War on Public Education

I’ve been observing what appears to be a nation-wide war on public education, and to the “greedy” schoolteachers who profit by being employed therein.

In state after state we see education budgets being cut and teachers being laid off, along with movements to voucher children to private schools, and to replace Public Schools with so-called Charter Schools, which are privately operated schools paid for with taxpayer money. (Some charter schools are founded by teachers, parents, or activists who feel restricted by traditional public schools. State-authorized charters are often established by non-profit groups, universities, and some government entities. Additionally, school districts sometimes permit corporations to manage chains of charter schools. The schools themselves are non-profit entities…Wikipedia)


5:45 Live- 4/2/13

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Packed with media–like photos of the Dummerston Covered Bridge after a Budget truck smashed through roof joists, video of this weekends Leaks & Lies VY Protest, live skypecasts from the Montpelier, and more–this midweek edition of BCTV’s ever-popular media round-up 5:45 Live should shed a little light on happenings around town, including rumors of a deal to lease McDonald’s a slot in the Brooks House.


No Rug Big Enough

For your consideration, about the place of technology in schools.

Beyond any personal loss, I find it disturbing the school board and administrators chose to cut this service, and continue to obscure the fact that schools are not facing the reality described in the video.

It is equally disappointing that this is not more of an issue for the community. My kids are grown now, and they’re facing other educational horizons. But it seems crucial for a town that wishes to be vital, these challenges cannot be shirked.


Kurn Hattin Homes To Host Annual Jazz Invitational Featuring Trombone Legend and KHH Alum, Dick Nash

Kurn Hattin Homes for Children welcomes the public to attend its Annual Jazz Invitational Wednesday, April 10th at 7:00 pm, with performances by the Bellows Falls Union High School Jazz Ensemble, Kurn Hattin Jazz Ensemble, Northfield Mount Hermon Jazz Ensemble, Vermont Academy Jazz Ensemble, and Vermont Jazz Center Youth Jazz Ensemble. The event will be hosted by Eugene Uman, Director of the Vermont Jazz Center, and the evening will conclude with a performance by the Keene Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Scott Mullett.


What’s Western About Western American Art?

What’s Western about Western American Art?
Wednesday April 3, 2013
7:00 PM until 9:00 PM

Amherst College professor Carol Clark considers how the works of painters such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Hopper, George Catlin, and Albert Bierstadt have defined the American West as place and idea.

The lecture is a First Wednesday program sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. Supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Vermont Department of Libraries.


Electric Fence @ PVB in Saxtons River Friday Night

Steve Carmichael, Howard Weiss-Tisman, Jonny Sheehan and Jeremy Holch return to Pleasant Valley Brewing in Saxtons River for night of original music and unique covers.

Saxtons River is lovely this time of year and you don’t even have to leave Windham County (what I’m saying is it’s not that far from Bratt!)

Music is free and starts at 8:00. Good food and beer.


Taxi 4267

I was no longer homeless, and I had a job. Compared with day labor pushing carts through the garment district, driving a cab seemed easy… and by my standards it paid well.

This evening I had started with two quick fares, each less than five dollars on the meter. Tonight, the weather was pleasant, but having left off my passengers in Little Italy, I now found myself stuck in a single-lane jam on a narrow street. There was another empty cab behind me, so if anyone were to hail a taxi, I would be first in line for the fare. Or so I thought.


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules – Week of 4/01/13

BCTV Ch 8 Schedule for the week of 4/1/13

                   Monday April 

12:00 am      State House Coverage: Pre-Kindergarten Education Bill Pt 3

1:30 am       For the Animals: The Bottle Bill

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Castleton Art Gallery Curator’s Talk: Marc Awodey “Painting is the Object”

4:45 am       The Company of Other Human Beings

5:00 am       The Pulse of Brattleboro: Harris Hill 2013


In Disguise! Undercover with Real Women Spies

IN DISGUISE! Undercover with Real Women Spies
Saturday March 30, 2013

12:00 PM until 2:00 PM

March is Women’s History Month and you don’t want to miss a lively, engaging presentation of In Disguise! Undercover with Real Women Spies at the Brooks Memorial Library Meeting Room, on Saturday, March 30, at 12 Noon.

Women have spied for a long time, and they’ve been good at it. They’ve dashed through enemy lines, sent secret messages under the nose of the enemy, and led prisoners in daring and dangerous escapes.  They went undercover, taking on new identities varying from apple sellers to crazy neighbors to stage dancers.  Often, it was enough of a disguise for women to just be themselves.  People didn’t expect them to have the strength or know-how to be spies.  Those people were wrong. 


Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez, from the Saturday Night Live Band

Christine Ohlman will perform on Saturday, April 20, 2013, at 7:30pm, at Next Stage, 15 Kimball Hill, Putney, VT.

Known as “The Beehive Queen” for her outrageous, mile-high hairdo, Christine is the current, long-time vocalist with the Saturday Night Live Band. Voted #7 on Alternate Roots’ list of top 30 Female Vocalists, this queen of blue-eyed rock n’ soul grew up loving equally the sweetness of a Memphis horn line and the raunch of an electric guitar riff, whether played by Muddy Waters, Keith Richards, or Pop Staples. Teased her blonde hair into a beehive in honor of Ronnie Spector and never looked back, picking up a guitar and forging a career as a songwriter in the process.


Who is Ida May Fuller?

Here is a bit of trivial history for Brattleboro.  I find this to be an interesting fact  I learned about when searching the internet for historical events of Brattleboro Vermont.   This is a direct quote from the Social Security Website. The link is offered below. The only credit I can receive is sharing this with you here on ibrattleboro.


David Blistein Event ‘David’s Inferno’ at 6pm, Thursday, April 4th

Local author David Blistein discusses his new book, ‘David’s Inferno: My Journey through the Dark Wood of Depression’ on Thursday, April 4 at 6pm.

“It takes us deep into the mysteries of depression,
and its power to transform our relationships, our creativity, and our
very selves—a remarkable achievement.”
Ken Burns, award-winning filmmaker

“There is no hushed reverence, no self-aggrandizing, no simple
tried and true cures… just a shared battle and a stunning honest.”
Will Ackerman, Grammy Award winner and founder of Windham Hill Records


Gratitude for Beauty Lost

By Jonathan Stein, MA, RDT, CTP,
Contributing Editor, Collapsing into Consciousness

INTRODUCTION

This essay is intended to be but a nudge in the direction of greater awareness, and not an in-depth exposition of the challenges that we face as a species. The crux of this short writing will, hopefully, direct my readers toward an awareness of one potential aspect of the solution to personal and global transformation. This facet pertains to gratitude and awareness of beauty.


Carnival!

Carnival! is coming to town! For four nights only, April 3-6, audiences will thrill to the dazzle and daring of B. F. Schlegel’s Grand Imperial Cirque de Paris at The Grammar School in Putney.

An amusing love story, set in a traveling circus, Carnival! brings us the popular theme song “Love Makes the World Go ‘Round,” and the whimsical, eccentric characters of Lili, an optimistic orphan; Marco, the magnificent magician; his partner the incomparable Rosalie; Paul Berthalet, a lonely, bitter puppeteer; and B.F. Schlegel, the demanding owner and ringmaster of “The Grand Imperial Cirque De Paris.”