Compelling Speech From Apple

by cgrotke | Sci-Tech

The FBI wants to get inside an iPhone. The owner of the phone was killed in a hail of bullets. Having killed the person with the passcode to the phone, they then instructed the dead person’s employer to try to change the passcode. In doing so, the employer made it more difficult for the FBI to accomplish its goal.

The FBI gets a friendly judge to write an order to the Apple corporation, telling them they must write code to help the FBI break into iPhones. To do so, Apple would need to compromise its security for all customers using the product for legitimate, useful purposes, such as secure banking and communications.

There is certainly a discussion to be had about privacy and security underway, but we might also do well to consider the First Amendment.

Upper Dummerston Road Closings

by Not Signed In | Town Plan

The project team is planning to close Upper Dummerston Road tomorrow morning, February 22 at 8:00 am. Due to the weather that may be coming tomorrow night and lasting through Thursday, we MAY open the Upper Dummerston Road tomorrow night and then close it again for a day or two when we can resume erection later this week or early next week. We will keep you posted as plans develop.

Cindy Cook
Principal, Adamant Accord, Inc.
Past Vice President, Association for Conflict Resolution

Please Vote David Gartenstein for Brattleboro Selectboard

by Not Signed In | Politics

Serving on Brattleboro’s Selectboard has been one of the greatest honors and privileges of my life. Government is a fundamental public trust, and I am humbled to have been elected to represent and work for Brattleboro’s citizens in providing oversight and direction for our Town.

I am running again for Selectboard because I want to continue the important work we are doing. As a member and chair of the Board, I have many priorities. Our government should be responsive, open, and transparent. Everyone should be able to have a voice in the process, and we should listen to and hear competing views thoughtfully and respectfully. Municipal services need to be provided in a safe and effective manner that meets the needs of our community and our ability to pay. Decisions should be made after careful consideration of all available information, with sufficient time for reflection, based on what best serves the public good.

BCTV Schedules For The Week Of 2/22/2016

by cgrotke | Media

BCTV channel 8 schedule for the week of 2/22/16 

Monday, February 22, 2016

12:00 am Kicked Out: Forum on Unfair & Unequal Discipline in VT Public Schools

1:30 am WWAC: Thomas White – Encountering Auschwitz 1/22/16

3:30 am WSESU Leaders: Aug 2015, Pt 2

5:30 am SCORE Roundtable: I need Money for My Business

6:45 am 2016 Lunar New Year in Brattleboro

2016 Elections: Reality Check-in

by Lise | Politics

As we watch the primaries unfold (a process that continues until early June, if you can believe it), I thought I would finally take a few minutes to figure out how the primaries actually work these days, and where the candidates stand.  Here’s what I discovered.

Harris Hill Ski Jump – Sunday Results

by Not Signed In | Recreation & Sports

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — A 24-year-old Slovenian bested two dozen of the world’s best up-and-coming ski jumpers Sunday to win the Harris Hill Ski Jump’s annual namesake Fred Harris Memorial Tournament.

Gasper Bartol won the event in front of a crowd of several thousand spectators, with fellow Slovenians David Krapez, 22, second and Zak Silih, 20, third.

“This is the first win in this season for me,” said Bartol, who was competing in America for the first time and finds English as challenging as the weekend’s snow-melting temperatures. “The hill was a little bumpy and slow, but it’s OK. The feelings are really good — I’m happy.”

The nearly century-old event featured athletes from the United States, Austria and Slovenia shooting off New England’s only Olympic-size venue at speeds of 60 mph before soaring more than 300 feet in the air.

BCTV “Quiet Rebel – The Lynn Martin Story” Showtimes

by Vidda | Media

Long time Brattleboro resident, Lynn Martin is an activist, poet and painter, and a retired HIV Prevention Specialist of the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont and Brattleboro, where she worked as a volunteer for 18 years. Martin has published three books of poetry (and several mystery stories) and often participates in open poetry readings as a member of Write Action.

In September 2005, Lynn was honored as that year’s outstanding older worker from Vermont as part of the Experience Works Prime Time Awards Program. Senator Patrick Leahy presented the award to Lynn in Washington, D.C.Lynn Martin’s story is told in “Quiet Rebel” through interviews with her and with family and friends. The 80 minute film is produced by Paul Bennett and Vidda Crochetta, and is being presented with the help and support of BCTV and Write Action.

Harris Hill Ski Jump – Saturday Results

by Not Signed In | Recreation & Sports

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — A 24-year-old Slovenian bested two dozen of the world’s best up-and-coming ski jumpers Saturday on the first day of this weekend’s Harris Hill Ski Jump.

Gasper Bartol won the Pepsi Challenge in front of a crowd of several thousand spectators, with Florian Gugg, 21, of Austria second and David Krapez, 22, of Slovenia third.

