Hamlet at the Latchis

Hamlet, performed live at the Latchis, 7:00pm Thursday, February 20.

Just realized this wasn’t in the calendar!

Truly Live at the Latchis, don’t miss this production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a collaboration of  two Tony Award winning companies, The Guthrie Theatre and The Acting Company. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts for his father’s murder, setting him on a journey seeking personal meaning and coming to grips with his own mortality. Published between 1601 and 1603, many believe that Hamlet is the best of Shakespeare’s works and the perfect play. It is certainly one of his most well-known and oft-quoted plays.


Sanders Welcomes White House Decision to Protect Social Security

BURLINGTON, Vt., Feb. 20 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today welcomed White House assurances that President Barack Obama will not call for cuts in Social Security benefits as part of a budget blueprint that he will submit to Congress on March 4.

“I applaud President Obama for his important decision to protect Social Security,” Sanders said. “With the middle class struggling and more people living in poverty than ever before, we cannot afford to make life even more difficult for seniors and some of the most vulnerable people in America.  I look forward to working with the president to support the needs of the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor.”  


Happy 11th Birthday, iBrattleboro

Happy Birthday everyone. iBrattleboro is now 11 years old That means we’re all heading toward our exciting teen years, but still retaining our youthful charm and innocence, right?

Lise and I are your guides and enablers, but the site remains yours. You decide what’s important, you write the stories, and you provide the commentary. There are no reporters or editors.

In 2003, the idea of using the world wide web for a local purpose was almost unheard of. News came from the TV set and from the newspaper or weekly news magazines. There were few blogs, no Facebook, no YouTube, nor Twitter. News outlets did not let you comment on stories other than by sending letters to the editor.


Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: A Reading and Discussion Series – Note New Date!

Join Vermont Humanities scholar Richard Wizansky for this reading and discussion series which features the shorter works by the great Russian writer, dissident, and former Cavendish, Vermont resident and includes his most read and highly regarded novella as well as several of his famous speeches.

The 1970 Nobel Lecture; and the 1978 Harvard Class Day Address. Thursday 20 February 2014, 04:30pm – 06:00pm

Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. Location Brooks Library Meeting Room. Contact Info Jerry Carbone 802-254-5290 jerry@brookslibraryvt.org http://brookslibraryvt.org


Brattleboro Police-Fire Facilities Upgrade – Input On Designs

The Brattleboro Police-Fire Facilities Building Committee invites the public to attend a display of design plans for the renovation of the Police Department, Central Fire Station, and West Brattleboro Fire Station on Thursday, February 27, 2014 at 5:30pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Municipal Center, 230 Main Street.

Following the display, the Police-Fire Facilities Building Committee will reconvene its meeting at 6:00pm and take public input on the design plans. For more information, contact the Town Manager’s office at 251-8151, tmsecretary@brattleboro.org.


Homelessness Marathon News, Ground Reports, Observations & Comments Open Thread

Am initiating this  news, ground reports, observations and comments open thread in the hope that there will be those who either had been present or viewed the video coverage or otherwise listened into the audio during the broadcast and will share their observations and opinions with the rest of us.

For my part, due to various reasons (including technical difficulties and the like experienced on my end), I only managed to be able to listen in to certain portions of the broadcast and it appears news coverage might be sparse or otherwise somewhat late in coming; not to mention about how personal accounts can sometimes be more enlightening and interesting as well.


150 Years Ago (1864 2/20)

Feb. 20. 1864. Yesterday I did not finish this, for I did not get any opportunity to write until evening. Then I had a hard head ache and turned in early. The cold weather hangs on yet, though the morning is most pleasant. I feel first rate. I was bluer yesterday than two whetstones, but my feet, head and heart are light. I feel first rate, but the heart goes out towards another that I should like to feel beating right against my own.


I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update: Week of February 23rd, 2014

I-91

Northbound I-91 traffic has been relocated onto the southbound bridge. Traffic will remain reduced to one lane in each direction on I-91 until completion of the new bridge in the Fall of 2015.

Weather permitting, night work will be conducted Sunday night, February 23rd through Friday night, February 28th.

Route 30

The speed limit on Route 30 near the work zone has been reduced to 40 mph. This reduction will remain in effect through the Fall of 2015.

Project-related truck activity on Route 30 will continue. Route 30 will be reduced to a single lane intermittently both day and night, with flaggers regulating traffic within the work zone.


Brattleboro Town School District – Notice of Availability of Auditors’ Report

Notice is hereby given that the Brattleboro Town School District Auditors’ Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, is available upon request and may be picked up at the Brattleboro Town Clerk’s office, 230 Main Street, Brattleboro, Vermont, or the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU) Central Office, 53 Green Street, Brattleboro, Vermont.

