Children’s toys need to respect historical truth

We would like to thank and show our support for Rhonda Anderson's words “Toy headdresses racist and offensive” [Letters, Dec. 21]; we did not want this newspaper dialogue to end on the note that it did with Sandy Golden's response, “Political correctness run amok” [Letters, Jan. 4].

We are responsible to our children and the future to promote toys and play that respect all types of folks and present historical truth, not trivialization or cultural erasure.

In response to Sandy Golden's analogy that compares children wearing Native American headdresses to dressing up in police uniforms or Viking hats, a significant difference is that these latter groups are not oppressed today.

We should promote children's creativity and imagination and include them in our endeavors to undo racism, and it is our responsibility as adults to provide appropriate guidance.

Read More

Colonel boys lose lead, game to Mount Anthony

A packed gym filled with raucous, pumped-up fans watching two bitter rivals slugging it out on the court on a cold winter night. For high school basketball fans, that's what Friday nights are all about. And the standing room only crowd rooting for the Colonels at the BUHS gym...

Read More

Shumlin’s fight with VY is not without precedent

When governors are responsible for citizen’s safety, why shouldn’t they press for safety of nuclear reactors in their states?

Governor Peter Shumlin's efforts to challenge the safety of Vermont Yankee does not mark the first time that a Vermont governor went toe to toe with the nuclear power plant. Way back in 1985, when I was governor, I learned that the plant had falsified inspection reports for years...

Read More

More

Why is Vermont going down the same path as California?

We all know the saying “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” History can be as close as yesterday. New Englanders have historically observed the mistakes of others and chosen to not repeat them. The question is, why is that changing now? The state of Vermont has set a goal of 90 percent renewable power by 2050, similar to a goal California set a few years back. Get rid of the nuclear power, replace it...

Read More

Let’s all move on and support Vermont Yankee

Now that Judge Murtha has ruled in Entergy's favor, it is time for our state government to change its perspective and support operation of Vermont Yankee. The recently published Comprehensive State Energy Plan lays out the path to expanded use of renewable energy sources in Vermont as well as a renewed focus on energy conservation. The current version of the plan credits the expansion of many sources of renewable energy. However, it does not credit operation of Vermont Yankee for...

Read More

Milestones

Obituaries Editor's note: The Commons will publish brief biographical information for citizens of Windham County and others, on request, as community news, free of charge. • Beverly A. Atherton, 66, of Glover, formerly of Wilmington. Died Jan. 30 at the Union House Nursing Home in Glover following a long illness. Sister of Stewart and Louise Atherton of Wilmington, Kendrick and Sandy Atherton of Dummerston, Kimball and Eileen Atherton of Hinsdale, N.H., and the late Calvin, Charles and Arlene Atherton. Born...

Read More

Around the Towns

Windham Regional Career Center presents its annual Expo BRATTLEBORO - The Windham Regional Career Center, 80 Atwood St., will hold its annual expo on Saturday, Feb. 11, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Attendees can tour the campus and visit all the Center's programs, meet the instructors, attend any of the informative workshops, and see students demonstrating skills they're perfecting in their classes. This event is an excellent way for prospective students and their families to see the kinds of...

Read More

Brattleboro Museum & Art Center completes sculpture garden

The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) invites Brattleboro residents and visitors to its newly completed Sculpture Garden, located between the museum and neighboring Marlboro College Graduate School. Designed by Michaela Medina of Halifax, the garden features two permanent artworks that double as seating areas: “Rock Rest” by Dan Snow of Dummerston, and “Duet for Dan” by Jim Cole of West Rupert. The museum plans to use the new space to present rotating exhibitions of outdoor sculpture. Currently on display...

Read More

Weary of losses in laundromat

I am writing this for all the frustrated laundry-doers who use the coin-op laundromat on Elliot Street. Many of you have also experienced the thievery of quarters, floodings, door lockings, stagnant water, and clothes destruction. One day, I lost $8 in quarters in various machines. Part of me feels bad airing this dirty laundry; it is true that I do not know the owners' situation, and it is a difficult economic time for small businesses. All the same, a majority...

