Act 46 Study Committee Agenda and Minutes

by Not Signed In | Education

ACT 46 STUDY COMMITTEE

Representing the Brattleboro Town School District, Dummerston Town School District, Guilford Town School District, Putney Town School District, and the Vernon Town School District
http://www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF MEETING

The Act 46 Study Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2016 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room.
AGENDA

I. CALL TO ORDER – 6:00 p.m. – Alice Laughlin, Committee Chair

II. REVIEW, PRIORITIZE AND ESTABLISH DESIRED OUTCOMES FOR MEETING BY CHAIRPERSON.

Cantrip and Low Lily at Next Stage on Saturday, April 23

by Not Signed In | Music

Twilight Music and Next Stage Arts Project present a Celtic and Americana music twin bill featuring high energy Scottish music by Cantrip, and American folk music with traditional influences and modern inspiration by Low Lily, at Next Stage on Saturday, April 23 at 7:30 pm.

From the strong base of its Celtic roots, Cantrip branches out into the music of other European cultures. Weaving together songs and tunes, both traditional and contemporary, Dan Houghton, Jon Bews and Eric McDonald take an audience on a cultural journey, putting their own spin on each style. Known for their innovative arrangements, un-produced sound and dry wit, Cantrip has toured throughout Scotland and the US, expanding the boundaries of Celtic music along the way.

Digital First Media Selling Reformer

by cgrotke | Media

The Reformer reports that it is being sold:

“Digital First Media will complete the sale of New England Newspapers Inc., which includes the Brattleboro Reformer, to Birdland Acquisition LLC on May 2. Included in the deal are the Bennington Banner, Manchester Journal and The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.

The principals in the new company include three Stockbridge, Mass., residents: John C. “Hans” Morris, former president of Visa Inc.; Fredric D. Rutberg, former Pittsfield (Mass.) District Court judge; and Robert G. Wilmers, chairman and CEO of M&T Bank. The fourth principal is Stanford Lipsey, publisher emeritus of The Buffalo News and former owner, publisher and Pulitzer Prize winner for The Sun Newspaper Group in Nebraska.”

Noticed Around Brattleboro – Spring 2016

by cgrotke | Town News

Time for another edition of Noticed Around Brattleboro, where you can add the little (or big) things you’ve noticed recently in and around town.

I’ll get us started with an observation or two:

– Fast Eddies has re-opened on Putney Road.

– Top of the Hill Grill is now open for the season.

Fourth Annual “Camp for a Common Cause” Set for May 20

by ChrisLenois | Activism

Local band Groove Prophet takes to the bandstand to benefit Groundworks Collaborative 

BRATTLEBORO – Groundworks Collaborative presents the fourth annual Camp for a Common Cause, Friday, May 20 on the Brattleboro Common. 

For the past three years this event has been a joint fundraiser for Morningside Shelter and the Brattleboro Area Drop In Center; however the two organizations merged last June creating Groundworks Collaborative.  The family-friendly one-night campout continues to successfully raise awareness around homelessness in the greater Brattleboro area.   

Bereavement Support Group for Adults

by Not Signed In | Health

A new Seven Week Bereavement Support Group for adults begins on May 3rd and will meet each Tuesday from 5:00-6:30 pm, ending June 14th. The group is free of charge and open to anyone in the community grieving the death loss of a loved one, no matter when or where the loss occurred.

Bereavement Support Groups offer a safe, mutually supportive environment for sharing experiences through discussion, readings, simple activities, and suggestions for moving through grief. This group is sponsored by Brattleboro Area Hospice and will meet at the hospice office at 191 Canal St. in Brattleboro.

HCRS To Host Brattleboro Screening of Healing Voices

by Not Signed In | Education

New Documentary Seeks to Shift Public’s Perception of “Mental Illness”

Springfield, VT, April 20, 2016 – Health Care and Rehabilitation Services (HCRS), Vermont’s second largest community mental-health agency, will join more than 125 community organizations around the world on Friday, April 29th to host a premier screening of Healing Voices. The new documentary places a spotlight on mental health – or what society refers to as “mental illness.”

The HCRS-sponsored screening will take place in Brattleboro on April 29th at the Hooker-Dunham Theater, 139 Main Street, #407. A reception will begin at 6:30 pm, with the screening starting promptly at 7 pm. A panel discussion will follow the conclusion of the film.

Act 46 Study Committees Meeting

by Not Signed In | Education

As part of the services offered through the Act 46 Implementation Project, representatives from the VT School Boards Association, VT Superintendents Association, and the VT Agency of Education will be available to meet individually with Act 46 Study Committees in Brattleboro on April 25th.

The purpose of the meetings are to assist in answering questions about the law and to provide information and feedback in response to scenarios that are being explored in communities. Members of the WSESU Act 46 Study Committee are scheduled to meet with this group from 9:30-11:00 (4/25/16). This meeting will take place at the Marlboro Grad Center – Ledges Conference Room. www.wsesu.org

Selectboard Meeting Notes: Police-Fire Project Team Reunite and Grants Galore

by cgrotke | Town News

The Police and Fire facility projects will be guided by the same team as before. The project manager, architects, and construction management company were all approved for contract signing.

Brattleboro received grants ranging from $240 to $1 million, the All State Music Festival has been cleared for a parade next year, and our financial questionnaires and checklists are in good order.

Democracy In Vermont Is Dead

by Not Signed In | Op/Ed

From the early days of one room school houses to the present, town residents and tax payers have been directly involved in their students’ education. Act 46 takes this role away from us.

The Dummerston community has built and paid for its school building and grounds. All decisions pertaining to our school are made annually by Dummerston residents by discussion and Australian ballot.