Persons interested in obtaining a copy of said Auditors’ Report should contact the Brattleboro Town Clerk (251-8157) or the WSESU Central Office (254-3730). Copies are available on the WSESU website: www.wssu.k12.vt.us or for pick up, and may be transmitted electronically or sent via first class mail.


Sanders Testifies at Statehouse on Education

MONTPELIER, Vt., Feb. 19 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) provided an overview on federal education policy in testimony today at the Statehouse before the Vermont House and Senate education committees.

Sanders, a member of the Senate education committee, focused on ways to expand pre-kindergarten and make college more affordable.

“There is perhaps no issue more important than how we educate our youth,” Sanders said. “I am very concerned that, on many levels, we are failing our youth. We must do away with the archaic notion that education begins at 4 or 5 years old. For far too long, our society has undervalued the need for high-quality and widely accessible early childhood education.”


Safety Tip of the Week – Driving

Driving – It’s a privlege, not a right.

When parking, don’t block sidewalks. Pedestrians and those in wheelchairs need to get through, so when you park a car, pay attention to keeping the sidewalk (or crosswalk) free.


5th Annual Brattleboro Rotary Club “International Film & Food Festival” Set for March 2nd

The Brattleboro Rotary Club is raising money to help upgrade the radio station KILI, a non-profit radio station broadcasting to the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River, and Rosebud Indian Reservations, part of the Great Sioux Nation in South Dakota.

On Sunday, March 2, 2014, from 4-8PM at the New England Youth Theatre, the Brattleboro Rotary Club will be sponsoring the fifth annual “International Film & Food Festival,” with proceeds benefiting KILI which serves 30,000 people on the three reservations and seeks to preserve Native American culture and instill pride in the peoples’ unique heritage.


Lucy Terry Prince & “The Black Man in Song” includes Local History

Guilford, Vt. – On Saturday, February 22, at 3:00 p.m., Friends of Music at Guilford presents “Lucy Terry Prince & The Black Man in Song” at Guilford Community Church (snow date: Feb. 23). Co-sponsored by Guilford Historical Society, this Black History Month event includes a talk by Linda Hecker on early Guilford resident Lucy Terry Prince (1730-1821) and a concert of works by ten African-American composers featuring tenor Irwin Reese and pianist Julia Bady.

African-born Lucy Terry grew up as a slave in the Ebenezer Wells household of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Considered the earliest African-American literary figure, she authored a poem about a 1746 Indian attack on Deerfield that was handed down orally for many years before its first publication. She married Abijah Prince, a free Black man from nearby Northfield, and raised a large family on land they bought in Guilford, Vermont. Lucy’s skills as an orator were legendary.


Poet Federico Garcia Lorca in Vermont

Because of snow (again!) the Garcia Lorca program scheduled for Wednesday evening has been postponed to Saturday, Feb. 22, at 3:00 p.m. in the meeting room. See you then!

Please join independent scholar, Patricia Billingsley for a richly illustrated slide talk with vintage photos, maps, and other related images about the friendship between Spanish poet Federico García Lorca and Vermont poet Philip Cummings in the Library’s meeting room.


Deconstruction Works Growing; Tag Sale This Saturday 9-12

Deconstruction Works, a local deconstruction services provider, has been performing partial- and whole-house deconstruction for several months now.  In an exciting development, 4 founding member-owners have agreed to formally incorporate the firm as a member-owned cooperative. 

The team includes Tom Shea (formerly with ReSource, a Burlington based non-profit deconstruction services provider), Randy Bright (of ForNora Energy Solutions, which will continue to exist and grow), Erich Kruger (formerly with  ReNew Salvage & Ithaca-based  Finger Lakes ReUse) and Michael Weitzner (of Thistle Stone Works). Projects are currently underway in Dummerston, Newfane, and Brattleboro.  In the spring they will be dismantling a 4000 sq ft house in Tinmouth, Vermont.


Selectboard Meeting Notes: Utility Rates, Bus Changes, and Turnaround Tension

Should we cut lose the library or recreation department? Find a new management model? The Brattleboro Selectboard’s discussion of a municipal hiring pause led to talk of rethinking town government and services on a grand scale, at least for a short while Tuesday evening.

Utility rates have been calculated and announced, Connecticut River Transit encourages public comment on proposed changes to their routes and schedules, a new turnaround in the location of the old turnaround on New England Drive raised concerns by a property owner, and many grants were on the agenda, leading to a varied and busy evening for the board.


Train Your Brain!

Where are my keys?  What is that person’s name?  Why did I come into this room?

Sound familiar?  Want to do something about it?

The latest brain research has reached such popular publications as National Geographic and AARP Magazine.  It has scientifically revealed that our mind-body connections can have a positive influence on our memory.  The faculty at Brattleboro-based NEPNI (the Northeast Psycho-Neuro-Immunology Institute) has extensively explored much of this evidence-based brain research and wants to share it with you.