Another Phone Scam

I’ve just heard of someone being scammed. A phone call from a “Live Technician” with a Las Vegas number and a Canadian billing address, scammed this elderly woman for several hundred dollars and wiped much of her laptop, iPad, and iPhone clean. The caller “knew” which devices she owned before she told him and she unwittingly gave him access to her devices. He was claiming that she needed to buy his company’s malware and that her computer was loaded with troubles. He wiped out whole programs she’d paid for, and supposedly installed their malware. Of course, all of her information and identity is now stolen.


Mud Season Trash Pickup

Due to the difficult mud season this year, there will be no trash and recycling pick-up on the following gravel roads on Wednesday, April 9th or Thursday, April 10th, 2014:

Pleasant Valley Road:
Gibson Road
East Orchard Street
Orchard Street
Pleasant Valley Road
Meadowbrook Road
Wickopee Hill Road


East Side of Main Street Closing April 10

The Brattleboro Parking Enforcement Division would like to advise the public that on Thursday, April 10, the east side of Main Street will be closed for on-street parking beginning at 7:00am. Green Mountain Power will be performing a street light conversion on Main Street. The work is expected to be completed on Thursday and on-street parking will be returned into service as the conversion progresses.

Please contact the Parking Enforcement Division at 257-2305 with any questions.


Brattleboro Special Election – Early/Absentee Ballots and Voter Registration

Early/absentee ballots for the special Town wide vote to be held on April 17, are now available in the Brattleboro town clerk’s office. Anyone wishing to vote prior to April 17, may apply for an early/absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16. Early/absentee ballots may be voted in person in the clerk’s office, mailed to the voter by the clerk’s office, picked up by the voter or delivered to the voter’s residence by two justices of the peace.


Route 30 Closure Schedule Change – April 10 to 17th

ROUTE 30 CLOSURE SCHEDULING CHANGE: April 10th to 17th: The closure is now scheduled to begin Thursday night, April 10th and will be complete by the afternoon of Thursday, April 17th. The shearing of the steel of the bridge that is being demolished will be noisy, and will be limited to the hours of 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM, so as to minimize the noise impacts on nearby residents. Once the closure begins, no through traffic will be permitted on VT Route 30 through the I-91 right-of-way.


Brattleboro Skatepark Site Selection – On Site Visits

The Skatepark Site Selection Committee is starting site visits this Thursday (rain or shine). Here’s the agenda; come to part or all.

Thursday April 10, 2014
1. 5:15 P.M. Site Visit Elliot St. Park–190 Elliot St.
2. Recess
3. 5:45 P.M. Site Visit Elm Street Park Lot–At the Corner of Elm St & Flat St
4. Recess
5. 6:15 P.M. Meeting Gibson Aiken Center–207 Main St.
6. Public Input via E-Mail – skateparkideas@brattleboro.org
7. Report on Act250 Properties (Cedar St.)
8. Review Site Visits
9. Next Meeting Wednesday April 16, at 5:15 P.M.
10.Other business


Blanche Moyse Chorale: Make A Joyful Noise!

Sacred Works of Schütz and Mendelssohn
Directed by Mary Westbrook-Geha 

This weekend, the Blanche Moyse Chorale will make a joyful noise with performances of sacred works by the German composers Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) and Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). The concert will be performed twice: at 8:00 P.M. on Friday, April 11, at the Immanuel Episcopal Church in Bellows Falls, VT, and at 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, April 13, at Centre Congregational Church, in Brattleboro, VT.

Under the direction of Mary Westbrook-Geha, the Chorale will treat its audience to a rich selection of a cappella works by Schütz , from the heart of the Baroque period, and by Mendelssohn, from the heart of the Romantic period. The selected texts used by both composers are similar — either psalms or shorter biblical excerpts — but their musical settings are strikingly different. The contrast between their dynamic, harmonic, and polyphonic treatment opens a fascinating window into the cultural evolution that took place over the two centuries between the composers’ births. The concert’s title, “Make a Joyful Noise”, is derived from the text of Psalm 100, which appears twice in the program, in contrasting musical interpretations by both Mendelssohn and Schütz. 


Sanders, Leahy, Other Senators Support Meals on Wheels

WASHINGTON, April 7 – More than two dozen senators have called for a significant funding increase for Older Americans Act programs like Meals on Wheels in order to keep up with the increasing needs of a growing population of elderly Americans.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of a Senate subcommittee that oversees seniors’ programs, was joined by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and 25 of other colleagues in urging the chairman and ranking member of a Senate appropriations panel to provide at least a 12 percent increase in funding for the coming year.


Helping Adolescents Cope With Loss

Hospice Foundation of America’s Annual National Living With Grief Program, sponsored by Brattleboro Area Hospice and The Retreat, Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014, 1:00-4:30. This educational event is free of charge to attend.

