What's up everybody, Jason here for Jasper's Casebreak.com. We're giving away two Super Bowl big game mixture spots away, guys, with this 2021 prism team all football break, three box break, round in team number six. And again, guys, 32 spots, everybody gets a round team in the NFL. Remember, at the end, we're going to give away two spots in the big game, hip parade, mixture for the Super Bowl. Now, we'll paste your two names here. Next filler, XR is going to be the 31st give away spot we're giving away. And then the last one, Contender 6, this is the only one that's keeping us from breaking that tomorrow morning, guys. Or tomorrow at noon, I should say. But we basically pretty much got it sold out. So let's do the break first. Randomize because we're named teams. The tribute hits out out of the three boxes. Roll, three to one, four times. One, two, three, four. Four times, three to one, four. Kev, down to Steven P. Four times here. One, two, three, four times, four, four. Giants down to the Pittsburgh Steelers. All right, guys, so again, no trading aisle. Let's just see your teams in this, because of course, this is a three box break. And chances are some potential big hits here. But no trading, though. So I'll give you guys a quick minute just to see your teams. Let's do the break, guys. Again, Prism Team All 2021. So again, you're looking for the red and yellow exclusives. If it's a rookie, it's out of eight, I believe. If it's a veteran, I think it's out of 39. So here we go. We're in Hargreaves, Gates, Dokes, Payton Turner, Nick Bolton, and it's a rookie. It is Pete Werner. Nice. That's a out of eight, three of eight for the Saints. New Orleans Saints is Joel. Got a rookie. Chris Carson, Collins, Jacob Harris, and Kyle Rudolph, number to 39. That's going to go to the Giants going to Kev. Michael Thomas, Rhonda Moore, Phil. Utah Girls Montes, is that an autograph? Nice. We've got an auto in here. There we go. Carolina Panthe is going to Carl. And then behind Chris Evans is a Adam Thielen. Canard with the Vikings to 39. Utah Girls Montes, auto. All right, sweet. We've got one rookie out of eight, a couple of them out of 39. And an auto. All right, guys. Here we go. Time to break some hearts. Time to make some people happy. Here we go. Super Bowl mixture spot giveaway now. We'll give away two. Top two on the randomizer. Get spots in the Super Bowl mixer. Top two, roll. Five out of four, nine times. Good luck. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and ninth of final time. Boom. Did it really fast. I didn't want to see. Five out of four, nine, nine times. Good luck, guys. Good luck, top two. Top two, top two. Breaking people's hearts at number three. As Michael Hughes, unfortunately, man, not in with that rookies and stars 34. But Zac T from 34 is in. And Nancy at the top who bought in straight up. Congratulations. Boom. Boom. Actually, let's do this first. Actually, let's do one at a time. Keep the same fonts. And this is prism six. And Zac, you're getting in from prism six as well. But from a filler. Look at that. Climbing to the top of the mountain. All right, you guys. So next one we're giving away is going to be for XR football. And then we're just contenders away from breaking this tomorrow at noon, guys. Appreciate it, guys. JaspysCaseBricks.com.


Okay. So good morning once again. Thank you to all of us who've joined in today, to the online students here, as well as those who've joined us for e-learning. I hope all of you are doing good and well. Okay. We're in week 12 of our class today, and quick recap from anybody. So we did two major sections up until now, so anyone would like to recap what we've done? Just maybe the sections of what we've done. About praying for our children, for our family, going to the altar to pray for them. Okay. All right. So last week, we spoke about family altar. We spoke about what is the role of the church in nurturing the family. We also spoke about family altar and how we can pray. So those were parts of elements in marriage that we looked at. So that was an entire section that we looked at. Okay. Today, we're going to just focus on, I trust I can complete this today, on challenges in marriages. What are the different challenges that come about in marriages? Okay. So I'm on chapter 11 and in your books, it's 119 and on the soft copies, it's again 119 overcoming life's challenges. Okay. So we'll focus on that today. I'm sure we all understand that life in itself has challenges. So much more marriages can have challenges. What do you think are some of the challenges that can come about in marriages? Misunderstandings. Misunderstandings. Okay. Flaming each other. Okay. Okay. The pressures generally that's involved, both social financial pressures that are involved. Okay. There can be health issues that come about, right? There can be difficulty in relationships that come. Okay. Yeah. So challenges are common in life and it is as much common in marriages also. Okay. And Jesus spoke about that in John 1633. So he said, I have told you these things so that in me you have peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration, but be of good courage for I have overcome the world. So the Lord has warned us about challenges in every area of our lives, but one thing that we can hold on to is the fact that Jesus has overcome the world. So when we are in him, we trust and know that he's the one who has overcome the world. Now are these challenges just particularly for us? It is, it's something that's there for everyone. Life's challenges affect every person, right? It's not something that is new through generations, through centuries, people have gone through challenges. And 1st Corinthians 1013 says that no temptation has come your way beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down. He'll never let you be pushed past your limit. He'll always be there to help you come through it. So the understanding or we know that others also have faced similar issues when you probably look back at your own families, you know, the kind of issues and challenges they faced. So what we're facing is not new, okay? So what do challenges, how do challenges benefit you? How can challenges benefit you? What do you think? It strengthens your bond. Okay, so challenges can strengthen relationships in itself, the bond between people, okay? It helps us learn, it helps us learn certain lessons. Wonderful. Prince. They make us stronger. It can either make us stronger or it can make us weaker, right? It depends on how we are willing to take it, to receive it, right? Anything else? Okay, it helps us change our perspective. Sometimes it helps us see that, you know, when you go through challenges is when you really realize that there is something that God's put in your heart to help you go through that. That you discover something new about yourself, that you will, that you figure out that, you know, I may have thought I wouldn't be able to go through it, but God has shown you that he's put something inside of you to deal with it. Anything else? Wonderful, it builds our faith, right? It builds our faith. Usually it's when we are in difficult times is when, you know, we all turn to God, right? And that's not a great thing. That we turn to God only when there is difficulties, but that's when our faith and our relationship with God is much more. Anything else? So that challenge is because we are each other. Yeah, what we can do, it unleashes where we are. Great, okay? So similarly, like we said, that we do face challenges even in marriage. So quickly to look at what are some of the challenges that we may face in marriage. One is, like we did say, you know, people come into marriage sometimes with a lot of expectations, right?   But sometimes those expectations go unmet. It doesn't come the way that you have imagined it to be or you have groomed to understand. So sometimes there are unmet expectations in marriage that becomes a challenge. And it could be very simple things.  Or the wives may think that whenever I'm in trouble, he will come to save me and fight, you said? Yeah, so those are expectations that we may build up, but sometimes that doesn't take place as you would like it to, okay? Other times, you know, you may have come from home, a home that has a lot of provision or a lot of wealth, a lot of money, your family is well to do. But when you get married, you're coming into maybe a very middle class or a lower middle class and you don't have the luxuries or the things that you did have as a young, as a single person. And then there's a lot of struggle. You know, maybe you had, you had helps and maids who would take care of everything. You just have to come and sit on the table. But after getting married, there's a lot of work to do, you know, drawing water from the well or whatever it may be, washing clothes or you know, not having a mixer grinder but having the, what is it called? The large stone, right? So, so many things that even your idea about how marriage should be and what it would be financially or so sometimes can cause a struggle. Sometimes there are challenges in health, right? Someone, one of the spouses falling sick and then having challenges like that or meeting with some kind of a health issue and then having to take care of the other person. So even through this, what we do believe and what we do understand is we need to extend our faith in God, knowing that he's the one who will restore us despite these kind of issues that may come about. What else is there? Sometimes things may just, may not be what it was supposed to be right after the wedding day. There's a lot of fights, there's conflicts, there is bickering, there isn't an understanding and so there are a lot of, you don't get along with one another and that in itself becomes, it's an everyday issue, right? Or there could be more serious things where there is violence, there may be physical abuse, there's violence, there can be extramarital affairs, infidelity, unfaithfulness that can take place. Now these are, some of these challenges are extremely painful, right? And hard to get by. Or there could be one of the partners probably not showing responsibility. There is neglect in the way that they live life, right? Probably they don't go for work or they don't take up a responsibility of a husband or a wife and that in itself brings a lot of difficulty. So there are many kind of challenges that can come our way, right? Even in marriage. What do you do? Do we give up? You don't seem convinced. It depends upon the person. Okay. Okay. Go hand in hand together. Okay, yes. So Rin says we should go hand in hand together. Okay, so our understanding about how we deal with challenges come from the place of what hope we have, right? So what we spoke about in John 1633 is you are an overcomer. So that's the hope that we have. Whether it be issues with marriage or anything else, the hope we have is we have, God has helped us to overcome the world. And that's what he has said, right? Jesus has overcome the world and he did this so that we can also be overcomers whatever may come our way. So let's just read 1st John chapter five versus one to four. Can someone take that? 1st John five, one to four. One and four, sorry. Like is there behind you?  