48th Labor Day Weekend Festival at Organ Barn

by fomag | Music

Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford’s 48th annual Labor Day Weekend Festival presents French organ music in an intimate rural barn and orchestral works by composers from five countries on the expansive lawn just outside.

The Festival opens on Saturday evening, August 31, at 7:30 with “Vive la France!” on the Guilford Tracker Organ. Clark Anderson, who has performed recitals of solo and ensemble works by English and German composers on this instrument, has chosen a program of solo works by French composers from Pérotin le Grand (1180-1236) to Jean Langlais (1907-1991), including Couperin, Raison, Daquin, Boëly, Vierne, Gounod, and the ever-intriguing Anonymous.

Solar Powering your Community: Fall Workshop Opportunity

by WRC | Home & Garden

Is your community considering solar power as an option for a local power source? Do you have questions about the Vermont’s Sustainably Priced Energy Development program (SPEED)?  Wondering what group net-metering is? Then, are you available Friday, September 6th from 8:30am to 12:30pm?

This fall the four southern Vermont regional planning commissions (Windham, Rutland, Bennington and Southern Windsor) are pairing with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to bring a SunShot Solar Workshop to Vermont.  The workshop is designed to provide actionable information on overcoming local-level barriers to solar, addressing soft costs, and implementing a successful local solar program in your community.  Southern Vermont town officials, businesses and local leaders interested in learning more about solar development in the region are invited to attend this free workshop with national and local experts.

Vermont Exchange Information Session

by RDavis | Health

One of the newly hired navigators for Vermont Health Connect, Peter Sterling working on state-wide enrollment, will provide an overview of Vermont’s new health care exchange on Wednesday, August 21 at 7:00 p.m. in Conference Room Two at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.

Beginning in 2014 radical changes will be occurring for Vermonters eligible for public health care programs. Catamount and VHAP are being eliminated and about 25,000 of the enrollees in these programs and thousands more who are eligible but not enrolled will for the first time be able to enroll in Medicaid at no cost!

Selectboard Meeting Notes: Unmentioned Police Surveillance Powers, Delinquent Taxes Increase

by cgrotke | Town News

Some news from Tuesday night’s Selectboard meeting wasn’t mentioned at all during the meeting. In the written departmental report from the Brattleboro Police to the Selectboard were listed two items that neither the Police nor the Selectboard spoke about during the presentation to the board: powerful software to gather and evaluate intelligence of potential criminal activity, and live, remote access to private video systems in town.

From the Finance Director we learned that delinquent taxes increased by $100,000 in 2013. The Police Fire Project gained a Construction Management firm, the swimming pool will get some much-needed attention, and angels will begin appearing around Brattleboro in September.

Read on for full details.

Deconstruction Still an Option in Brattleboro VT

by ewkruger | Business

With the closing last month of ReNew Building Materials & Salvage, some may be under the impression that building materials reuse has gone back to the informal economy.  And while this is true for sourcing used materials, it need not be for building deconstruction and salvage services. 

Slowly and quietly deconstruction is alive, in the form of Deconstruction Works, a start-up firm hoping to create a niche as an employee-owned cooperative in the next few years.  While Deconstruction Works is currently a sole proprietorship, as work grows- so will the team. 

Get on Board Windham County Accepting Applications

by Not Signed In | Education

Get on Board Windham County is a community-based Board Fellows program that provides networking and skills development for young professionals while building the capacity of local nonprofits. Applications for Fellows (aged 22-44 years old) and Nonprofits are due September 15. To learn more, visit gs.marlboro.edu/boards.

Join an info session on Monday 8/26, 12-1 pm at the Grad School or Thursday 9/5, 5-6 pm at the Latchis Theater. All welcome; please RSVP at marlboro-nonprofit.eventbrite.com.

This innovative program is a partnership of Marlboro College with Latchis Arts, SeVEDS, United Way of Windham County and Youth Services.

CRVBL Mourns Claremont Cardinal Player, Fatally Injured Hours After Championship Game

by CRVBL | Recreation & Sports

The joy of winning the Connecticut River Valley Baseball League championship for the second straight year turned to shock and sadness for the Claremont Cardinals and the rest of the league as Cardinal catcher Jon Ferrero was fatally injured and outfielder Justin Pierce was seriously injured in a pickup truck crash in the players’ hometown of Woodstock, Vt. The accident occurred just hours after the Cardinals defeated the Walpole Wild Blue to win the CRVBL Cup.

