2025

President Donald Trump Signs Executive Order Re: Department of Education

by CrisEricson2016 | Op/Ed

Ah! Of course! Education should only be for the rich, and closing the federal department of EDUCATION will help to reduce the flow of our tax dollars to teaching illegal migrant children English, and it will help reduce the flow of our tax dollars to teach children with Downe’s Syndrome that they CAN hold down a respectable job, nothing fancy, but something to give them a worthwhile contribution to society, after all, who can serve you food at a restaurant, who can clean toilets, who can hold a sign to beware of workers during highway repairs, who can make bars of soap in a factory?

O.K., so I had a cousin who is now buried in Jericho, Vermont and his mother, my great Aunt Annie Ericson Wheeler, worked sooooooooo hard for so many years for the right of kids just like him to have an EDUCATION.

Brattleboro Election Night Email Report – Unofficial Results

by Not Signed In | Politics

Please see attached for Brattleboro’s Unofficial Town Meeting Day and WSESD election results. These are the results from the ballot tallies, not including write-in votes, and not including other towns’ results for the WSESD races. The projected winners are in bold.

Note that these are numbers that were crunched after a VERY long day. I will reiterate that they are UNOFFICIAL.

February 2025 Precipitation Report

by local | Nature

February was a wet, mostly snowy month.  Total moisture recorded for the month was 4.74″ compared to the NOAA average of 3.11″.  For the calendar year 6.31″ compared to the normal of 6.50″.

Snow for the month measured 26.3″ compared to my average since 1993 of 16.5″.  The most I have recorded in February is 40.0″ in 2014-15 and the least is 0.0″ in 2012-13.  For the season, snow total stands at 50.4″, about a foot below the season average of 62.5″ with March and April to go.  My snow stake out in the yard is at 14″ this morning and will vary greatly upon how much sun you receive along with how much snow has fallen.

Jane Wheeler – Running for Representative Town Meeting for District 8

by Janew | Politics

My name is Jane Wheeler and I am running for RTM in District 8. I was born, grew up and worked in Brattleboro.  Outside of about 8 years when I lived in close by towns I have always lived in Brattleboro.  I have had many lived experiences in Brattleboro- school kid, factory worker, drunk, recovering alcoholic, renter and now a property owner, addictions counselor, houseparent at Kurn Hattin,  co-founder of the VT Counsel on Problem Gambling, case manger for Senior Solutions, resource advocate at Grace Cottage Hospital, caregiver for aging family members, and now as a retired older person.  I have a master’s degree with the focus in counseling psychology. Informal education includes matriarchal studies and plant medicine.

Representative Town Meeting Candidates – Introduce Yourself!

by cgrotke | Politics

Hey, candidates for the 2025 Brattleboro Representative Town Meeting. There are a lot of you this year. It is exciting. People want to know who you are and what distinguishes you from the others running. We’ve gotten emails asking for information about you.

You are, as always, invited to use this site to announce your candidacy and to introduce yourselves. It could be close, and every vote is important.

January 2025 Precipitation Report

by local | Nature

A dry month with fairly normal temps. Measured 1.57″ of moisture compared to a NOAA normal of 3.39″.  Even with the relatively cold temps most of the month, about 1/2 of the moisture fell as rain.

Snow for the month totaled 12.6″ compared to my average of 16.5″.  My average in just the years 1993-2010 was 19.4″. Total snowfall so far this season stands at 25.3″ at my location.  For comparison Mt Snow ski area lists their season total at 93″.  They do exaggerate a little but they also have been receiving much more snow this year and skiing has been good for several weeks.

Governor Scott’s 2025 Inaugural Address to Vermont

by cgrotke | State News

“There’s no doubt many communities, businesses, and families are struggling. But it’s not hard to see that Northwest Vermont is doing BETTER than all the others. It’s not to say this region doesn’t have challenges, but, for the most part, it’s where you see a lower percentage of kids in poverty, lower energy costs, higher median incomes, higher home values, and more new housing being built. And while we’re desperate for workers across the state, the size of the workforce in Chittenden and Franklin counties is the highest it’s been in recent history.”