If we love the one who conceives the child, we'll surely love the child who was conceived. Every God begotten person conquers the world's ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. Okay, so what is this implying in verse four that whoever is born of God, overcomes the world, right? In other versions, that's what it's written. Whoever is born of God, overcomes the world. So as believers, when we are in Christ, that is what the promises that we overcome the world. So everything that comes our way, everything that is thrown on us, we have the assurance that we can overcome that because of what Jesus has done for us and because of how he shows us to be those overcomers. Okay, to Corinthians two verse 14, could someone read that please? To Corinthians chapter two verse 14, now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. Okay, so what is that verse read God, who always leads us in triumph, always? Always, it is in sometimes maybe at distant times. It says always leads us in triumph. So then we take God's word for that and believe God in every situation that he's the one who will bring us as overcomers through each of that. So we are aware that these challenges may not be easy but yet we believe what God has declared about us, about our situation and be overcomers. Okay, so even when things look difficult, if things look impossible, we continue to believe God for what his word says. Okay, we good? All right, now even as we deal with difficult issues, one of the most important things, whether it be in marriage or whether it be things in life is to not allow what has happened or the past rarely dictate what is gonna happen to us in future. So like for example, if any of you have met, have any of you met with accidents? You've seen an accident? Okay, so some of you must have met with accidents.  What if something happens again? Or it can be anything, right? You've talked to a friend and that time when you've talked to the friend, they've said something to you. So the next time that you go talk to them, say what if they say that again, right? And so it really affects the way that we deal with our future or deal with our present. So we, in order to overcome this, what we need to do is not keep looking back. Some of those situations cannot be changed, right? Or something that's happened, like for example, in a marriage, when there is unfaithfulness, right? And when someone has broken the marriage covenant, you can't do anything much to reverse that situation. But you can choose to move past it, right? Rather than allowing it to devastate your own life, you can move past it by looking at what God has for you in future. It's painful. I don't think we sometimes understand how painful some of these situations are, especially when in counseling, when I do see people, I can just see the pain and the brokenness that they have. That they just feel that they cannot move forward, right? And the pain is very real, right? And as believers or as people who walk with others who are going through these difficulties, we need to be understanding. We need to be gentle. We need to be encouraging, okay? But nevertheless, it is a situation that can be painful, but encouraging them to look forward, to move past, not allowing what has happened, to hold them back there, but move forward. What happens when you drive a car and if you keep looking at the rear view mirror? You'll crash. You can't keep looking at the rear view mirror, right? You need to keep looking forward. The rear view mirror looks, you look at it to get some perspective, but you keep looking forward. So similarly, it is important that we keep moving forward. Now, some of these challenges are temporary. Like for example, when there is a sickness that comes about or when there is a job loss, it's for a period of time. But to continue to believe that God will move us out from that place and that space, okay? So what do we look for? Now, it's important for us to understand what do we do to overcome life's challenges? And I'd like to take you all through maybe four practical ways of how we can overcome life's challenges. Four practical ways. It's also something that, how we look at our faith, okay? So the first one is to guard your heart. What happens when a problem comes? Yeah, you get all the feelings will all rise up. The emotions will all come up. So put yourself in a situation. Sorry? Blood will be boiling. Yeah, so think of a time if someone was unfaithful to you. What'll happen? Angry, blood will boil, hands will come up to, yeah, the fire will all be there, right? So yes, emotions rise. Emotions, it's natural that these emotions come up. It isn't an unnatural thing, it is natural, right? But what does scripture tell us to do? Proverbs 4.23, it says, keep your heart with all diligence for out of it's spring the issues of life. Or it says, keep careful watch over your heart because that's where your life starts. So yes, those emotions are normal, right? If you didn't have those emotions, something is wrong, right? It is normal to feel jealous, to feel angry, to feel sad, to feel upset, it's normal. But what is it that we got to be careful to do? That we don't allow it to take control or take root. Don't allow it to grow a tree and bear fruit. What'll happen? A lot of bitterness will bring about more bitterness, right? So when we allow it to take root, to allow it to seed inside, that's when we are losing things, right? So not allowing either the anger or the fear to take hold of us because once that happens, it will grow into something more, right? When we keep strife in our heart, it grows into further bitterness and goes into further anger. So guarding our heart from those feelings. Next, generally when some things happen to us that we don't expect, who do we get most angry with? We get angry with God. Okay, that's one. Then you get angry with God, right? Why God? Why did you do this to me? Why have you forsaken me? Even Jesus said that, the psalmist also said that, why have you forsaken me, right? You feel as if God has abandoned you. And the more that you think about it, the more deeper it grows, right? The more that you think about, okay, God doesn't want me, he doesn't like me, he's angry with me. These are, again, like I said, the very normal emotions, but nevertheless, we've got to guard our hearts in feeling that way towards God. And we come back and go back to his word, to his promises, so that we encourage ourselves this way. So how do you guard your heart? Yeah, so it's a normal reaction. It is a normal reaction, right? But did Jesus continue to dwell on that? Or he said, your will be done, right? I want only what you want, right? So how do we guard our hearts? What's the best way to guard our hearts? Yes, the word of God to dwell richly in us, right? Knowing that, especially, you know, something that happens when people go through, when in marriages, one of the spouse goes through unfaithfulness because of the other. You know where it hits the most? In their very core that they're not loved, right? Or that they were not good enough, and that's why this happened. And so that begins to boil over and over. So when you keep God's word in your heart, what does God's word remind you about his love? It's everlasting, right? I've loved you with an everlasting love. I will never leave you nor forsake you. It's his sacrifice that, it's his love that he's poured out on us that he sent Jesus his son for our sacrifice. So there you begin to see how God's love is there for you.  So it is to keeping God's word in your heart and ensuring that you keep reading his word. Next is to recognize, be aware that there are those negative emotions and bring it to under the submission of the Holy Spirit, asking the Holy Spirit to bring about that change, to bring about that, you know, that difference in the way that you see it. It's what matters is when you recognize it, you come to God and say, God, you know, I can't handle this anymore, right? Help me to love, help me to forgive. And that's the power of the Holy Spirit that brings, that helps you, okay? So when, what are you doing when you're doing that is you need to keep your eyes on solutions rather than on the problem, okay? And there's an example given here of the hummingbird and the vulture. You know what the hummingbird, you know the hummingbird, right? Yeah. And what is the, you know, the vulture? What does the vulture feed on? Dead. It feeds on dead animals, okay? So the analogy that's given here is when birds migrate, both these birds, the hummingbird and the vulture, they fly over regions of the desert where there isn't anything. What do the hummingbird do? What does the hummingbird do? It looks for fresh flowers or plants. It looks for fresh and it flies over anything that is dead. But where is the vultures? It goes back for the dead things, right?  