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YOUR AWARD WINNING, INDEPENDENT, NONPROFIT SOURCE OF NEWS AND VIEWS
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Voices

A cogent critique of capitalism

By
Tim Kipp
Wednesday, March 2, 2022 — Issue 653

BRATTLEBORO — What should one make of a recent commentary in the Reformer, “War is the answer”?

Here are a couple of possible reactions: It's either a monumental Machiavellian act of cynicism or a ploy by a newspaper owner to gin up sales.

Either way, it presents a cogent critique of capitalism.

Voices

Fascinating vignettes

By
Cindy Holden

BRATTLEBORO-Peter Adair's essay is the best piece of writing I have seen in The Commons:

Bridges along the Connecticut could be part of a bigger vision

By
Craig Della Penna

FLORENCE, MASS.-I just read with shock and awe, or just plain enthusiasm, a couple of...

I’m a criminal

By
Kris Pavek

Kris Pavek, a 71-year-old retired midwife and photographer, has often stayed in Brattleboro in summer...

No one follows the rules of the road anymore

By
Linda Morse

BRATTLEBORO-I have driven down Canal Street in Brattleboro and had a bicycle come flying by...

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News

Twin Valley School District failed to address harassment and ‘hostile educational environment,’ federal investigation finds

By
Peter D'Auria
Wednesday, April 5, 2023 — Issue 709

A federal investigation found that the Twin Valley Unified Union School District failed to prevent a “hostile” school climate that included “targeted peer harassment” at Twin Valley Middle-High School, officials announced on March 16. In a settlement with the Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office, the district agreed to update its policies, improve training programs, and monitor the school's environment more closely, the agencies said. “Schools should feel safe for all children, but when harassment does happen, schools...

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Voices

Brattleboro: Admit huge mistake of dropping Rescue Inc.

By
Scott Surgner
Wednesday, September 6, 2023 — Issue 730

I ask our new town manager to carefully investigate our EMS situation and, after making an informed decision, to speak with all Selectboard members, encouraging them to vote yes to bringing back Rescue Inc. I encourage the Selectboard to make amends for the secret decision of the previous town manager to sack Rescue Inc. by signing a new contract with Rescue Inc. The cost of enhancing our fire department to include EMS services is irresponsibly expensive. Admit you made a...

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Arts

‘A carefully crafted combination of mindful attention to detail and capacity for love’

By
Laura Stevenson
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 — Issue 694

The title poem of Arlene Iris Distler's This Earth, This Body is drawn from “Sisters-A Love Poem,” which appears in the center of this wonderful, beautifully crafted collection by a Brattleboro writer. The poem is one of a series portraying Distler's family (the “family/I was born into, a puzzle from the first/as much as I surely puzzled them”), and it deftly juxtaposes tenderness, grief, and difficult adult relationships. In the opening lines, the poet addresses her younger sister, who professed...

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