Hello

Stories

Construction Update Brattleboro-Hinsdale Bridge – January 11, 2024

by Not Signed In | Hinsdale

The recent weather has stalled steel delivery to the site, and the advance of structural steel across Pier 2 to the temporary shoring towers has been placed on hold until deliveries resume.

De-watering at the Pier 1 cofferdam continues to face ongoing challenges. The amount of water coming into the cofferdam is still too high a volume for the water treatment systems and the environmental permits. The contractor and engineering teams are analyzing the current systems in place to receive the site discharge as well as the configuration of the cofferdam to see what can be done to remedy this situation and continue with the work.

De-watering operation on hold pending further analysis.

Open Seats on the WSESD and Vernon School Boards, Petitions Due by 1/29/24

by Ruby McAdoo | Education

The Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) has 5 open seats and the Vernon School District (VSD) has 2 open seats up for election on 3/5/24 — petitions are due by 1/29/24! Please consider running for the WSESD or VSD Board. Here’s a press release from the district central office.

##

Empower Your Community: Run for School Board Seats in Windham Southeast and Vernon School Districts

Brattleboro, January 10, 2024 — As the Windham Southeast School District (WSESD) and the Vernon School District (VSD) seek dedicated individuals to serve on their school boards, community members are encouraged to consider running for open seats to make a meaningful impact on local education. The WSESD Board is comprised of ten (10) members from Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford and Putney, with each board member governing the schools in all four towns. The VSD Board is comprised of five (5) members and governs the Vernon School. There are open seats on the WSESD and VSD Boards, which require residents of each town as follows:

Clark Street Fire Details

by Not Signed In | Police & Fire

Crews from both stations were dispatched at 16:51 to 75 Clark Street for a report of smoke on the third floor and attic area. While crews were responding, dispatch received a second call advising there was a subject on the 3rd floor. Assistant Chief Charles Keir, along with Engine 2, arrived on the scene. AC Keir reported a 2 1/2-story multi-family wood frame building with light smoke showing from the front. Engine 2’s crew made their way to the third floor to report they had located a victim and were on their way out with the victim.

Crews reported there was still an active fire in the apartment. Golden Cross/BFD ambulance personnel transported the patient with significant burns to the arms, hands, and airway to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. A second and third alarm was requested for additional personnel as well as taking into consideration the longer response time due to weather conditions.

Brattleboro Covid Vaccination Clinic at Senior Center

by Not Signed In | Health

The Brattleboro Recreation and Parks Senior Center would like to announce that they will be partnering with the VT Department of Health to offer a free Covid Vaccination clinic on Tuesday, January 16th from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Brattleboro Senior  Center.  Appointments can be made by calling Sarah at 802-257-7570.  Walk-ins are also welcome. 

Brattleboro Martin Luther King Jr. Day Closings

by Not Signed In | Town News

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, all Brattleboro Town Offices will be closed on Monday, January 15, 2024, with the exception of emergency services.

Parking is free at all metered spaces and in the pay-and-display lots on Monday, January 15. All other violations will be enforced.

Brooks Memorial Library will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 15.

Absolute Immunity

by AnneODyne | Politics

For a person to propose they are above the law is presumption on a scale that is an affront to all life.  The very notion that any and all acts are beyond recrimination, and perforce exemptible, is a form of hubris that even Greek myths condemn.

Icarus, Narcissus, Sisyphus, the message is the same, think too highly of yourself, pay the price.  But now we’re confronted by a modern configuration so corrupt and decadent that such arrogance might be permitted.

Ours is a culture accustomed to getting away with things.. And not just little slights and nominally exacted tributes; enslavement, forced relocation, ecological devastation, extinctions-there’s barely the nod towards reparation.

802 Credit Union Vice President Ethan Grimes Joins Youth Services Board

by Nanci Leitch | Town News

Ethan Grimes, the Vice President of mortgage lending at 802 Credit Union, recently joined 12 other community members in serving on Youth Services’ board of directors. With twenty programs ranging from court diversion, to trauma-informed after-school groups, counseling, mediation and case management to name but a few, Youth Services has built community throughout Windham County for over 50 years.

Since 2009, Grimes has worked in mortgages at River Valley Credit Union, now 802 Credit Union. Starting as a mortgage processor, he eventually became a mortgage originator and finally Vice President of the credit union’s mortgage department in 2016.

Grimes has deep roots in Windham County, having grown up and attended public school in Newfane, VT and graduating fourth in his class from Leland & Gray Union High School in Townshend.  Grimes attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL, where he majored in Economics, with a minor in both Business Administration and Communications. He came home each summer to work with his father Marty Grimes with Southern Vermont Telephone and recalls even doing some wiring on occasion at Youth Services during those visits. After graduation, Grimes moved to Orlando, FL where he obtained his mortgage broker license and worked as a mortgage broker there for four years during which time he married his college sweetheart.