So the first one is to be able to guard our hearts. All right? Okay. Just quickly stop here. Any questions? Any questions? Okay, I don't think there's been a question. Okay, so what's step two? Okay, step two is to overcome evil with good. So what is the natural way a man deals with pain and hurt?  Give back, right? That's a natural response. He hit me once, I'll give him twice. He gave me a blue mark, I'll make sure I make it double and make it black, right? So the natural response is to do evil for evil. But what are we taught as believers? Overcome evil with good. Okay, Romans 12, 19 to 21. Can someone read it? Romans 12, 19, 21. Never take revenge, my friends. But instead, let God's anger do it. For the scripture says, I will take revenge. I will pay back, says the Lord. Instead, as the scripture says, if your enemies are hungry, hungry, treat them. If they are thirsty, give them a drink. For by doing this, you will make them burn with sin. Do not let them defeat you. Instead, conquer, I will be good. Okay, thank you. So the first verse, Romans 12, verse 19 says, never take revenge, but allow God to take care of it, right? So it's not in your own hands. It's not for you to take it in your own hands, but allow God to take over.  So it's a conscious choice. A conscious choice is you're saying, I am not going to retaliate. I am not going to show revenge. I'm not going to get justice for my injustice, but I choose to overcome evil with good. So what are you doing when you're doing that? You are choosing to not pay back, or you're choosing to forgive, or you're choosing to do good, to love, even when you are hurt and when you're broken. Is that easy? Is that easy? It isn't very easy, but whose help do you have? Do we have? It's a part of the Holy Spirit that helps us to love the unlovable, right? And so we do the best we can to do that which is good, to overcome evil with good, okay? The third one, it is to keep exercising your faith. So when we look at what Jesus did in his ministry, think of the different scenarios, like when he was on the boat and the storm came, what did he tell his disciples? Do not be afraid, right? Oh, you of little faith, or to Jairus, what did he say to Jairus? He said, don't be afraid, only believe, right? So Jesus always encouraged people to have faith. However bleak the situation looked, he said, have faith. Do you not believe? Or even when Lazarus was dead for four days, what does he tell Mary and Martha? Yeah, you will see the glory of God if only you believed, right? So that's something that Jesus never said in any of those places, he never said, oh, I'm so sorry, I don't know what to do. It's always that he kept encouraging others to exercise their faith, right? And so also when we are going through challenging situations to be able to exercise that faith, because what do we know? That God is the one who is sovereign. God is the one who knows exactly why and what and how difficult the situation is. So when we look to him with eyes of faith, he, we can be sure he will work out things in a way that is for our best, and that which will give him glory, right? So to be able to exercise our faith. So what does that exercising faith really look like? Exercising faith means that we should have courage, okay? It's saying that it's like going to a battlefield and calling out that we are victors, we have victory. Even when everybody's dying over there, we're saying we have the victory. It is calling life even when there seems to be death. It's calling abundance even when there seems to be lack and it's calling success when there is failure and it's calling faith when there is fear, okay? That's what this means when we keep exercising our faith. So what does faith help you do? When you have faith, okay, let me give you an example. You have a test, okay? And your friend says, don't worry, I have the sorted. It depends on which friend, no, Francis, okay? If it is a person you really can rely on, right? What would you do? Would you sleep? Yeah, right? You will rest or think of a time, I think these are better examples. When you were children, you told your dad and mom, you said, you know, mommy, I have to take this tomorrow to school. Would you worry about it through the night? You will go to sleep nicely, right? Why?  So faith brings you to a place of rest, right? That's how you know that you have faith, that you're not continuously worrying and wondering how it's gonna happen. But you are in that place of confidence, that assurance that God has taken care of it. And there's nothing that you have to do further into. It's a place where you can quietly rest and trust and feel sure and secure that he will bring it through. Right? So that's in our situation, whatever the situation is, is to be able to exercise that faith, okay? And the last one is to be able to take small steps to move forward. So however we work through situations, I mean, every situation is different, right? It may vary how we progress through in different situations, but we may need to take small steps of faith to pass through the storm that we are in. For example, let's say it's raining and everything is flooding, right? You can't keep city standing over there and say, okay, you know, helicopter will come and take me. You have to move steps of faith. Maybe you'll have to move two steps forward, right?  There are those small little steps of faith that you need to do. So taking those small little positive steps in helping you. One of the things that you can do is to get help of people, right? It can be a friend, it can be a mentor, it can be a pastor, it can be a counselor, you know, where people come alongside you to help you through those situations. Now, depending on the situation, let's say if you have a financial, big financial issue, go to a financial advisor, right? Or you're having health concerns.  Exercise your faith. It's okay to go to a doctor to take those steps to help you through that, okay? So taking those smaller steps really, really, really helps. Even when we are taking those steps, we do it with wisdom. We do it knowing that God has purposed greater things for us, okay? All right? So what are the four practical steps that we looked at? Guard your heart, overcome evil with good. Exercising your faith, taking small positive steps, okay? All right, so before we get into the next portion, maybe you'll just stop for a couple of questions. We have five minutes. Stop for a couple of questions. Are students in class or the online students can share any questions? Pasta, can you hear me? Online students? Pasta, can you hear? Online students, any questions? Oh, she's speaking. Jacken, can you speak? Yeah, I'm not hearing. Can hear. Okay, so my question is about overcoming evil with good. So God has told us that we should always overcome evil with good and we should not repay. And it's quite clear and we need God's strength for that. But so when we read the verse, it says, you know, like never take revenge. So, and then I will take revenge. I will be back, says the Lord. So even in New Testament, many verses are there, right? It says vengeance is mine. So it does God, I mean, really, this has been a question for quite some, and does God really take revenge on people? Because when he asked us not to take, will he really do that for reason? I mean, because I see some people who are really flourishing. Like, I mean, they do a lot of good. They do a lot of injustice. And I don't want to name specific people, but just seeing that, you know, because everything is flourishing for them. They're nothing as such is gone mad and they have everything they manage of their own. So my question is that I'm so sorry. No, no, good question. Okay, so her question is, does God really take revenge?  Okay, what do you all think? Does God really take revenge? Yes. Okay, so, Prince says, not in the ways that we expect, God takes revenge, but not in the way that we expect. Any other thoughts? I don't believe it to God, I don't believe it to God. So Rin says, it also is dependent on your motive, the intention you have in your heart. If you have given over to God, then God has place to take care of it. Yeah, so that's what she said. Okay, anything else? The beauty is that then we need to do it together. When I'm doing anything, then we are, and then they give out, and then we contact that side. Okay, so Francis is saying that, you know, the progression of how things happen, we've got to be careful of it, that you know, you probably would have done something and then they are taking revenge and then you say, God, you take care. Okay, all right, God has to take, okay. So Anand is saying that if God has said, he will retaliate or he will take revenge, then our God is a God who doesn't lie and he will do it, he will do it. The question is, should we know how God takes revenge? It'll be nice to know, right? But is it necessary for us to know how God is taking revenge? No, it isn't. If we've left things in the hands of God, we trust that God would do justly and show mercy, right? I think the other thing also is that each one of us have to answer God one day, right? During judgment, each of us have to answer God for our actions and for our works. So that's probably, that's the time that we may see it, right? And we may not see anything before that. I don't know, but that's the time we know that God is going to call each one out for their actions. So whenever you're cheated over something, that's what I keep telling myself.  Knowingly cheat me and I didn't know, right? That really upsets me. But then I keep telling myself, God will take care of that. God will take care of it. Because I remember once we were getting some gas changed and this guy came in and he said it cost some 3,000 rupees for a part. And we just paid him because we didn't really check. And after he left, I checked and it was some 150 rupees. I felt so cheated. But this is the thought, you know? God will take care of it. God will ask for everything that's been taken from you. Jack, can I hope that answered your question? I have a lot of people answering with me. Yes, yes. Very much. OK, great. All right, let's just stop for a break and we'll come back after 10 minutes.


