The Latchis Theatre construction project is making great strides, with exciting developments everyday.
The Heavenly portion of the program is complete… and completely magnificent.
Before we leave The Heavens, here are some final images from above the staging.
The ceiling is smooth and whole.
Mini Mozarts is a composition and singing based theory class that focuses on learning the basics of rhythm, melody, and harmony through a hands-on, creative approach. The young musicians will experiment with sounds in order to achieve a deeper understanding of how music is constructed. We will march, clap, and play games to learn about how rhythm, tempo, and time signatures affect musical expression. Students will learn about scales by creating their own, then describing what those scales sound like. Students will also experiment with harmony by discovering how different notes sound while played together. At the end of each class, we will take time to write our own individual compositions based on what we learned that day. On the last day of class, each student will get to go home with a book of their original music!
Route 30
After September 30th, the project team may need to regulate traffic flow on Route 30 periodically to allow truck or equipment access to our work zone. These operations will be controlled by flaggers and will be for a maximum of 10 minutes.
During the week of October 7th, one lane of Route 30 will be closed during the day for approximately two days. Flaggers will regulate vehicle movement through the work zone.
Looking further out, we are currently anticipating short duration closures of Route 30 due to overhead demolition activities in late November or early December. As we progress in our sequence we will let stakeholders know the dates and duration of these closures.
I-91
Single lane closure of the passing lane on I-91 Northbound and Southbound may begin on 9/26/13. The lane closures will remain in effect during the construction of the temporary cross-overs, but will be removed over the weekend when no workers are present.
Route 30
Speed reduction on Route 30 will be implemented lowering the speed limit through the work zone to 40 mph. The reduced speed limit will remain in effect until approximately August, 2016.
Truck activity at Route 30 will be increasing next week. Expect shoulder closures beginning Thursday 9/26. Flaggers may have to halt traffic at times to allow trucks to enter and exit the work zone.
The Town of Brattleboro is looking for citizens to serve on the following committees and boards:
Agricultural Advisory Board
Arts Committee
CPCC (Citizen Police Communications Committee)
Development Review Board Alternate
Honor Roll Committee
Inspector, Lumber Shingles & Wood
Senior Solutions Representative
SEVCA Representative
Town Manager Search Citizen Committee
Town Service Officer
Tree Advisory Committee
The night belonged to the Department of Public Works. From project updates and truck purchases to the spotlight of a departmental presentation, Steve Barrett and Hannah O’Connell had their hands full with budgets, outlines, explanations, and answers.
The Selectboard was informed that Brattleboro’s FY13 budget has been completed and the town ended up with a small surplus in the General Fund.
And of over 60 applications received, we learn that only four women applied for the job of Brattleboro Town Manager. A new citizen committee of an indeterminate number of members will help with the second round of interviews.
by Namaya
New Journal Of The Plague on Amazon. Published by Unlimited Publishing.
This book is a penetrating first person memoir by a male nurse and Vietnam era veteran who worked with AIDS patients at a Veterans hospital in NYC in the early ‘nineties. Though set in the first years of the epidemic, one reader has said, “This book will stand among the classic tales of illness and healing.”
HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT in Santiago Chile – Need your support
Memoria. Hablar. Dignidad. 40 – An arts performance project to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the COup d’etat in Chile.
The B4Peace Project, and Namaya under the support of Grace Cares has been invited to Santiago, Chile to the Villa Grimaldi, Park of Peace, for an arts and performance project called “Memoria. Hablar. Dignidad.”
The Apron Theater Company and the Next Stage Arts Project present Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Death of a Salesman directed by Carrie Kidd at Next Stage in Putney on October 10,11,12,13, and 17, 18, 19. Evening performances are at 8 pm. The Sunday, October 13th performance is a 2pm matinee.
An attack on the “American Dream” of materialism, Death of a Salesman is a three-act play (two acts and a “requiem”), centering on the main character, Willy Loman, (played by Arthur Pettee.) He dies as he has lived, a failure in the eyes of society. Arthur Miller wrote: “…to me the tragedy of Willy Loman is that he gave his life, or sold it, in order to justify the waste of it.”
Sept. 17th. My time was so broken up yesterday that I could not finish this and guard duty last night and this morning then the guard guns to clean, and this afternoon all is excitement. They are now paying off the men that are to leave in the morning. Things are assuming a different shape.
Rumor has it that all the men on the Island, except those that came down from Vermont with us, and those that have come since, about 40 men, and a few Massachusetts are to have undisputed possession of Long Island, Boston Harbor. So you see that I shall have a chance to see some of my friends from Vermont yet.
ROCKINGHAM, VT The Connecticut River Transit (CRT) Board of Directors announces that it has negotiated a one-year management agreement with the Deerfield Valley Transit Association (DVTA) to become effective September 16th.
The agreement calls for the DVTA to act as a management company to provide overall management services. The DVTA reports to the CRT Board of Directors which retains full control of the company. CRT is using this period to review and take a fresh look at the company from top to bottom with the help of a neighboring transit agency. All routes, rides, and services continue uninterrupted and unaffected.
Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present folk singer, songwriter and comedienne extraordinaire Cheryl Wheeler plus folk/rock sister duo The Nields in concert on Friday, September 20 at 7:30 pm at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill in Putney, VT.
It has always seemed as if there were two Cheryl Wheelers, with fans of the New England songwriter relishing watching the two tussle for control of the microphone. There is poet-Cheryl, writer of some of the prettiest, most alluring and intelligent ballads on the modern folk scene. And there is her evil twin, comic-Cheryl, a militant trend defier and savagely funny social critic. As the poet and comic forces join, taking their separate turns and melding into the same artistic vision, Wheeler emerges as a delightful, gifted and openhearted performer.
Come learn the skills to keep your child safe! Guiding Good Choices is a free five-session workshop that aids parents and/ or caregivers of 4th through 8th graders. The course covers how to set clear guidelines with both positive and negative consequences, how to control and express anger constructively, promote family bonds, and prepare kids with “refusal” skills for that time down the road when trouble may tempt
them.
Long Island, Boston Harbor
Sept. 16, 1863
Dearest Abiah,
I thought I would write you a long letter today, but I do not know as I can, for I am on guard today. It is very hot here today. I cannot but think of you every moment, and tonight as I pass my lonely – what thoughts of you and the children will be on my mind. I was on from 11 A.M. Until 1 P.M., on again from 5 to 7. The guard are excused from all other duty until tomorrow at noon. I shall then have a good time to write but I wish this to be on the way to you.
Last night, I dreamed I had to run around and update everyone’s config files. Their settings were out of date. I knew they would run better with new settings, and so I updated those files, one after another. When I woke up, I realized that the dream wasn’t talking about literal config files — it was talking about something deeper, the underlying principles and rules by which most of us operate. Something in our basic configuration as a society isn’t working anymore.
Before I lose you, a config file is really just an old school word for settings. It’s the file where certain software stores the basic settings it needs to operate. But there’s a subtle difference. I work with web sites and I update settings all the time — but I don’t often update the config files which tend to stay the same except under unusual circumstances. These are very basic settings that underlie everything the software does. In a sense, they’re almost unconscious, which is what our own “configuration settings” tend to be.
Montpelier, VT. (September 16th, 2013)- Joined by higher education leaders from across Vermont, Representative Peter Welch announced legislation this morning at the Community College of Vermont in Montpelier that addresses the nation’s sky rocketing college costs. Across the nation, college costs have risen 1,120 percent over the last 30 years, with outstanding student debt now at $1.2 trillion.
“A college education, the gateway to the American middle class, is slipping further and further from the reach of working families. Federal loans and grants are a lifeline for college students. But students continue to lose ground because financial aid increases are being eaten up by college tuition increases,” Welch said. “This legislation creates a partnership between the federal government and our college administrators to cut unnecessary federal regulatory costs and encourage cost saving innovations.”
Spring has long been the time when Vermonters Green Up, and this fall, for the first time, Vermonters will be encouraged to “Button Up.” On Saturday, October 5th, Vermonters have a powerful opportunity to participate in a local effort — or start one! — and lend a few hours to help friends and neighbors take actions to lower their energy bills this winter.
Modeled after Vermont’s successful “Green Up Day” and building on the familiar Button Up brand, this will be the first ever grassroots day of action on weatherization in Vermont. The day is being spearheaded by the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network (VECAN), in partnership with Efficiency Vermont and Vermont Home Energy Challenge Coordinators, and is aimed at mobilizing as many volunteers as possible in communities throughout the state to take steps — large and small — to help Vermonters stop wasting energy and money and reduce our contribution to climate change. There is still plenty of time for towns to sign on to the effort, and VECAN will provide support and guidance to help make participating as easy as possible.
MONTPELIER, Vt.—September 16, 2013–The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) is temporarily reducing the speed limit on VT Route 30 from 50 mph to 40 mph for a one-mile stretch of road that extends approximately one-half mile north and one-half mile south of the location where Interstate 91 crosses over VT Route 30.
The speed limit reduction is associated with the Interstate 91 bridge replacement project, and will go in to effect to ensure the safety of construction personnel and the traveling public. The reduction will be in effect from September 23, 2013 to approximately August 2016.
Steve Wilson and Lewis Nash to present a Musical Dialogue at the Vermont Jazz Center on September 21st, 2013 at 8:00 PM
The Vermont Jazz Center will kick off its 2013-2014 season on Saturday, September 21 at 8:00 PM with a performance by two of the most highly esteemed musicians in jazz. Along with their myriad other projects, saxophonist Steve Wilson and drummer, Lewis Nash have been performing together as a duo since 2001. At the VJC they will be joined by bassist, Nat Reeves.
BURLINGTON, Vt., Sept. 15 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today issued the following statement after Lawrence Summers withdrew from consideration to succeed Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman:
“I applaud Larry Summers for withdrawing his name from consideration. The truth is that it was unlikely he would have been confirmed by the Senate. What the American people want now is a Fed chairman prepared to stand up to the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on Wall Street, not a Wall Street insider whose deregulation efforts helped pave the way for a horrendous financial crisis and the worst economic downturn in the country since the Great Depression. The Fed now must help develop policies which create millions of decent-paying jobs and rebuild the middle class.”
