David Blume, Author of “Alcohol Can Be A Gas,” on WVEW

by pockets | Entertainment

David Blume will be on DJ Pockets’ “buttahmilk”tonight. Tune in 6-8pm on 107.7fm or www.wvew.org

David Blume started his ecological training young. He and his father Jerry grew almost all the food their family ate, organically on a city lot in San Francisco in the mid-’60s!

Dave taught his first ecology class in 1970. After majoring in Ecological Biology and Biosystematics at San Francisco State University, he worked on experimental projects, first for NASA, and then as a member of the Mother Earth News Eco Village alternative building and alternative energy teams.

The Annual Homelessness Marathon on WVEW-lp Wednesday Night

by WVEW-lpfm | Media

This Wednesday (February 17th, 2016) starting at 7pm and continuing until 9am Thursday morning, WVEW-lp (Brattleboro’s all volunteer Community Radio station) will once again forgo its usual programming to air the annual Homelessness Marathon. It is not a fundraiser. It is the only national broadcast which addresses homelessness in our country, and is carried mostly on independent and Community Radio stations. This year the broadcast originates from the streets of Washington, D.C. The Marathon is sponsoring a petition to H.U.D. (the Department of Housing and Urban Development) for better treatment of people who are Homeless. You can sign the petition at their website:
http://news.homelessnessmarathon.org/

We hope you’ll listen in.

WVEW-lp 107.7fm, or wvew.org

BCTV Schedules For The Week Of 2/15/2016

by cgrotke | Media

BCTV channel 8 schedule for the week of 2/15/16 

Monday, February 15, 2016

12:00 am Generator Big Maker: Paolo Pedercini – The Art of Games

1:30 am Bill McKibben: People of Faith and Climate Change

2:25 am Green Mtn. Academy Lectures: The Race for the Presidency

3:30 am A Tour of the Brattleboro Police Station – Jan 2016

4:15 am 1st Wed: Vincent Van Gogh

Guilford Pre-Town Meeting Thursday

by DonInGuilford | Guilford

Broad Brook Grange will hold its annual Pre-Town Meeting on Thursday, February 18, 7:00 pm at the Grange hall. 

This is the only opportunity for voters to hear details of the articles which will be presented at the Town and School District Meetings, and to meet and discuss issues with the selectboard and school board all in one evening, in advance of Town Meeting.  

In addition, candidates for town and school board offices are urged to attend to introduce themselves to the voters.  State law prevents any “campaigning” by candidates at Town Meeting, when an Australian ballot is used, as in this instance.  So this is the only time before the vote for the public to meet and hear the candidates all at once.  

Brattleboro Time Trade Listings – Week of February 14

by Brattleboro Time Trade | Other

Brattleboro Time Trade:   Exchanging services, creating connections, strengthening communities, one hour at a time.  See below for more exciting Upcoming Events and learn what Time Trade can do for you!

How Time Trade Works: You do something for someone and earn
time credits for your “bank,” which you can then put towards someone
else doing something for you! It’s that simple – and amazing!

This week’s fabulous listings, brought to you from the arctic depths:

Now anyone can see a listing of all our Offers and Requests: https://brattleboro.timebanks.org/ads?type=1

OFFERS (i.e. things people could do for you):

Holistic Health Coaching
Buddy Help for CW3
Flower and Herbs Seeds – Get Ready for your Next Garden!
Baked Goods Prepared for You
Editing
Snow Shoes Available

Online Tax Filing Tools at Brooks Library

by Brooks Memorial Library | Other

Online tax filing might be easier than you think! The library partners with MyFreeTaxes.com, a project of Windham County United Way, to make online tax filing easy and free for qualifying households. Or try FreeFile, another easy online option from the Vermont Department of Taxes. If you need a fast computer, visit the library; we’ll help you get started and give you all the online time you need. Click here for links & more info http://brookslibraryvt.org/search/subject-guides2/tax-prep

File Online: Prepare and file your state and federal taxes online. Both are free to qualifying households. If you don’t qualify for free filing, you can still use the services; you’ll simply be charged a filing fee.

Call for Chamber Singers to Perform on June 25

by fomag | Music

Friends of Music at Guilford seeks additional voices for its Chambers Singers in preparation for its yearly “A Cappella à la Carte” event and 50th birthday party on Saturday, June 25, at a hilltop property in Guilford. The gathering will include a brief annual meeting, a festive potluck meal, and concert sets by the Singers and the Singcrony women’s quartet. Other music-making may emerge as plans develop. The Chamber Singers will perform love songs by Dowland, Elgar, Holst, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Young & Heyman, Healey Willan, and the group’s director, Tom Baehr; one or two others may be added. Rehearsals begin Monday, February 22, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Guilford Community Church. Contact Baehr at (802) 387-2796 or tombaehr@myfairpoint.net with questions or to join the group.

Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition Set For February 20 and 21

by Not Signed In | Recreation & Sports

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — The nation’s best young ski jumpers are set to fly at New England’s only Olympic-size venue Feb. 20 and 21 during the annual Harris Hill tournament in Brattleboro, Vt.

The nearly century-old competition will feature two dozen athletes from the United States, Austria and Slovenia leaping off a 90-meter hill that’s one of just six of its size in the country.

Since its start in 1922, the annual event attracts several thousand spectators who watch jumpers shoot at speeds of 60 mph before soaring more than 300 feet in the air.

Weekend Creativity Series – Formula

by cgrotke | Creative

Pop songs of all genres have formulas for success. Most radio hits are 3 minutes, have an intro, a verse, a chorus, a verse, a breakdown, and go out with the chorus. Most keep the lyrics simple, and geared toward basic emotions, or thought one might have on a dance floor.