back to another classroom vlog. It is Monday, I don't even know the date. February 10th? It's February 10th, you guys. I feel like we were fighting so long. We were fighting so long for February to get here and we're already 10 days in. That's insane. What is the morning today? We've got staff photos at 7.25, which is in less than 10 minutes. And I don't know where those are gonna take place because there's no risers outside. I'm guessing maybe in the gym, I don't know. I went to Starbucks this morning, I usually don't go on Mondays, but I was like, you know what?  Ugh, and I also got breakfast, which I haven't really been eating breakfast the last couple of weeks. Like pretty much the whole month of February, or sorry, January and up until today.   We're gonna get ourselves put together here. I do need to print some stuff. I don't have a special today, however I do have my school counselor coming in and teaching a lesson, so that will give me a prep time, which I don't usually get on a Monday, which is super great for me. So, I need to do a TPT purchase this morning before Mandy slaps me. I need to go and buy Amy Grossbeck's next slew of anchor charts. I'm gonna do that now, Shmanda, that we have it. Because this week we are starting data, measurement and data standards. And if you don't know what that means, that just means that we're starting like graphing, time, measurement of capacity, weight, things like that. So, I'm just gonna go through, I'm using these third grade math exit slips from Create, Teach, Share. I love these, they're great. I'm just gonna go through them and grab all of the MD exit slips and then I'm gonna go and copy them. That way they're already done and prepared for me. I probably won't use all of them, just because there's quite a few. But that's cool, we're just gonna pull them anyway so that we have them ready to go. And then I need to go and buy that TPT Amy Grossbeck's anchor charts. I'm gonna do that right now before they give us a call. And I'll call teachers. Come take your pictures. Good morning, Mandy. How was your weekend? It was good, it was good. Our picture's at seven over five, I think. Not 25, so you're good. Okay. You good on time? Perfect, okay. Well then, I will go ahead and print some stuff and then I need to change some objectives or learning targets. I like to call them now. We don't call them objectives anymore, we call them learning targets. So, I'm gonna go change those and get to work while I have time. Hey you guys, sorry about the change of scenery but this is a prime example of motherhood and teaching combining itself. So, I got a phone call at about 10.30 from Cash's preschool. By the way guys, I am not driving, I am in a drive-through right now. I'm grabbing Chick-fil-A. I got a call from Cash's school. He has 102 degree fever and they needed one of us to come pick him up immediately. So, I called Scott and he was able to pick him up immediately but he has a really important thing at work that he has to be there for. And so, I called my principal. He said, you know, let's go ahead and split your class.  So, we split the kids and I am running homes that I can be home so Scott can go to work. He goes to work at 1.30.  I know he doesn't have any tummy issues. He did have a runny nose so I don't know if this fever is from a cold that he's catching or if it's from teething because he has been grabbing at his mouth a lot and has been a little irritable. So, I'm thinking that it's teething but the school doesn't know that. So, when they see fever, they panic and they call.  Scott did say he would take tomorrow off if the fever is not gone tomorrow so that I can be at work. So, all I did is at the beginning of the school year, just so you guys know, this is something super good to do. If your school doesn't require you to do it, it's a good idea. Create a split list. I create two of them, one for a team level split and then another for a multi-grade level split. This would be like if, you know, they need to split the kids between more than just my teammates, then I send them across grade levels. It's like three kids to a class instead of eight, seven to eight kids. So, I always provide my administrator and my office staff the split list and then that way, if there is an emergency and there's no sub, then they have a list of where the kids will go. The kids are gonna take their computers with them today and just work on Prodigy for math time and then during our writing time, they're gonna do a typing club, which is like a typing game. So, not exactly what I had in mind for the afternoon but I didn't wanna try and like slam together some type of plan. But, so that's what they're gonna do. Luckily with Prodigy, they are still practicing their skills and for a typing club that is extremely necessary because AZ Merit's coming and they're gonna have to type a response. So, getting them typing practice is great. So, anyways. Hi you.  Hi, baby. It's now 6.30 and we've had quite the day. When I came home, I found that he had thrown up twice. And he had a really bad fever, it was about 104, or sorry, not 104, wow, that's really bad. 101 between 101 and 102. And so, we had peppermint on his back, we had him naked, we had the air on, a fan going and Scott was just getting ready to go to work. He didn't, I gave him a couple French fries just cause they're pretty bland and some Pedialyte. He ended up feeling better within about an hour and then I gave him Motrin. So then, he started feeling better so he started kinda like jumping around and playing and then he threw up again. So I said, okay, no more jumping around and playing, we laid down, he got really tired and really cranky so I tried to get him to take a nap on the couch, he would not do it, he just couldn't close his eyes. So, I put him in his crib and he ended up sleeping for like almost three hours. His fever broke while he was sleeping and when he woke up, I gave him a small little snack, I gave him a few pretzels, some banana and some applesauce and then I made him a deal if he could keep that down for an hour, then I would feed him actual food and so this is his dinner, we're having apples, pretzels and some peanut butter toast. I don't know how, if he's gonna eat the peanut butter toast, he had one little bite but he loves apples and pretzels, we don't have any crackers so and then this is his third cup full of liquid. He did throw up quite a bit of the liquid earlier but then he just drank almost a whole one and he's a pedilite and now we're mixing pedilite and water so he is hydrated which is great and his fever is, he's a little warm right now. So, we're just checking on that, you okay? No. No, you're not okay? He's watching Toy Story because that's what we do when we're sick. We sit on the couch and watch Toy Story, huh? You watching, he calls it story time. So, I will probably put him down for bed at like 8. 8.30. But, I'm sorry that this teaching vlog went from teaching to motherhood but that's what happens in this house, this life. So, if you guys aren't already, go ahead and follow me on Instagram at ApplesNTRs, I do a lot more updating there than I do here. Like and subscribe to my channel and I'll see you guys in the next one, bye.


My name is Ann Lynn and I'm running the Integrated Policy Exercise for the Ford School this year. Trade with Mexico, investment in renewable energy, public health crisis, and environmental degradation all spiral out from law enforcement decisions about whether they should be targeting illegal migrants or the domestic vigilantes who are terrorizing them. The IP is really a lot of fun to teach. It's one of the most creative classes in our curriculum. It's entirely different from the regular classes we teach. Two of the new things we try to do with the IP this year are set students up with real-life organizations that they were representing through conference calls. It was, I think, closely mapped to the real world with how many different groups are interested in this issue, how many people get involved, and how complex the policy really becomes. We come out with solutions at the same time that other crises are happening around you. So the IP really gives students a chance to see what working in a dynamic policy environment looks like. You gain a lot of experience just working with other 40s at the school. We completely engage in the simulation. It's one of those experiences that a lot of students at least hopefully look back upon and say, oh yeah, here I am working for whatever agency having to make a congressional testimony. Well, I did it once when I was an IPE. Experiences like that are what makes it worth it and attractive. For us to actually make things happen through the IPE and be able to create a solution for a challenge, that's definitely putting ourselves to use. I'd rather do that than watch somebody else from the sidelines.


Ukrainian troops stopped the offensive attempt of Russians, forcing them to flee in Kupyansk direction. In Kupyansk direction, the enemy tried to go on the offensive, but its units started to flee even before reaching the boundaries of the transition to the attack thanks to the accurate fire of our artillery. Colonel General Oleksandr Sirsky, commander of the ground forces of the armed forces of Ukraine, said, As the commander noted, the Russians carry out offensive operations in several directions at the same time, and most of them are unsuccessful. Despite the intensive activity of the enemy army, the Ukrainian troops managed to restrain its advance and inflict significant losses on invaders. In particular, the enemy's actions were also unsuccessful in Lyman direction. All their attempts to carry out offensive operations failed due to the stability of our positions and the courage of the soldiers. Sirsky added, According to the commander, Bakhmut direction remains the epicenter of hostilities. The enemy concentrates its greatest efforts there and does not abandon the goal of taking control of the city at any cost. The enemy increases the activity of heavy artillery and the number of air strikes, turning the city into ruins. At the same time, our fighters inflict significant losses on the enemy and slow down its offensive operations considerably. The fighting for Bakhmut continues. The situation is currently under control, said the Colonel General. Before this, British intelligence says that Russia is decreasing offensive action around Donetsk city, most likely to divert resources towards the Bakhmut sector.


