May 30, 2016
John O’Connor
Town Treasurer/ Finance Director
Town of Brattleboro
230 Main Street
Suite 111
Brattleboro, VT 05301
Dear John,
I was preparing bills and I just felt compelled to air a pet peeve that I have had for years.
Every year I get a Property Tax Statement that contains four tear off tabs that I am to mail in to the Town with a check for the quarterly payment of my property taxes.
From the Halls of Montezuma-To the shores of Tripoli (Marine’s Hymn)
In 1805, U.S. Marines and Berber mercenaries attacked the Tripolitan port city of Derna. The Marines and Berbers were on a mission to depose Yusuf Karamanli, the ruler of Tripoli. (Pirates from the Barbary States were seizing American merchant ships and holding the crews for ransom).
BCTV channel 8 schedule for the week of 5/30/16
Monday, May 30, 2016
12:00 am Hunger Free VT – Gubernatorial Candidate Forum on Hunger
1:54 am ArtStory Extra: “Art Extravaganza” Report 2016
2:00 am Valley Homegrown: Outer Stylie
3:00 am History Where It Happened: Bennington Museum Pt1
3:30 am Poem City – Reading with Poet Neil Shepard
NOTICE of MEETING
The Brattleboro Town Committee of the Progressive Party will meet on Thursday June 9, 2016 at 145 Green Street, 6:00 PM. The agenda will include: 1) Acceptance of new members 2) discuss and act on nomination of Mollie Burke as State Representative, District 2; 3) Other business
All interested persons welcome.
The PTB are constantly scrambling to find enemies that we can hate so they can continue their nefarious activities without scrutiny.
Here’s a few quotes on the subject:
“In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in order to mobilize us.”: Thich Nhat Hanh –
Hi folks –
I’ve looked on the parking enforcement website but cannot find any information concerning Disabled Parking. Is it free? Can a person park there all day?
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 an unexpected stay-cation:
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):
Give Away Videos
Canoe Available to Borrow
Large Garden Space to Share or Barter
ARTful Save of Permanently Stained Clothes
Do you Need Help with Your Computer?
Help Moving Items and/or Hauling Items to the WSWMD ENDS MAY
3O, 2016
Vermont Sugar Maples
VERMONT STATE EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION QUESTIONS TO CANDIDATES, including Cris Ericson for Governor,
on the Democratic Party primary election ballot Aug. 9, 2016.
https://www.sec.state.vt.us/media/757630/2016-statewide-primary-qualified-candidates.pdf
Cris Ericson’s responses below to VSEA.org Questions.
On Fri, 5/27/16, Susan DeVoid wrote:
Subject: VSEA Endorsement Process
To: “crisericson@yahoo.com”
Date: Friday, May 27, 2016, 11:26 AM
Ms. Ericson:
As per your request, please find the below questionnaire for the VSEA Endorsement Process. You may respond to my email address.
1. Should the work of State government be performed by State employees?
For a kid in the summer, nothing quite compares to having one’s own tree house to escape to to for privacy. It was the perfect place meet with friends. Parents knew where you were, but you were away from them and could see them coming. Just think of all the deep discussions that have been held by those admitted to treetop forts.
Tree houses aren’t just for kids to play in, of course. All around the world grown-ups build tree houses to work, play, and live in.
With assistance from the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the Town of Brattleboro will host a 3-day design charrette from June 6-8, 2016. This a multi-day opportunity for property owners, business owners and Brattleboro residents to collaborate with a team of planners, landscape architects, and hydrologists to create a new vision for the Lower Whetstone Brook.
“We were inspired by work of other communities redesigning urban river spaces with a focus on ecology, flood protection and amenity,” said Rod Francis, Brattleboro Planning Director. “Scientific research predicts more frequent and heavier downpours leading to increased flooding, this is the right time to visualize a resilient urban landscape for downtown Brattleboro.”
The downtown Brattleboro farmers’ market has a new time and place this year: Tuesdays, from 4 to 7PM on Flat Street, next to the Boys & Girls Club. You’ll find Full Plate Farm, Circle Mountain Farm, and Lost Barn Farm, offering a variety of fresh, local produce and eggs, Mad Radish CSA with produce and a large selection of local meats, Walnut Ridge Farm with produce and plant starts for the garden, Jerry Smith’s fresh cut flowers and maple syrup (and dahlia tubers, while they last), as well as prepared foods to grab on the go.
You can use your debit and EBT cards for market tokens, and don’t forget about our EBT matching program! We’ll match up to $10 in EBT tokens with Crop Cash coupons, good for fruits and veggies.