Read More

Friends of Music at Guilford present ‘Winter Songs’ on Feb. 11

Julie Johnson Olsson, soprano, and Kenneth Olsson, known in the area for his work as both a pianist and an organist, will perform at Winter Songs, the next event in Friends of Music at Guilford's 46th annual season of concerts. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, in the sanctuary of Guilford Community Church. This program of art songs and arias “will warm the chill of winter and open our hearts for Cupid's inspiration on Valentine's Day,”

Read More

Negative effects

For nearly a decade, the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont has run programs that serve high-risk men and women who don't have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes the disease - a clientele known as “negatives.” The goal: to keep them that way. The Men's Program and the Women's Program provide information and support geared to communicate with their respective clientele. The programs have offered support and education to help them avoid risky behavior that spreads HIV. And...

Read More

A sneaky virus: Testing and evaluating the risks

Remember the first time the acronym AIDS flashed across the TV, or in a newspaper headline? Remember the feelings that rose as the headline passed by? Are they the same feelings 30 years later? The HIV prevention specialists with the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont say they spend a lot of their time dispelling misconceptions about HIV. For example, some people still think they can contract HIV through saliva, sweat, urine, or mosquitos, said Sue Conley, the HIV preventional specialist...

Read More

AIDS and women: The lower rung of the ladder?

The Women's Program is destined to lose its federal funding next year as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shifts how it allocates money from prevention models to testing and treating people with HIV. Heterosexual women are at a higher risk of contracting HIV than heterosexual men, and the rates of women contracting the virus have increased, said Sue Conley, HIV Prevention Specialist for the Women's Program. Ignorance and stigma make it difficult for people to access quality information and...

Read More

Latchis Arts begins campaign to refurbish theater

Latchis Arts has launched a capital campaign to replace the seats and restore the historic zodiac ceiling in the main hall of the Latchis Theatre complex. “'The Heavens and the Earth' will be the recurring theme as the campaign progresses,” notes Zon Eastes, chairman of Latchis Arts' seats and ceiling campaign committee. The landmark Latchis Memorial Building was constructed in 1938 and purchased by Brattleboro Arts Initiative (now Latchis Arts) in 2003. The zodiac design is found throughout the theater...

Read More

Creación Latin Big Band comes to Vermont Jazz Center

The 19-piece Latin big band Creación will be bringing its sound to the Vermont Jazz Center on Cotton Mill Hill on Friday, Feb. 17, at 8 p.m. Founded by composer/pianist Joe Velez, the band not only plays the popular music made famous by greats like Tito Puente and Beny Moré, but also features original compositions written by Velez especially for the band. A New York City native and current Springfield, Mass. resident, Velez has performed with a number of musical...

Read More

West River Valley Community Conversation celebrates grants for food projects

On Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. at the Townshend Community Church on the Common, the West River Valley Community Conversation (WRVCC) will host a pot luck supper to celebrate the grants that were recently awarded by the Meeting Waters YMCA's Healthy Communities Coalition to several local food projects in the West River Valley. Former Vermont Agriculture Secretary and longtime Townshend resident Roger Allbee will start the conversation after dinner with some remarks about the wisdom and virtues of growing...

Read More

Civil disobedience is counterproductive to a Vermont that’s split on VY issue

Re: “Vermonters, take action against VY's defiant operation” [Letters, Feb. 1]. While it may be true that the majority of readers of this newspaper agree with this position, it's false to assert that the majority of Vermonters want Vermont Yankee shut down. According to a statewide survey conducted by Research 2000 of Rockville, Md. in February of 2010, 49 percent of Vermonters want the plant shut down. According to a VPR poll conducted in late 2010, 44 percent of Vermonters...

Read More

Journalism is not a crime

In the view of Reporters Without Borders (RWB), which recently released its 2011-12 Press Freedom Index, “Never has freedom of information been so closely associated with democracy. Never have journalists, through their reporting, vexed the enemies of freedom so much. Never have acts of censorship and physical attacks on journalists seemed so numerous. The equation is simple: the absence or suppression of civil liberties leads necessarily to the suppression of media freedom.” That's a big reason why last year, according...

Read More

Waste from solar is not a problem

Re: “Out with VY, in with natural gas and coal,” by Howard Shaffer [Voices, Feb. 1]. While we're checking some facts, let's not try to make this about solar's ability to be recycled. Most solar modules installed today will still be making roughly half their rated power 70 years from now. If that is no longer enough power to justify their place on a roof or a field, then they can be recycled. The majority of all solar panels sold...

Read More

Yes to Brooks House as academic center

We heartily endorse the suggestion that the Brooks House be put to good use as an academic center in downtown Brattleboro [Editorial, Feb. 1]. As your editorial points out, the idea has merit for improving educational opportunities here in southern Vermont as well as for enhancing commerce. But perhaps even more than that, such a center would demonstrate that we are a vibrant, friendly community promoting a solid future for those who choose to live here. We are indeed “a...