Please assemble for the 233rd girl in town meeting doesn't look like there's anybody left the symbol so please join me in the saluting the flag it's behind you I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God individual with liberty and I've been a long time since we've had a real town meeting I've been privileged to serve as the moderator for the pre-town meeting for the last three years and I'm this will be that if you count the years that I was that I'm probably at 21 years of doing it and I'm not here forever and I've always wanted to find that it was finding part of my responsibility it's just part of the any officer's responsibility to find their successor so if any of you are motivated I will help you transition into that that's being said the first article of business is to elect a town moderator for the year ensuing this is article 22nd and the and the nominations are now but I remind you there's no need for a second it's just the nomination process mr. one thank you and in light of that I will step aside and ask the cheer of the select board to take over so that there's no sense of bias any other nominations for moderator hearing none those in favor of Paul Gillis congratulations thank you and thank you I it's a job I have longed for for many years I was previously in state service and I had to work on town meeting day so I couldn't even attend and then when I was finally freed from self-service a state service I was Ruth towns parliamentarian for a while and then I got the job and at the time it was a different town meeting than it is today first of all there was a few more people but it was also that we voted everything on the floor including the budget and I think this reasonable argument that the budget should be voted by a larger number and that elections should be done by a larger number but it does tend to drag us out of that and so today we have three more articles one of them isn't even an article to speak of it's just to review the reports and the the most provocative and and perhaps the best opportunity for us to serve to talk to each other as a town will be article 25 the other business but to go next is to hear the reports of the town officers for 2022 and if you have a booklet or if you don't there's one back there and I just take the opportunity to go through it page by page to invite you to ask questions about it the select board is hungry to answer questions and the select board report is at five page five with the budget at seven and this would cover as you can see the basic finances of the year any questions about the select board's report the assessors report you remember we used to have listeners but we don't anymore so we now have an assessor and the assessors report is there any questions about that the town clerk's office report is on 16 and 17 and 18 and 19 or actually 17 the births and deaths number of licenses and things you also have to come up here to talk so Matt Levin Lord Road I'm tempted to ask just in the interest of being provocative when I'm on a board myself I often ask the treasurer whatever what are the one or two things in the budget that are the most interesting right if we were we're doing our fiduciary responsibility of being responsible for the town's budget if you would to point out to it's a lot of numbers right are there a few places where you feel like something interesting is happening or if you were particularly paying attention to what was going on this is something that would stand out I this is completely oh I have no idea what it is because I really don't look at the budget that carefully so if you were say here are a couple things that are interesting what might you point to for the citizens to have a sense of what's going on and that I assume there's something interesting but I literally don't know what that might be the one of the more interesting things was basically our increased costs in our budget one of the one of the big things was the increased costs in the budget and our insurance rates which I think the board did a good job on maintaining the budget that we had control over our troubles are that we have a budget that's driven by outside forces such as insurances cost of equipment etc if you're looking at the budget I would ask you to look at the where a lot of your increases are coming from it's it's not that we have spent foolishly it's just that our expenses have just gone up like everybody else's and you know how that is fuel costs for the trucks etc etc other than that I can't say as I know anything that really stands up for me you know the other board members have something to say I'm Flo Smith I'm the vice chair and I would echo what Brad just explained I would also point out that we did raise funding for the police department and I believe that Berlin is growing I think we all know that and with that comes additional additional fees thank you also echoing what Brad said the insurances if you look at page 11 you'll see under health insurance for the police that the budget in fiscal year 23 was $205,930 and the budget for fiscal year 2024 is $262,000 so Brad said it really well that some things are outside of our control but when we looked at the budget we tried to hold our costs where we could and not have the budget impact adversely on the residents we are looking at the future for local options tax and that was on the ballot before basically it was a minimal amount of people that it did not pass as a result but we are going to look at that in the future that could help our budget going forward because as we know things do not decrease in terms of our needs we will always be asked for more and so the police did ask us for more and we looked at that in all regards and you know our police force is increasing we needed other vehicles with additional staffing comes additional costs and so that's built into the budget as well so that's what I'll add and I think maybe Joe has some to add as well thank you yeah so with the growth of the town there's a lot there's a need of the support services like flow was talking about the increase I think it was one additional officer for PD but we also have administrative needs and so adding the assistant treasure that was an added position and so you're going to see that as well the support of the growth of Berlin it's all be quick I'll probably yeah reiterate a couple of things that the board said to but just a couple of things of interest second year I just crossed my second year and the job for this come from the private sector so the public has been a little bit eye-opening for me as well on this but a couple of things on the budget as you all know costs are going up I'm going to go to the highway real quick you know two years ago we didn't really have we had a lot of debt and we've paid that that off but going along with that on a capital budget there wasn't a lot of planning in advance for highway equipment police cruisers and things so there was a significant change in the budget and when I say significant I'm talking about $300,000 plus or minus there just to start putting money in the capital budget so we would not have to borrow money as interest rates go up right when it comes time to purchase a $280,000 dump truck now each year because we're trying to do one a year and build a real plan to do that along with the police cruisers as they wear out we need a replacement to be able to purchase that so that money is showing up in the budget to build that up and then every 7 to 12 years we're going to need to buy a piece of heavy equipment a loader or a greater will need to be replaced mechanical equipment that wears out so that's been a fairly significant change in the past two years in the budget as well that that's had an impact as many of you are aware as well we just recently went through police negotiations we settled on another three-year contract I think it went personally I think it went reasonably well it dragged out far too long but we did reach a reasonable agreement and if you look around the state Berlin is fortunate enough to have one of the only fully staffed police forces right now within the state that includes the state police as well I gotta say they're a pretty good group of individuals as well so we're very fortunate in that respect and I think a lot of it has to do with the new chief as well there's been a morale change there in that department and the officers all seem very happy to be working here as well and glad to be here in fact chief pump pump brand is in the back so so and again as Brad started off insurances just to give you a number for some of the costs that we don't control you'll see it in the report but our health premiums twenty three thousand eight hundred and seventy dollars you know there was a difference of from last year's budget to this year's budget overall about thirty five thousand dollars in cost just for insurances and things like that so it's been a significant increase all the way around on that it was one more thing I wanted to mention and that was our audit report some of you'll be looking for that that dragged on for some time at just completed they got their final information last week so that will be coming out it will be available and it will be available on our website as well because it just came out there's we still have to go through the management review with the board on that as well there were there were a couple of findings I don't have them in front of me so I won't try to talk to them but there there were but they were pretty much minor in nature nothing critical but that will be out and available very soon thank you question question is that a question for me for you and the board years ago we used to give formal presentations about the budget and we just stopped one year and I'm never quite sure why I would like to see that again we could do it by video I could get it done at a local for you and it could be on the website so people could just this small conversation was very enlightening and I appreciate the comments so I might be confused on this a little bit we did hold some public hearings with the board when we were reviewing and presenting the budget you're saying above and beyond public hearing we used to have Mike's guys would do stand over there and do the school and then the chair would do it for the site board and it was graphs and charts and okay just so that on time meeting day we had a good idea okay all right thank you where were we we were at the end of the auditor's report I mean assessor's report that was page well no I guess we did the clerk too so pages 20 and 21 the board of civil authority the board of the statement anybody want to talk about that no Berlin highway department 21 zoning administrator 23 blood insurance zoning administrator 24 stop me if you have questions sing it right out planning commission report 25 police department 27 through 37 yes Matt to similarly point out any point to the police report that might be quite a question well just as I asked about the budget is there just things that are interesting there are things in your report that you might point out to us that might be a bit of an issue I think the only real thing of interest is it's been pointed out previously some of the stuff is just outside of our control that have cost more this year than they have in past years probably the most point of interest is taking on an extra officer and the reasoning behind that is police departments have traditionally kind of had been flowed with staffing Berlin over the last couple years has really struggled with maintaining staff and that causes a stress on officers that to cover those shifts and causes an increase in overtime budget you're not getting quality enforcement or services when somebody's having to work 20 or 30 extra hours a week so kind of planning on that we're never really at full staffing we took on an extra officer right now we're better staffed and anybody really that I can think of especially in our local area let along the state and that allows us to be more proactive than we have been in the last year year and a half and allows a little bit more of a buffer for those officers not one officer on shift all the time taking all the calls we have some overlap allows officers to kind of share those responsibilities and share that work work for us so I think that's pretty much the only thing of note