Beloved Winter Shelter Mid-Winter Report

by EileenBAH | Town News

We are halfway through February (and halfway through Winter!) and the last few weeks have been a busy time for Beloved Winter Shelter as our region’s Extreme Cold Weather Shelter.  We have been open for 26 nights straight when we had been struggling to keep our doors open for just 5 days a week.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

It takes a great deal of work to shelter so few of our neighbors,  but those of us who show up to do the work are providing  more than shelter from the cold.  What we lack in amenities we make up for in hospitality.  We are giving folks who have nowhere to be a place where they can feel like they belong.  Many of our hosts have experienced first hand what it is like to be homeless – what it’s like when there’s not  a single place in this world where their presence isn’t questioned, their every move watched, and all that’s expected to be done in the privacy of their  own home must be done in public.   We take for granted what comes with the roof over our head.  While we cannot offer the amenities a home of their own would provide, we do offer a feeling of belonging.  A feeling of being home for the night.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – February 17, 2026

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center (230 Main Street, Room 212) and over Zoom.  Prior to the regular meeting at 5:30pm, the Board will convene and is expected to move directly into executive session to discuss contracts, labor relations agreements with employees and the appointment or employment or evaluation of a public officer or employee. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.”  Closed captioning will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members. The backup materials for this meeting will be available on the town website by the end of the day.

Windham Southeast Supervisory Union Implements Interim Plan to Support Oak Grove School Students During Facility Repairs

by Not Signed In | Education

[WINDHAM SOUTHEAST, BRATTLEBORO, FEBRUARY 12, 2026] — The Windham Southeast Supervisory Union has developed a comprehensive interim plan to ensure continuity of learning for Oak Grove School students while repairs to the school’s heating system are completed.

Oak Grove School was closed on February 9th and 10th as crews worked to identify and repair a heating unit and conduct required safety testing. While progress is being made, the timeline for completion is likely another week.

To minimize disruption to students’ education, Oak Grove School students and staff are temporarily attending Academy School and Green Street School. The interim placements were thoughtfully designed with students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs as the primary consideration.

Traffic Restrictions on Linden Street on Feb. 12 Due to Water Main Repair

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Town of Brattleboro Department of Public Works will be performing emergency water main repairs on Linden Street near the Brattleboro Retreat on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. Utility crews will be on-site beginning at 6:30 a.m., and traffic restrictions will remain in place until approximately 5 p.m.

Motorists should expect lane restrictions, potential delays, and alternating one-way traffic in the work zone. Traffic control personnel and signage will be in place to guide vehicles safely through the area.

The Olympic$

by RDavis | Living

The Olympics are a great escape from the crazy world we live in, if you can afford to watch them. Television cable bills are outrageous, but they are still showing the most popular events on major networks. The Olympics include lots of other events that are only available to watch if you pony up even more money than your cable bill and opt for the premium level of Peacock.

The modern-day Olympics always had a large financial element to it, but in 2026 it seems to me that the situation has reached a new level where the big media outlets hold the public hostage unless they dole out more and more money for viewing. There may be free ways to watch events that I am not aware of, especially with so many live stream options.

Peter Elwell Support for In-Person Town Meeting

by jakitony | Op/Ed

Here is a statement supporting Town meeting by Peter Elwell, our former Town Manager. He does not post on social media and wanted his view to be known.

February 9, 2026

Please vote to save in-person town meeting in Brattleboro. We have the rare privilege of coming together as a community to discuss and address the major challenges and opportunities facing our town. Voluntarily surrendering that privilege would be a shame.

iBrattleboro Selectboard Candidate Interview – Deena Chadwick

by cgrotke | Politics
deena chadwick

Deena Chadwick is running for a one-year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.

What would you say are your qualifications for the job?

My name is Deena Chadwick, and I’m a third-generation Vermonter and longtime Brattleboro resident. I’ve lived in a number of neighborhoods in Brattleboro, as well as in Vernon and briefly in Guilford. I graduated from BUHS in 1993 and raised my two children here; they both attended Green Street School and BUHS and are now in their early 20s.

For the past 31 years, I’ve worked as a hairstylist in Brattleboro—17 years at Whitman’s Hair Salon, over 14 years running my own business, and the last 8 years as a co-owner of a cooperative hair salon. I also previously co-owned a downtown cycling studio. Over the last decade, I’ve been involved in rehabbing older homes and turning them into business spaces and affordable housing.

Brattleboro Presidents’ Day Closings

by Not Signed In | Town News

In observance of Presidents’ Day, all Brattleboro Town offices will be closed on Monday, February 16, 2026, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Monday, February 16. All other violations will be enforced.

Where Tradition Takes Flight: Kalos with Dan Houghton & Rachel Clemente at Next Stage Arts

by hahrenholz | Music

On Friday, March 6, Next Stage Arts in Putney becomes a meeting place for tradition and daring invention when Twilight Music presents Kalos plus Dan Houghton & Rachel Clemente. With pipes, fiddle, guitars, harp, and fearless twists, this is high-energy traditional folk that respects its roots while gleefully pushing past their edges.

At the heart of the evening is Kalos, a trio known for reshaping Celtic roots music with rhythmic drive, intricate arrangements, and an infectious sense of joy. Eric McDonald, Ryan McKasson, and Jeremiah McLane are masters of tradition who deliberately explore its shadowed corners, creating music that feels both ancient and startlingly new. Their sound is complex yet inviting, propelled by pulse and precision, and grounded in deep artistic integrity.

