I can withdraw from the school. If I do I am determined to keep on with the study until I am qualified to command, whether I ever have that pleasure or not, the time is too short for me. There must be a great many soldiers here that cannot pass. There was hope of getting extensions to their furloughs, but that is gone. There are some that have come merely to pass away the time. There are others, noble fellows, that are working with all their might, but they must fail. One cannot learn the first two volumes in Casey, Geography, Arithmetic, Modern and Ancient History in thirty days.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold special meetings on May 15, 2014 at 12:00 noon and May 16, 2014 at 8:00am am in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center. It is anticipated that the Board will enter into executive session at both meetings to discuss personnel matters. The Town regrets that this warning is not made with the full time required under the statute.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
Every month, on the third Friday, Write Action hosts Open Reading. All readers have about 7 minutes to share their readings of either their own work, or works by authors that they especially enjoy. It starts at 7:30 and is free to all writers and those who enjoy the spoken word. If you want to read, or recite, come a little early and drop your name in the hat. We will draw names at random to determine the order of readers.
The difficulty of simplifying the universe is that the theoretical concepts devised by physicists do not easily lend themselves to most of us undereducated laymen. Yet, from these three interrelated links of spacetime conjectures I have excerpted below, I did find the description of our everyday world to be, as it says, familiar: “In everyday life, there are three familiar dimensions of space (up/down, left/right, and forward/backward), and there is one dimension of time (later/earlier). Thus, in the language of modern physics, one says that spacetime is four-dimensional.”
I found it interesting that four-dimensional spacetime does not contain the defined present. The grand here and now moment that is ubiquitous and perpetual for everyday life.
Over the past few weeks or so, comedian Louis C.K. has kicked up some dust by speaking out against the Common Core. His perspective is that of a parent of NYC public school kids, and there has been a fair amount of controversy, and back and forth in a variety of venues as a result of his take on this. Here’s a screen shot of some of his tweets.
Philadelphia, May 15, 1864.
Dearest Abiah,
Here I am yet. This is Sunday. Henry Ward Beecher teaches near here, but notwithstanding my anxiety to
hear him I have not done it. There has a large number of wounded arrived in the city this morning. I went to the Baltimore depot to see them, but the crowd was so great that I could not get near. I saw in the ambulances as they passed, some I knew but they were all recruits, and knew but little about the old boys. I had quite a chat with one man, a recruit, who has left Brattleboro since I came from there, wounded very severely in the ankle. I walked by the side of the ambulance. He told me that a great many Vermont boys were with along, but he had not been in the army long enough to know the men.
New FDA rule threatens mutually beneficial and environmentally sound partnership between brewers and farmers
Waterbury, VT (May 14th) – At the Alchemist Cannery today in Waterbury, Rep. Peter Welch unveiled a two-prong bipartisan effort to block a proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that would likely end the longstanding practice of Vermont brewers providing nutritious and cost effective spent grain to farmers to feed their livestock. The spent grain would otherwise be dumped in landfills or composted at a significant cost to brewers.
Two sets of budget numbers were prepared at the request of the Brattleboro Selectboard since their last FY15 budget meeting. One involves specific cuts the Selectboard was considering; the other takes a look at a 1% across-the-board cut for all departments.
At Tuesday’s somewhat heated meeting, the board considered and voted on which cuts to include in their revised budget for presentation to town meeting representatives on June 2, ending up with a combination of the two approaches. Members of the public also weighed in, sometimes with great passion. Accusations were thrown, apologies offered, and and ideas were suggested.
By the end, the board had a list of requests for the Interim Town Manager to include in a revised budget that they hope to adopt and have ready for representatives in June.
The Town of Brattleboro is looking for citizens to serve on the following committees and boards:
Agricultural Advisory Board
Arts Committee
BASIC (Brattleboro Area Skatepark Is Coming)
BCTV (Brattleboro Community Television)
Brattleboro Housing Authority
CPCC (Citizen Police Communications Committee)
WKVT radio will present “A Call to Action” on Thursday, May 15, a special community forum about the increasing problems with heroin use and related criminal activity in the Brattleboro Area.
The program will be broadcast live from Brooks Memorial Library and air during the “Live and Local” show’s regular slot, from 9am-12noon, on 100.3FM and 1490AM.
