Sanders Welcomes Funding for Affordable Rental Housing

by Not Signed In | Politics

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a national leader in efforts to increase affordable housing, welcomed a move today that could free up hundreds of millions of dollars to expand affordable rental housing nationwide.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency ended its temporary suspension of contributions to funds designed to allow more renters to find the homes they need at prices they can afford. The agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ordered those companies to begin to make payments to affordable housing funds next year. The money will go into a fund to provided dedicated revenue for low-income housing. States and local agencies then could apply for the money and use it to finance very-low-income rental housing construction or rehabilitation projects.

Sanders Votes No on Defense Authorization Bill

by Not Signed In | Politics

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 – The Senate today advanced a Department of Defense bill that would authorize $560 billion for the military. The vote was 85-14. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted “no” and issued the following statement:

“I am voting no because I have very serious concerns about our nation’s bloated military budget and the misplaced national priorities this bill reflects.

“At a time when our national debt is more than $18 trillion and we spend nearly as much on defense as the rest of the world combined, the time is long overdue to end the waste and financial mismanagement that have plagued the Pentagon for years.

Fairpoint Internet Outage

by cgrotke | Other

Fairpoint’s high-speed interent service seems to be offline for Vermont and New Hampshiire.

As we rely on it (I’m away from the world HQ at the moment), updates to the site and answers to emails will be minmal, if at all, until they sort things out.

I wonder where Fairpoint could find a bunch of talented, knowledgeable technicians to help them bring this back online more quickly? Hmmm…

Anonymity & Pseudonyms Promote Cyber-Bullying

by JohnWilmerding | Op/Ed

Yeah I think I’be been ‘pushed around’ on iBrattleboro just a bit. And I have definitely spoken out quite a bit — and been taken to task for — questioning why people on iBrattleboro would want to debate serious issues under pseudonyms … and especially why they might expect to do so and still be taken seriously. It particularly irked me recently when someone criticized a Town employee by name on this site, but declined to give their own!

42nd Christmas at Christ Church: “All My Heart Rejoices!”

by fomag | Music

Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford’s 42nd Annual Christmas at Christ Church program, featuring choral and instrumental music, a holiday reading, and carols, is set for 8:00 p.m. on Friday, December 12, and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 13. Christ Church is at the corner of Rt. 5 south and Melendy Hill Road in the Algiers Village of Guilford.
      
This season’s theme for the program — “All My Heart Rejoices!” — is reflected in nine mostly familiar holiday song texts in unfamiliar arrangements by composers from the past five centuries, including Arthur Sullivan’s “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” and Charles Gounod’s “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Choral director Tom Baehr’s composing and arranging skills, featured in the repertoire of several recent Chamber Singers concerts, are represented in the version of “All My Heart This Night Rejoices!” being performed this weekend.

Elliot Street, Again

by Rolf | Op/Ed

Today, we again have news of another persons stabbed, (multiple times), on Elliot Street. My friend was reading the paper. I didn’t have my reading glasses, but I saw the headline had the word stabbing in it, and I immediately knew it was going to be on Elliot Street and in the early morning hours, as happened over and over again on that street, at that time.

The Holiday Trade – A Look Among The Dealers, 1875

by cgrotke | History

Digging through the old newspapers today, I found an interesting story describing the holiday items for sale at some of the stores downtown in 1875 during a period of economic hard times for many people.

The article provides quite a few extended details about the stores and items for sale, so I thought I’d share it. Set your iBrattleboro time machine for early December, 1875, and let’s go shopping in downtown Brattleboro.

Brattleboro Union High School Board Meeting Agenda

by Not Signed In | Education

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BUHS #6 Planning and Policy Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, December 15 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room

NOTICE OF MEETING

The BUHS #6 Board of Directors will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, December 15 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room.

Brattleboro Core Arts Project Update

by Not Signed In | Town Plan

We welcome you to a meeting to discuss the findings of the second track of the CoreArts project (conducted last Winter). The meeting will take place at noon on December 15, at the Marlboro College Graduate Center.

CoreArts conducted four moderated Panel Discussions: 1) Cluster v. District v. Hub? Who’s in, Who’s out? Concepts of Boundaries and Gates 2) Arts/Culture and community: What’s the economic model? 3) Exploring Brattleboro’s Cultural Landscape: Past, Present, and Future, 4) Cooperation and Collaboration: Lessons from the field.

Vermont Wins $33 Million for Pre-K, Delegation and Governor Announce

by Not Signed In | Education

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 – Vermont was awarded $7.3 million in what is expected to be a $33.4 million, four-year federal grant for pre-kindergarten programs at public schools and Head Start agencies throughout the state.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) announced the grant today.

In Our Names – “The Torture Report”

by Nan Stefanik | Politics

What was released today is not the full 6000-page report but rather the redacted executive summary of the report by the Senate Intelligence Committee.  IMHO it is only a matter of time until someone releases the entire report.

I thought some here might appreciate links to coverage other than MSM.

The Intercept of course is all over this.  Glenn Greenwald is ‘live-blogging’ it:

Sanders Statement on CIA Report

by Not Signed In | Politics

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today issued the following statement on a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation which found that the Central Intelligence Agency misled the White House and Congress about the brutal interrogation of terrorism suspects:

“A great nation must be prepared to acknowledge its errors. This report details an ugly chapter in American history during which our leaders and the intelligence community dishonored our nation’s proud traditions. Of course we must aggressively pursue international terrorists who would do us harm, but we must do so in a way that is consistent with the basic respect for human rights which makes us proud to be Americans.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

by RLElkins | Music

On the first day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
A late property tax interest fee.

On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
2 Parking meter tickets,
And a late property tax interest fee.

On the third day of Christmas
My true love sent to me:
3 Unpaid utility invoices,
2 Parking meter tickets,
And a late property tax interest fee.

No Gracious Concession in the World of a Secret Ballot

by Vidda | Op/Ed

Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Milne who, for all intents and purposes, lost in his campaign against Peter Shumlin is asking the state legislature to vote for him. Not because he won the election, which he clearly did not, but because the Vermont Constitution sets aside any popular win under 50% and turns the decision over to the legislature.

Without going into precedents where losing candidates concede, this candidate will not lick his wounds graciously.While perhaps, as Milne is reported as saying that “Vermonters are fed up with the governorship of Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin” might be true, not enough of them voted to give Milne the governorship.

40% Efficiency From Solar Panels ? ! ?

by Rolf | Sci-Tech

According to this article, linked below, a relatively simple engineering advance has boosted solar cell efficiency up to about 40%. If true, this really would make a big difference in the cost of solar. A BIG difference. Cross your fingers.

Rolf

Heat Pump Workshop Offered January 12

by Not Signed In | Education

Are you paying too much to heat your home, business, or rental property, or looking to cut your use of fossil fuels? A new generation of super-efficient electric heat pumps, suitable for northern climates, may be the answer for you. These devices provide heat and domestic hot water using 25-50% less energy than conventional systems. They are environmentally-friendly as well – 87% free of carbon emissions in Green Mountain Power territory. Heat pumps can also be combined with solar electric panels to provide 100% renewable energy.