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Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – January 26, 2021

At their next meeting, the Brattleboro Selectboard will wrap up their budget season by approving the final FY22 budget and sending it with warned articles to Representative Town Meeting representatives. They’ll also accept a COVID grant and make committee appointments. It could be their shortest meeting in quite some time. You can extend it by  bringing up other items not on the agenda during public participation.


Brattleboro – Notice of Availability of Auditor’s Report 

NOTICE is hereby given that the Brattleboro Town Auditor’s Report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, is available and posted on the Town’s website (www.brattleboro.org). It is available upon request by contacting the Brattleboro Town Clerk’s Office, 230 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301, or calling (802) 251-8157. It is also available by utilizing the curbside service at the Brooks Memorial Library. Please call (802) 254-5290 for information on this service. 


The National Nightmare Is Over – Trump’s Fascist Coup Defeated

*Trump Vacates Whitehouse;
*Democratic Joe Biden Assumes Presidency;
*Threat of Fascist Violence Remains;
*The Left Must Now Advance a Progressive Agenda;
*Labor Must Continue To Defend Democracy!

Today, as the American voters directed, Democratic Joe Biden took the oath of office for United States President. Joe Biden was endorsed in the November election by the National AFL-CIO, received seven million more votes than Trump, won in key battleground States, and claimed an overwhelming victory in the Electoral College. Despite Trumps treasonous claims to the contrary, there were ZERO examples of significant voter fraud (or evidence of such) concerning the November election.


Kaaba

The Kaaba is an ancient structure In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that is sacred to Moslems. On pilgrimage, people circumambulate it (walk around it) endlessly.

I am struck by the resemblance of the VT Yankee building to the Kaaba.


Selectboard Meeting Notes – Safety Report Accepted, $12.5 Million for Water Treatment, Home Rule

Brattleboro Selectboard jan 19 2021

The Brattleboro Selectboard accepted the report of the Community Safety Review Committee with a unanimous 5-0 vote and sent the document to Town staff. Staff will annotate and organize the recommendations for the board, evaluating the legality and logistics for each recommendation.

The board also heard about plans for a new water treatment plant at a new estimated cost of $12.5 million. They approved of a charter change amendment to be put to voters on March 2. And they recommend to Town meeting representatives that the police training budget remain at $27,000 rather than be increased to $40,000.


The Rosefire Writing Circle Offers Community and Support with Deborah Lee Luskin

Deborah Lee Luskin

Beginning in January 2021, the Rosefire Writing Circle will meet virtually on Tuesdays from 5:30-7:30 in addition to Fridays from 1-3. Writers of any ability are welcome to join us. The writing circle allows writers to overcome the fear and loneliness of facing a blank page by providing the support of writing to the same prompt with others. This proven format creates a kind of writing magic from which everyone benefits. We write, we read, we have fun.


To Preserve What’s Left Of The Republic

If the U.S. Senate does not convict Trump in his second impeachment trial this country will no longer deserve respect from world leaders and countries that have a record of respecting the rule of law. That is no small thing. The alliances that this country needs to maintain in the worlds of commerce, banking, diplomacy and other critical areas will be weakened and possibly dissolved.

Politicians hold up the constitution as the guidebook for how this country should conduct itself. But if they do not make a criminal president accountable for his illegal acts while in office then the constitution will no longer dictate the standards for government.


Last Night

Did you every awaken from a dream, which inspires a poem?

For more, please hit the “Full Story” button.


Brattleboro Downtown Snow Removal

The Town of Brattleboro would like to remind everyone that the snow emergency ban is in effect.   

Snow and ice will be removed from the streets in the downtown area this evening.   

Parked vehicles in the downtown district must be removed by 11:00pm or they will be towed at the owner’s expense.


BCTV Schedules Week of January 18, 2021

BCTV Channel 8 / 1075 schedule for the week of 1/18/21

Monday, January 18, 2021

5:00 am Martin Luther King Remembrances – MLK: A Celebration of Life at the Centre Congregational Church
6:45 am Hooker Dunham Presents – SOLOs Episode 3
7:30 am Here We Are – with guest Steffen Gillom
8:00 am Democracy Now! – Democracy Now! Daily Broadcast
9:00 am Martin Luther King Remembrances – MLK: A Celebration of Life at the Centre Congregational Church


100 Anti-Fascists Rally in Montpelier For Democracy – Threatened Armed Fascists A No-Show In Vermont Capital

On November 3rd Trump lost the Presidential election in Vermont by a wider margin than in any other State in the union. But that did not prevent a couple dozen (peaceful) pro-Trump supporter from demonstrating in front of the Statehouse on January 6th. It was also feared that Trump’s lack of support in the Green Mountains would not prevent a minority of armed extremists from committing acts of violence today [1/17/21] in our Capital.

Warnings that fascists, those who supported the Trump coup, were planning armed actions in all 50 State Capitals in the U.S. were taken seriously here in rural Vermont. Throughout this morning and into the afternoon police in bullet proof vests, military grade helmets, and with automatic rifles in hand patrolled the streets of our Capital City of Montpelier (population: 7,800). The Mayor and City Council issued prior warnings encouraging residents to stay home. Many businesses were closed. And despite the threat of rightwing violence 100 anti-fascists converged on City Hall to demonstrate their support for democracy and unwillingness to concede to fascist threats. And the armed fascists? They were nowhere to be seen.


King, “Americans Betrayed Their Country In Vietnam!” Now in Yemen Syria Libya Somalia Iraq Afghanistan

During his 1967 New York sermon, which made bold headlines in newspapers across the world, Martin Luther King cried out”A time comes when silence is betrayal.” And that time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.” What would Rev. King say today about Americans bringing massive death and destruction to the innocent citizens and their children in Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan?


Brattleboro Parking Lot Snow Removal

The Town of Brattleboro would like to remind everyone that the snow emergency ban is in effect.  

Snow and ice will be removed from the parking lots in the downtown area this evening.   

Parked vehicles in the downtown parking lots must be removed by 1:00am or they will be towed at the owner’s expense.


Keeping Local Arts Alive At The Latchis

Latchis Theatre Marquee

Like many of us, I’ve been staying safe during the pandemic and not participating too much in social events.  But I still stay in the loop with as many local organizations as I can.  Many of us with a connection to the arts worry that public performance art — of which cinema is one — may be busted back to the stone age, to put it bluntly, by our inability to gather in groups and the lack of funding that results.  The Latchis finds itself in this boat, and while they continue to show films under all the current rules for safe gathering in theatres, they have obviously taken a hit.    

Lately, I’ve been enjoying their newsletters wherein Jon Potter, director of Latchis Arts, tells it like it is to his audience of people who like movies, music, and dance.  His most recent letter, which came out January 14, notes that arts groups are starting to regroup as it were, as we all adjust to the new circumstances we find ourselves in.  Adapt or die, is pretty much the story, and artists are trying to do that.  


Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – January 19, 2020

The Brattleboro Selectboard is likely to add a Charter Amendment to the Town Meeting Warning that would eliminate the need for future Charter changes to approved by the state legislature.

The board will hear an update on the Water Treatment facility project, continue finalizing their FY22 budget for RTM consideration, and will continue their discussion of the Community Safety Review Committee’s recommendations. You can bring up other items not on the agenda during Public Participation.