Common Core Curriculum: National Standards or Corporate School Reform?

by Lise | Education

This year, Brattleboro’s schoolchildren and their teachers will be working within the new national curriculum, known by most as Common Core.  The Common Core Curriculum, or CCSS, has been adopted by 46 states, Vermont among them.  It will replace the regional and state curriculums now in place, and usher in a new era of standards-driven education aimed at creating graduates who are ready for “the global economy.”

What is this thing called Common Core, who created it, what are its goals, and why are so many people, including and especially teachers and parents,  against it?

Saturday Rally for the Climate & Against the Pipeline

by Will Stomp | Activism

About 50 people rallied in Brattleboro on Sunday for action on climate change and in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.  The latter, if built, would bring petroleum from Alberta, Canada to ports in New England for trans-Atlantic shipping, but at terrific cost to the environment in Alberta and the climate in general.  A contingent of students from Williams College made the trip to Brattleboro, a number came from down in the Pioneer Valley as well as from up valley.

150 Years Ago (1863 09/22)

by BusyMom | History

Long Island, Boston Harbor,

Sept. 22d, 1863

Dear wife,

I received your letter this morning. I was truly glad to hear from you, for I had begun to feel uneasy about not hearing from you, but it made my heart jump when I received it, but when I perused it and found that you were all well I felt better, but do not sit up too late to write to me. I had rather not hear quite as often. I am so afraid that you will make yourself sick. I am on guard again so that I have time to write you this afternoon, but tonight comes the lonely time.

About those photographs, I had them taken from the old plate at Montpelier. I found Dr. Watson at work there and left the money with him and am glad he has sent them on so faithfully. I do not care who you give one of them to. I thought I would have him send two, as they cost but 50 cents apiece and the postage.

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 9/23/13

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch. 8 Schedule for the week of 9/23/13

                   Monday September 23                

12:00 am      ILEAD Summer Lecture Series: Hiding Behind my iPhone

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       The Road to Recovery: Young Adults in Recovery

5:00 am       Decommissioning Entergy Vermont Yankee

6:00 am       For the Animals: Blessing of the Animals

Weekend Concert Series: Blue Oyster Cult

by scrispe | Music

Blue Oyster Cult are a lot like Babe Ruth – many home runs, and a lot of strike outs. When examining their musical output, you have to dig through a ton of dirt to get to the gold. However, when Blue Oyster Cult hit a home run, they hit it out of the park. 

Their origins date all the way back to 1967 and they have been recording and performing ever since. In fact, I had the opportunity of seeing them live when they played the Colonial Theatre in Keene a few years back. Blue Oyster Cult were intelligent, highly proficient musically, and at times, rocked harder than almost any other band. For this weekend’s concert, I have included Youtube cuts of 5 of my favorite Blue Oyster Cult ragers, enjoy:

Brattleboro Fall 2013 Water Main Flushing Schedule

by Not Signed In | Town News

WATER MAIN FLUSHING TO START

Utilities Division crews will start Fall Flushing of the Town water mains on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 at 10:00 p.m. and continue through Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013.

NOTE!! Some daytime flushing will continue throughout the weeks of Oct. 15 and 21, 2013

Please note that water main flushing will occur at night and also during the day.

Customers are asked to check the flushing schedule closely as flushing causes water discoloration, low water pressure, and in some areas intervals of no water.

Night flushing will occur from 10:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.. Daytime flushing will occur from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m..

A Schedule of Water Main Flushing Follows:

Aaron Shams Helminski, MD, Joins BMH Hospitalist Staff

by BMH | Health

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announced Aaron Shams Helminski, MD, has joined its Department of Hospitalist Medicine.

Dr. Helminski attended University of Vermont in Burlington for both his pre-med and doctoral programs. He completed an internship in internal medicine at University of Hawaii in 2011 and returned to UVM/Fletcher Allen to complete his residency in 2013, where he was chief resident. He resides in Putney.

BMH Adds Insurance Exchange Navigator to Community Health Team

by BMH | Health

The Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Community Health Team announced the hiring of Joan Bowman as a Navigator for Vermont’s new insurance exchange program.

As a trained and certified Vermont Health Connect exchange navigator, Bowman’s role is to make sure individuals, families and small businesses in Windham County understand their options and have access to the tools and resources needed to apply for health insurance.