that's a real big change in in our budget in particular is having that extra person yes we do there has been as you probably aware in the news a significant increase in workplace violence at the hospital we have historically prior to my coming on board had an officer dedicated to the hospital and it was like an overtime shift and that stopped happening for whatever reason was well before my time so I don't know really what the reasoning was behind that the hospital has asked us recently to try to be more present there and I've tried to discuss how that would look financially because I can't just post an officer over there out of our own budget and they're not able to fund that on their own but we do try to be as visible over there as we can officers make that part of their kind of routine patrol to pop in and make sure people are good there and there's being seen any other questions yes sir um sort of following the incidents that occurred in the hilltop yes any improvement in that looking at page 29 is obviously quite a few incidents that occur in the hilltop over the last we've recently have had weekly meetings with the hilltop to kind of increase communications there along with representatives from the state so they can kind of keep an eye on those interactions I think over the last couple of weeks there has been better communication it'll be interesting to see if that results in kind of a downturn and our responses there but I do feel that we're there's a better relationship there now than there has been in the past they certainly seem to be more responsive to some of our concerns as they seem to be more responsive to some of our concerns of late anything else thank you thank you the list of the town of berlin staff and their wages and benefits is on 38 and 39 recreation committee 40 conservation commission 41 and 42 42 development review board and then the other reports are not that you shouldn't read them but they're not town reports so they're they're worth reading but they're not town departments so any comments questions on the town report in a sort yes ma'am I didn't see anything in here on the town center and I'm just wondering why it's not included here and if there's anybody that does let us know what's happening just keep hearing grips and dreads who's our town center expert was some news recently about that I probably can't speak too intelligently about this as much as Tom and Karla would be able to um so as you know we're the third in the state um the only one outside of chitin county chitin county that's been approved for the new town center one of the um a couple of the uh contingencies that go along with that there's some actions that we have to take as a town with regards to that and and one of the stipulations is we have to have some sort of office property located within that town center We negotiated and met with the Washington county this the school union district For 3.8 acres as you come in off a 62 on the mall road on the left hand side To give that back to the town and that is Within days of being completed So once that's complete And we have to decide what we're going to do with that property to fulfill part of the requirements that we have with the state for that new town center Some of the other things that are going on in there you heard about Fox Run, I'm sure the development they they're the ones that spoke today that they're purchased the property from the mall Are in the process of it to put that I think it's a 30 room Unit in as well There is a there has been another application applied for another The restaurant coffee shop in that in that area as well that's moving along and That's probably about as much detail as I can provide But I'm happy to Get something updated on our website as well. I'll have Tom and Carla do that And we'll have some some updated and we also have thanks to our Tech group of clerks new clerks We do have a facebook page as well where we'll be putting information on so i'll put in a plug for that while i'm here to this time as well Is that okay for now? Okay Back to the warning To that point, I think it would be helpful if the plan for next year For this meeting was to have someone available to be able to give a report to everyone about that It's slow progress. So I don't expect that there'll be some big change between now and then but even though There are only a few of us here. I'm sure we would all appreciate Even if it's a few minutes an update in this forum. I think that would be great If I could also ask Paul, um, I have to admit I have never entirely understood the relationship between the town and the fire department And i'm not asking anyone to explain the whole thing But i'm curious if someone could give an update on the status of that relationship And I know in the past there were discussions about things changing. So If someone could just give us a brief update on exactly what the connection is See anyone from the fire department here, but Well, you have the president I usually see them over there. So I so if you could just give us a brief update on where things are because I've lost track thank you Great question Been asking that for a long time myself um So we have had these discussions For four years now about the relationship between the borough and fire department in the town and you know, it does it Is is it right to stay that? That corporate entity standalone department and My opinion is no Back in the day when there was nothing but a dozen farmers out here in the town of berlin And we had three roads. It seemed to be the right thing to do In fact, no one wanted to touch it because we wanted it done But when we're talking about the growth of berlin um This is the You know what we were just talking about earlier.  We we have new Small communities or whatnot popping up It it only stands to reason that the town the fire department needs to grow As well and as a volunteer it is not going to happen that way um, I think in your report i'm going to apologize. I think the budget, um, you see the first page, but the The documentation the sporting documentation is not not in in the report and so we'll put that up on the website as well um, but There is a chart in there which um forecast it shows the first Shows five years of call data and it projects where we see we may be going And that is not some of that is medical calls. It's not somebody's house burning There's just a lot of traffic coming through the town of berlin. We we are that intersection Okay, central vermont a lot of those are motor vehicle accidents And a lot of alarm activations and whatnot with the growth that we have so we've had those discussions And we're getting maybe a little more serious about it. In fact, I had my My chair asked me how close are we to having these? You know having an outcome And so I asked him I said, I don't know how close is the select board in having that outcome But anyway, um, we're having these conversations And I think if Unfortunately, we don't see the the supporting documents in there, but last year we turned around for the weekend coverage So I have people at the station on weekends and we have a response time of three minutes or less Okay, it's a lot better than the 11 12 whatever minutes it takes for someone to get from their house to the station to your place on lord road Okay, um When you look at that supporting document, you're going to see week weekday shifts and right now I've got a zero in there It's just we have to have these conversations and where are we going to be? So I don't know how close we are But the conversations are Are going Continuing. Thank you Is there anything else? There will be more I'm sure. Okay Article 24 She'll the town I'm sorry. Yeah, I just because joe just spoke to it. I just wanted to ask joe His budget information that's not included in here which Are you going to make that available on the website or you're going to put it on I'll give it to to To the town to put it on their website. Okay, because I think a significant amount of budget information did not get included in the report I found very useful Anything else on 23 of the town reports? 24 she'll the town collect its real and personal property taxes to defray the expenses of the town for the period july 1st 2023 through june 30th 2024 in installments one fourth of the taxes to be due by delivery Or by us postal service postmark no private postal meter postmarks Honor before august 15th 2023 One fourth of taxes due or honor before november 15th 2023 One fourth of the taxes due honor before february 15th 2024 and one fourth due on or before May 15th 2024 with an eight percent Penalty and one percent interest per month or a portion thereof to be charged for the late payment of any installment Now it's been three years since we've done this, but I need someone to say I move the article Anyone second Pat and the floor is now open for discussion and There is no discussion. You've got to hear it again Anyway Shell the town collect its real and personal property taxes to defray the expenses of the town for the period july 1st 2023 through june 30th 2024 installments One fourth of the taxes to be due by delivery or by us postal service postmark no private Postal meter postmarks honor before august 15th 2023 one fourth of the taxes due honor before november 15th 2023 one fourth of the taxes due honor before february 15th 2024 And four one fourth due honor before may 15th 2024 with an eight percent penalty And a One percent interest per month or a portion thereof to be charged for late payment of any installment Are you ready for the question? eight percent if you're late And in one percent interest on top of that in other years there's been lots of debates about that That would be a require an amendment. I'm not encouraging. I'm just letting you know that Anybody else ready for the question all in favor of This article article 24 say aye Those opposed no the article passes Now we have an anomaly in the Report there is no Five however I believe that the clerk will reassure me the posted version has an other business article At least the one that you've handed out to me So It's not right here But I can assure you that you would be okay to go forward and discuss anything you want as long as it doesn't involve a binding vote And one of the among things we're going to do today is we want to hear from our representatives, but I was wondering if this was the right time to talk about the We have been talking earlier To the extent that anyone takes an on legal advice anymore You can't cram it in for Tuesday. You can't you need a special Um Vote that election of 30 days notice and uh, but that may be so that would be a special town Yeah, it also includes meals on wheels, which is critical I I anybody else I'm just talking for you No, okay We've we've had some discussion since this morning just to try to understand The best way forward to to move this to support them Obviously, we have a feeling from the people that we're here this morning in this afternoon That we want to move forward with that the only way to do it properly after further discussion It's is we will have to hold a a special meeting on that And then bring it to bring it to a vote to the town So there'll be a special You know vote for that as well. We've got to do the 30 days So that's the soonest that we'll be able to do that is you know, 30 days from now is Have the meetings bring it to a vote at that point in time So just as a point that the they are coming to the we have a select board meeting monday And they are coming as well to talk about it with the board Right and again, that's a question That's a question we can we can talk with them about with the board can speak with them on on on monday as well So Okay, thank you Saturday or Does everybody always come on tuesday because it's town I think we only have one example of that. There's only one year where we had town meeting And this is it. I'm saying was anyone able to come because tuesday's a work day and they could never come to town meeting Just asking a floor question Yes Okay I mean, I guess if you went back to the town vote where we said we'd go to saturday that was an assumption People supported that that was the goal was can we get more people here? There are not more people here But it's a saturday during school vacation And it's no storm Not a great example Next year I expect