“A Call to Action” brings together policy makers, members of law enforcement, treatment providers and drug awareness and prevention specialists for a discussion about what every community member can do to assist those who are on the front line waging the battle against crime and addiction every day.
Commissioner Recchia to Testify at U.S. Senate Hearing
WASHINGTON, May 13 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced legislation to give states a greater role in decommissioning nuclear power plants.
Vermont and neighboring states should have more input in the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission process for determining what happens after the shutdown later this year of the 42-year-old Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, Sanders said. Aging plants also are projected to be mothballed in the next decade in Florida, Wisconsin, New Jersey, New York and Ohio.
NOTICE OF STREET CLOSING
Union Hill will be closed to through traffic on Thursday, May 15, 2014, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., weather permitting. The street closing will allow Utilities Division personnel time to perform water main repair work near the intersection with Williams Street.
Beech Street and Union Hill residents will be able to access their properties from Western Avenue.
Join Rob Fish, Nonprofit Advisor and Community Organizer for the Vermont Digital Economy Project Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) in a workshop, Essential Digital Tools for Non Profits on Tuesday 13 May at 7 pm at Brooks Library.
This event provides an overview of the project and services offered, as well as introduction to various tools non profits can use to further their missions. Created by the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) in response to the 2011 floods, the Vermont Digital Economy Project’s mission is to construct more resilient communities, by helping Vermont communities, businesses, and nonprofits better use online tools as a way to speed flood recovery, spur economic development and job growth, and improve community resilience to disasters.
what do you do when you’ve got the end-of-the-world blues? You know: I ice is melting, our pollinators are dying, the sea is rising, the West Coast is burning, the East Coast is losing it’s beach front houses, fracking is depleting water supplies in America’s driest areas, landslides, sink holes, tornadoes, typhoons, earthquakes, fake clouds, drones, economy crashing, oil slicks, tsunamis, big floods, big droughts, nuclear pollution, air pollution, noise pollution, all this makes me sick!…need I say more? what-what-what do you do when this gets you down?
This week at the Brattleboro Farmers’ Market: Saturday, May 17th is Kids’ Day! Kids are vendors, too! Kids can come sell things they make themselves; no cookies from mixes or crafts from kits, please! Come get your garden started with healthy, local plants direct from our talented growers. Garden advice is also available this week from the UVM Extension Master Gardeners table. Bring your questions!
There’s something for everyone at the market. Our local farmers are selling starts, perennials, hanging baskets, herbs, fresh produce and preserves, eggs, meats, cheeses, maple syrup, and much more. Globe-spanning hot lunches, fresh breads and pastries, gelato, and gorgeous crafts of all kinds. Celebrating 40 years in business in 2014! EBT and debit are welcome. Please leave dogs at home!
Electric Fence will play Thursday night, May 15, at Whetstone Station in Brattleboro. We’re very excited to have our friends Mark Trichka on mandolin and Lisa Brande on fiddle for the show. Electric Fence is Steve Carmichael, Howard Weiss-Tisman, Jonny Sheehan and Jeremy Holch. We play original music and cover rock, swing, rhythm and blues and country, finding the funky groove throughout. Music starts at 8:30 and is free.
BURLINGTON, Vt., May 12 – Flanked by Vermont college students and graduates who are deep in debt, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today he will introduce legislation to help students earn college credits in high school in order to cut the cost of earning a college diploma.
Sanders said he supports a separate bill to lower interest rates on student loans. And, as a member of the Senate education committee, he also is working on ways to bring down college costs.
Every once in a while we ask fans of the site to help cover the costs of keeping it going.
If you are in a position to do so and would like to help out, consider a gift to help offset some of the expenses of keeping this ship sailing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (for over a decade).
Hi fellow ibrattleboro-ians,
Does anyone know if there ia any kind of tenant rights organization or advocacy program available to low income residents in Brattleboro? I’m having an issue in my current apartment regarding a tenant smoking in a porch area that is the only access to my apartment. I was told that the building I live in was a smoke free building including common areas and despite the fact that the porch is technically outside this tenant’s cigarette smoke comes in my windows and every time I enter and exit my home I have to walk through a cloud of smoke. I have serious medical issues that are being made worse by this constant exposure to second hand smoke.
I’m looking for some legal advice as to how address this issue. Thanks.