The nearly century-old event is featuring athletes from the United States, Austria and Slovenia shooting off New England’s only Olympic-size venue at speeds of 60 mph before soaring more than 300 feet in the air.

One hometown jumper, Brattleboro’s Spencer Knickerbocker, not only is competing but also is helping the snowmaking crew maintain the hill in temperatures as high as 55 degrees.

Police/Fire Project

by spoon | Police & Fire

Town Meeting Members will be asked to vote on a question that asks if they are willing to spend $4,500,000 on the relocation of the police station to Black Mountain Road.  The vote will in fact authorize the spending of about $13,000,000 above the five million dollar loan already taken out.  

The actual loan, which will include work on the West B. fire station, is in fact anticipated to be $7,760,000.  Interest on the loan, for a twenty year option, is an additional $2,740,000.  What is not calculated into the final figure is the cost of having the station on the far north end of town.  Nearly all the police business and activity occurs in the central, south and west end of town.  Not surprising.  There is almost no residential population at all in the north end.  

Consequent to that location it is therefore necessary for every town vehicle that either originates from or is destined to the police station (every cop on duty, every administrator going to a meeting from or to there, every DPW trip etc etc) is traveling four extra miles and ten minutes every roundtrip.  Take out a pencil and paper.

Auditions in Guilford for Titanic & Women’s Jury Plays

by DonInGuilford | Arts

Auditions will be held for two upcoming one-act plays on Tuesday February 23rd (6 to 8 p.m.) and Sunday February 28th (3 to 5 p.m.) The production is a project of Guilford Center Stage. Written and directed by local author Michael Nethercott, both works will be 

premiered in June. Nocturne Titanica is a mythological take on the sinking of the Titanic. The Lace Jury is based on one of the first all-women juries in the country at the turn of the century. Rehearsals will be largely in May, and the actual performances are Friday June 3, Saturday June 4 (both evening shows),

Happy Birthday, iBrattleboro

by cgrotke | iBrattleboro

Happy birthday, everyone. We’re all teenagers today!

Today is the day that iBrattleboro.com turns 13 years old. We can now watch PG-13 movies without adult supervision!

13 is a baker’s dozen, the number of cards in each suit of the deck, and the number of original colonies.

Math lovers will note that 13 is the 6th prime number, the smallest emirp, a Fibonacci number, and a happy number.

Pope Francis Spoke Out Against Trump but While a Powerful Jesuit Was Silent During Murder of Thousands

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Those of us who know that Pope Francis, while he was the most influential Jesuit leader in Argentina, maintained a cooperative silence, even as millions of people throughout the world were aghast at the horrific news that thousands of Argentinians were being murdered or ‘disappeared’ during the brutal US supported dictatorship of General Videla, see the Pope’s present outspokenness about anti-establishment presidential candidate Donald Trump as consistent with the Papacy having always been a tool of the business interests of the colonial, now neocolonial, capitalist elite in Europe and the United States.

New Meal Team Coordinator for Groundworks’ Seasonal Overflow Shelter  

by Not Signed In | Food

BRATTLEBORO- This week’s weather safety advisory is in full effect across the region. “Extreme weather poses imminent danger to our community. In these conditions, it’s imperative that people can access at least one hot, nutritious meal after fighting through days like this” said Rhianna Kendrick, Groundworks Drop In Center Director and Seasonal Overflow Shelter Coordinator.

The Seasonal Overflow Shelter (SOS), coordinated by Groundworks Collaborative and located in downtown Brattleboro at the First Baptist Church (190 Main Street) is in its ninth year of operation; open each night from 5pm – 7am.  A hot meal is served nightly at 5:30pm with the support of a variety of generous meal team volunteers.  Community volunteers provide nightly meals, as well as the staffing for overnight shifts.

I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update: Week of February 21

by Not Signed In | Town Plan

I-91

To reduce congestion on I-91, both Exit 3 on ramps will be closed on Sunday, February 21, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. I-91 will remain open.

Sunday afternoon closures of the Exit 3 on ramps will continue each weekend through the end of the ski season.

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.

Weekend Creativity Series: Basic HTML

by cgrotke | Creative

This week, let’s learn to code! Nothing difficult, of course, but it is good to know about the basic tags and how a page gets formatted.

This was something many of us learned in the early 1990’s (we used Netscape Navigator to do just what you see in this video), and is very similar to the old word processing programs of the 1980’s.

More recently, people using the internet use pre-made sites and are “protected” from needing to know any code, except for perhaps the skill of cutting and pasting links or embed codes for videos.

But that’s silly. Being able to create, name, and fill a web page with information is useful. Ever site we visit on the internet is built upon the HTML foundation. It is the language underlying the world wide web.