Corey Harris and Sunny Lowdown Bring Acoustic Blues to Putney

by hahrenholz | Music

On a cold winter night in late February, the blues will feel warm and close at hand in Putney.

On Saturday, Feb. 28, Next Stage Arts welcomes Corey Harris with Sunny Lowdown for an evening of acoustic blues that promises depth, groove, and soul. Doors open at 6:45 PM, with the show beginning at 7:30 PM, at 15 Kimball Hill in Putney. Tickets are available at nextstagearts.org for $22 in advance, $26 at the door, or $10 for the livestream.

VCDP Public Hearing Cancelled

by Not Signed In | Town News

The public hearing noticed in the Brattleboro Reformer on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, and scheduled to take place during the 2/17/26 regular Selectboard meeting, regarding an application to the State of Vermont for an Implementation Grant under the Vermont Community Development Program has been cancelled. The regular Selectboard meeting will take place as usual, but there will be no public hearing on this matter. Please contact the Town Manager’s office if you have any questions or concerns.

Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music 🎸🖤 An Intimate Cinéma Vérité Portrait — Onstage and Off

by hahrenholz | Entertainment

Next Stage Arts invites you to a rare and powerful evening with one of America’s most iconic artists.

Filmed in 1968, Johnny Cash! The Man, His World, His Music (1h 34m), directed by Robert Elfstrom, captures Johnny Cash at a pivotal moment in his career. Shot in an unvarnished, up-close cinéma vérité style, the film follows Cash on the road and in concert with June Carter, the Carter Family, the Statler Brothers, and Carl Perkins.

The film is also deeply personal. Viewers are taken inside Cash’s home life with June Carter in Hendersonville, Tennessee; introduced to his parents and children in California; and brought back with him to his childhood hometown in Arkansas. One of the film’s most moving sequences was shot at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, including footage at the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Beyond I Have a Dream

by Kurt Daims | Activism

People who cannot attend, start the discussion here. Tell us your favorite quote from Martin King (besides “I have a dream”) so your neighbors can discuss it Wednesday the 11th., 6:30 at the Brooks Library in Brattleboro

Four special guests will make remarks at the beginning of the event. Most of the allotted time, from 6:30 to 8:30, and maybe later, will be devoted to free discussion about the Martin Luther King who has never been celebrated in popular culture. Who gradually became influenced by Malcohm X.

BCS is planning this event to be a public discussion with the descriptive title “Beyond I Have A Dream” and with short presentations by Ethan Nasreddin-Longo, Reverend Arnold Thomas, Rv. Lise Sparrow, and Mary Gannon, honoring King and Black History Month and featuring Q&A and public discussion more than presentations.  The purpose will be to raise awareness of King’s radical evolution and of other militant anti-racist thought.  

Stronger Unity in the Community!

by GS | Op/Ed

My strong belief in the following candidates: “What’s going to differentiate them from the other 1-year candidates is that Nell Mayo and Isaac Evans-Frantz are working for the benefit of our entire community — not just the business community or property owners. Their ability to differentiate themselves — as candidates with experience serving Brattleboro who bring positive energy and a neighborly spirit in the context of disastrous policy — this is what’s going to win the election and bring our community’s future to a more equitable, sustainable, and prosperous and safe unified town for us and generations of our young planting the seed of hope for a brighter future and bring a Stabilized balance of Peace, Fair Justice for all and a Economical and Equitable Unity in Brattleboro’s Community in a already divided unstable society across the country!

Vote for Nell Mayo and Isaac Evans-Frantz on March 3, 2026!

by hsbrattleboro | Op/Ed

Over the past year, I have been immensely impressed with the leadership of Isaac Evans-Frantz on the Selectboard. Isaac has shown willingness to listen to the community and has demonstrated his ability to integrate perspectives from the public into his decisions. Even when Isaac and I might see things from different perspectives, I trust that he is putting the community first in his work on the Selectboard. Whether that is committing to fiscal responsibility when our tax rates continue to rise each year, collaborating with members of the community by meeting them where they are – especially neighbors who are often forgotten or not listened to, or raising community concerns at the Selectboard table, Isaac has proven that he is a candidate who will listen to the people he represents while making decisions for this town. He is always available and responsive when I have questions or concerns, and he not only makes me feel heard, but actually listens and considers my perspective.

Is The Fox Watching the Hen House, Salivating With Our Tax Dollars, and Does This Affect Our Property Taxes?

by Cris Ericson | Op/Ed

Like any other homeowner in Vermont, I dread property taxes going up. With pain, I look online at real estate in other states southward, and estimate how fast higher and more frequent humidity and heat, and an attack of strange insect bites could kill me. Don’t forget the air conditioning bill for many more months than you would use one in Vermont. I don’t even have an air conditioner,

I have a cool basement.

Queralt Giralt Soler Trio Brings Lyrical, Genre-Blurring Sound to Next Stage Arts

by hahrenholz | Music

Next Stage Arts welcomes an intimate and adventurous evening of music on Friday, February 20, with a performance by the Queralt Giralt Soler Trio, a group known for its poetic fusion of cello, voice, jazz, and Catalan folk traditions. The concert begins at 7:30 PM, with doors opening at 6:45 PM, at Next Stage Arts, 15 Kimball Hill, Putney.

Cellist, vocalist, and composer Queralt Giralt Soler creates music that resists easy categorization. Drawing from her classical training and deep roots in Catalan folk music, she blends lyrical cello lines with expressive vocals, jazz improvisation, and contemporary textures to form a sound that feels both expansive and deeply personal. Her performances invite listeners into a rich emotional landscape—quietly powerful, exploratory, and full of nuance.