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Yet Another Telemarking Scam

by Andie | Other

I just received a new twist on the medical alert obnoxious telemarketing calls.  This one showed up in the caller ID as being from “Alert” so when I picked up, I just listened, didn’t say anything.  A robo call came on saying that a system had already been paid for, including shipping (“perhaps by a friend or relative”), and all I needed to do was press one to arrange for delivery.  I didn’t go down that road, but to be so bold as to say it is already paid for will undoubtedly get some people to respond.  How despicable can thes telemarketers get?  Please don’t answer!!  I ask that rhetorically.  I’m sure your responses would be just as nasty as the thoughts going through my head!

Vermont Jazz Center Presents its 11th Annual Big Band Dance and Gala featuring Kevin Mahogany

by Not Signed In | Music

On Friday, December 6th at 8:00 PM, the Vermont Jazz Center will present a Gala Performance with the VJC Big Band supporting internationally acclaimed vocalist, Kevin Mahogany. This is a dance concert and more than half the floor will remain open for people to move to the sounds of the VJC’s 18 piece orchestra.

Kevin Mahogany is well acquainted to singing with big bands as he has his own repertoire and custom-made charts, some of them arranged by the legendary Frank Mantooth. According to the respected jazz website, allmusic.com, Mahogany’s “swinging style is reminiscent, but not derivative of Joe Williams.” He takes pride in his Kansas City roots and, just like another Kansas City resident, Charlie Parker, his delivery is deeply saturated in the authentic blues. In one recent performance, Kevin joked that the state law in Kansas City required a minimum of two blues numbers per set!

Selectboard Meeting Notes: Board Eyes Farm Fund For Tax Relief; Energy Audits On Hold

by cgrotke | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard took up issues of farming, energy audits, and downtown improvements at Tuesday’s regular meeting. 

The tax stabilization rate for farms was discussed and formalized, but a debate is now brewing over $95,000 in a little-used but popular loan fund for farms. The Selectboard has eyes on it as a way to reduce taxes.

A request to look for ways to save money was tabled, putting the issue of energy audits for municipal buildings on hold for the moment.

Vermont’s downtown program was described in detail, and the BaBB budget and workplan were approved for presentation at Representative Town Meeting.

150 Years Ago (1863 12/4)

by BusyMom | History

Brattleboro, December 4th,
1863.

Dearest wife –

I have today the finest chance in the world to write you a good, nice warm room and a desk and nothing to do although I have had enough work yesterday and this forenoon. Day before yesterday I was detailed to assist in making out rolls in Mr. Mead’s office. He is superintendent of recruits. Commenced work yesterday, and have had to work pretty hard until a short time since, that job is done. How long I am to remain here I know not. I am here now, and shall improve it writing to you. I was rejoiced to receive a letter from you. It appears that we both had a letter in the road at the same time. You will find that I sent twenty dollars instead of fifteen. Well, I could not get the bill changed in camp and let it all slide. I suppose we shall get our bounty sometime if we do not get it, another pay day will come on some time or another.

iBrattleboro Christmas Calendar

by Stevil | iBrattleboro

Just a quick not to say how delightful it is to see the return of the iBrattleboro Christmas Calendar, one of my holiday tradtions for  several years now. I love the pictures of old Brattleboro, alhtough at first it took me awhile to realize that in Windows I could right click and zoom in for a more detailed view. I get such a kick out of the animations. It’s a great way to start the season. Thank You.

West Brattleboro Association Plans Annual Holiday Party

by WBA | Town News

On Thursday, December 12, 6:00-8:00 pm, the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will host its annual Holiday Party at The New England House, 254 Marlboro Road. This is a time for people and businesses in West Brattleboro to get together socially and to celebrate the Association’s numerous accomplishments in this past year. The evening will feature a cash bar with hors d’oeuvres prepared by the restaurant. The WBA suggests a voluntary donation of $5 toward the food.

