Open Source Seed Initiative Includes Vermont’s High Mowing

by cgrotke | Sci-Tech

Here’s something people interested in GMOs and Vermont farming might want to take note of – an open source seed intiative.

You might be familiar with free and open source software. Coders give away the program and underlying source code with the stipulation that others using it do the same. The open source seed initiative is similar. They are releasing seeds in such a way to “make sure that the genes in at least some seed can never be locked away from use by intellectual property rights.”

Skatepark Site Selection – Final on Site Visits

by cgrotke | Town Plan

The Skatepark Site Selection Committee has the last on site visits TODAY Tuesday April 29 (rain or shine). Here’s the agenda; come to part or all.

1. 5:15 P.M. Site Visit – Living Memorial Park (61 Guilford St)
2. Recess
3. 6:10 P.M. Site Visit – Crowell Lot (Intersection of Western Ave & Union St/Cedar St)
4. Recess

Any Makers in Brattleboro?

by CarlyC | Questions & Answers

I participated in a Maker Faire on Cape Cod this weekend – wondering if anyone has tried to get a group going in Brattleboro? Seems like we have a lot of people around here who could contribute awesome exhibits and it’s a nice family-friendly attraction. The small Faire last weekend drew about 1000 people.

 

May Day: Is It Still Relevant 128 Years Later?

by tomaidh | Activism

May Day Celebration

May 1, 2014 marks the 128th anniversary of a rally for the eight-hour day in Chicago’s Haymarket Square that ended with a police riot that left over a dozen dead. The political trial and hanging of four anarchists that followed sparked protests around the world and the designation by the Second International of May 1 as International Workers’ Day, more commonly known as May Day.

Privacy Concern About Health Care Records

by Andie | Health

There is a health care records concern I have about “global consent” — whereby your records are stored in one big state file, to which, if you sign a release, any health care provider may have access.  This story was on Vermont Public Radio — link to it http://digital.vpr.net/post/new-patient-information-system-sparks-privacy-debate .  For information on the information exchange, see vitl.net .

This is what I sent to my legislators regarding this issue:

Welch Unveils Push To Make Electric Vehicles More Affordable and Accessible

by Not Signed In | Politics

Legislation increases tax credit and removes barrier for purchasers

Montpelier, VT (April 28th) – At a charging station in Montpelier this morning, Rep. Peter Welch unveiled new legislation that makes electric vehicles more affordable for middle-income Vermonters and easier to purchase. Welch arrived at a Statehouse electric vehicle charging station driving a 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid Energi provided by Lamoille Valley Ford.

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 4/28/14

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 4/28/14

Monday April 28               

1:00 am       The Climate Show – Vermont Gas Pipline 3/6/14

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Organic Politics – The Answer is Blowing in the Wind

5:00 am       Green Mtn. Vets for Peace – Ep.131 – Military Sexual Harrassment

6:05 am       The Folklorist – Ep.7

A Modest Proposal?

by RobertOeser | Op/Ed

In reviewing the vote at Representative Town Meeting, the results of the Australian ballot and the April 22 Selectboard meeting, a fair conclusion so far might be that there needs be a process to ensure the broadest possible input on those budget items on which there is some discretionary judgment.

To that end, I propose to the Selectboard that, in drafting the the Article for the the next Representative Town Meeting, that information be inserted in the warned Article which lists:

  • The amount of the budget that constitutes other than fixed expenditures (i.e. negotiated items, debt service, etc.)

To the Staff and Patrons of the Library

by spoon | Town News

The Administration of our town presented the Town Meeting Reps with a very large project.  The Reps accepted the project, in 2012, though for many Reps it never sat well.  There are more than a few reasons for that.  Since that time the economy and financial problems of the town have continued to worsen.  Many Town Reps, talking to friends and neighbors, came to believe that that the town as a whole was not in favor of this project.  56 Town Reps signed a petition to allow the citizens themselves to weigh in.  More might have signed had they all been contacted.  Only four days were left when organizing began.

My Son Took This Photo of a UFO Above Brattleboro

by Rolf | Family

I taught my child, who is 7, how to take pictures of UFOs, or UFAUXs. Get them started early, and they will have a craft that can support them for a lifetime.

Anyways, I did teach him this week, and he took this photo today. What more can I say ?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/88361661@N00/14016111666/

The Future of Library Services in the Community: Proposed Budget Reductions Impact Library Services

by Brooks Memorial Library | Town News

Dear Library User: As many of you heard or read last week, because of the Town-wide vote rejecting the Representative Town Meeting approved budget, the Selectboard has directed the Interim Town Manager and staff to provide impacts of various budget reduction scenarios affecting each Town department. The Library Board of Trustees will consider the impacts of these historic budget reductions at a meeting on Tuesday, April 29, 5:30 PM, in the Library’s meeting room on the 2nd floor. The meeting is open to the public.The Selectboard will meet at 6:30 PM in the Municipal Center’s Selectboard meeting room to consider the impacts. If you are interested in the outcome for the future of library services to the Brattleboro community, you should plan to attend these meetings.

Developing Leadership and Moving Forward

by spoon | Op/Ed

I posted on ibratt, a couple days ago under the title “Taking a Deep Breath” a recommendation to the Selectboard that it might be wiser and simpler, and probably get their budget passed at this point, to remove the $261,000 for the project and let it go at that. Altho, to be sure, it is the project that has pushed the budget over the top and catalyzed the vote the overarching issue is the full spectrum of low income, high taxes, insufficient livable wage jobs…the stress and strains of a bad economy with a bleak future. Slicing and dicing the budget may save a hundred or hundred and fifty bucks a year but worsens our daily living experience without at all addressing the underlying causes. The defeat of the first budget has made a very loud noise.

Weekend Concert Series: Ian Dury and the Blockheads

by cgrotke | Entertainment

This week we set the time machine to Christmas 1980 at the Dominion Theatre to catch a show by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. As is often the case with the Weekend Concert Series, this is not for everyone, but for those who like Mr. Dury it is sure to be a treat.

Ian Dury was king of naughty new wave. His songs praised sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and frequently took a form similar to dirty limericks you might hear at the pub. The music is often very danceable and had a funky, soulful element. (He worked with Chas Jankel, a british keyboard player who had nightclub hits of his own.)

New Grief Support Group

by Not Signed In | Health

A new Six-Week Bereavement Support Group for adults begins on Tuesday May 6th and will meet each Tuesday from 4:30-6:00 pm, ending June 10th. The group is free of charge and open to anyone in the community grieving the death loss of a loved one, no matter where you are on your journey of grief.

Bereavement Support Groups offer a safe, mutually supportive environment for sharing experiences, insight and encouragement, through discussion, handouts, and suggestions for moving through grief. This group is sponsored by Brattleboro Area Hospice (BAH) and will meet at the hospice office at 191 Canal St. in Brattleboro. No prior connection with BAH is required in order to participate.

Do Not Gut The Public Library!

by JessWeitz | Op/Ed

I have worked at Brooks Memorial Library for 7 years and these are my own observations about the value I see in this local library and the undermining of that value by the current town budget discussion.

The most dramatic library cuts are up for discussion this week but my whole tenure at the library has been under level funding at the best points and cuts at the worst. The current proposal is to cut two full time positions from the library, a ⅓ of library staffing reduction.

I am not going to go into detail about the general value and history of public libraries. I will just mention that I got a Master’s in Library and Information Science because I believe that the cornerstone to a functioning democracy is an informed and empowered citizenry, regardless of money, race, religion, gender, or location, and free public libraries are the providers of that cornerstone.