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What Does Being Too Old Really Mean?

by RDavis | Politics

There has been a lot of talk about electing someone to the office of President of the United States, perhaps the most demanding job in the world, who is in his eighties. Joe Biden was born in 1942 making him the oldest person to sit in the oval office. People express misgivings about voting for him because of his age, but there is very little discussion of what exactly they fear about his age.

It is time to unpack the issues relating to an octogenarian president to see if they will really make it difficult for Biden to continue in office. The worst case scenario is that he dies in office. Males at 80 years old have a seven year life expectancy. That is based on averages, but when it comes to Biden, he is not your average 81 year old. He remains mostly physically fit and his father died at 86 and his mother at 92, so he has some genetic longevity working for him. He had a physical a few days ago and was declared physically fit to perform the duties of President. His doctor felt no need for cognitive testing.

Next Stage Arts Presents Cuban Quintet Espirales Project

by hahrenholz | Music

Next Stage Arts presents Cuban quintet Espirales Project on Friday, March 29th at 7:30 pm, at Next Stage Arts, located at 15 Kimball Hill, Putney, VT. Tickets are $20 in advance / $25 at the door / $10 livestream. Next Stage will provide a beer, wine, and cocktail cash bar. Advance tickets are available at nextstagearts.org. For information, call 802-387-0102 or visit nextstagearts.org.

Newly emerging on the Cuban music scene in 2023, the Espirales Project brings together five top graduates of Cuba’s Instituto Superior de Arte performing across several genres—Cuban, jazz, world, and chamber music. Tania Haase, Olivia Rodríguez, Alejandro Aguiar, Jesús Estrada and Rodrigo García have led or contributed nationally and internationally to projects across all these styles, performing at Cuba’s International Jazz Plaza Festival and the Habana Clásica concert music festival. They are also teachers who have designed a development program on Cuban music and culture.

Housing Crisis Fake News ?

by Kurt Daims | Activism

The town has waged a legal campaign against BCS for its emergency homeless shelters in RVs for a year now. Their charges are based on rumors and technicalities.

They can win only by their legal power. At our “trial” February 21, 2023 selectwoman Elizabeth McLoughlin objected to the chairperson referring to the housing emergency. She said BCS (Daims) was the only one declaring it that. BTW the housing crisis was already a national issue. The only deniers were on the Brattleboro selectboard. (The selectboard is the health board).

Brattleboro Gravel Road Warning Sign System

by Not Signed In | Town News

DPW will continue inspecting and reporting the conditions of Brattleboro’s gravel roads during mud season as we did last year.

The updated report will not be sent daily as in past years. Starting in the coming days, you will see a sign at the beginning of each gravel road. The sign will have a color-coded section that indicates the current condition of the road and QR code that will take you directly to Maps-on-line for the conditions of all roads.  Instead of waiting for all of the roads to be checked to report each road be entered immediately which should speed up the reporting significantly.  Attached is a press release explaining the new procedure.

The Gaslight Tinkers at Next Stage

by hahrenholz | Music

Next Stage Arts and Twilight Music present roots and world music quintet The Gaslight Tinkers at Next Stage on Friday, March 22 at 7:30 pm. Blending African, Caribbean, Funk, Reggae, and Latin grooves with traditional fiddle music, the quintet creates the genre-bending future of the music of the past.

The Gaslight Tinkers’ mix of global rhythms creates a joyous world beat sound around a core of traditional New England old time and celtic fiddle music, merging boundless positive energy with melody and song. Drawing from their extensive musical backgrounds in traditional folk, Caribbean, old time, Celtic, and rock, I-Shea, Clara, Garrett, Elie, and Peter craft a sound that brings world traditions together.

Déjà Vu: Heartless Town Officials Lack Institutional Memory

by SK-B | Town News
newspaper article

The Town of Brattleboro’s harrassing Kurt Daims for doing what he could to shelter homeless people closely parallels something that happened nearly 4 decades ago.

Thirty-eight years ago, the Town of Brattleboro gave a homeless shelter run by Faith Ministries a December 25 deadline to close.

The Christmas deadline — a public relations blunder — was dramatic enough to garner national attention, but the real issue was articulated in a press release in which Wally & Emily White said the following:

BUHS Leadership Council Meeting Minutes

by Not Signed In | Education

Leadership Council organization

Stephanie was elected as Leadership Council Chair. Renee will continue to take minutes as Clerk.

Discussion of old business. Agree to leave issues from last year regarding the Athletic Department and Union with previous LC. Any issues with AD or department should be brought individually to Hannah directly. Winter Sports parent meeting set for 11/27.

Western Avenue Utilities Work  Feb 27, 2024

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Utilities Division of Public Works will be performing an emergency sewer main repair in the area of 735 Western Avenue on Tuesday, February 27. The work is scheduled to begin at 8:30 am and will require alternating one lane traffic with flaggers.  Motorists should expect delays in the area and seek alternate routes. 

