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Trucker’s Strike : Just-In-Time

For over 10 years I designed and sold Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory control systems. Payment for these systems was justified by reducing the carrying costs of inventory. JIT meant only having on hand (in the warehouse) what you needed to meet sales and nothing more. If you added shelf life to the equation it was further complicated. The best JIT inventory control systems were typically found at our giant grocery stores chains. Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters clearly demonstrated the principles of JIT and just how vulnerable the public is to a disruption in the flow of goods. Usually 3 days was all it took to go from fully stocked grocery store shelves to empty. Guess who is the backbone of this distribution system?


Clean Air Cities

To all with eyes to see, it’s clear that climate change is here now and already having a profound effect on the places we live, the natural resources we depend on and the species that provide rich biodiversity around the planet.

Nature knows. The Maple Sugar industry is concerned that our forests are migrating northward. The timber industry is worried about dying trees and increased risk of forest fires. Populations of small animals are changing. Cottontails are seen with increasing frequency. Turkey Vultures are staying for the winter. Canada Geese can be seen at Christmas time. Southern species of fish are seen further north than ever.We need to take significant steps now to curb greenhouse gas pollution and avoid the worst effects of runaway global climate change.


Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast Invitation – Gun Sense Vermont: A Sensible Approach?

The next “Brattleboro Citizens’ Breakfast” will take place on Friday,  October 18, 2013 at the Gibson Aiken Center, downstairs, hosted by Senior Meals. Doors open at 7:30am.

We plan to hear from Ann Braden of Gun Sense Vermont  ~ ~   The presentation will include the current state of Vermont gun laws and proposals for change.

Is there a need for a change? Here are some statistics to think about and explore:


Videoconference with Economist-Entrepreneur Michael Shuman

Brooks Memorial Library is pleased to announce that Michael Shuman, author of several books including “Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity,” will be featured at the first annual “New Economy Lunch at the Library” to discuss how buying local can positively impact the economy. The lunch talk will be at noon on Friday, October 11th in the library’s meeting room on the 2nd floor. The event is free and open to the public, and a brown bag lunch may be brought into the meeting room. The Library will be using the new videoconferencing equipment received as part of the Vermont Department of Libraries/Google grant. 


A Lifetime of Vermont People: Photo Exhibit & Talk at Brooks Library

A Lifetime of Vermont People
Wednesday, October 09, 2013, 7 pm – 9 pm


Frog Hollow, the nations first state craft center, presents a traveling exhibit A Lifetime of Vermont People – A bold glimpse of the rural people who gave Vermont its character as documented over 60 years by the photographer-writer Peter Miller. This tour coincides with the release of Peter Miller’s new book of the same title and focuses on Vermont Libraries as community hubs to tell the tale of the writing of the book which explores the changing culture of Vermont over the past half century.


War Legacies Project Director to Speak

Sue Hammond of the War Legacies Project is speaking Tues., Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Putney Public Library. The WLP focuses on the long-term impacts of war to develop a fuller understanding of the costs of war, increase public understanding of these costs, foster public dialogue about the impacts of war and conduct programs that help mitigate the impacts of war at home and abroad.

Currently, their work is primarily focused on the long-term health and environmental impacts of the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and the on-going impacts of unexploded ordinance. The talk is sponsored by the Brattleboro branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and is open to all.

-American Association of University Women


Grand Re-Opening Benefit for Latchis Theatre Renovations

Ken Burns to appear October 19, 7:30 p.m.

For Immediate Release – Latchis Arts invites the community to a Grand Re-Opening Benefit at the Latchis Theatre in downtown Brattleboro. This event will mark the public’s first glimpse of the renovations that have taken place since the theatre was closed for construction on August 1, 2013.

Ken Burns, long-time friend of the Latchis, will celebrate the re-opening by screening Episode 5 1933-1939 “The Rising Road” of The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.


Looking For The Next Brattleboro Town Manager

The Brattleboro Selectboard is working at a steady pace to hire a new Town Manager for Brattleboro. The list of applicants has been narrowed over the last month or so, and we’re approaching time for final interviews and a decision. We could be welcoming someone on board within a month.

