The Paid Sick Day (H.208) legislation that would require all employers to permit employees to earn up to five paid sick days per year has passed it’s first major hurdle. It was voted out of its first committee appearance (Housing and Military Affairs, and don’t ask me why there) by a strong 6-1 margin. It has now moved to the House Appropriations Committee.
A few weeks ago, January 28th, four Vt House legislators introduced a bill to hinder information gathering in Vermont.
There are four sponsors from four perspectives: Rep Davis-Hatch Progressive from the NE Kingdom, Rep Zagar, Dem from Windsor, Rep Komline, Repub from Rutland and W. Stevens, Ind. from Addison. The bill’s number is H.732. It will not have time to get through this session and will have to be re-introduced next year (the slate is wiped clean at the end of every biennium) if the sponsors or others choose. Here is the link.
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2014/bills/Intro/H-732.pdf
In March, the Brattleboro Music Center will begin offering a new series of adult education programs during the day. The adult daytime series launches with monthly music appreciation gatherings, a chorus for seniors, and a beginning adult violin class.
The launch of the BMC’s new adult daytime track is a direct response to the region’s decidedly older adult population, and the mounting evidence that engagement in music as we age has significant positive health benefits.
Interested in home energy efficiency? A net Zero Energy Home is one that generates as much renewable energy as it uses. Existing homes can become Zero Energy Homes with recent innovations in heating systems and cost-competitive renewable energy options. Efficiency Vermont’s Li Ling Young will talk about this year’s pilot program to support Zero Energy Homes. For many homes, investing in radical efficiency and a renewable energy system is the most economical way to operate the home. If you have been waiting for a chance to do something about your home energy use, the time is now. Take advantage of Efficiency Vermont’s expertise to make your home what all homes should be: gracious guests on planet Earth.
In observance of President’s Day, all Town offices will be closed on Monday, February 17, 2014, 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 16 and February 17. All other violations, including extended parking will be enforced.
Brooks Memorial Library will be closed on Sunday, February 16 and Monday, February 17, 2014.
Spending levels at 16 intelligence agencies are currently treated as classified information
WASHINGTON DC (February 12th, 2014)— Led by Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), a bipartisan group of 62 House lawmakers sent a letter today to President Obama calling on him to disclose in his fiscal year 2015 budget the top line spending levels at the 16 federal agencies known to conduct intelligence activities. The President is expected to deliver his budget to Congress on March 4.
According to the lawmakers, “The current practice of providing no specificity whatsoever regarding the overall budget requests for each intelligence agency falls woefully short of basic accountability requirements… As you develop your fiscal year 2015 budget, we strongly urge you to take a simple step toward much needed transparency by including the total amount requested for each of the sixteen intelligence agencies. We believe the top line number for each agency should be made public, with no risk to national security, for comparative purposes across all federal government agencies.”
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today praised President Barack Obama for signing an executive order raising the minimum wage for workers employed by federal contractors.
“President Obama is taking a very important first step by giving a raise to hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers for federal contractors,” said Sanders, who was invited to this afternoon’s White House signing ceremony. “The president’s action adds momentum to the push in Congress to raise the minimum wage for every worker in this country to at least $10.10 an hour,” Sanders added.
Sanders last Sept. 25 sent Obama a letter, signed by 14 other senators, urging the president to issue an executive order setting a minimum wage at $10.10 an hour for federal contractors.
My Guilford friend Belinda, who’s a prime mover for Brattleboro Winter Carnival, asked me to help get the word out about this evemt, so of course I immediately tuned into ibrattleboro. dm
What happens at the Legion, stays at the Legion… well at least when this year’s theme is ‘Murder in Las Vegas’! Take a roll of the dice and see if you can figure out who the murderer is before all is revealed! You can bet it’s going to be a great dinner, with lots of friends and a fabulous show! The Vermont Theater Company will be our entertainment and dinner will be served by Brattleboro’s One and Only BMH Ladies Auxiliary. Get your tickets early to be sure you get a seat for this evening of fun, you won’t want to miss it!!
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who serves on the Senate energy and environment committees, issued the following statement today after The Solar Foundation reported that Vermont employs more workers in solar power jobs per capita than any other state:
“We have a bold vision in Vermont for an energy transformation phasing fossil fuels out as quickly as possible in favor of clean, renewable energy. Solar energy is a central part of that vision. A dramatic expansion of solar power is a clean and economical way to help break our dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, and create good-paying manufacturing and installation jobs in Vermont and across the United States.”
You may have noticed a new banner at the bottom of the page. Today, we’re using the site to help protest NSA spying on innocent Americans, weakening of encryption standards, being generally creepy without oversight, and making the internet less fun and less useful. It’s all a part of a day of action to let legislators know that they should work on reforms. You are invited and encouraged to participate.