BCTV Schedules – Week of January 8, 2024

by BCTVProg | Media

Monday, January 8, 2024

5:30 am Sing Nowell – Songs & Carols for Midwinter and Christmastide 2023

7:55 am At BMAC – 16th Annual Domino Toppling Extravaganza

8:00 am Democracy Now! – Democracy Now! Daily Broadcast

9:00 am Energy Week with George Harvey – This Week’s Energy News

If He Loses…?

by RDavis | Op/Ed

Most people that I know feel old wounds opening as we move closer to the next presidential election. We are starting to experience that same level of anxiety and helplessness we felt when Trump won an election. We are hoping for the best outcome- that Trump gets his ass kicked and that he loses by 10 million votes as he did against Biden the first time.

But the world is a different place now and the complexity of issues surrounding the would-be dictator are mind-boggling. He could end up in jail, but that would not prevent him from taking a seat in the oval office. Most of the rhetoric and fear that is floating in the air has to do with the possibility of Trump winning the election. What might happen if he loses?

Brattleboro Winter Weather Watch – Week of January 8, 2024

by Not Signed In | Town News

The Brattleboro Emergency Management group is watching two storms this week that could impact our area. On Tuesday evening into midday Wednesday, the National Weather Service is forecasting snow followed by 1.5 to 2 inches of rainfall with temperatures in the 40s and gusty winds.

Expect hazardous travel conditions, with icing on roads and then minor flooding along waterways. High winds are in the forecast with gusts at 40 to 50 mph, which could result in downed power lines and power outages.

Please prepare for:
Hazardous travel and some sporadic road closures
Power outages
Flooding with the potential for evacuations

George Lernis Quintet at Next Stage Arts

by hahrenholz | Music

Next Stage Arts presents world-recognized percussionist George Lernis and his quintet, performing the music from his latest album “Between Two Worlds” at Next Stage on Saturday, January 27 at 7:30 pm.

The name of the album was inspired by the 15th century Turkish mystic Hacı Bayram Veli’s poem “Between Two Worlds” and depicts Lernis’s journey as an immigrant originally from Nicosia, Cyprus who eventually moved to the U.S. The music showcases Lernis’s bi-musicality, blending Jazz and Middle Eastern music in a tasteful and respectful manner to both of these rich musical traditions. Lernis’s quintet features a stellar group of musicians including the wonderful Turkish vocalist, Heiraza AKA Burcu Gülec, Swedish born bassist Bruno Råberg, American trumpeter Emiel De Jaegher, and Turkish piano, oud, and ney player Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol.

Brattleboro Street Parking During a Snow Emergency

by Not Signed In | Town News

A winter storm watch has been issued for southern Vermont from the afternoon of Saturday, January 6 through the evening of Sunday, January 7. Heavy snow and high winds are in the forecast. During this time, the Town of Brattleboro anticipates road crews and equipment will be working around the clock to keep roadways open and free of hazards. 

Vehicles parked on Town streets create dangerous obstacles for all during a storm and are susceptible to being towed at the owner’s expense, per Brattleboro Town Ordinance. Please attempt to utilize off-street parking. Free overnight parking is available in the Brattleboro Transportation Center between the hours of 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. in UNRESERVED parking spaces. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

WSESD Social Justice Committee Minutes

by Not Signed In | Education

Eva Nolan called the meeting to order at 10:09.

The committee welcomed a visitor, Claire Halverson from the NAACP Education Committee. This committee has recently re-activated and is reaching out to strengthen connections with other local organizations with a related mission.

Brattleboro and VT COVID-19 Regional Dashboard Summary – January 2024

by cgrotke | Health

Here’s the January 2024 dashboard summary. We continue semi-regular COVID-19 dashboard numbers from the Vermont Department of Health, and MA and NH counties that surround Brattleboro, as long as they continue providing them. Scroll down the new comments for the latest.

VT, NH and MA do weekly updates, near the end of the week, so we update on Fridays usually. All three have changed their dashboards since the start, so it is now tough to easily compare how things have changed. Variant updates are every two weeks.

Construction Update Brattleboro-Hinsdale Bridge – Jan 4, 2024

by cgrotke | Hinsdale

The contractor has begun to advance structural steel across Pier 2 to the temporary shoring towers. This work will continue into next week. De-watering at Pier 1 site encountered several challenges last week and additional work has taken place to remediate the situation this week. The saturated conditions of the site and soil conditions have necessitated that the cofferdam be tighter in order to allow less water infiltration so the de-watering system will not be overwhelmed by the volume. The contractor has installed vertical forms at all four corners of the cofferdam and anticipates placing concrete today in order to achieve a better seal. The contractor will attempt de-watering again next week once the concrete has set up. Once a dry excavation can be maintained, the contractor will begin to install the 80 foot rebar cages in the 9 pier piles which may begin as early as next week. Footing formwork and re-bar installation may begin next week as well, overlapping with the pile operations.