Sorry for Your Loss: A Comedy Show About Grief A Fundraiser for Brattleboro Area Hospice

sorry for your loss

Michael Cruz Kayne is a comedian and writer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. However, his life isn’t always funny. The loss of his young son profoundly changed his world and his family. In this hilarious, difficult, and touching show about grief, Cruz finds moments of humor, compassion, and ultimately some assemblance of acceptance. If everyone dies, why does nobody talk about it?

A Q&A will follow the performance.


WSESD Recount of 3 Year Seat Scheduled for March 11

The Town Clerks of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford and Putney have confirmed that they and members of their Boards of Civil Authority will come together in each town for a recount of the contested Guilford 3-year seat on the Board of the WSESD.

Candidates and members of the public are welcome to observe the recount. Time and locations for the re-count: 


Vermont HAZMAT Response at Technology Drive

On March 10, 2025, at 06:30 a.m., the Brattleboro Fire Department responded to 90 Technology Drive for an alarm activation. The first arriving units reported an active ammonia leak of 273 parts per million in the building. Crews established that the building had been evacuated and accounted for all occupants. The Vermont HAZMAT Team was notified and dispatched to the scene.


Death By Medicaid Cuts

Cutting social support programs that help the most vulnerable in our society has always been a Republican blood sport. Most of those rich old white men have contempt for “those people” who live on handouts because they deem them too lazy to help themselves. It is an old trope. But now things have gotten worse.

The current Republican budget plan which looks likely to pass includes massive cuts to the Medicaid program.

Here is some context from the Center for American Progress. “Last week, House Republicans passed a budget resolution directing Congress to make cuts that would slash Medicaid funding and threaten health care access for millions in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. Medicaid is the largest single health insurance program in the United States and covers 72 million Americans, including low-income kids and adults, pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities.”


Thank You, Brattleboro Voters!

I am proud of Brattleboro voters who showed up on Election Day in unusually high numbers. At a moment when our country faces unprecedented challenges, the people of Brattleboro made clear they want a town we all can afford, a town where our young people can play safely, where we all have a warm place to sleep at night, and where we treat one another well. I congratulate my fellow candidates for putting themselves out there in this moment of political turmoil, and to Franz Reichsman and Richard Davis for their current service on the selectboard.


Windham Southeast School District Recount

The Windham Southeast School District announces that a recount has been requested in the election results for the three-year Guilford seat on the WSESD Board of Directors. Candidates were Jocelyn Fritts, having received 1128 votes and Kelly Young, having received 1100 votes.

The total vote tallies are reported in a “commingled” manner, as per 16 V.S.A. § 741(3). “The articles of agreement as initially approved by the voters on or before July 1, 2019 explicitly provide that the board of civil authority of each town within the unified union school district shall count Australian ballots cast in that town and report that town’s results to the district clerk, who shall calculate total votes cast within the unified union school district and report the result of the vote to the public.”


Brattleboro Selectboard Special Meeting – 2025 State Legislative Session – Mid-Session Update

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, March 10, 2025 at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center (230 Main Street, Rm. 212) and over Zoom. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.”  ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members. The backup materials for this meeting will be available on the town Website Brattleboro.gov/Selectboard by the end of today.


Brattleboro Town Report Available

The Brattleboro Town Report is ready and available for pick up at the Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street). Town Reports can also be picked up at the Town Clerk’s Office and the Town Manager’s Office at the Municipal Center (230 Main Street). Town Reports will also be available to RTM members at the March 12, 2025 Informational Meeting.


The Games of Boris Spassky – Part II

Spassky became the Tenth World Champion in 1969, overcoming Tigran Petrosian in a tightly-contested match.   Here the Challenger becomes Champion by exploiting minor missteps to achieve a material advantage which is then converted into a winning attack.


Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Informational Forum

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a pre-Town Meeting informational forum Wednesday, March 12 at Academy School beginning at 7 p.m. Representative Town Meeting articles will be discussed, including the budget.

At 5:45 p.m., prior to the informational forum, Town Meeting members for each district will be available to meet with constituents to offer residents an opportunity to share their views and discuss articles to be voted on at the annual meeting. Also at that time, all three districts have the opportunity to elect their District Chair for the year.

All three districts are currently full, and there will be no need to hold a caucus in any district to appoint Town Meeting Representatives.


A Primer on Medicaid

Medicaid was signed into law in 1965 with the passing of Title XIX by then President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of the Social Security Act. Subsequently CHIP(Children’s Health Insurance Program) was created in 1997 to provide health insurance and preventive care for uninsured children. The program is jointly run by the state and federal government.

Medicaid provides medical assistance to eligible individuals and families with low incomes or other factors such as disabilities. Each state has it’s own eligibility standards. A person may be eligible for Medicaid in one state and not eligible in another. Each state also sets its own coverage of services and payment rates. A few services covered by Medicaid include: inpatient/outpatient hospital services, labs and x-rays, nursing facilities and physician services.

States are able to contract directly with providers or through an HMO(health maintenance organization) in order to arrange payment of eligible services. If you are in Vermont, this is Green Mountain Care.