What skills and attributes do we want in our next Town Manager? What could we do without?

The Brattleboro team that our new Town Manager would be joining is at the top of their proverbial game, having dealt with major infrastructure improvements, fires, floods, and FEMA in recent years. They are very capable, well-trained, and will be an excellent resource for whomever is hired. It takes a bit of the pressure off the new recruit.


Windham Regional Career Center Offers Fall Community Education and Training Programs

The Windham Regional Career Center at Brattleboro Union High School is pleased to announce their Community Education and Training Programs for this fall. Betsy Gentile, Workforce Development Manager and Adult Education Coordinator has developed 15 community education and training programs to meet the needs of area employers and their employees as well as providing personal and professional enrichment opportunities for all community members.


The Dragon of Fear

A long time ago, before I was born, a world leader named Roosevelt said: “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”  And, of course, he was right.  We live in a world where there are millions of things to fear, millions of things that might potentially get us.  More and more, the simple occasions of daily life are occasions for fear, from going to the doctor to using the Internet.  If you really thought about it, you would be paralyzed!

For most people who have fears (I feel I can say this, being a person with fears), it’s not the present moment that’s the problem.  It’s what the realities that the present moment might lead to.  Yes, we want to fix the problems of the present but it’s the problems of the future that really bother us.  So many bad things could potentially happen.  Even if you think you’re not a fearful person, think of how many times you say “I didn’t do such and such because I was afraid such and so might happen.”  Fear and worry are future oriented but the future hasn’t happened yet so none of those fears are “real”.  They are imaginings, usually fairly dark imaginings at that.


A Year In Southern Mongolia – Gobi Desert – Slides and Intro To The Music

Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents ‘A Year in Mongolia and the Gobi Desert’ by Ben Boettger, a slide lecture with an introduction to listening to a range of traditional and contemporary Mongolian music.

Boettger, a former Peace Corps volunteer, will present a narrative of his first year in Mongolia accompanied by images. He first trained for three months in a small northern village living with a Mongolian family and then moved south to the southern mining/industrial town of Dalanzadgad in the Gobi Desert where he lived and taught for the rest of the year. He will talk about his students, Mongolian music, camel racing, and food, concluding with the celebration of Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian Lunar New Year Festival.


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 10/7/13

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 10-7-13

Monday October 7

12:00 a.m.  Downtown Action Team presents findings– 9/11/13

1:35 a.m.  Long Trail Bridge Ground-Breaking

2:00 a.m.  FSTV Overnight

4:00 a.m.  No Film Film Festival 2: 80’s Remake – Pt 3

5:00 a.m.  The Birth to Three Program and it’s Importance to Vermont

5:30 a.m.  For the Animals: Ep. 126


Irene Business Recovery Grants: Workshops Scheduled for Funding Assistance

Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation and Springfield Regional Development Corporation have received an additional $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds through the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) to assist businesses with “unmet disaster recovery needs” related to Tropical Storm Irene. The two groups have scheduled free, mandatory, workshops in October for those interested in applying for funding through this program.


Single Payer in Vermont?

Can anyone explain how the “Single Payer Medical Insurance” for Vermont will affect me. I’m so confused. Will it interfere with “Affordable Care Act”? I have MVP through my employer. Will I be able to pick my own Insurance? Someone told me that paying for my insurance will not come out of my paycheck and that it will come out of my taxes? Any truth to that?

Thanks.


Scrabble Anyone?

A Scrabble Club meets every Thursday night beginning at 6:00 PM at the Marlboro College Grad Center on Vernon Street.  We are an eclectic group of word nerds who play the game as it is played in a tournament setting, yet value and support newcomers in their exploration of Scrabble beyond the dining room table or cell phone.  

If I’ve piqued your curiosity and you don’t mind finding out how much you DON’T know about Scrabble, we invite you to bring that curiosity along with your sense of humor to our club.