Brattleboro voters rejected the proposed budget Tuesday.
478 voted in favor, but 771 voted against, sending the Brattleboro Selectboard back to work on another version.
1249 people participated by voting. 554 of those were by absentee ballot. Results are for the entire town; votes were not counted by district.
Did you know that 1 in 5 Windham southeast high-school students have misused a prescription (Rx) stimulant or opiate (pain reliever), not prescribed to them? And 1 in 10 have misused an Rx medication in the past 30 days?
The Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition (BAPC) will be hosting a Community Conversation-Preventing Teen Rx Misuse. This event is designed to bring teens, parents, adult mentors, educators and community members together, using a “World Cafe” styled event, to discuss and develop solutions to prevent youth Rx misuse.
Teens and adults will take part in determining achievable strategies to address teen Rx misuse and create an opportunity to develop and execute strategies in the coming year.
As a reminder, southern Vermont’s best-loved bluegrass group, the Bondville Boys (“some of them are from Bondville, and some of them are boys”) will rock the River Garden this Friday night, the 18th, from 7 to 10:30, presented by Strolling of the Heifers. Tickets $10 at the door, $30 family cap.
As a preview, here’s a video of one of their recent appearances:
In another sign of spring, Strolling of the Heifers will host its Maple ‘n Mud Fest on Saturday April 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, downtown Brattleboro.
The festival celebrates the changing of the seasons with an array of participating farmers and maple product producers. This community event is free and open to the public at the new home of the Strolling of the Heifers.
The official grades of maple syrup are being renamed in Vermont to provide the general public with a little more clarity on what each grade is best suited. Visitors can see, and then taste the differences at an exhibit presented by Hidden Springs Maple.
Do you want to learn how to problem-solve with your teen, encourage cooperation, how to listen and be heard, and to develop fair and effective discipline skills? On Monday, May 5th from 6 to 9 PM the Brattleboro Area Prevention Coalition (BAPC) is offering the FREE Parenting Teens Wisely workshop held at the Marlboro College Graduate Center at 28 Vernon Street in Brattleboro. This free three hour workshop teaches parents skills and techniques to help them better understand and deal with children ages 10-19. Participants will learn how to problem-solve and encourage cooperation with their teen and learn to develop fair and effective discipline skills.
Any scrapbooking/paper crafts fans out there in ibrattleboro land? I’m going through my craft/art supplies and have quite a few nice 12″ x 12″ scrapbook/craft papers. Solids, lots of prints, vellum, ‘linen’- a good variety. I also have a sample book of lace panels – many beautiful patterns- heavy fabric. I’ve used some as bckground when framing old photos and botanicals.
The above photo was taken April 16, 2014. It was authenticated by the University of Brattleboro Photo Lab, and it may not get more authentic than that.
Guard House, April 17th, 1864.
Dearest Abiah,-
The guard house is my place until tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock. That is the time we change guard now. I have been pretty bad off for some ten days with boils. I was a little better for one day, that was my turn on guard, so I have not missed any duty and have not been on the sick list. I did not want the doctor hold of my boils. I had the management of them myself. I hope that I have had the last one. I did go to the Doctor sometime since and told him I wanted him to tell me whether I had the itch or not. He said that he thought that it was. He says that most of the men in the first company had it. He gave me some sulphur ointment and advised me to get some yellow dock. I have not taken any yet.
BURLINGTON, Vt., April 16 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today welcomed a Vermont Senate vote to require labels on food containing genetically-modified ingredients.
“I am very proud that Vermont is taking the lead in a growing national movement to allow the people of our country to know what is in the food they eat. GMO labeling exists in dozens of countries around the world and should exist in the United States,” Sanders said.
“I will continue my efforts in Washington – against Monsanto and other multi-national food industry corporations – to pass national legislation on this issue. In the meantime, it is extremely important that Vermont and other states lead the way,” Sanders said.
Putney’s Greenwood School received national attention Tuesday night with the PBS premier of Ken Burns new film, The Address. The film shows how students learn to recite the Gettysburg Address, and how that process impacts them. Viewers get to follow along, watch the struggles and triumphs along the way, and see the results. If you missed it, I have it embedded below.
I never had to memorize the Gettysburg Address (it looks like a tough assignment!), but I do know the relief and exhilaration of mastering something difficult. It can be a life-changing experience to do something that seemed impossible. It makes other, future impossibles possible. This film captures that process quite well.
Utilities Division crews will start Spring Flushing of the Town water mains on Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 10:00 p.m. and continue through Saturday, May 10, 2014.
NOTE!! Some daytime flushing will continue throughout the weeks of May 12 and 19, 2014
Please note that water main flushing will occur at night and also during the day.
