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I-91 Brattleboro Bridge Replacement Project Update: Week of July 20

by Not Signed In | Town Plan

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.

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 Spring of 2016. Project-related truck activity on Route 30 will continue. Route 30 will be reduced to a single lane intermittently both day and night, with flaggers regulating traffic within the work zone.

VA Details Health Care Needs

by Not Signed In | Politics

WASHINGTON, July 16 – The Department of Veterans Affairs needs $17.6 billion to hire 10,000 doctors, nurses and other health care providers and make other reforms in order to meet the needs of a growing number of veterans and reduce long waiting times for health care, Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson told the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs today.

Gibson was responding to a question by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the committee chairman, about what the VA needs to address a large influx of veterans needing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other health care needs.

Without the resources to deal with veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gibson said, “the wait times just get longer.”

Selectboard Meeting Notes: Brattleboro Town Manager Search 3.0, Money, and Beer

by cgrotke | Town News

The Brattleboro Selectboard has decided to again attempt a search for a new Town Manager after the second search process resulted in two qualified applicants finding other jobs closer to their homes. The process was also harmed, in some unnamed but serious manner, by confidential information being published by the Reformer newspaper last week, according to Chair David Gartenstein, who was not pleased.

Brattleboro will see a new brewery open in town, new equipment for town departments, a new committee tasked with identifying Brattleboro’s share of Entergy funds, new parking spaces, new no parking spaces, and more.

Brattleboro Food Coop Board Member Resigns

by Not Signed In | Op/Ed

An open letter to the shareholders of the Brattleboro Food Cooperative and the general community:

Last week I and another individual resigned from the Board of Directors of the Brattleboro Food Cooperative. It was made clear to us that seven of the nine other board members believed that we had violated the board code of conduct and their trust. While we disagreed with the majority of the board, we did not believe we would be able to change their minds.

150 Years Ago (1864 7/15)

by BusyMom | History

July 15th. Poolsville, Md.

Came here yesterday about 4 o’clock P.M. Left Washington just after dinner. Came about one half mile and waited for the division and trains to pass. Our brigade brought up the rear. Our company was detailed as flankers for our brigade train, and on we came, not knowing where we were going, so one we came, up hill and down, over one of the roughest rough roads I ever saw, men lying down at every step. At about one o’clock we had orders to stop ten minutes then long enough to make coffee, after that to lie down. So we did and slept soundly until about day light, then on and on until we reached here.

Host Family Needed For Teenage Boy From Nigeria

by Not Signed In | Family

Might you be able to help a 15-year old boy from Nigeria who has been accepted at BUHS for the coming school year? Oche is the recipient of a prestigious Kennedy-Lugar YES scholarship from the U.S. State Department for future leaders of countries with significant Muslim populations and will be attending BUHS this fall.

We are looking for a family who could welcome Oche for about 6 weeks, from August 8 to September 20 or so. Host families provide room and board for the student, as well as support and guidance as he adjusts to life in Vermont. He does not need a separate bedroom, as long as you can provide a bed in a room with a host brother and a place to study. As a YES student, Oche will have a monthly stipend for personal expenses and school lunches, as well as medical insurance.

Nation’s Teachers Politely Request Education Secretary’s Head

by Lise | Education

In an unusual move for public school teachers, the members of the National Education Association, the teachers union representing many of the nation’s teachers, voted on July 4 to approve a resolution calling for Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan to resign. This appears to have been a bit of an over-my-dead-body affair with regard to NEA leadership which has been accused of being overly cozy with the Department of Education and Big Ed corporations such as Microsoft and Pearson. Calling the federal policy “a failed education agenda,” a majority of the 9,000 rank and file delegates at this year’s convention declared independence from their own compromised leadership with a yes vote on the controversial measure.

Flash Fiction Contest: Writing About Hope In The Dark

by Rolf | Creative

Life is hard. Hope is good. To honor both of these facts of life, Write Action is sponsoring a Flash Fiction writing contest.

The winning entry will be a work of fiction no longer than 820 words. Writers can choose which of three possible themes are most inspiring.

1) “Planting seeds the day before the end” OR

2) “Hope in the dark” OR

3) “Fixing what can be fixed”

BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 7/14/14

by BCTVProg | Media

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 7-14-14 

 Monday July 14                

12:00 am      Common Good VT: Educational Leaders – Making a Difference

1:00 am       Yestermorrow Summer Lectures: Charles Eisenstein – New Design Paradigm

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Energy Week Extra: SolarFest – 6/26/14

5:00 am       Living and Dying with Brattleboro Area Hospice: Ep. #17 – One Client’s Story

Sunset Canyon on 23rd Street

by Vidda | Travel

I was raised on a small rural farm between two rushing rivers not far from the western shore of the Chesapeake with luxuriant greenery and cultivated fields not even topped by the best of Vermont’s prolific shades of green.

After leaving home and hitchhiking 6000 miles in a Summer of Love east-west-east roundtrip, I ended up in New York City, where I spent most of my adult life.

