Award Winning Children’s Author Presents Her New Book, In Disguise!, March 7

by Not Signed In | Putney

Author Elizabeth G. Macalaster will be presenting her new release In Disguise! at the Putney Public Library Thursday, March 7, 2013, 7-8:30 pm.

Spanning more than 300 years and 10 countries, In Disguise! tells the stories of history’s most daring women, from Harriet Tubman, who freed hundreds of slaves during the Civil War, to dancer Eva Wu, who hid secret messages in her hair to aid the Chinese Revolution. Its gripping true stories, secret-agent tips, and spy trivia feed a growing appetite for intrigue and adventure in young readers.

Grace Cottage Hospital To Lay-Off 10% Of Staff

by mr.mike | Business

Just heard this story on the radio. Many Hospitals are “running in the red” due to Medicare reimbursements. I’m concerned about the future of healthcare once Obamacare really kicks in. Could this be another example of unintended consequences?

Dogs In Hot Cars Campaign

by Zippy | Pets

RedRover, the Sacramento, CA based animal welfare and rights advocacy organization with an international scope, is ramping up their My Dog is Cool Campaign before the summer months arrive and dog safety in cars becomes more urgent. As part of their information resources development, they have compiled a media reports data base, as actual incidents of dogs suffering, dying or requiring euthanasia after being left in hot cars are believed to go often unreported, making accurate data collection problematic.

Here is the link to their new media reports data base:

http://redrover.org/mydogiscool/reports

Windham Regional Career Center Offers Spring Community Education and Training Programs

by betsg | Education

The Windham Regional Career Center at Brattleboro Union High School is pleased to announce their Community Education and Training Programs for this spring. Betsy Gentile, Workforce Development Manager and Adult Education Coordinator is presenting 17 community education and training programs to meet the needs of area employers and their employees as well as providing personal and professional enrichment opportunities for all community members.

“We’re extremely excited about two new technical training opportunities, Certified Fiber Optic Technician training and Intermittent Electrical & Drivability Diagnostic Strategies training.”

Author David Blistein Book Launch Event

by Not Signed In | Books

Putney, VT – Next Stage Arts Project is pleased to present Author David Blistein, Friday, March 22, 2013, at 7:30pm at Next Stage in Putney. The author will read from and discuss his book, David’s Inferno (published by Hatherleigh Press, distributed by Random House), followed by refreshments and a book signing. Part of Next Stage’s Community Artists Performance Series, there is a suggested donation of $10, with proceeds to benefit Next Stage.

The BUHS Annual Meeting DID Happen!

by DonInGuilford | Education

Did anyone notice, or, rather not notice, the local media coverage of the Feb. 12 BUHS District #6 Annual Meeting?  By the way this is a meeting of all the voters in the 5 towns making up the district, something like 16,000 voters or so, typically attended by 1% of them or fewer.

WTSA mentioned it next day, but they have an inside track: The Moderator of the meeting is Tim Johnson of WTSA, using the personna of his real name as a Vernon resident.  I don’t know if The Commons covered it?  Their deadline wouldn’t have worked for the issue that came out on Weds. 13th, & I haven’t yet seen this week’s issue.  Even iBrattleboro missed it.

In Brattleboro, Welch To Announce Legislation to Protect Employee Privacy on Social Media Sites

by Not Signed In | Politics

BURLINGTON, Vt. (Feb. 20, 2013) – In Brattleboro tomorrow, Rep. Peter Welch will announce legislation to curb the practice of employers requiring prospective or current employees, as a condition of employment, to provide access to password-protected social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter. 

Welch will make the announcement at the Vermont Department of Labor Brattleboro Resource Center at 10 a.m. The Resource Center provides job seekers with access to personal computers, the Internet, educational resources, and information on employers.

Welch’s full public schedule for Thursday is copied below.

Thursday, February 21st:

5:45 Live: 2/19/13

by Not Signed In | Media

5:45 Live recaps the Harris Hill and Bratt Figure Skating Club Ice Show highlights, on an edition that includes all the latest Selectboard drama, the Northern Roots performance at McNeill’s, and a webcast interview with Rep. Dick Marek about the House’s new drug laws.

Video Links:

World Book Night 2013

by KAlden | Books

The excitement is building! If you applied to be a book giver for World Book Night  and were chosen you should be recieving your confirmation email in the next 2 or 3 days. Congratulations to everyone that was accepted – it’s a wonderful event. You’ll receive a second email next week telling you which book you’ll be giving out and asking you to choose a location to pick up your books. Please choose Brooks Memorial Library as your pick up site.

Brattleboro Area Farmers’ Market Seeks New Members

by Not Signed In | Business

The Brattleboro Area Farmers’ Market is now accepting applications for new members to vend their products at the Saturday and/or Wednesday Markets. The Farmers’ Market is the region’s largest and oldest open-air Market and supports local agriculture, prepared foods and crafts. The Market features over 50 diverse vendors from the local area and attracts thousands of visitors annually.