“The Connecticut River Valley Baseball League is so saddened by this accident up in Woodstock, ” said Gary Dennis, league coordinator for the CRVBL and manager of the Walpole Wild Blue. “The Cardinals are a bunch of great guys and good ball players. It was our honor to play against them on Sunday…our hearts go out to Jon and Justin’s friends and families and the rest of the Claremont ball club.”

Chairman Sanders Welcomes Continued Progress in Reducing VA Claims Backlog

by Not Signed In | Politics

BURLINGTON, Vt., Aug. 19 – U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Bernie Sanders today welcomed a Department of Veterans Affairs report that outlined significant progress in addressing an unacceptable backlog of claims for disability benefits.

There was a nearly 20 percent drop in the number of backlogged claims from a peak that was hit four months ago, according to a VA analysis released today.

“As chairman, I am pleased to see the VA making significant progress in reducing what everyone continues to recognize as an unacceptable backlog. No veteran should have to wait years to receive the benefits they have earned,” said Sanders (I-Vt.).

Call for Guilford Chamber Singers’ Holiday Concert

by fomag | Music

Guilford, Vt. – Rehearsals begin in mid-September for Friends of Music at Guilford’s 41st Annual Christmas at Christ Church program in Guilford, to be performed on December 13 & 15. A few additional voices are sought to fill out the choral ranks; membership in Friends of Music is not required.

Tom Baehr, who is embarking on a second season as director of the Guilford Chamber Singers, has selected repertoire celebrating The Baby. The program title is “Brightest and Best,” from Jean Ritchie’s family carol. The music is again a cappella, possibly doubling some voices with instruments where appropriate.

Is Obama Lying or Ignorant?

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

Listening to President Obama’s statements about the NSA and spying on Americans over the past few weeks, I began wondering if he was outright lying to us, or if he was woefully ignorant of the subjects of which he spoke.

I’m not alone. if the President that he had no idea what is going on.   Some of the statements in question:

– the secret FISA court is “transparent” and that Congress has full oversight
– “We don’t have a domestic spying program.”
– “No one is listening to your phone calls.”

Searching for a Holistic Veterinarian

by Dfk-b | Pets

I am trying trying to find a holistic veterinarian for my dog. Here are the possibilities I have uncovered. I am wondering if anyone has any experience with these veterinarians, or any additional suggestions. Thanks.

August 14th Was SeVWA’s Fifth, and Next-to-Last, River Monitoring Day for the 2013 Season

by sevwa.wqmp | Nature

Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance’s (SeVWA’s) water quality monitoring program was begun about 10 years ago. At that time, the organization was known as West River Watershed Alliance (WRWA). In 2013 there are 24 river and stream sites that SeVWA is monitoring and those sites are in the West River and Williams River watersheds and along the Saxtons River and Whetstone Brook.  21 volunteers sample at those sites every 2 weeks during the summer, with 7 additional volunteers filling-in for the “regulars” on occasional days during the

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – August 20, 2013

by cgrotke | Town News

The Waste Water Treatment Plant is substantially complete. So the Brattleboro Selectboard will hear at their next regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting at the Municipal Center on Main Street. The pump stations still need a bit of work, but work the main facility is at the finish line.

Also on the agenda: the Police Fire Facility Project committee will make a recommendation for “construction management services,” we’ll learn of plans to fix the swimming pool at Living memorial Park, the board will hear about a new public art project, there will be a report from the Brattleboro Police Department, the board will accept and approve some grants, and they will create a PACE district in Brattleboro by adopting a resolution that allows VEIC to manage the program.

All this and more at Tuesday’s meeting. You can watch on BCTV, on TV or online, and read all about it here the day after.

Tipping Point – The Age of the Oil Sands

by tomaidh | Activism

Press release– Presenting: TIPPING POINT: The Age of the Oil Sands a CBC documentary film

Wednesday, August 21 @ 6 pm
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church West Brattleboro
(West Village Meeting House)
Sponsored by All Souls Church and Vermont Interfaith Power and Light

The film showing will be followed by a discussion which will include information on the pipeline that passes through the Northeast Kingdom