Now, after seven years as a Vermonter I can indulge myself locally in the greenacres and only look back to recall or revisit my storied life in the concrete canyons.

Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast Invitation – July 25th

by RobertOeser | Sci-Tech

Climate Change: Fear or Hope?

In July, the “Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast” will again take place on the fourth Friday of the month,  Friday, July 25, 2014 at the Gibson Aiken Center, downstairs, hosted by Senior Meals. Doors open at 7:30am.

The Topic for this month will be: Climate Change:  Should we be Fearful? Or Hopeful?  A discussion of some positive trends in energy use..

The presenter will be George Harvey, the General Factotum of the Green Energy Times – http://greenenergytimes.org/

Brattleboro Time Trade Listings – Week of July 13

by Brattleboro Time Trade | Activism

Brattleboro Time Trade:

Exchanging services, creating connections, strengthening communities, one hour at a time.

See below for exciting Upcoming Events and learn what Time Trade is all about!

This week’s fabulous listings, brought to you from a quiet evening:

OFFERS:

Citizen’s Awareness Breakfast at the Senior Center July 25th
It’s all about the Bees! (Bee Projects and Education)
Spanish Camps and Classes this Summer
Advantech underlayment flooring FREE
Wood Stacking

Brattleboro Selectboard Agenda and Notes – July 15, 2014

by cgrotke | Town News

We’ll get an update on the (second) Town Manager search at Tuesday’s meeting of the Brattleboro Selectboard. The board will also approve a license for a new brewery, rename a road, award various bids including the purchase of a “one ton class dual drum articulating vibratory roller,” and more.

You can bring up other issues not on the agenda during public participation, or just weigh in on what’s already being discussed if you attend in person at the Municipal Center. You can also watch on BCTV, and read full coverage here the day after.

150 Years Ago (1864 7/13)

by BusyMom | History

On Picket Line North of Washington, July 13th, 1864.

I have but just sent off the last. I will just continue. When we reached the wharf the word was that the rebels were fighting with our troops on 7th Street, but you see I did not believe it, as we were marching very deliberately through the city, though every woman and child we met had great stories to tell. We marched through on 7th street, got well out of the city, crossed over to another road that leads to 14th St. was marched up near Fort Stephens and turned off into the woods and lay there all day. There was an occasional gun from the fort and some picket firing.

Uri Avnery

by tomaidh | Other

Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement.  A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat in the Knesset from 1965–74 and 1979–81. He was also the owner of HaOlam HaZeh, an Israeli news magazine, from 1950 until it closed in 1993.

He is famous for crossing the lines during the Siege of Beirut to meet Yassir Arafat on 3 July 1982, the first time the Palestinian leader ever met with an Israeli. Avnery is the author of several books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including 1948: A Soldier’s Tale, the Bloody Road to Jerusalem (2008); Israel’s Vicious Circle (2008); and My Friend, the Enemy (1986).  (Wikipedia)

Alert Local Foodies – Grafton Food Festival – July 12-13

by Nan Stefanik | Food

Consider meandering up the West River Valley and into Grafton today for the 2nd Annual Grafton Food Festival.

All kinds of happenings under their party tents starting with a Jr Iron Chef competition at 10:30 followed by cooking demonstrations all day long.  More than 20 vendors will be sampling and selling their wares including several local food producers.  There will be a petting zoo and ‘interactive hula-hooping/hoop dance demonstration’ to entertain the young ones.  Today’s festivities run from 10am – 6pm.

Tomorrow’s schedule involves a cooking demonstration by Celebrity Chef Mary Ann Esposito and a farmers’ market on the inn grounds.

150 Years Ago (1864 7/12)

by BusyMom | History

On Board the Transport Daniel Webster

July 12, 1864.

Dear Wife,

Here we are nearly up to Washington. Last night the 3rd division went to Baltimore. I understand the 1st went there, but of that I am not certain, but I saw the 2d and 3d Vermont go aboard a transport, and the 5th and 6th is on this boat. In about 15 minutes after I had sent my last letter, I received a letter from you, written the 3rd and 4th. I read the letter and then went to cooking up my beef. I had just finished when I dropped a stitch in my back, which just straightened me out. I could not get into camp, could not turn over, nor get up alone, but made the best of it. At one o’clock the major in command of the Pickets came and told us to pack up the whole corps was moving. Wasn’t that good news for me? Had to be helped up and no surgeon or ambulance or anything else, but my feet and legs they were in good order.

Twilight on the Tavern Lawn Presents Beaucoup Blue on Sunday, July 13

by Not Signed In | Music

Twilight Music continues its 12th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, July 13 with Philadelphia-based, Americana and acoustic blues duo Beaucoup Blue. The seven concert series continues every other Sunday through August 24. All concerts begin at 6:00 pm in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. The series is sponsored by the Town of Putney, Soundview Paper Company, Next Stage Arts Project, The Stockwell Brothers and many other Putney businesses and organizations. The concerts are free to the public (donations are accepted) and food will be available.