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Living story sections

On Elephants and Circuses

by cgrotke | Nature

Ringling Bros is going to end the era of elephants performing in their circuses in the near future.

I have mixed feelings about this, given where we are in history. Elephant population has dropped significantly, so much that they could become extinct within decades. Hundreds are killed each day for ivory, meat, and trophy.

I like elephants and would hope we don’t eliminate them from the planet. I don’t want to see them abused, either.

I worry that freeing them from circuses and zoos won’t be enough to protect them. That is, I worry we are trading some good feelings about ending abuse at a circus, when wealthy hunters may just kill them all anyway.

Guiding Good Choices Courses in Windham County

by BAPC | Family

Guiding Good Choices Course for Parents and Caregivers Throughout Windham County in March

Windham County- Guiding Good Choices is a free, interactive, five-session course for parents and caregivers of 4th to 9th grade children. The series provides the tools and strategies to meet the challenges of guiding your child through adolescence. The course covers setting clear guidelines with both positive and negative consequences, controlling and expressing anger constructively, promoting family bonds, and preparing kids with “refusal” skills for the time down the road when trouble may tempt them.

Teams Sought for Bowl for Kids’ Sake Benefit April 4

by Not Signed In | Recreation & Sports

Brattleboro, VT–Families, friends and teams from work are invited to celebrate the 34th Annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake to benefit Youth Services’ Big Brothers Big Sisters program on Saturday, April 4. The fundraising event will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with teams signing up for a one-hour time slot at Brattleboro Bowl on Putney Road.

Dr. Craig Rinder Joins BMH Physician Group

by BMH | Health

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital announced that Craig Rinder, MD, will join , effective March 2, 2015.

When the transition is complete, Dr. Rinder’s current practice, known as Craig Rinder, MD, LLC, will be called BMH Urology. Its offices will still be located at 375 Canal Street in Brattleboro, Vermont. The new phone number for making appointments will be 802-251-8720.

Dr. Rinder has been practicing urology in Vermont and New Hampshire for over 17 years. His practice provides medical and surgical care for illnesses involving the male and female urinary tract (kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra), the adrenal glands and the male reproductive tract.

Area Hospitals Launch Community Health Needs Assessment

by BMH | Health

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, the , and are launching a new community health needs assessment (CHNA) to engage the communities they serve and learn more about the most pressing health care concerns and needs. Based on the data that the hospitals gather, each hospital will develop an implementation strategy to address prioritized health care needs. This CHNA is also an opportunity for hospitals to maintain compliance with federal regulations.

The three health care organizations are working collaboratively to gather information by conducting focus groups, developing and disseminating a short survey to the general public, and collecting and analyzing quantitative data. The Vermont Department of Health is providing population based indicators as part of the process.

How Hard Is It To Find 100,000 People To Sign A White House Petition, To Qualify For An Official Response?

by CrisEricson2016 | Activism

It is extremely hard to find 100,000 people to sign a White House “We the People” petition, in order to qualify for an Official White House response.   There have been a lot of marijuana, cannabis, hemp, and medical marijuana White House petitions.   None of them have received the response the petitioners want to hear, so we all just keep filing more petitions, hoping that attitudes up on The Hill will change.  This new 2015 Make Marijuana Legal! petition is really dragging its feet, averaging only 100 signatures a day.  This petition needs help!

Qigong and Healing – Taming the Monkey Mind

by Not Signed In | Health

Quieting one’s mind can often feel like an overwhelming task. During this half-day workshop, participants will learn simple yet effective ways to quiet the busy mind, also known as the “Monkey Mind”. Through the practice of Qigong we will gradually let go of the limits of our acquired self and open up to the infinite experience of our true nature. Participants will leave with a renewed and empowered sense of health and well-being.

Qigong consists of simple movements and breathing practices that relax the physical body, calm the mind and raise the spirit. It is an excellent form of preventative healthcare, and also used in treating major illnesses and minor ailments.

New White House Petition: Make Marijuana Legal

by CrisEricson2016 | Activism

There have been so many marijuana legalization petitions at the White House, and none have succeeded in the ultimate objective, so it is important to keep signing more peititions.   The squeaky wheel is the one that gets greased; right?

Flakiness Intensifies

by cgrotke | Nature

The seasonal frozen precipitation continues. Brattleboro should have an abundance of new flakes by morning.

Anyone doing anything interesting?

Memorial for Kat (Coates) Bark

by SK-B | Spiritual

Andrew Bark wishes to invite everyone who loved his late wife Katharine M. Bark to a celebration of her life.

Kat’s memorial will be a pot luck to be held at the Townshend Town Hall from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday, February 7th. 

For more information, please call Andrew at: (802) 451-6188,

Inserting Horizontal Lines In Word Documents Quickly?

by tomaidh | Questions & Answers

There must be someone in Brattleboro who knows enough about Microsoft WORD to answer my question.

Normally, when you want to quickly insert a horizontal line into a Word document there is a keyboard shortcut to save you time.

Example: To put a simple divider line between two paragraphs in a document, just type 3 dashes — and hit
‘Enter’ immediately.

The Real Snowstorm of 2015, and Hot Chocolate

by cgrotke | Nature

The snow continues to fall here at the iBrattleboro world headquarters. The temperatures are low, as they have been for quite a few weeks, but this time around we have been given some snow. Quite a bit. There seem to be about 8 to 12 inches out there so far, and no signs of it stopping anytime soon.

I like the way everything is quiet when the snow is like this. No one is out driving around. Everyone is waiting for it to pass.

Homelessness

by RobertOeser | Activism

Knowing that readers of iBrattleboro readily offer their opinions, I am putting the following link out there and look forward to comments. The video takes about 1 hour to view in its entirety, so with the oncoming snow, plan accordingly. What implications stem from the video for public policy? Town policy?

Spaghetti Supper on Jan. 28: Fundraiser for Music Enrichment

by fomag | Food

Friends of Music at Guilford is hosting a fundraising Spaghetti Supper at Guilford Central School (GCS) on Wednesday, January 28, to support its 7th annual Music Enrichment Program at Guilford Central (K-6) School.

The program’s lead teacher, percussionist Todd Roach, will be joined this season by stringed-instrument specialist Mac Ritchey, for a 3-day workshop residency with grades 4-6 during the first week in February. The residency comes to a close with a concert of traditional and original music presented for the entire school community, assisted in part by their workshop participants.

A Winter Storm – The Blizzard of 2015

by cgrotke | Nature

It’s a bit early, and we may not get much more than a regular amount of snow here in Brattleboro, but the big weather news for New England is the blizzard of 2015.

Feel free to share weather-related tidbits here. I know we just about all have either friends and/or family somewhere in the path of this storm, and we may end up getting quite a bit here by the end of it all. Check the for all the latest forecasts, warnings, and links to many weather sites.

That’s all the storm hype you will get from me. Enjoy the snow, and stay smart and safe!

BFC Shareholders Want Transparency

by solidarity05301 | Activism

by Several Members of the Shareholder Forum

Recently The Commons printed an article and letters regarding the Putney Coop, changes to their by-laws and involvement with CDS Consulting. As members, we mean – shareholders, of the Brattleboro Food Coop, the assumption is that the Putney Coop is going to become like our coop in Brattleboro.  Perhaps not the size, but the management structure, profits and corporate feel.

In August a few disheartened shareholders started the Brattleboro Food Coop Shareholder Forum – for shareholders, by shareholders.  We meet on the third Sunday of the month from 5:00-7:00pm in the Coop Community Room. All are welcome.