Read More

Why a capella? Why Brattleboro?

The groups that joined the lineup for last Saturday night's ninth annual Collegiate A Cappella Concert might have come from all over the county, but the event is really a local happening, the show's producer, Dede Cummings, is eager to point out. “Every group that is performing has a connection to Brattleboro, whether some performer or arranger originated here, or has some other local connection,” Cummings says. “Brattleboro is such a phenomenal musical town.” Saturday night's concert at the Latchis...

Read More

The graying of our rural doctors

I met my husband in 1984, when he was the new, young, doctor in town and had been in practice about five weeks. At the time, he was one of just two family physicians at Grace Cottage Hospital who covered the emergency room after a full day in the clinic. Grace Cottage is Vermont's smallest hospital, with only 19 beds - but it still has a 24-hour ER. When we met, my first impression was, “This man looks tired.” I...

Read More

Survival

Getting clean wasn't just an option - it was the only choice I had if I wanted to survive. I may have been only 14 at the time, but addiction sees no age, and so there I was. The cold truth was that I was a little girl, a child in most eyes, who had been swept up by addiction. Drugs had consumed me, changed me, and tried to kill me. I spent nights on park benches and days in...

Read More

Lawmakers try to help flood-hit towns

Good news to report from Montpelier as our legislative session progresses. We are supporting towns affected by flooding by reimbursing educational property tax abatements, by postponing payment into the education fund, by picking up the 25 percent FEMA match for flood mitigation and buyouts of destroyed homes, by increasing the state match for town highways, and by paying the entire FEMA match for towns overwhelmed in their ability to pay. Our actions have been spontaneous and unanimous for all towns...

Read More

New York, Massachusetts: Vermont is on line 1

New York state is taking steps to close Indian Point, whose two big reactors are some 35 miles from the city. According to a recent edition of The Nation, the state has “already challenged federal authority by denying the plant the permit it needs to operate, arguing that the environment is a valid state concern and not pre-empted by federal authority.” Massachusetts might follow suit with the Pilgrim plant, which has also received relicensing from the NRC. If this be...

Read More

Hawk Foundation clarifies skatepark location recommendation

The Tony Hawk Foundation seeks to assist communities in developing successful skateparks that benefit the whole community. A significant portion of our work is helping communities identify the optimal location for the skatepark. Although we are located in San Diego, we had someone canvass Brattleboro. This volunteer is not a skateboarder and has nothing to gain from one site over another. She neither works for nor benefits from the Tony Hawk Foundation. To clarify, the volunteer assessed sites in Brattleboro...

Read More

Not sure what makes Crowell Park an ‘ideal’ site for skatepark

Peter Whitley and I do agree that a central location is ideal when developing a public skatepark. Additionally, the Green Street School may also prove to be a positive element in the proposed Crowell Park location. But we can't know that at this point. Because Mr. Whitley lives in San Diego, Calif., is it possible that he cannot see the forest for the Crowell Park trees? For many members of the Save Our Playground Coalition (SOPC) and supporters who live...

Read More

Dummerston Energy Committee honored for its work

The Dummerston Energy Committee (DEC) recently won the Vermont Energy Climate Action Network's (VECAN) first Group Award for their town energy work. The award was one of three made: one to a group, one to a project and one to an individual, awarded at the annual VECAN conference, which was attended by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz, and other Vermont officials. Recent committee work honored includes an anti-idling resolution promoted by the committee...

Read More

Entergy seeks to recover $4.6 million in legal fees from state of Vermont

Entergy Corp. has filed a motion with the U.S. District Court to recover $4.6 million in legal fees for its lawsuit against the state. The Louisiana company prevailed in federal court on Jan. 20 when Judge J. Garvan Murtha struck down two state laws that required Entergy to seek approval from the Legislature to continue operating Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant past its 40-year anniversary and to store high-level nuclear waste at the plant site. The state has 30 days...

Read More

State police make arrests in burglary ring

Vermont State Police announced Monday afternoon that multiple arrests have been made in connection with a massive multi-state burglary spree. In all, about 100 burglaries in five states were committed over a 12-month period, state police said, and the vast majority of these burglaries occurred in southeast Vermont and southwest New Hampshire, with 30 burglaries in Windham County alone. Four were arrested by state police on Saturday for multiple counts of burglary, unlawful mischief, and unlawful trespass: Criscenzo Ruggiero, 20,

Read More