I-91
To reduce congestion on I-91, both Exit 3 on ramps will be closed on Monday (Memorial Day), from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. I-91 will remain open.
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. The new bridge will be 104’ wide and is designed to carry all four lanes of traffic –two northbound and two southbound.
Route 30
The speed limit on Route 30 near the work zone has been reduced to 40 mph. Project-related truck activity on Route 30 will continue. Route 30 may be reduced to a single lane intermittently, with flaggers regulating traffic within the work zone. There will be no lane closures scheduled during the holiday weekend.
In the light of our electoral horror-show, one question screams out to me loudest, will we ‘dodge the bullet’? My concern comes mainly by way of the candidate who incites hate, separation, anti-intellectualism, a repudiation of altruism..in short… standing for everything anathema to humanist values. His constituents seems to revel in exercising base expression of privilege, xenophobia and opportunism. His ultimate opponent in the race, whomever that comes to be, while clearly more sympathetic to so-called liberal values, also chills me, but seems less potentially catastrophic due to perpetuating the familiar.
Entertainment is front and center during all of Strolling of the Heifers Weekend, with the headline event being an all-start FiddleFest during Saturday’s Slow Living Expo.
“We’ve got a lineup of top-notch local fiddlers,” said Beth Kiendl, the Stroll’s entertainment chair. “This is a great chance to listen to lots of different fiddling styles, including English, Irish, New England and contemporary. “
The fiddlers will play from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Fiddlers Tent, which is on the Brattleboro Retreat
lawn.
Fellow Working Vermonters,
I am a former District Vice President and Member-At-Large of the Vermont AFL-CIO (UAW Local 1981). As such, I know there is only one candidate for Lieutenant Governor who has the backs of working class Vermonters; State Senator David Zuckerman. Dave has walked picket lines with me. He, like Bernie Sanders, has fought like hell (against the Democratic & Republican establishment) for livable wages, healthcare for all, and for the rights of union & non-union workers.
Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is a two-year-old gallery showcasing contemporary art in solo and group exhibitions. Along with its 183 Main Street Brattleboro location this southern Vermont destination gallery is planning a celebration for its new Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts Annex located in the Brooks House Atrium, 132 Main Street, with a public opening reception at the Atrium, Saturday, June 4, from 6 – 8pm.
Recent news is full of stories about addiction, and not just the reports about arrests and overdoses. The good news is that more and more, we view addiction as a health-care condition, and we understand and support the life-saving measures available to manage the physical dependence. The media reflects this shift in attitude and covers things like new approaches to treatment and recovery; legislative efforts like the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act and bills to combat the nation’s opiate crisis to ensure medical support is available to people struggling with substance abuse; more specialized programs, like Vermont’s Hub and Spoke provider system which supports people in medicated-assisted recovery from opiate addiction; programs like pre-trial services that redirect people to treatment rather than court when the situation allows it; and peer-recovery services that help people not only stop destructive behaviors but adopt healthy practices to thrive.
Couple of Interesting maps for map and big data lovers:
First up is a visualization of how people commute. Go to and set the state and county to Vermont and Windham. You’ll see dots start flying around on the map. You can zoom in, slow things down or speed them up, and adjust the perimeter you are using.
What you’ll see is an animated graphic of showing people going to work and returning home. You’ll also see that the stories of Brattleboro being the hub for Windham County are true, with a rather dramatic shift of people in neighboring towns coming in to Brattleboro to work.
When you are done, go look at a big metropolitan area, such as NY, Boston, or DC.
Twilight Music begins its 14th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, May 29 with an evening of hard driving, house rocking, in your face blues by The Chris Kleeman Band. The seven concert series continues every other Sunday through August 21. All concerts begin at 6:00 pm in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. The series is sponsored by the Town of Putney, Soundview Paper Company, The Putney Food Co-op, The Stockwell Brothers and many other Putney businesses and organizations. The concerts are free to the public (donations are accepted) and food will be available.
Twilight Music and Next Stage Arts Project present Quebecois duo Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme, plus Newfoundland/New England solo balladeer Keith Murphy, for an evening of traditional songs in French and English as well as highly crafted traditional fiddle music at Next Stage on Friday, May 27 at 7:30 pm.
The pairing of Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme with Keith Murphy offers a rare breadth of musical ground, from Keith’s beautifully spare solo songs with elegant guitar accompaniment to the breathtaking level of musical interplay between Yann and Pascal. This twin bill also offers a unique and long awaited chance for these three musicians to explore some musical collaborations based on their shared passion for the music of Quebec.
