Annual “Taste of the Town” Feeds the Winston L. Prouty Center

by cohnpr | Entertainment

The Winston L. Prouty Center for Child Development is pleased to announce that its 25th Taste of the Town fundraiser, will take place May 10th, 6:30-10:30pm at the International Center on the World Learning Campus (One Kipling Road) in Brattleboro.

The $50 ticket to The Taste of the Town gives one a delectable sampling of culinary delights donated from the best chefs and caterers in the area. Once again, the sought after bouquets and arrangements donated by area florists and nurseries that help transform the International Center to the idyllic setting of a spring garden will be given away as door prizes. The silent and live auction will offer great services from area merchants and businesses. There will be musical entertainment provided by the Butterfly Swing Band as well.

Author Tracey Allyson on “Dying & Living in the Arms of Love” and Her Pilgrimage to Tibet

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Join clinical psychologist Tracey Allysson in a talk about her book, Dying & Living in the Arms of Love; One Woman’s Journey around Mount Kailash, at Brooks Memorial Library on Wednesday, April 30, 7 PM in the meeting room on the 2nd floor. Alysson circumambulates Mt. Kailash through prostrations and records her life-altering sojourn at the center of the spiritual universe. Tracey Alysson has a  Ph.D.  and is a clinical psychologist with a passion for the spiritual in human experience and the human in spiritual experience, records her pilgrimage to Tibet in her book.

Alysson’s work is an autobiographical travel book reminiscent of Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer’s bestseller “Seven Years in Tibet.”“I was not aware that circumambulating Mt. Kailash is called khora, and that a very small number of pilgrims will do khora with prostrations,” Alysson recollects.  “It was from within my heart that there arose a fierce longing and devotion to go to Kailash, to lie on the land of Tibet with my heart open wide.

The Old Country Fiddler

by Not Signed In | Guilford

Historic Fiddle Program, Sunday, May 4, 2014, 2:00 PM at the Broad Brook Grange

Presenting Adam Boyce of West Windsor As Charles Ross Taggart Vermont’s Traveling Fiddler

Taggart of Topsham VT, toured the US , starting in 1894, for 40 years as a “musical humorist.” Adam Boyce portrays Taggart around the end of his career, with live fiddle playing, and telling of the traveling fiddler’s recollections and observations of life on the road in that era. Boyce himself is an accomplished fiddler and composer of over 100 fiddle tunes.

Did Citizens Awaken A Hibernating Open Town Meeting?

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

Something unusual seems to be happening. Through an odd combination of circumstances, what amounts to an open town meeting on the FY15 budget is breaking out.

How? A necessary number of Town Meeting representatives petitioned to have a town-wide referendum on the budget. Informational meetings prior to the vote had low turnout. The budget was voted down. 

The Selectboard then held a special meeting and proposed cuts that provoked the citizenry into turning out in great number at a second special meeting, causing one of the best attended Selectboard meetings in years. 

Revised Upper Dummerston Road Closure Schedule

by Not Signed In | Town Plan

REVISED SCHEDULING FOR THE UPPER DUMMERSTON CLOSURE: The closing of Upper Dummerston Road will not start until this Thursday, May 1. The road will closed from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM on May 1 and 2. The road will be reopened for the weekend, then will be closed again from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily Monday, May 5 through Friday, May 9. We do not anticipate any night work during the closure.

Selectboard Special Meeting Notes: Too Many Citizens, Meeting Postponed To Find Larger Meeting Space

by cgrotke | Town News

In a wonderfully weird and short special meeting on the FY15 town budget, the number of attendees exceeded expectations causing the meeting to be delayed until a later date and bigger location. Possibly Thursday, and possibly at a school.

The large turnout for a budget discussion seemed to take the board by pleasant surprise, though there was minor disagreement over what to do about it.

Clueless

by KAlden | Op/Ed

Tonight I attended both the library trustee meeting regarding the proposed budget cuts and the Selectboard meeting.

Well, I tried to attend the Selectboard meeting but apparently  -even though the 2015 budget and the proposed cuts to the library and parks and recreation -not to mention the police/fire bond- have been discussed endlessly and passionately and even though ibrattleboro and the Reformer FB page have been filled with discussions and comments for 2 weeks and even though the Selectboard has received numerous letters from voters wanting to share their opinions and displeasure…even with all of that going on-the Selectboard apparently never concluded that perhaps there would be a larger than usual crowd at the meeting tonight.

An Open Letter to the Selectboard

by Not Signed In | Op/Ed

To the Brattleboro Selectboard:

This is to express my strong concern that it would be a serious mistake to cut library or parks and recreation services from the town budget. It would be a false economy, rendering Brattleboro far less attractive to both existing and potential homeowners, at a time when we do not want to see our grand list shrinking.