Food Stamps

by tomaidh | Op/Ed

Kudos to the Tea Party and other Republicans in the House for their heroic efforts to limit food stamps.

They are a waste of money, and really don’t help anybody. The poor are poor before they receive food stamps, and they are still poor afterwards, though they might be a bit less hungry.

Besides, a lot of them squander the aid on unhealthy food like milk and bread.

We can learn a lot from India which has a lot of poor people. They don’t provide a lot of assistance, relying instead on the magic of the free market to solve the problem. (Chris Hedges)

For example, in Mumbai, a whole new hierarchy of entrepreneurial enterprisers has sprung up.

New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution Hosts 42nd Annual Meeting

by Not Signed In | News & Information

New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution will host its 42nd Annual Meeting on Saturday, September 28th at 4:00 P.M. at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, High & Main St, Brattleboro, VT. Please join us and our distinguished speakers: Dr. Marvin Resnikoff on Decommissioning Vermont Yankee and Brice Simon, Esq. on Actions & Analysis. We are also hosting a potluck supper, music, networking & awards.

NEC is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent of the law. Please donate online, send a check to NEC, PO Box 545, Brattleboro, VT 05302 or call us at (802) 257-0336. http://www.NewEnglandCoalition.org Thanks for your support!

Free Demo “Spanish Together” Class September 25th

by Not Signed In | Education

“Spanish Together” classes are a great way to learn Spanish with your child. As a result of so many parents wishing that they could enroll in Spanish classes with their children, we’ve designed a class for children ages birth-5 and their parents!

Class is comprised of songs, movement, gestures, and music from Latin America.

It’s never too early (or too late) to start learning Spanish!

A Heavenly Report from the Latchis

by Not Signed In | Arts

The Latchis Theatre construction project is making great strides, with exciting developments everyday.

The Heavenly portion of the program is complete… and completely magnificent.

Before we leave The Heavens, here are some final images from above the staging.

The ceiling is smooth and whole.

New Class! Mini-Mozarts for Ages 5-7

by Pam Lierle | Music

Mini Mozarts is a composition and singing based theory class that focuses on learning the basics of rhythm, melody, and harmony through a hands-on, creative approach. The young musicians will experiment with sounds in order to achieve a deeper understanding of how music is constructed. We will march, clap, and play games to learn about how rhythm, tempo, and time signatures affect musical expression. Students will learn about scales by creating their own, then describing what those scales sound like. Students will also experiment with harmony by discovering how different notes sound while played together. At the end of each class, we will take time to write our own individual compositions based on what we learned that day. On the last day of class, each student will get to go home with a book of their original music!

I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update – 8-Week Look-Ahead

by Not Signed In | Town Plan

Route 30

After September 30th, the project team may need to regulate traffic flow on Route 30 periodically to allow truck or equipment access to our work zone. These operations will be controlled by flaggers and will be for a maximum of 10 minutes.

During the week of October 7th, one lane of Route 30 will be closed during the day for approximately two days. Flaggers will regulate vehicle movement through the work zone.

Looking further out, we are currently anticipating short duration closures of Route 30 due to overhead demolition activities in late November or early December. As we progress in our sequence we will let stakeholders know the dates and duration of these closures.

I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update – Week of September 22, 2013

by Not Signed In | Town Plan

I-91

Single lane closure of the passing lane on I-91 Northbound and Southbound may begin on 9/26/13. The lane closures will remain in effect during the construction of the temporary cross-overs, but will be removed over the weekend when no workers are present.

Route 30

Speed reduction on Route 30 will be implemented lowering the speed limit through the work zone to 40 mph. The reduced speed limit will remain in effect until approximately August, 2016.

Truck activity at Route 30 will be increasing next week. Expect shoulder closures beginning Thursday 9/26. Flaggers may have to halt traffic at times to allow trucks to enter and exit the work zone.

Brattleboro Committee Vacancies

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Town of Brattleboro is looking for citizens to serve on the following committees and boards:

Agricultural Advisory Board
Arts Committee
CPCC (Citizen Police Communications Committee)
Development Review Board Alternate
Honor Roll Committee
Inspector, Lumber Shingles & Wood
Senior Solutions Representative
SEVCA Representative
Town Manager Search Citizen Committee
Town Service Officer
Tree Advisory Committee