This program focuses exclusively on the issues that adolescents face as they cope with death loss, and explores ways that professionals and other adults who work with adolescents can help them cope. The format for the afternoon is an archived webcast featuring national experts as well as a live discussion led by local professionals who have expertise in this area.

The teleconference will be held at the Brattleboro Retreat Education Center. Refreshment will be provided. Continuing Education Credits are available through Hospice Foundation of America.


$20 Of Coffee For $15. Deadline For Donations Is April 12, 2014

 If you drink coffees at Mocha Joes, you can get $20 worth of coffee for only $15. 

All you have to do is donate $15 to their fundraiser for Cameroonian organic farmers, and VOILA ! you get a gift certificate that you can use yourself, to get any coffee drink you so choose.  

April 12 is the last day of the campaign. Help yourself, and help others. It really is that easy. 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mocha-joe-s-cameroon-organic-coffee-project


Strolling of the Heifers 2014 Locavore Index Highlights Benefits of Food From Local Farms

Brattleboro-based Strolling of the Heifers has released its third annual Locavore Index, a state-by-state ranking of commitment to local foods.

By compiling the Index, Strolling of the Heifers hopes to strengthen local farms and food systems by encouraging efforts across the country to increase the use of local foods in homes, restaurants, schools and institutions.  

The 2014 Locavore Index incorporates four measures for which current data is available for all states: the number of farmers markets, the number of consumer-supported agriculture operations (CSAs), the number of food hubs — all compared on a per-capita basis — plus the percentage of each state’s school districts with active Farm-to-School programs. But more data on local foods should be gathered, Strolling of the Heifers says.


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 4/7/14

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 4/7/14

                   Monday April 7                

12:10 am      Windham Orchestra: Bratt Senior Meals Benefit – 3/20/14 at Latchis

1:30 am       The Artful Word: Irish Heritage Celebration – 3/17/14

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       That Was The Week That Was – Educational Governance in Vermont

5:30 am       Abolition and the Underground Railroad in Vermont


Friends of Brooks Memorial Library Spring Book Sale

This year’s annual Friends of Library Big Book Sale is coming early with Spring flowers. Join your fellow community members and sift through the thousands of  paperbacks, DVD’s, and audio books for the Big Spring Book Sale, to raise funds for the support of the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library.

The sale is scheduled for Friday, April 11, 10 to 6 and Saturday, April 12, 10  to 2. Books and other items are piling up for this important annual event. Come early for the best selection! Remainders will be on sale during the month of April during regular library hours.


Birth Ambassadors: Doulas and the Re-emergence of Woman-supported Birth in America

On Monday, April 7, at 7:00 p.m., local author and women’s health advocate Elayne Clift will be at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro to read from and discuss her latest book, with Christine Morton, Birth Ambassadors: Doulas and the Re-emergence of Woman-supported Birth in America.

Published by Praeclarus Press in January, the book about women who offer physical and emotional support to birthing mothers, is already garnering rave reviews. Clift, a volunteer doula at Brattleboro Memorial Hospital’s Birth Center, will be joined by doula Carol Schnabel, volunteer coordinator of the Doula Program at the hospital, and a contributor to the book.


Anyone Missing a Hound?

This hound (mix? looked houndier in person) was running in traffic on Canal Street (*NO* traffic sense whatsoever) Sunday around 5pm.  I followed him up Maple St., but lost him near the corner of Locust when he started cutting through yards. He was traveling at speed.  I called the ACO and left a message with dispatch.

Sorry about the crappy photos. 


5:45 Live: 4/4/14

 

A shooting at America’s Best Inn, petition to send the Bratt Town Budget back to the voters, and Gallerywalk at its best, and just some of the stories packed into BCTV’s first media round-up of the spring.


Brattleboro: Why Does It Burn So?

I have noticed that our lovely town has a fire problem. The big fire, before I arrived, was on Main St. where the Paramont theater once stood. I waltz down memory lane: I am sure there are house and apartment building fires I will have missed. But here is a list of fires I have witnessed:

Wilder block, Lawrence block, Sam’s, 214 Elliot, 107 Elliot, 119 Green St., 72 Green St., Brooks House-

Some say the fires are because Brattleboro has so many old wooden buildings. I am sure part of the problem is that the buildings are not sprinklered. Cigarettes & cooking grills may have contributed. I’m sure that’s one of the reasons we are seeing a move towards smoke free housing.


Brattleboro Time Trade — Week of April 5th

This week’s listings, arranged hap hazard ly:

RECENT OFFERS:
Car Pooling To Putney Community Supper
Clean Sod And Garden Soil Available
Need Some Heavy Duty Glue?
Offer Home Building, Energy Efficiency, Solar System/Site Consultation
Canoe Or Single Kayak For Use
Live Music For Parties, Weddings Or Concerts, Fundraisers
Hand Readings
Electrical Work
Need Some Help Getting Your Garden Ready?