News and information sections, from near to far
The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Human Services Review Committee will meet on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 at 6:30pm at 175 South Main Street.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
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.
This week, night work will be conducted Sunday through Friday nights (December 15th – 20th), and will continue Sunday through Thursday, and occasionally Friday, nights for the next several months, until demolition is complete.
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.
In observance of the Christmas holiday, all Brattleboro Town offices will close at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, December 24, and will be closed all day Wednesday, December 25, 2013, with the exception of emergency services. The offices will resume normal hours on Thursday, December 26.
Brooks Memorial Library will be open on Tuesday, December 24, from 9:00am to 12:00 noon and will be closed all day Wednesday, December 25. It will resume normal hours on Thursday, December 26.
Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots from 12:00 noon on December 24 through December 25. Parking enforcement will resume normal hours on Thursday, December 26. All other violations, including extended parking, will be enforced.
Strolling of the Heifers has announced three more brown bag lunch events at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden in downtown Brattleboro, to take place during the week of December 16.
Each event is from noon to 1 p.m. and is free, open to the public, and indoors. People are encouraged to bring a lunch from home or a local takeout restaurant, and to enjoy it at one of the River Garden’s café tables.
On Monday, Dec. 16, Scott Hurley performs classical piano. Scott is a student at the Brattleboro Music Center studying with Bruce Griffin. He has produced a CD which he is selling to support his further education as a yoga teacher.
Today I received two calls -both on my cell phone – both looking for medical information. The first- from # 767 – 275-9061-was from someplace called ” National Medical Audits”. The second – about 2 hours later- was from # 356-490-5697. and from “US Medical Associates” Both calls were obviously from call centers – there was a lot of background noise-and both times the caller was a man with a very pronounced Indian accent.
It appears that spying on citizens is impacting bottom lines. Today, major tech companies released the following letter.
….
Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress,
We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. But this summer’s revelations highlighted the urgent need to reform government surveillance practices worldwide. The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for a change.
Brattleboro Police are looking for the driver of the vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian on Western Avenue near Union Street around 7:00 Friday night. The vehicle involved had left the scene before emergency crews arrived. The name of the victim has not yet been released. Anyone with information is urged to contact police at 257-7950 or the TIPSLINE at 251-8188.
Vermont-grown Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes are currently for sale by the Brattleboro Rotary Club in front of Brattleboro Bowl on Putney Road. Sale hours are Monday-Thursday 11-7; Friday 11-6 and Saturday-Sunday 10-6.
All trees are $40 with proceeds supporting the club’s annual local student scholarship awards.
The Brattleboro Rotary Club offers the following tips to keep your Christmas tree fresh.
• Once you and your Christmas tree have safely returned home, make a fresh cut across the bottom of the trunk, to open up the pores in the wood, allowing it to absorb water readily
The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Friday, December 13, 2013 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
The Brattleboro ADA Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, December 13, 2013 at 10:00am at Marlboro College Graduate Center in the VCIL conference room.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
The Brattleboro Arts Committee will meet on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at 4:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 11:00am in the Selectboard meeting room at the Municipal Center.
The Brattleboro Selectboard will hold a special meeting on Sunday, December 15, 2013 at 2:00pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
The Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting Human Services Review Committee will meet on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at 6:30pm in the Hanna Cosman meeting room at the Municipal Center.
Jan Anderson
Executive Secretary
Brattleboro Town Manager’s Office
(802) 251-8100
The PCL+FIGG Team will conduct the first on-site “Trail Talk” for the Public on Saturday, December 14, 2013. These trail talks will discuss the status of the I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Project and will provide participants the opportunity to learn about the construction and ask questions.
The talks will originate at the West River Trail near the marina. The first trail talk will be led by Caleb Linn, Project Manager for PCL (lead contractor), and Garrett Hoffman, Design Manager for FIGG (bridge designer).
[Brattleboro, 1,000 years ago]
LESS THAN A YEAR AFTER KING DICK YIELDED THE MUNICIPALITY TO SIR DAVID: THE ONCE FEARSOME, FIRE-BREATHING BUDGET-DRAGON WAS SLAIN, THANKS TO AN IBRATTLEBORO POLL.
SOME SAY THE POLL HAD BEEN HACKED. BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT ONLY THE WOODEN FLAGPOLE IN FRONT OF THE IBRATTLEBORO COMPLEX HAD BEEN HACKED BY SOME KID WHO JUST HAD TO TRY OUT THE NEW HATCHET HE RECEIVED AS A GIFT FOR HIS 10TH BIRTHDAY.
I just received a new twist on the medical alert obnoxious telemarketing calls. This one showed up in the caller ID as being from “Alert” so when I picked up, I just listened, didn’t say anything. A robo call came on saying that a system had already been paid for, including shipping (“perhaps by a friend or relative”), and all I needed to do was press one to arrange for delivery. I didn’t go down that road, but to be so bold as to say it is already paid for will undoubtedly get some people to respond. How despicable can thes telemarketers get? Please don’t answer!! I ask that rhetorically. I’m sure your responses would be just as nasty as the thoughts going through my head!
The Brattleboro Selectboard took up issues of farming, energy audits, and downtown improvements at Tuesday’s regular meeting.
The tax stabilization rate for farms was discussed and formalized, but a debate is now brewing over $95,000 in a little-used but popular loan fund for farms. The Selectboard has eyes on it as a way to reduce taxes.
A request to look for ways to save money was tabled, putting the issue of energy audits for municipal buildings on hold for the moment.
Vermont’s downtown program was described in detail, and the BaBB budget and workplan were approved for presentation at Representative Town Meeting.
On Thursday, December 12, 6:00-8:00 pm, the West Brattleboro Association (WBA) will host its annual Holiday Party at The New England House, 254 Marlboro Road. This is a time for people and businesses in West Brattleboro to get together socially and to celebrate the Association’s numerous accomplishments in this past year. The evening will feature a cash bar with hors d’oeuvres prepared by the restaurant. The WBA suggests a voluntary donation of $5 toward the food.
“There was no excuse, in this country and in this time, for the spread of a deadly new epidemic. For this was a time in which the United States boasted the world’s most sophisticated medicine and the world’s most extensive public health system, geared to eliminate such pestilence form our national life. When the virus appeared, the world’s richest nation housed the most lavishly financed scientific research establishments-both inside the vast governmental health bureaucracy and in other institutions – to investigate new diseases and quickly bring them under control.”
– Journalist/ Historian Randy Shilts in ‘And The Band Played On.’
The state of Vermont and Entergy are engaging in confidential negotiations about the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor (and the future of our region). As citizens we are told very little. State officials are quoted as saying they are “not dealing much with the past” and “everything is on the table.”
Because negotiations are happening behind closed doors, should we just sit back and trust Entergy and the state to make a deal? What we can do is educate ourselves best as we can, and let our state officials and Entergy know what, for instance, we do not want “on the table.” The Safe and Green Campaign is hosting “Cleaning Up Vermont Yankee,” a free educational panel, on Tuesday, December 3, to give people information about the process and the options. Three panelists will present information followed by Q&A and discussion.
