“Freedom! Justice!” Demand Of Generations Of Palestinians Will Not Be Denied All That Much Longer

by jay janson | Op/Ed

“Freedom! Justice!” Demand of Generations of Palestinians

Will Not Be Denied All That Much Longer

Israelis are very proud of their Biblical God given cry and order, ‘Let My People Go,’ but never seem to accept, nor hear, nor acknowledge, that ‘Let Us Have Our Freedom’ be the imagined cry of generations of captive Palestinians suffering Israel’s merciless, and very often deadly, illegal military occupation.

Alt Brattleboros

by AnneODyne | History

An enigmatic Chinese proverb goes something like this: A farmer and his wife have a newborn son, and the neighbors come over to congratulate them. “Now you have an heir to work the field, how great!” The farmer says…”We’ll see.” The child grows to be a strong young man, he indeed was a helper to his parents, but one day he falls off a horse and breaks his leg. The neighbors converge to offer their sympathies, the farmer simply says, “We’ll see.“  Soon thereafter state officials arrive to conscribe all young men of the region into military service. The farmer’s son is deferred because of his disability. The son says to his father, “I guess that was a blessing in disguise.“ ”We’ll see…”

The Esplanade:

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – Dec 1, 2023

by cgrotke | Town News

Ooops. A “previously overlooked item” will require an estimated base increase in Brattleboro property taxes for FY25 of 3.6%. It’s on the agenda for the next regular meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard.

The Brattleboro Fire Department would like $3000 a month to pay an outside company for EMS billing services. Doing everything in-house is no longer an option.

The board will also hear about a strategic plan for Brooks Memorial Library, and update on how their housing plan has been going, talk of acquiring the McNeill’s property in exchange for the demolition costs, and another discussion of things that can be done about panhandling.

You can bring up almost anything else during public participation unless it is some issue the Chair doesn’t want discussed in public.

Brattleboro Committee Meeting Agendas

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Human Services Committee will meet on Monday, December 4th, 2023 at 4:00pm and on Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 4:00pm. Both meetings will take place in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room at the Municipal Center (230 Main Street).

The Brattleboro RTM Finance Committee will meet on Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 6:00pm in the Hanna Cosman Meeting Room.

Construction Update Brattleboro-Hinsdale Bridge Nov 30, 2023

by Not Signed In | Hinsdale

Crews will continue to clean out the pipe piles into early next week. Site work for the shoring tower along the riverbank near Pier 1 has begun and will continue. The shoring tower will be a temporary means to support the structural steel while Pier 1 is being constructed. The Pier 1 cofferdam is also scheduled for construction to begin next week along with the water filtration system of tanks that will be used to treat the groundwater at Pier 1 once the excavation has concluded and dewatering can begin. The soil and the groundwater at this location will both need to be managed and mitigated due to known contaminants in the old fuel yard.

Time To Reconsider GMO’S

by RDavis | Health

A number of years ago there was controversy over the use of food that had been modified by genetic engineering. People believed we were heading into unknown territory and that if we manipulated the genes of the food we eat we might have to deal with dangerous unintended consequences. As a result, some states required the labelling of food that might be considered to be Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s).

I have been making a self-guided educational effort to understand the current revolution of genetic engineering for the past four years. There have been monumental scientific breakthroughs in genetic engineering and they revolve around something called CRISPR, an acronym for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. The CRISPR technology allows scientists to alter the genetic makeup of cells. It is a complex process, but the bottom line is that CRISPR has the potential to change our ability to fight disease in plants, animals and humans among other processes.

Our House of Representatives

by local | Politics

House

435 members

Base pay = $174,000 + benefits

Let’s call it $200,000 each including benefits;  Speaker, majority and minority leaders make more.

435 x $200,000 = 87 million

Construction Update Brattleboro-Hinsdale Bridge

by Not Signed In | Hinsdale

The diesel hammer has finished driving the last pile to bedrock at the Pier 1 location, reducing the noise from the site. Crews have arrived to clean out the piles and remove the spoils from the top 90 feet before the footing can be placed. This clean out operation will continue into next week. Also scheduled for next week, crews will begin construction of the temporary support system for the steel girders that will span from abutment to abutment in the Barrows and Fisher yard near Pier 1.

BCTV Schedules – Week of November 27, 2023

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Channel 1078 Weekly Listing for 11/27/23

Monday, November 27, 2023

5:20 am Windham World Affairs Council – America & China – From ‘Old Friends’ to The ‘New Cold War’

6:55 am Brattleboro Literary Festival – Missing– Angie Kim & Jean Kwok

8:00 am Democracy Now! – Democracy Now! Daily Broadcast

9:00 am Energy Week with George Harvey – Energy Week #548 – 11/9/2023

Lee Ha on “Here We Are”

by Wendy O'Connell | History

Have a question about the history of your house, business or Brattleboro relatives?

Researcher LEE HA can help you discover and explore some of Brattleboro’s best stories, artifacts and photographs. Lee also talks about some very cool community projects that the Brattleboro Historical Society is currently involved with.

Seventh Annual Writing Workshop to Benefit Moore Free Library in Newfane

by DLL | Creative

The seventh annual Writing to the Light Writing Circle led by writer and educator Deborah Lee Luskin will take place in person on Sunday, December 10 at the Moore Free Library, 23 West Street, Newfane. The workshop will start promptly at 1 pm and end at 3:30.

At this annual end-of-year fundraiser for the Moore Free Library, writers of all kinds and all levels of experience are invited to reflect on the light in their life in a supportive writing circle. We will write to illuminate our inner light, honor our inner voice, and tell whatever stories rise to be told. Prompts and guidance for automatic writing will be provided. Collectively, we will create a safe space for those who wish to read their new words.

Golf Carts on Brattleboro Roads?

by rapjr | Questions & Answers

I’ve driven a golf cart in a community like this and it seemed like a great pollution-free way to get around.  Are golf carts allowed on the streets of Brattleboro?  Should they be?  I was struck by this quote in the article:

“Peachtree City, Ga., has roughly 13,000 households and some 11,000 registered golf carts.”

WSESD Board Meeting Minutes – Nov 14, 2023

by Not Signed In | Education

Summary:
● Student representatives spoke about bullying and inappropriate behavior that is going unaddressed in classes at BUHS, and the need to cultivate a positive and loving culture in the community.
● Superintendent Speno introduced a book, “Introduction to the Governance Code,” that Board members and administrators will read and discuss at next June’s retreat.
● Putney Central School Principal Jon Sessions and Guilford Central School Principal John Gagnon gave presentations about family and community engagement via the leadership council and parent-teacher organization.
● WSESU Business Administrator Frank Rucker gave an outline of the timeline for the budget development process over the next few months.
● The Board voted to approve pre-qualification for four firms to bid on the Oak Grove School HVAC project.
● The Board approved payrolls and warrants that included the final payment on the 22-year bond for renovations to BUHS.

Public Forum on November 29 About the Green Street at High Street Intersection

by planning | Town Plan

The Town of Brattleboro is considering improvements to the intersection of Green Street and High Street. We’ve engaged an engineering team to support this effort and are inviting you to join a public forum on the matter later this month.

This forum will be an opportunity to review the preliminary concept and offer comments or potential improvements. Please join us on November 29, 2023 from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Selectboard Meeting Room.