This extends beyond pop rock to pop soul and pop country. This week, we take a look at the creative work of Sir Mashalot, who shows us just how similar the county pop hits of today really are.

He chops and re-arranges six songs — “Sure Be Cool If You Did” by Blake Shelton, “Drunk on You” by Luke Bryan, “Chillin’ It” by Cole Swindell, “Close Your Eyes” by Parmalee, “This is How We Roll” by Florida Georgia Line, and “Ready, Set, Roll” by Chase Rice — showing just how formulaic and similar they are.

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda & Notes – February 16, 2016

by cgrotke | Town News

Brattleboro’s proposed skatepark may take a major step forward if the Selectboard approves a $230,000 grant application request from BASIC and the Recreation & Parks department. The grant application would be to the National Creative Placemaking Fund.

The board will approve special event permits, learn about the VY Decomissioning timeline for emergency management, and will hold a second reading and public hearing on proposed changes to ordinances regarding pets.

Attend in person to participate, watch on BCTV, and read about it here the day after.

Dinner and Hot Latin Jazz at Compass School – International Program Fundraiser

by Not Signed In | Entertainment

Dinner and Hot Latin Jazz at Compass School Saturday Feb. 27th

On Saturday, Feb. 27th, Compass School will host a Latin American-inspired dinner and a musical performance by Eugene and Julian’s Latin Party Band featuring renowned musicians Eugene Uman and Julian Gerstin.
The evening begins at 6:00 p.m with a fabulous, multi-course dinner, and concurrently there will be a silent auction which will include gift certificates to area businesses, fine arts, furniture, clothing, and much more. All-inclusive tickets for dinner and music are just $18 adults and $12 students – a fun and very affordable night out.

Namie, Fukushima Japan 5 Years Later

by Safe and Green Campaign | Activism

One month from today, March 11, will mark 5 years since the Fukushima nuclear disasters began in Japan. The town of Namie, Japan is the same distance from the nuclear reactors in Fukushima as Brattleboro is from Vermont Yankee. 500 Namie citizens died in the tsunami, and Namie was evacuated. Five years later, it is still off-limits to its 15,000 residents. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report May 2015, Namie residents received the highests doses of radiation from the Fukushima meltdowns: 10 to 50 miliseverts. The Telegraph posted photos of Namie yesterday:

The Safe and Green Campaign will hold a vigil in downtown Brattleboro on Saturday, March 12th. We will honor the 150,000 evacuees of the Fukushima meltdowns, and to educate ourselves on the continuing public health, environmental and political effects of this horrific accident.

Grim Tales

by spinoza | Politics

Trumpelstiltskin

Once a lovely maiden made the mistake of making a deal with a big bad banker who was about to pull the rug out from under her poor dad. The desperate old man offered his daughter up to the banker as stopgap collateral, believing in her earnest entreaties, that she could indeed spin her way out of his mess.

The deal she agreed to was to build a wall across the southern border of the country, overnight. Sure it was a nutty concept, but she’d do anything to save her father. Then, as if out of nowhere an imp or elf-like creature appeared and offered to help. He was very specific in the details of the deal, as was his wont. “I’ll build your wall, and if you make love to me, I will forgo your debt. Otherwise I will take your firstborn as my own. There is a single caveat here, listen carefully, if you guess my name, all will be even-steven, and you’ll be free and clear with me.”

Come Hear Readings on Mercy Friday, Feb 12, 2016 7:30 at the Blue Dot at the Hooker-Dunham

by Not Signed In | Creative

On Friday February 12, at 7:30, Write Action will be hosting a reading of poems and short prose on the topic of Mercy at the Blue Dot in the Hooker-Dunham Building in Brattleboro. In December, the non-profit organization, which supports writing and writers in the tri-state area, solicited the public for short pieces on this topic. Friday’s event will bring together some of the writers who responded to the call for written work on the theme of mercy.

This year’s invitation to write on one of the virtues is the second such writing prompt that Write Action has shepherded. Last year the organization solicited short stories of 500 words or less on the theme of hope. The group hopes to gather together a collection of writings on virtues, and to publish them in some form.

Brattleboro Presidents’ Day Closings

by Not Signed In | Town News

In observance of Presidents’ Day, all Town offices will be closed on Monday, February 15, 2016, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Sunday and Monday, February 14 and February 15. All other violations will be enforced.

Brattleboro Fire Department Shares Cold Weather Safety Tips

by BrattFireDept | Police & Fire

In a weather briefing from the National Weather Service the coldest air mass of the season is expected this weekend, with the coldest temperatures Saturday night into Sunday.

Very cold temperatures combined with strong gusty winds will allow for wind chill values to reach dangerous to potentially life threatening levels between Friday Night and Sunday night.  The lowest values will be on Saturday night and will occur across the higher elevations, where wind chill values may be as low as 30 to 50 below zero.  Valley areas will see wind chill values in the 20 to 30 below zero range.   Actual air temperatures will be below zero across the entire area on Saturday night as well.  

Stroll Presents Cabin Fever, a Food and Drink Tasting Event, with Grave Diggers Union Bluegrass/Country Band

by MartinLangeveld | Entertainment

On Friday night, Feb. 19 from 5 to 8 p.m., Strolling of the Heifers presents Cabin Fever — a festive food and drink tasting event to kick off weekend.

Taking place at the River Garden in downtown Brattleboro, Cabin Fever will offer a warm atmosphere where people ample specialty foods, fine spirits, wines, and craft brews.

Live music will be provided by Kevin Schnell and , a band from Northampton, MA, playing hard-driving bluegrass, old time country, classic rock, and more with hot licks and sweet harmonies!

The Stroll’s art gallery, Gallery at the Garden, will be open, featuring an exhibit of oil and watercolor paintings by Crystal Bartlett, and acrylics by Steven Meyer.