to see this whole hall filled wouldn't love it And I think it would help if the select board could produce some very controversial issues I have two comments one is related to what we were just talking about one about the previous topic Just if I might just some background on the on the senior center so As I understand what happened is that they Like the other entities that are on the ballot They missed the deadline to submit the materials necessary to get on the ballot And there were a few others that are the usual us usual that we see year after year that at least one other That also failed to submit on time to get on the ballot And this is not a large percentage of the funding of the senior center So it is not the case that they are in danger of suddenly ceasing operations It is an important part of their budget, but it's not a huge percentage So I I trust the select board will Move forward in whatever way is possible But in terms of your concern that there's like they're not going to shut down because of this It's not a good thing for them, but it's To get to to pegs point I I do wonder About this question of what happened how many people are here I was going to pose a different question to you paul That what we just voted on article 24 has to happen Right, I mean if it doesn't That's it's an important thing for the town function so The question and then I'm going to pose a different question the question What would happen if there was no one here to vote on that now? Obviously the select board would be here so there would be at least some people here to vote one person is the town Right, so but I'm wondering to get to your joke If it might make sense for the select board and others I'm sure as the chair of the board of civil authority We could be brought into this conversation as well Does it make sense to try to figure out? Not inventing a controversy That's not but but is there something we could do with programming or something else To make it so that this activity was more appealing to more people to pull them in it would take some work I'm not trying to minimize it and it may be that we talk about it. We don't come up with anything, but it seems like It would be better if there were more people here and so it might take some work To get a few more people here Because I mean look what happened when I said well tell us about the budget and you told us about it And then even the few people here said oh and that made us think about other things So I'm wondering In the hypothetical what if you had a town meeting and no one showed up There would be things that have to happen that wouldn't happen even if it's only one article So maybe we need to put a little bit of work into Creating a little bit more something so that we make sure that that doesn't happen Not that it's easy But we can at least try In my experience one of the things that We've done over the years inadvertently and with the legislature support is to Give more power to the state than the towns and more power to the select board than the voters And there's a deficit that and I think that's directly proportional to the interest that people have in local government Many towns not not I'm not making a judgment here don't Don't seem to dare to put policy questions to the voters And even though that might not be in a binding way that sometimes boards don't want to hear what the people have to say But in order for us to have a vigorous town meeting we need to have a vigorous electorate and it seemed to me that if we if the board were willing to share some power It doesn't have to be anything more than to see what the voters think about the direction of the common or In order a series of articles we could add here. They wouldn't necessarily be binding, but they would involve Drawing together of the folks that are here and And an opportunity for the kind of dialogue that we started to have today here So that's just one person's thought Representative donahue, would you like to speak to us? That is a pre approval from earlier this morning. So and As well you want to come up too Thank you. Sure. Thank you all. Thanks very much A couple of quick things. First of all, I left outside if you want to pick one up A copy of the comments I made on the house floor yesterday about berlin and the hilltop in And it really was a challenge to all of my colleagues to say we we can't do things That leave some towns and the people that we're trying to help strand it Because the people we're trying to help if we're not helping them in the right way if we're not providing supports They're they're not in a better environment. It's not helping them So hopefully as we plan for the year ahead We'll do a better job. I think we're facing a lot of problems that could have been expected That because the federal government stepped in with with covet with so many extra dollars to do so many things And then people Get used to that as the norm and all of a sudden there's no money anymore And people are perceiving it saying, you know, well, we can't cut that people rely on it But then that means we take over funding it whether it's Housing for homeless whether it's food You may have heard in the news recently the supplement to food stamps people were getting are coming to an end People have come to rely on that So That's one big area that we're having to deal with. There is still lots of extra revenue Because of the economic impact of the covet funds That's all going to ebb away And we're looking at the subsequent year as being a significant potential drop in income A real budget pressures So if we increase base funding, we'll be back to looking at cuts in the subsequent year So, you know, there's some big money items I would love to hear not in public form, but individually send me an email Um, I don't think we can do it all if you think there's something particularly critical with revenues we do have Let me know what your priority are because basically one is Sustaining the things we have the proposed budget has a lot of areas that have no increases Not a decrease but not an increase and in today's environment. That means it's a decrease Things like funding our designated mental health agencies um So Increasing them to maintain against inflation It would be a huge budget item. So that's one is our budget Number two is the house has passed a family The house committee has passed a family and medical paid leave Program that would pay a hundred percent of somebody's salary for up to three months for a very broad range of needs And that would come through a payroll tax So it wouldn't be in the general budget, but it would come out of people's Pay bills. I think there's a lot of good reasons for supporting that, but it's it's a big cost involved for folks Third one you've heard a lot about and that's the Clean heat or affordable heat or unaffordable heat depending on what you title it I really support doing things to really attack and address climate change This particular mechanism is a little bit Well, it's certainly untested and it will cost a lot up front for the payoff You know a decade or two or more down the line So hearing input for that is really important for me and then finally child care, which we also all know as a crisis But proposals to put um, you know Uh Not just tens of millions, but 100 or 200 million to better support our child care system So I would really be interested in hearing back from people Second big area is the legislature itself There have been a lot of discussions around wanting to increase the opportunity for people to serve And the diversity of people who serve working families And so forth who really are not able to because of the financial pressures That means proposals for spending a lot of money for instance providing child care providing increased Salary levels or year-round stipends for the off session where there's a lot of work involved health insurance things like that Certainly something to be said about it But also a real change sometimes in functioning. There's a lot of push right now to Extend some of our remote voting Opportunities that we use for covet into regular sessions So allowing people to vote from home if they have to stay home with a sick child For instance and not be present in the state house Which raises a lot of issues. That's one. That's a big concern of mine So those are some things to think about that I would welcome input And one last thing I want to tell you about if if people missed it last night on channel six on Six o'clock news wcax There was an awesome little feature on a 13 year old young man from berlin jesse Backdorff Who did a great job? He was incredibly articulate Talking about the right to repair bill He does a lot of computer work for friends and neighbors One of those kids you're just so proud of you should be proud in berlin to have a young man like this entrepreneur can't Can't do some of the repairs that he could easily do because of the Sort of monopoly on repairs that a lot of things come with now He's the one who educated me about that need as a result I put in a right to repair bill along with some other Cosponsors and wcax was doing a report on it and I said You know somebody had to talk to his jesse because he's the one who educated me And so they went out and did this feature On him and he just did a great job. It was a really nice piece. So you might want to you know Look up on the web and take a look at it because lot lot to be proud of that young man from berlin So thank you very much. Thank you And I'll I'll stick around you almost over if people have questions. I want to talk feel free So everybody, I'm ken ghostland. I'm your other stay rep and it's an absolute honor to represent berlin I love this town it's a beautiful beautiful community and Very fortunate to to do it going back to one of the comments about the lack of Uptown meeting and People showing up and stuff like this. I've been and I was on the slipboard in norfield for 10 years We've been constantly fighting this battle. I think in norfield. I think we go monday night if I'm not mistaken to try to get more people involved and try to get people to Come back more in the community. I think we keep trying to do everything and it's it's uh It it's sad because it's very very important to what we try to do in brimont a couple things and touched on A lot of stuff the one great thing about uh, ann and I as your representatives is we come from A lot a lot of times different Ways of looking at things and dealing with things she deals with a lot of healthcare stuff. I'm more of a businessman more of a Um Administrative guy. I work hand in hand with the administration Governor a lot One of the big things and I I put out there and we all do Update every other week. It's either Ann or I and it's on front porch forum And I think she does a blog and I do the facebook thing But we try to keep everybody appraised of what's going on And um, this hilltop situation has been uh, is a is is a huge problem. It's been a problem the chief the select board Vince Everybody has done the job as far as I'm concerned where the job hasn't been done is the state And About three or four weeks ago It really really came to a head And I just happened to be at the right place at the right time And I knew we had a problem because I have a pretty good relationship with the administration up here and And uh, I knew we were finally going to Because you're putting these officers in jeopardy. You're putting everybody in jeopardy. You're putting citizens in jeopardy You're putting the the The hospital right across the street people are reluctant to go there. They're reluctant to go to the mall You can see you can see Uh, how many situations we have right down here at the travel center.  