Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – November 16, 2021

by cgrotke | Town News

Budget season continues for the Brattleboro Selectboard at their next regular meeting which, by the way, will be the first to be held at Central Fire Station. For this meeting, the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance will offer up their proposed budget and workplan for FY23, SeVEDS will do the same, and the board will take a deeper look into equipment replacement, capital projects, and planning for major improvements to Living Memorial Park.

You can bring up other items not on the agenda during public participation.

How Would Americans Feel if Bombed & Invaded by Their Veterans Like 13 Smaller Countries Were?

by jay janson | Op/Ed

If Americans could only imagine what it was like for the citizens of thirteen much smaller nations to have been bombed and invaded by the American veterans who are celebrated on Veterans Day in the USA every November 11.

How would Americans take its own countryside being high altitude carpet bombed the way Laos, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and Cambodia suffered? What if twice the amount of bombs dropped in Europe, Asia and Africa during the Second World War, were dropped on the United States of America over a 15 year period like was done to Vietnam? – if USA were invaded over the same period by of a superpower army of up to a half-million better armed soldiers with tanks and napalming air support?

Vermont Jazz Center Presents: Val Jeanty & the Berklee Institute of Jazz & Gender Justice

by vtjazz | Music

The Vermont Jazz Center will present its fourth annual Emerging Artist Festival on Saturday, November 13th. The event promotes new ideas and individuals affecting the future of jazz, a music that encourages creativity and lauds game-changing artists. This year the Jazz Center will partner with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and will feature one of their instructors, Haitian turntablist Val Jeanty (Val-Inc).

Performances will begin at 1:00 PM on Saturday: student groups from around the region will be coached by members of the institute throughout the day and will attend a 4:15 masterclass. The Festival will culminate in an 8:00 PM performance by Jeanty and members of the Institute.

The entire event is open to vaccinated individuals (please bring proof and ID) and is free to students and members of the LGBTQ community. Tickets for the 8:00 PM concert cost $20. Outright Vermont will be tabling throughout the afternoon events.

Brattleboro Budget Process – A Look Back 20 Years

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

The Brattleboro Selectboard has begun budget season. It’s the time of year when citizens should speak up if they want something funded or defunded. 

It’s also the time of year Representative Town Meeting Reps should be paying close attention, attending meetings, asking questions, and sharing information they learn with those they represent.

It’s quite easy to do nowadays, but wasn’t always this way. The current board likes to mention that they have traditions and that things are done a certain way, but that’s only been the last few years.

Brattleboro Winter Parking Ban Begins November 15, 2021

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Parking Department would like to advise everyone that the winter parking ban will go into effect, starting Monday, November 15, 2021. Overnight parking is forbidden on all streets in the town of Brattleboro. Vehicles parked for longer than one (1) hour between 11:00pm and 07:00am may be ticketed and towed at the owners expense.

ACM Offers High School Computing Prize

by cgrotke | Education

The Association for Computer Machinery announced this prize for high school students talented in computer science. Know any? It could mean $10,000 in scholarship funds.

“Every year, the ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing recognizes talented high school students in computer science. The intent of the program is to promote and encourage the field of computer science, as well as to empower young and aspiring learners to pursue computing challenges outside of the traditional classroom environment.

The application process involves a Challenge that focuses on having the student develop an artifact that engages modern computing technology and computer science.

Holiday Gift Making Workshops at HatchSpace

by HatchSpace | Creative

Craft a holiday gift for someone you love. Workshops available for sign up include, Cutting Board Workshop, *Resin Edge Bowl Turning, Make a Frame, Build a Flower Press, Make a Gift Box, Design and Carve Key Holder, Tile Top Charcuterie Board, Turned Gifts (bottle stopper, opener and more). Open to beginners, no woodworking experience required. Space is limited. Sign up today! Go to www.hatchspace.org for details and registration. *Bowl turning experience required for the Resin Bowl workshop.

WSESD Independent Budget Review Committee Agenda

by Not Signed In | Education

AGENDA
I. Introductions

II. Determine Use of Robert’s Rules of Order (small boards), and Elect Officers

III. Determine Our Open Meeting Law Obligations and Public Participation in the Process

IV. Review the Brattleboro Independent Budget Committee Process and Report

BCTV Schedules Week of November 8, 2021

by BCTVProg | Media

Monday, November 8, 2021

5:00 am Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts – Christine Treibert
6:10 am The Vermont Housing Summit – Panel 2 – Smart Growth Principles
7:00 am Community Forum – Windham 4 Community Conversation 10/23/21
8:00 am Democracy Now! – Democracy Now! Daily Broadcast
9:00 am Town of Brattleboro Trick-or-Treat Event – Town of Brattleboro Trick-or-Treat Event 10/31/21

Veteran’s Day at the VFW Nov. 11th

by LisaL | Entertainment

We will be having our Veteran’s Day Ceremony Thursday Nov. 11th at the Brattleboro VFW located at 40 Black Mountain Road. Doors open at 10 am and the ceremony starts at 11 am. The public is welcome to attend. There will be no Legion Band this year, but we are having a free meal for those who attend the ceremony.

Are Vermont’s Hospitals Capable of Big Changes?

by RDavis | Health

The Green Mountain Care Board, the entity that oversees and regulates Vermont’s health care system, commissioned a consultant’s report, “Green Mountain Care Board: VT Hospital Quality Review and Capacity Planning in Preparation for Value-Based Care October 27, 2021” to point the way for long-overdue systemic reform. Hospitals do not take kindly to being told what to do. They have become institutions that have been resistant to big change because of the power they wield in local communities. But pressure is mounting for real change. That is what this report points out.

We hear talk about the high cost of health care and about how something needs to be done. The only way this country is ever going to control health care costs is for there to be bold change and bold change in not something hospitals are good at. The consultant’s report calls for bold change.

Brattleboro Selectboard Special Meeting Agenda November 9, 2021

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, at 6:15pm over Zoom. The Municipal Center (230 Main Street) will be open to the public with limited seating spaced six feet apart and face coverings will be required. The public is encouraged to participate in the meeting over Zoom. The attached agenda contains information on how to access the meeting remotely, including the required “passcode.”  ASL interpreters will be available for deaf and hard-of-hearing community members.

November 6 Shopping Day at Swap Shop

by rbrem | Home & Garden

SHOPPING ONLY DAY at Swap Shop at WSWMD on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro on Saturday, November 6, 8:30 am to noon. ALL ITEMS ARE FREE.   Photos of some available items are posted on Facebook’s Brattleboro, Vermont group page.
Swap Shop will be open on Nov. 6 for shopping only, Nov. 13 for donating only and our last day before closing for the winter will be Nov. 20 for shopping only. Come get your Christmas decorations and stocking stuffers while we’re still open!

More Goals For The Brattleboro Selectboard To Consider

by cgrotke | Op/Ed

The Selectboard was reviewing and adding to their goals at their most recent meeting. There are a few more items they should take up:

End Weigher of Coal Position

This is just embarrassing in 2021. Brattleboro should rid itself of any mention of coal. It’s such an easy thing to do.  Town Managers since Barb Sondag have promised to get this done. All it takes is sending an article to Representative Town Meeting.

Brattleboro Veterans’ Day Closings

by Not Signed In | Town News

In observance of Veterans’ Day, all Brattleboro Town Offices will be closed on Thursday, November 11, 2021, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Thursday, November 11. All other violations will be enforced.