Customers are asked to check the flushing schedule closely as flushing causes water discoloration, low water pressure, and in some areas intervals of no water.
Night flushing will occur from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.. Day flushing will occur from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m..
I-91
Northbound I-91 traffic has been relocated onto the southbound bridge. Traffic will remain reduced to one lane in each direction on I-91 until completion of the new bridge in the Fall of 2015.
Weather permitting, night work will be conducted Monday night, April 21st through Saturday night, April 26th.
Route 30
The speed limit on Route 30 near the work zone has been reduced to 40 mph. This reduction will remain in effect through the Spring of 2016.
Project-related truck activity on Route 30 will continue. Route 30 will be reduced to a single lane intermittently both day and night, with flaggers regulating traffic within the work zone.
BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING
The BAMS Committee will meet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, April 21 in the BAMS Conference Room.
The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 21 in the Cusick Conference Room.
This April marks the 11th annual National Donate Life Month, a celebration commemorating those who have given the gift of life through organ and tissue donation. For those whose lives have been saved or healed by a transplant, National Donate Life Month provides a chance to share their story to encourage more people to register as donors.
Suellen Canfield was a happy wife, mother and grandmother when she died suddenly in 2001. Her family had no doubt that if given the opportunity she would continue to help others even after she had passed. At 61 years old, Suellen’s gift of organ donation saved the lives of three people. Her husband, Bob, volunteers for New England Organ Bank sharing his story of how in great loss he found comfort in his wife’s ability to help others.
On April 24, Brattleboro Memorial Hospital will be offering a free educational program featuring Dr. Elizabeth McLarney discussing knee pain.
Dr. McLarney, who is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon, will review knee pain. She will address its etiology and treatment. She will discuss both surgical and nonsurgical treatment options.
Dr. McLarney, who attended Brown University, Albany Medical College and completed her orthopaedic surgery residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, has experience diagnosing and treating a wide a variety of orthopaedic conditions. She works in the office of , which is part of the , a multispecialty group practice of primary care and specialty care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. The group’s mission is to provide community-based, quality health services delivered with compassion and respect.
Brattleboro will end the year with a deficit according to a memo from the Town Finance Director. Most of it was expected and all of it was approved, but it isn’t especially good financial news. Especially given the fact that the Brattleboro Selectboard learned that the DPW would exceed the road maintenance budget for the year.
Perhaps someone would like to make a donation to cover the cost overruns. Such was the suggestion of Chris Chapman, who told the board of a plan to let people give money to the town because they like us and want to be charitable.
The Selectboard wasn’t interested in forming a new committee to investigate generating electricity and heat locally, but supported the idea of forming a sub-committee of the Energy Committee to take up the task.
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present French-Algerian acoustic guitarist, singer and composer Pierre Bensusan at Next Stage on Friday, April 18 at 7:30 pm. If World Music is music that pays tribute to the spirit of a collection of human beings through distinct rhythms, traditional instruments and harmonic colors, Pierre Bensusan can be recognized as one of the most eloquent and diverse world musicians of our time.
Born in Oran, French-Algeria, in 1957, when France was decolonizing its Empire, Pierre Bensusan’s family moved to Paris when he was 4. He began formal studies on piano at the age of 7 and at 11 taught himself guitar. Influenced in those early days by the folk revival blooming in Britain, France and North America, Bensusan began first to explore his own diverse musical heritage and then moved to the horizons beyond. At 17, he signed his first recording contract, and one year later his first album “Pres de Paris” won the Grand Prix du Disque upon his debut at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland.
You are your best healer!
Come learn how each and everyone of us is born with the gift to heal ourselves. I n this weekend retreat, you will experience simple and profound ways to awaken your body’s innate healing ability.
Participants will leave with a renewed and empowered sense of health and well-being.
The fifth Annual Southern Vermont Educators Symposium was held recently at the Maple Street School, Manchester, to discuss the theme Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Of course, educators want to facilitate their student’s access to an incredible resource like the internet that puts the world at our fingertips. At issue is how students access that information, through wired or wireless technology.
WiFi has become commonplace, along with an automatic assumption of its safety. Its use has expanded, unchecked and unquestioned, from coffee shops to public spaces, work environments, home, libraries and now our schools. This expansion is driven in part by industry innovators churning out devices like iPads compatible only with WiFi, and by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in tandem with wireless carriers, whose intent is to create a captive wireless market.
Voting on the town-wide referendum is Thursday 4/17 at the Municipal Center from 9 am to 7 pm in the Selectboard Meeting room on the second floor.
Ample parking in the back of the Municipal Center, in the area that is normally permit parking only, will be available for voters and there are handicapped parking spaces next to the entrance.
There is an elevator located just inside the back entrance.