First Wednesday: Kevin Cullen: Whitey Bulger and the Manhunt that Brought Him to Justice

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Boston Globe reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Cullen lived in the shadow, and sometimes in fear, of South Boston gangster Whitey Bulger. Cullen tells the riveting story of the capture and trial of the most wanted criminal of his generation. Wednesday, December 04, 2013, 07:00pm – 09:00pm. Brooks Memorial Library.

Do you think you know who Whitey Bulger is? What is the background to Whitey’s escape from justice for so many years. How did Whitey get help from his brother William (Billy) Bulger, longest-serving former president of the Massachusetts Senate and president of University of Massachusetts. What was the role of the FBI in protecting Whitey? Whitey Bulger and the Manhunt that Brought Him to Justice written by Boston Globe reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Cullen, who lived in the shadow, and sometimes in fear, of South Boston gangster Whitey Bulger. 

Friends of Brooks Memorial Library 8th Annual Holiday Booksale

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Save the date for Holiday Shopping! The 8th Annual Friends of Brooks Memorial Library Holiday Book Sale will be held in the Library on Friday, December 6 from 10AM to 6PM and Saturday, December 7 from 10AM to 2PM.

Gift quality books and gently used fiction, non-fiction, children’s books and CDs will be on sale. Non-fiction titles include art, cooking and gardening, history, music and more subjects. Book sale discount coupons are now available from the Front Desk of the Library. A collection of 400 music CDs, mainly jazz, will also be on sale and are in perfect condition.

Town Management and Performance Audits

by JohnWilmerding | Op/Ed

I believe we need not a financial audit (we’ll get those by law), but a periodic audit of the effectiveness of management and the fulfillment by Town government of its objectives.

Therefore, I have recommended to my fellow members of the Finance Committee that we request such audits.

Every ten years or so, we should have an outside or third-party expert review very extensively whether our Town is being run using best practices or not. Particularly at the juncture of the current inter-regnum (between Town Managers), this could end up being a very effective way of reducing Town expenses.

BMH Travel Clinic Becomes the New Tri-State Travel Clinic

by BMH | Health

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is pleased to announce the transition of its travel clinic services to the new Tri-State Travel Clinic under the direction of Dr. George Idelkope, effective immediately.

The BMH travel clinic was created in 2011 as part of the hospital’s Occupational Health Services department, with Dr. Idelkope as the medical advisor and Jean Bristol as one of the registered nurses on staff at the clinic. Bristol has moved with the travel clinic to Dr. Idelkope’s office, providing continuity of care for patients. Bristol has more than 20 years of experience in travel medicine and is a member of the International Society of Travel Medicine.

Kurn Hattin Children’s Choir Gets Encore With Natalie MacMaster, Lights Up The Holidays At The Vermont State House

by KurnHattin | Music

For the second year running, the Kurn Hattin Children’s Select Choir has been invited to join Grammy-winning fiddler Natalie MacMaster on stage for her “Christmas in Cape Breton” concert. Kurn Hattin Music Director
Lisa Bianconi has chosen 26 out of the 64-member advanced choir to perform in the concert, which takes place at the Latchis Theater in downtown Brattleboro, Vermont on Friday, December 6 at 7:30 PM

Holiday Family Photos with Your Pet! – Paws for Prevention

by BAPC | Family

Bring your two-and four-legged friends to Achille Agway on Sunday, December 8th (11am-3pm) in Brattleboro to have a professional photo taken in a nostalgic winter wonderland setting.  Don’t have a pet? That’s OK! This event is for pets, kids, families, friends, couples and more.

Cost: Suggested donation of $20 – proceeds will benefit and .

41st Christmas at Christ Church

by fomag | Music

Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music’s 41st Annual Christmas at Christ Church program is set for 8:00 p.m. on Friday, December 13, and 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 15—note this departure from past years’ schedule for the reprise performance. Christ Church is at the corner of Rt. 5 south and Melendy Hill Road in the Algiers Village of Guilford.