Police and fire facilities and well-maintained roads are crucial town services. A library, a parks and rec department, good public education, and other “quality of life” expenditures are also crucial. These expenditures go a long way to attracting good citizensand sustaining community strength. A strong community will weather hard economic times relatively intact.

2014 Way To Go Commuter Challenge

by Not Signed In | Business

When the eighth annual Way to Go! Commuter Challenge kicks off on May 12th, the Brattleboro Smart Commute team will be ready. Members of the Brattleboro Transportation Roundtable will participate with businesses, communities, and schools across the state to reduce commuting costs, pollution, and traffic. Roundtable members include Windham Southeast Supervisory Union, Brattleboro Retreat, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, Vermont Department of Health, Grace Cottage Hospital, Landmark College, Omega Optical Co., World Learning, Brattleboro Food Co-op, and Marlboro College Graduate Center.

Brattleboro Union High School Board Meeting Agenda

by Not Signed In | Education

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BAMS Committee will meet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, May 5 in the BAMS Conference Room.

The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 5 in the Cusick Conference Room.

Open Source Seed Initiative Includes Vermont’s High Mowing

by cgrotke | Sci-Tech

Here’s something people interested in GMOs and Vermont farming might want to take note of – an open source seed intiative.

You might be familiar with free and open source software. Coders give away the program and underlying source code with the stipulation that others using it do the same. The open source seed initiative is similar. They are releasing seeds in such a way to “make sure that the genes in at least some seed can never be locked away from use by intellectual property rights.”

Skatepark Site Selection – Final on Site Visits

by cgrotke | Town Plan

The Skatepark Site Selection Committee has the last on site visits TODAY Tuesday April 29 (rain or shine). Here’s the agenda; come to part or all.

1. 5:15 P.M. Site Visit – Living Memorial Park (61 Guilford St)
2. Recess
3. 6:10 P.M. Site Visit – Crowell Lot (Intersection of Western Ave & Union St/Cedar St)
4. Recess

Any Makers in Brattleboro?

by CarlyC | Questions & Answers

I participated in a Maker Faire on Cape Cod this weekend – wondering if anyone has tried to get a group going in Brattleboro? Seems like we have a lot of people around here who could contribute awesome exhibits and it’s a nice family-friendly attraction. The small Faire last weekend drew about 1000 people.

 

May Day: Is It Still Relevant 128 Years Later?

by tomaidh | Activism

May Day Celebration

May 1, 2014 marks the 128th anniversary of a rally for the eight-hour day in Chicago’s Haymarket Square that ended with a police riot that left over a dozen dead. The political trial and hanging of four anarchists that followed sparked protests around the world and the designation by the Second International of May 1 as International Workers’ Day, more commonly known as May Day.

Privacy Concern About Health Care Records

by Andie | Health

There is a health care records concern I have about “global consent” — whereby your records are stored in one big state file, to which, if you sign a release, any health care provider may have access.  This story was on Vermont Public Radio — link to it http://digital.vpr.net/post/new-patient-information-system-sparks-privacy-debate .  For information on the information exchange, see vitl.net .

This is what I sent to my legislators regarding this issue:

Welch Unveils Push To Make Electric Vehicles More Affordable and Accessible

by Not Signed In | Politics

Legislation increases tax credit and removes barrier for purchasers

Montpelier, VT (April 28th) – At a charging station in Montpelier this morning, Rep. Peter Welch unveiled new legislation that makes electric vehicles more affordable for middle-income Vermonters and easier to purchase. Welch arrived at a Statehouse electric vehicle charging station driving a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid Energi provided by Lamoille Valley Ford.

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 4/28/14

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 4/28/14

Monday April 28               

1:00 am       The Climate Show – Vermont Gas Pipline 3/6/14

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Organic Politics – The Answer is Blowing in the Wind

5:00 am       Green Mtn. Vets for Peace – Ep.131 – Military Sexual Harrassment

6:05 am       The Folklorist – Ep.7

A Modest Proposal?

by RobertOeser | Op/Ed

In reviewing the vote at Representative Town Meeting, the results of the Australian ballot and the April 22 Selectboard meeting, a fair conclusion so far might be that there needs be a process to ensure the broadest possible input on those budget items on which there is some discretionary judgment.

To that end, I propose to the Selectboard that, in drafting the the Article for the the next Representative Town Meeting, that information be inserted in the warned Article which lists:

  • The amount of the budget that constitutes other than fixed expenditures (i.e. negotiated items, debt service, etc.)