Brattleboro Planning Commission Meeting: March 4, 2024 Meeting Agenda

by planning | Town Plan

6:15– 7:00 Bike Parking Standards
Planning Commission votes on whether to pursue short-term bike parking standards, long-term bike parking standards, rack performance standards, site design guidelines, and potentially other related elements.

7:00 – 7:40 Certified Local Government
Review of Certified Local Government(CLG) ordinance and proposed change to Historic Resource Overlay Purpose (Section 252.A) for potential recommendation to the Selectboard to pursue CLG.

Tech News: Avast Antivirus Sold Client Info

by CCM Holland Mills | Sci-Tech

This issue is simply not getting the press it deserves:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ftc-avast-browsing-data-privacy/

By definition, your AV [antivirus] needs to not only track every browser request, it needs to track every executable invoked while the AV is running.  Any AV worth its salt would aggregate all this information, at least for the purpose of addressing new issues ASAP.

Hegemonic Western Colonialist Media Journalists Are Accessories to Israeli Mass Murder of Children

by jay janson | Op/Ed

Since October 7, journalists of hegemonic Western colonialist media have made themselves accessories after and then before the fact of crimes against humanity ordered by the Israeli government and committed by Israeli military in their continuous mass murderous bombing and air strikes demolishing homes and entire cities of Israel’s captive Palestinian population in Gaza – indiscriminately killing thousands of residents, 70% [1]of which are women and children. These journalists became accessories after the fact and then before the fact. How?     

Maya Hasegawa: Oscar Heller for Selectboard

by Oscar Heller | Politics

I received this letter and permission to post it from Maya Hasegawa. I worked with Maya on the Finance Committee, and her name is well known to anyone involved in town politics. In addition to town meeting, she currently serves on the Charter Revision Commission, the Design Review Committee, and the Development Review Board – three serious commitments. I’m grateful for her support, and hope you’ll consider voting for me on March 5th.

Her letter follows. Thank you again, Maya!

***

One hears a great deal of talk these days about aging Vermont and how important it is for our future to attract and keep younger people. Brattleboro is fortunate to have such a person running for Selectboard.

$72,000 Parking Ticket

by Kurt Daims | Town News

(And that’s not the worst of it. The judge hinted he could raise it to $170,000.)

On February 14 the Town asked VT Superior Court for a judgement of $72K against a local nonprofit for placing RVs that were used as emergency homeless shelters on private land in Brattleboro.

The Town has effectively evicted the RV shelter, though homeless people are now sheltering in the house of the non-profit Brattleboro Common Sense, which started the shelter in late 2022. The non-profit claims the Town has started to harass them for that. The group spokesman, Kurt Daims, says “We have a good safe project here. See the work we’ve been doing for sixteen years.

We Perceive, and Then Believe

by AnneODyne | Opinion

I don’t know about you, but if I inadvertently walk into a spider web, or step in dog poop, my impulse is to get it off as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Why is the same not true for wayward ideas, made up threats and prejudices we blunder into? Clearly we are bound by our frames, blinded by the bubbles we inhabit, conditioned by what we see, even if that’s an optical illusion.

The most obvious example, steeped in misperception, the Sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. Seems obvious and undeniable, and our ancestors can’t be blamed for succumbing to this illusion, but the fact is the earth is spinning, and our orientation of the sun coming and going is a fabrication.

There are countless similar constructs in daily life that fail to register as odd. Fake news, so to speak. How much more is this true with the projections and propaganda that pass as settled knowledge. There is probably a protective rationale for errant world building, but so much trust is abused by these faulty mechanisms in our consciousness.

Brattleboro Police Department Rabies Clinic on March 16, 2024

by Not Signed In | Police & Fire

The Brattleboro Police Department’s Animal Control Officer will be holding a Rabies Clinic on Saturday, March 16 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Brattleboro Police Station located at 62 Black Mountain Road, Brattleboro, VT 05301.

Registration is not required for this event. This event is open for Brattleboro residents and non-Brattleboro residents.

In addition to the rabies clinic, there will be a variety of services available, including: Rabies Clinic: The rabies clinic is for cats and dogs. The rabies vaccine costs $15 per animal and will be a cash-only service. The rabies vaccine will be the only vaccine available during this clinic.

Guilford Pre-Town Meeting Tuesday

by DonInGuilford | Guilford

Broad Brook Grange, in collaboration with the Guilford Selectboard, will hold the annual Pre-Town Meeting on Tuesday, February 27, at 6:30 pm, live. The event will be live-streamed on BCTV, but those interested in participating should attend at Broad Brook Community Center.

Town Meeting Moderator, Rick Zamore, will facilitate the February 27 session.

(Town Meeting itself will convene at 10 am on Tuesday, March 5, at Guilford Central School. Australian ballot will again be used to elect town officers, with polls open at the school 10 am -7 pm.)