        “Brightest & Best: Music to Welcome the Holy Child” is this season’s theme for the program. Since mid-September, Tom Baehr has been conducting rehearsals with sixteen Guilford Chamber Singers. Many have sung with Friends of Music for a long time, and others are new to this annual “pick-up” group but sing with other choirs and choruses in the area.

43rd Community Messiah Sing: A Benefit for the Homeless

by fomag | Music

Brattleboro, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford, for a 43rd year, invites singers and music lovers in the Tri-State region to start their holiday season with its annual Community Messiah Sing on the first Saturday in December. Set again at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main Street in Brattleboro, the Sing’s permanent home since 1982, the event is a benefit for agencies serving the area’s homeless.

        This year the first Saturday falls on December 7, and the program is set to begin as usual at 1:00 p.m. with Clark Anderson at the helm as conductor for a third season. William McKim graciously stepped in for a 28th year as Sing organist when Christian Huebner, Centre Church’s resident organ master, learned that his ministerial ordination ceremony was set for the same afternoon. Messrs. Anderson and McKim will lead the assembled singers through the Christmas portion of Handel’s masterwork, plus a few other favorite sections from Parts II and III.

AIDS Day?

by Zippy | Other

“There was no excuse, in this country and in this time, for the spread of a deadly new epidemic.  For this was a time in which the United States boasted the world’s most sophisticated medicine and the world’s most extensive public health system, geared to eliminate such pestilence form our national life. When the virus appeared, the world’s richest nation housed the most lavishly financed scientific research establishments-both inside the vast governmental health bureaucracy and in other institutions – to investigate new diseases and quickly bring them under control.”

– Journalist/ Historian Randy Shilts in ‘And The Band Played On.’   

Cleaning Up Vermont Yankee 12/3/13

by Safe and Green Campaign | News & Information

The state of Vermont and Entergy are engaging in confidential negotiations about the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor (and the future of our region). As citizens we are told very little. State officials are quoted as saying they are “not dealing much with the past” and “everything is on the table.”

Because negotiations are happening behind closed doors, should we just sit back and trust Entergy and the state to make a deal? What we can do is educate ourselves best as we can, and let our state officials and Entergy know what, for instance, we do not want “on the table.” The Safe and Green Campaign is hosting “Cleaning Up Vermont Yankee,” a free educational panel, on Tuesday, December 3, to give people information about the process and the options. Three panelists will present information followed by Q&A and discussion.

A State of Collapse – The Threat of Being Functionally Obsolete

by Vidda | Op/Ed

When you walk across the bridge to Hinsdale you feel the bridge vibrating underfoot. It is a sustained motion, that combined with the obviously “insufficient weight limits” might give the pedestrian pause to be concerned in what is an otherwise peaceful, scenic river view.

What the long-term overweight loads and steady shaking does to the bridge structure is another matter.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – December 3 and 5, 2013

by cgrotke | Town News

Building a Better Brattleboro will come before the Brattleboro Selectboard at their next Tuesday meeting to present the downtown organization’s new budget, sans River Garden for the first time.

The board will also take up decades-old Farmland and Agricultural Land issues, look at errors and omissions to the Grand List, consider more energy audits for town buildings, hear about downtown program strategies from a state agency, and more.

If there’s something you’d like to discuss that isn’t on the agenda, there’s time for that during Public Participation. You can attend in person, watch on BCTV, or get the highlights here the day after.

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 12/2/13

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch 8 Schedule for the week of 12/2/13

                   Monday December 2                

12:00 am      Vermont Arts Summit – Getting To Market

1:18 am       That Was the Week That Was- Malayaka House Uganda

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Green Mountain Vets For Peace – Ep. 126

5:00 am       Dartmouth CMS: Protection from Melanoma

5:15 am       Dartmouth CMS: Protection from Melanoma Pt. 2