The Brattleboro Area Farmers’ Market is a not-for-profit, membership organization and welcomes applications from those who grow and/or create their own high-quality products, especially those working with local ingredients/materials to bring variety to the Market’s offerings.

Transition Putney: Pruning Workshop at Hollyhock Farm, Feb. 24

by Not Signed In | Home & Garden

Dan and Gay Foster of Hollyhock Farm in Putney will offer a workshop, “Reclaiming Your Overgrown Orchard: Pruning Long-Neglected Apple Trees” on Sunday, February 24th (postponed from February 17th), 1:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Dan and Gay will hold the workshop at their farm at 10 Old Stage Road in Putney. The workshop is part of the Transition Putney reskilling series. Participants can be as involved as they want to be in the actual labor (very involved to not involved at all). The workshop fee is $25 with no one turned away for inability to pay, and barters are also possible.

Happy 10th Birthday iBrattleboro!

by Stevil | iBrattleboro

I see in the new “Today in Local History” box (left hand column on the front page) that it was on this day in 2003 that iBrattleboro made its debut! 10 years? A decade has gone by? Do we now have a generation who don’t remember when there wasn’t an iBrattleboro? At any rate, Happy Birthday iBratt, with Best Wishes for many, many more!

Selectboard Meeting Notes – Skatepark Design and Town Plan Approved

by cgrotke | Town News

Citizens were in attendance at this week’s Selectboard meeting to request once again that the town consider the concerns of the neighbors and do a proper site selection process for the new park. Dick DeGray said that the skatepark selection process consisted of himself and Jesse Corum proposing Crowell Lot as a good location, and that he was proud of their decison.

The Selectboard also approved Brattleboro’s Town Plan, continued thinking about expanding the Downtown Improvement District, began a discussion on implementing a local gasoline tax, and was accused of collecting parking income on national holidays.

All this and more, below…

Preliminaries

Special Screening of “The Last Waltz” – Thursday Night @ Next Stage!!

by Not Signed In | Entertainment

On Thursday night at 7PM, Next Stage Arts presents the third film in its “Reeling in American Music” series with a special screening of Martin Scorsese’s seminal concert film “The Last Waltz” featuring The Band in their final performance on Thanksgiving night, 1976. Filmed at San Francisco’s Winterland Theater, the movie captures the sound and spirit that propelled this group of musicians in their 16 years on the road, most notably as Bob Dylan’s backup band.

“The Last Waltz” was filmed by director Martin Scorsese in 35MM format, and is considered by many to be the definitive rock performance film due to the richness of the cinematography, the quality of the sound, and the nature of the performances captured in the film.

E-commerce Shopping Cart Options?

by Nan Stefanik | Questions & Answers

My small business is planning to launch an e-commerce site in the next few months and is looking into shopping cart options.   I’m wondering if anyone has done recent research on the pros and cons of the various tools out there.  Initially, the number of products offered will be fewer than 20 and we’ll probably use PayPal for the financial transactions.  Simple integration with QuickBooks would be nice.  Can anyone help us out?

THANKS!

Meatheads – The Paradox of Human Evolution

by Vidda | Philosophy

What all mammalian animals have in common is that they share the workings of a spinal column topped by a brainstem. Fundamentally, these are essentially the same in all of us animals. The brainstem contains the pathways to where all brain activity passes through to the rest of the body and is structurally connected to and a continuation of the spinal column.

Tritium Well Debuts in Brattleboro Saturday Night

by Ezie | Music

Tritium Well makes its debut in Brattleboro this Saturday night, 2-23-13. Rocking and irradiating the Northeast Kingdom since 2010, the five piece band joins Gangly Heart and The Diamondstones for a Power Shift dance party thrown by the SAGE Alliance, at the Stone Church from 7-11pm.

Sugar on Snow Supper in Guilford on March 2nd

by DonInGuilford | Guilford

The annual Sugar on Snow Supper will be held Saturday, March 2, at Broad Brook Grange in Guilford. Traditionally the first sugar supper in Windham County each year, the meal features ham, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, rolls, pickles, homemade donuts, and Guilford maple sugar on snow.

There will be three seatings: at 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 pm.  At each seating, a half-gallon of Guilford maple syrup will be raffled.

David Schoales – iBrattleboro 2013 Selectboard Candidate Interview

by cgrotke | Politics

Mr. Schoales is running for a 1 year seat on the Brattleboro Selectboard.

Why do you want to be on the Selectboard this year?

I am concerned about the future and whether we will have a strong enough community and local economy to weather the challenges ahead.  When I saw that Dick and Dora were leaving it seemed like it might be an opportunity to be part of a more collaborative board that could work well together toward strengthening our community and economy.

Why run for the 1 year seat?

I prefer to come back to the community for signatures every year rather than risk feeling entitled to the position. That’s why I have always taken one-year petitions for the town school board seat.