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Hinesburg Road Re-Opens

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Department of Public Works is happy to report that Renaud Brothers has completed the replacement of the stone culvert on Hinesburg Road that failed during the severe rainstorm on July 17.  The guardrails have been installed and the roadway has been paved.  Hinesburg Road is reopened to normal traffic, effective immediately.

We appreciate your cooperation, understanding and patience as these repairs were made.

Heroes Put It All On The Line

by RDavis | Activism

Shock. Sadness. Anger. Those were some of the emotions that grabbed me as I read the account by Mindy Haskins Rogers in the August 11 issue of The Commons of Brattleboro. She told the story of alleged sexual abuse by a former Brattleboro Union High School English teacher, Zeke Hecker, and the years-long cover up of his behavior.

We hear about sexual abuse nearly every day and we have come to realize that not enough abusers are ever brought to justice. You only have to look as far as a former president to understand that the deck is stacked against the abused.

Silence is one of the best weapons that abusers have. Sadly, there are too many examples of child sexual abuse, including that of the Catholic church.

BCTV Schedules – Week of August 16, 2021

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Channel 1075 schedule for the week of 8/16/21

Monday, August 16, 2021

4:05 am Middlebury Festival on the Green 2021 – Beg, Steal or Borrow
5:55 am Positively Vermont – Vermont Rail Action Network 7/11/21
6:30 am Open Exchange Vermont: Ep 1 – Bodily Autonomy and Vaccine Passports
7:00 am Brattleboro Rotary Club Speaker Series – Ep 49 – DG John Bob
7:20 am HANDS in the Dirt – Organic Pest Controls – Diseases and Animals 7/21/21

What? A World Boycott of US Products Until US Stops Its Embargo of Cuba and Leaves Guantanamo?

by jay janson | Op/Ed

A Half-century Long Brutal USA Embargo Against Tiny Cuba! 184 Nations Vote For its End & Against US & Israel

NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) –

‘U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration continued Washington’s tradition of voting against an annual United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for an end to a U.S. economic embargo on Cuba.

The resolution was adopted for the 29th time with 184 votes in favor, three abstentions and two no votes – the United States and Israel. The U.N. vote can carry political weight, but only the U.S. Congress can lift the more than 50-year-old embargo.’

No Government Besides Israel Supports US Embargo

Brattleboro Selectboard Special Meeting Agenda – New Mask Requirements

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard will meet on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, at 6:15pm in the Selectboard Meeting Room at the Brattleboro Municipal Center (320 Main Street). The public is encouraged to participate in the meeting over Zoom. The Municipal Center will be open to the public with limited seating spaced six feet apart and face coverings will be required in the meeting. 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.

The 2020 Census and Windham County, VT

by cgrotke | State News

The new census is being rolled out. Both Vermont and Windham County have seen population growth, if the numbers are reliable, since 2010.

Windham County had a 3.1% change in population, from 44,513 in 2010 to 45,905 in 2020. Vermont’s population grew by 2.8%, from 625,741 in 2010 to 643,077 in 2020.

The percent of Windham County population over 18 is 82.5%, or 37,893 people.

Taliban Falsely Called an Insurgency! Taliban Was the Government of Afghanistan When USA Invaded in 2001

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Taliban WAS the Government of Afghanistan for 4 Years When USA Invaded & Put in a Drug Lord Regime and For 20 Years the Taliban Continued To Govern Half of Afghanistan Outside the Cities and Coalition Military Bases

Chronology:
1978, Afghani King overthrown. Popular women liberating Socialist gov. installed in Kabul.
July,1979, Prez Carter secretly funds its overthrow by fundamentalist war lords.

Town of Brattleboro COVID-19 Response Status – August 11, 2021 – Masks Required in Town Buildings

by Not Signed In | Health

Update to the Community from Brattleboro Town Manager Peter Elwell: 

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) has reclassified Windham County from an area of “moderate public transmission” of COVID-19 to an area of “substantial public transmission” of the virus. 

All Town of Brattleboro government facilities remain open to the public at this time, but we have reinstituted the requirement that anyone inside Town buildings must be wearing a face covering. This applies equally to employees and to visitors. It applies equally to vaccinated people and to unvaccinated people. The CDC guidance on this matter is clear: all “people [should] wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.” 

“Here We Are” With Guest Skylar Plumb

by Wendy O'Connell | Media

Back in the BCTV studio after 8 months on Zoom!

A BUHS Career Center graduate, Skylar’s story is the best of how a life can be turned around through the power of care and support from family, teachers, and community.

Brattleboro Heat Wave Advisory

by Not Signed In | Nature

 The weather forecast for the remainder of this week includes dangerously high heat and humidity. Town of Brattleboro urges everyone to drink plenty of water, wear light clothing, and stay out of the heat as much as possible. 

People who need some cool air can visit the Senior Center at the Gibson Aiken Center (207 Main Street), Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street), the Central Fire Station (103 Elliot Street), or the West Brattleboro Fire Station (16 South Street). 

Dealing Rationally With Environmental Apocalypse

by Lise | Nature

Unless you’ve really been living in deep media seclusion, you probably already know the planet is in big trouble. The planet’s troubles, expressed as record heat waves, epic wildfires, prolonged droughts, biblical rainstorms, and erratic weather patterns, have led to all kinds of disruption here below.  Mother Nature isn’t just angry — she’s in crisis.  Which isn’t surprising since humans have been systematically trying to kill her off pretty much since the dawn of mankind.  Clearly she can’t take it anymore.

But elaborate metaphors aside, I’ve been worrying more than usual about the state of the environment and the decline of the natural realm, from the changing climate to the alarming loss of wildlife around the world.  Although it’s easy to forget these things living in Vermont, we do not live in a bubble.

The World Is Too Much With Us

by RDavis | Nature

When the world is too much with us I turn to the birds. Most of us have been in need of some sort of refuge these past few years and I have found the observation of the bird population to be an activity that has helped to clear my head and get a better perspective on the world.

I am not what might be called a birder. I do not count species and I do not make birding treks to look for rare species. Quite simply, I have put up a suet feeder and a hummingbird feeder in my yard so that I can watch the activity from my deck.

At first I wondered if feeding birds year round was a bad thing for birds. My research has shown me that there are pro’s and con’s but that, overall, birds are not usually harmed by having a handout on a regular basis.

IPCC Interactive Climate Map + New Report

by cgrotke | Nature

Here’s a new interactive climate map from the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

https://interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch

They describe it as” A novel tool for flexible spatial and temporal analyses of much of the observed and projected climate change information underpinning the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, including regional synthesis for Climatic Impact-Drivers (CIDs).”