U. S. Barracks, Brattleboro, Vt. Feb.
11, 1864.
Dearest wife –
I shall endeavor to write you a longer letter than the last, you need not count that anything. Of news I have none. It is very quiet here. The recruits have all left, or nearly all. There are a few for the 9th, 7th, 8th, and the Batteries here. I have not been in town until last night. It is all still and quiet here. I started to go and see Mrs. Richard Chaplin, but she had got better and gone to a Mr. Miller’s to board in town. Started to hunt up the place: got into the wrong pew, the wrong Mr. Miller, but it was good luck. They were related to Jesse Miller of Coventry, acquainted with the Wrights, Baldwin’s, Berry’s, Thrasher’s, Flander’s, etc. etc.
Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Jeremy Scahill have launched The Intercept, the first ‘digital magazine’ to be published by First Look Media. Here’s the link:
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/
Greenwald & Scahill’s first article is “The NSA’s Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program” and is based on first-hand accounts from a ‘former drone operator’ as well as previously unreleased Snowden documents.
Broad Brook Grange will hold its annual Guilford Pre-Town Meeting on Thursday, February 20, 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.
The Brattleboro Town School Board rescheduled last week’s cancelled board meeting for today, February 10, 2014 at 5:00 pm at Academy School. It is expected that the Board will discuss the first public forum which was held in January, among other topics.
Interested members of the public are welcome to attend. If you do, please post comments here for the benefit of those of us who are unable to be there.
The film, Economics of Happiness, restores our faith in humanity and challenges us to believe that it is possible to build a better world.
Economic globalization has led to a massive expansion in the scale and power of big business and banking. It has also worsened nearly every problem we face: climate chaos and species extinction; financial instability and unemployment; fundamentalism and ethnic conflict.
BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 2-10-14
Monday February 10
12:00 am Brattleboro Time Trade Annual Mtg- 1/24/14
1:22 am The Ethan Allen Institute’s Rob Roper on The Morality of Free Market Capitalism
2:00 am FSTV Overnight
4:00 am UVM Comm Med School: Who Owns Your Genes
5:30 am Tar Sands Exposed – Exploring the Human and Environmental Costs
U.S. Barracks, Brattleboro, Feb. 9,
1864.
Dearest wife, –
Here I am well and hearty, not very hearty though, for I have not done duty enough since I came back to
give me a good appetite. I believe that I had rather do duty than not. I feel so uneasy, think of home every minute, think of you all the time. How I wish I was at home tonight, but here I am eating Uncle Sam’s bread and cheese and doing nothing. Did I say bread and cheese? No not by a long shot. There is no cheese in the scrape without buying it. They have almost all gone.
Join author Donna Dearborn on Wednesday, February 12, at 7 PM, (Snowdate, Monday, March 5, 7 PM) for a talk on her book about her father, Frank Dearborn, who was Brattleboro’s Department of Parks and Recreation Director for 33 years.
Every Sunday–A Daughter’s Enduring Connection is a tribute to her father, the story of a man who lived life with extraordinary kindness and humility. Frank Dearborn was the much-loved Recreation Director and fitness role model for the Town of Brattleboro for 33 years, active in biking, skiing, tennis, and an End-to-End hiker of Vermont’s Long Trail.
The Vermont Jazz Center will present the Jensen Sisters featuring Ben Monder in concert on Saturday, February 15th at 8:00 PM. New York-based Ingrid Jensen is a trumpeter known for her original work as a composer, bandleader and distinguished member of the Maria Schneider Orchestra. She has been hailed by jazz great, Marian McPartland for her ability to play “with all the fire and brilliance of a virtuoso.” Montreal-based Christine Jensen has been described as, “one of Canada’s most compelling composers.” She is a saxophonist known for her multifaceted compositions and orchestrations and has won Juno and Opus Awards in recognition of her work. They will be joined by guitarist Ben Monder, one of the most versatile and interesting colorists on his instrument. The quintet will be rounded out by acoustic bassist Matt Clohesy and Jon Wikan on drums.
Escape the cold with a Classic Matinee Film Noir Series at Brooks Memorial Library. Wednesday Feb 12 at 2 pm we are screening a film about a juicy double murder in a jealous pique.
What is film noir? Literally it means “black film” and it is a Hollywood genre of crime movie of the 1940’s and 50’s that developed mostly out of the Great Depression crime fiction.
After the film stick around for a little discussion lead by cinephiles Tom Bedell, golf/beer journalist and lover of film; and Tim Metcalfe, veteran Hollywood screenwriter and Brattleboro Film Festival Advisory Board member.