Implementation of act 46 completely removes the people from direct decision making about their children’s education. Furthermore, our schools will lose their identity as community centers.

Act 46 is being enacted without any information provided to the public, nor does the public have the opportunity to give input or feedback.

Brattleboro Time Trade Listings – Week of April 17

by Brattleboro Time Trade | Other

Brattleboro Time Trade:  Exchanging services, creating connections, strengthening communities, one hour at a time. See below for more exciting Upcoming Events and learn what Time Trade can do for you!

How Time Trade Works: You do something for someone and earn time credits for your “bank,” which you can then put towards someone else doing something for you! It’s that simple – and amazing!

This week’s fabulous listings, brought to you from the Big Easy:

Now anyone can see a listing of all our Offers and Requests: https://brattleboro.timebanks.org/ads?type=1

OFFERS (i.e. things people could do for you):

Use of Community Space
Fresh Exotic Sprouts, Grown Just For You (updated!)
Reading Aloud
Help with Spring and Summer Chore’s – Many T.T. Ref,s.
Egyptian Walking Onion Plants

This Week: BizUp, West B! This Tues at 6:30 at C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Ave

by WBA | News & Information

A REMINDER:  THIS WEEK: BizUp! West B. Connect, Collaborate, Innovate! 

On Tuesday, April 19, at 6:30pm, the Community Development Action Team of the West Brattleboro Association will be throwing our springtime BizUp! event. This will be hosted by the CX Silver Gallery and Teahouse at 814 Western Ave in West Brattleboro.

BizUp! events spark connections, collaborations and innovations between West Brattleboro businesses and
organizations. Join us for local bites and drinks and meet fellow business owners in West B.

BCTV Schedules For The Week Of 4/18/2016

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV channel 8 for the week of 4/18/16  

Monday, April 18, 2016

12:00 am At Landmark: The Yes Men, ‘Making Meaningful Mischief’ 3/28/16

1:30 am Co-op: Food Justice Forum 3/20/16

3:30 am Spotlight on Vermont Issues: Human Trafficking

5:30 am Indigenous People’s History and the Roots of America’s Endless Wars

State Economic Review

by spoon | State News

I received a request from Paul Cillo asking if I would help disseminate this report from Public Assets Institute.  I am pleased to oblige.  I’ve followed Public Assets for quite a while and it is, as far as I can see, the most thorough and clear-eyed analysis of Vermont economics.  I find the data very accurate and the commentary and analysis quite sharp and insightful.  The particular report to which this note refers provides a wonderfully comprehensive snapshot of what is going on in the state.  Here it is:

The Nature of Belief Abhors a Vacuum

by Vidda | Philosophy

One of the most disgusting postulates that unifies the otherwise deadly divided “Jukrislim” religions is the accusation that humans are born with and live in sin. The original finger-pointing, found in the shared book of Genesis, lays the blame of sin squarely on the backs of women. Women have never been the same since then, especially after the Jewish sects calling themselves Christianity and Islam took root.

 

 

 

 

Hillary Destroyed Gaddafi & Libya’s Free Health Care & Education Sanders Wants For USA

by jay janson | Op/Ed

DESCRIPTION:
It would seem Sanders fighting for Americans to have free health care and free education would have tempered his words about a Gaddafi who saw to his people receiving for many years what Bernie wants for Americas. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and the pro status quo Republican candidates opposing her are perhaps already an anachronism, i.e., persons with practices that belongs to an earlier time.

Preachers & Poets -A Reading in Guilford

by DonInGuilford | Arts

Preachers and Poets, the third collaborative poetry reading by Tom Ragle and Don McLean, will be presented on Thursday, April 21 at Guilford Community Church at 7:00 pm.  Admission is by a donation in any amount,  to benefit the work of the Church.

This program, the third in the series,  takes its title from the fact that four of the poets were also ordained ministers in three different denominations: Anglicans George Herbert and Robert Herrick, and, on very opposite poles, both strict in their particular ways, American Puritan Edward Taylor and English Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins.  Another connection between the poets is that a majority of them did not see their poetry published in their lifetimes, and several were unknown to the public, including Emily Dickinson, who joins the lineup.  Completing the cast of three English and three American poets is Walt Whitman.  Numerous and interesting connections, in terms of both subject matter and technique amongst these poets, will be revealed during the evening. 

Defining Affordable Care – A Tax Season Dilemma

by Lise | Op/Ed

This year, as I was doing my taxes, I got to wondering what is up with the healthcare “Personal Responsibility Tax” for the uninsured, and whether or not low income people really have to pay it.   This mostly affects the self-employed and people without coverage through their employers, but that’s a few people, so it seemed worth investigating.  As it turned out, finding out how to claim an exemption was most of the battle, and a battle it was with many spreadsheets and worksheets and interactive tax tools to be filled out.  The answer I arrived at was “no” — unless you make more than $53,737 (as a single person), you’re not required to pay the uninsured person’s tax.  This is because you are not required by law to expend more than 8.05% of your income to buy h

Weekend Creativity Series: Essential Art Supplies

by cgrotke | Creative

Everyone has their own favorite tools, and for artists this means art supplies. We have a room dedicated, filled with all sorts of goodies.

I’m rather simple in my essentials. I exclusively use whatever is available. If I get a choice in the matter, I’m drawn to soft pencils and black sharpies, and small sheets of paper. For animation I get out my Color-erase blue pencil and work with punched paper.

But that’s just for drawing. I also like to have easy access to rulers, flexible curves, colored paper, scissors, exacto knives, tape, a range of glues, wood, metal, glass, clay, fabrics, cameras, instruments, and reference books and videos.