I I um, I know there's there's a lot of working pieces to this So, uh, it it is uh It's been a major frustration For me for a long time And I think it's being resolved. The other thing that People are going to want to hear about I think is is the closure of a of lovers lane bridge in Uh, river chin and also the route 12 bridge That's that's going to be a lot of work done and probably be replaced well The good thing If there is a good thing, um about the 12 Route 12 bridge being done something's going to have to be done to Uh, to your To your lovers lane bridge because there's no way you're going to get vehicles back and forth between here and north here We have these uh, thanks for all covered bridges in north here You're not going over those things with certain pieces of equipment And weights of the vehicles and all that stuff. Um Paving I think paving is is due in 24 Don't hold me to that stuff because it always gets changed and stuff like that, but you'll see a big You're going to see a big Advancement in your roadways between Montpelier and uh, northfield Um, your police department, uh, I couldn't be more proud of I think the chief has done a heck of a job and, um It's just great. Um The other thing is is uh, hopefully we're finally Getting on the other side of the cove we can get back to more of a regular Relationships that will work Used to working with uh, face to face, which is very very important Uh, get out talk to people. I Usually really really enjoy that Last couple of months have been very difficult for me, but uh, I'm on my way back on that. So The hopefully we've moved on from that The other big thing that's been touched a little bit on In here that really really needs to be Talked about is the affordability. We've all everything's been discussed about The employees salaries and uh, and the equipment what it costs and all this The big thing I'm a businessman. I'm a common sense guy. I I don't have a college education. I went to cte and and uh, I guess I got lucky and And uh, I kind of look at things out of common sense thing, but we've had a tremendous Tremendous amount of money coming to this state for years Because of senator lehi or a lot of it because it's senator lehi Senator lehi is retired That money is not coming the way it used to come So people need to really really I don't want to be mr. Duma gloom here, but I'm a realist and We really need to watch the money and be You know accountable for the affordability of what it's going to cost to live in this state The other thing I've gone back to the public safety governor initiated I think back in august the 10-point safety plan We're working on that. We have an update On that that just came out We're constantly constantly going over that we obviously we have a third problem With a With a lot of bad things going on and we're trying to get that into control I introduce it's bill h312 That has a lot of the governor's concerns a lot of the administration's concerns and there's a lot of stuff in there That maybe you'll want to follow What we're doing I don't want to keep you here all day but I I guess in in in closing um, we just need a What I feel is a lot better balance coming out of Montclair To coming to the towns Working together um Because We're all in this together We're all doing this all for the same reason and that's you the citizens and Just try to make every community in vermont better and safer for all because That's really what we care about. So if you have any questions, I'll be around here afterwards. I'm sorry. I got here late, but uh some other situations came up including the snow and stuff like that, but Be more than happy to talk to anybody and again pleasure serving you anybody question Try to steal his report Hey, we've been holding lunch for you. Thanks. Thanks. Check them out the window. Thank you kin. Thank you, ma'am Our time administrator country has A sermon just just a couple just a couple things I want to I want to follow up on a couple of things that I think are important From which some of the things that you brought up Things that are going on in the town Maybe that you might not be aware of and things that I'm gonna Ask you to be aware of I guess that that we need So we haven't had for some time an economic development committee They were just re-established two weeks ago Again, we've talked a lot about the town growing It's going to grow whether we want it to or not. So we need to be prepared for that. We need to Be a little forward looking and manage that growth as best as we can This is going to be one of the functions of this committee is to help us Do it the right way what's best for the town and everyone involved And an example of that is one of the first things that that we've asked them to look at is We're growing the staff has grown a little bit should be stable But we don't have enough room in the town office right now We've got a job trailer outside where our listers again granted there. They're one day a week and our public works Supervisor are working out of right now out of a job trailer outside We have a police force. It's a nine-member force and they're crammed into one small section of the office as well There's not not enough room for them either So that's an immediate need One of the things that they've been asked is what do we look like in five years 10 years and 20 years? And what are the plans to get there and grow smartly? And effectively so that that's something that's going on anybody has any ideas They're going to be meeting every other week on wednesday nights It's it's a public meeting. You're welcome to To to attend those or or even just send some input or thoughts and ideas will take them all The other one that came up today that would be interesting and The board and i would love to have your feedback on is your opinion and thoughts on the fire department Becoming part of the town becoming a municipal fire department again That's something again preliminary discussions are underway. It's going to move forward in some fashion But what are your thoughts and ideas on that as well as at some point? If it moves forward it will have to be a vote From you all to approve that to move forward. So that's something else Another thing that's very important not just for the town, but overall That word we're working on is Child care facility talked about that 3.8 acres of land over there We've had some preliminary discussions with the school and in the hospital About the need. There's a tremendous need just in the central Vermont area as well Again thoughts and ideas are welcome But that's something that we're seriously looking at from a town perspective as well how to how to move that forward And next to the last one is again something to think about there is a handout on the table With a lot of facts and numbers on it and some general questions around the local option tax I know we've we've tried the town has tried for Three times now the last one was reasonably close Barry just passed it. There's been some articles on that lately But that's something that we're going to be continuing to look at And try to get more information out to everyone to understand it get questions back that we can answer. Hopefully To To consider what it means to the town overall should it pass is about 600 thousand dollars a year in additional revenue That we can use to table up stabilize the tax base and fund our capital fund with as well And then the last thing Our public works board or a town town of board of volunteers like everyone else public works board and our d rv board would love to have some Fresh faces and new members. There's some openings there So pass the word to anybody that may be interested get it out there that we would We would love to fill those those last two committees up as well And with that I will Unless there's any questions on any of that Hope you'll join me in thanking these people who have worked hard for us during me We could go on forever, but if someone were to move to adjourn And someone would second And are you ready for that question all in favor of adjournment of the 233rd burlin town meetings say aye No, as opposed no See you next year or maybe at that special Thank you


The way I was brought up, you don't talk about money. You don't talk about right. But I want to know, how'd you get your money? Garcelle Bouvet may have been through a divorce she wouldn't wish on anyone, but she bounces back quick. One of the many ways the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars gotten a fresh start include her new digs in Los Angeles. While the recently constructed home is outside of the 90210, it's in a beautiful San Fernando Valley neighborhood. And we couldn't be happier for her. Today, we'll take a look at where Garcelle calls home. In these videos, we don't reveal any addresses even though I've done a house tour of my own place. Please do not show up at any private residences because it's not safe for anyone. Garcelle Bouvet is an actress, TV personality, former fashion model, and more who's known for starring on sitcoms like the Jamie Foxx show and the crime drama NYPD Blue. Aside from these and films she's been in, Garcelle has recently become a main cast member of the hit reality series, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and has appeared on their show since 2020. Not to mention, she also co-hosted the daytime talk show, The Real. Last year, Garcelle also finally spoke about her nasty divorce with her ex-husband, Mike Nyland, which she wasn't looking forward to bringing up. Considering she is on the drama-filled reality show Real Housewives of Beverly Hills though, it was going to happen eventually. In an episode of the series, Garcelle spoke to her friends about how she found out her ex was allegedly having an affair for five years during their nine-year marriage. With all that behind her, Garcelle is still thriving as a single mom to her son with over 75 movie credits to her name. It's not surprising she has a net worth about $8 million or more.  This one, showing you where Garcelle Bouvet calls home. If you like this video, be sure to check out other recent drops on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars like Denise Richards and Teddy Mellon Camp, which we'll link to at the end. If you haven't already, make sure you subscribe and ring that bell for notifications because we post brand new content daily. As always, you can follow me over on Instagram and let me know who you want to see featured next. Now let's get into this video. While our TV address may be in Beverly Hills, Garcelle actually doesn't reside in the 902 and OZIP code. If you want to see her house, look to the San Fernando Valley instead since her home is more adjacent to Beverly Hills, but it's no less fancy. Her home is near neighborhoods like Cal Basis where famous faces like the Kardashians, Christina Aguilera and many more live. From aerial views, it seems the plot of land was empty for a while and that Garcelle's estate was a brand new build, perfect so she could customize it. On an episode of Real Housewives last spring, Garcelle was excitedly preparing to move into the home, saying, it's my little haven, I get to pick out covenants and flooring and just make it mine. While it was very empty at the start, the actress has settled in beautifully since and has customized the place to be a dream home for her and her sons. Let's take a look. Her gorgeous family home spans 3,200 square feet of space with five beds and five baths throughout. Garcelle had given Bravo TV a tour and happily explained how she got to pick out everything in the house, decking it out in a variety of vibrant artwork. She also said, I love art. Being from Haiti, color is a part of my culture. Garcelle truly went to great lengths to customize her home for her and her sons, from outfitting the kitchen and bathrooms with white fixtures to custom closets and much more. Looking at before and after pics, we can see what was once a bare bone space with no appliances or proper flooring has become a spectacular kitchen. Garcelle's beautiful kitchen has white cabinetry, hardwood flooring, a spacious island with plenty of bar style seating and features like double oven. With two sons under her roof, she said she's always in there cooking for them so the room needs to be big, yet warm and inviting. Her sink here is also very special to her and Garcelle said, I got to pick out this faucet. I always wanted a farmhouse sink. One of the living rooms in Garcelle's home has glass sliders to outside and it boasts a TV alongside plush sofas. While she's made the rooms look glamorous, they're still functional and there's space for her and her boys to hang out or for them to play video games. Here, there's also a sleek modern fireplace and it's where she keeps her pet fish. Garcelle's double height entryway has a gorgeous winding staircase with dark hardwood and unique sparkling light fixture overhead. Following the stairs to the second level, you'll find the bedrooms and on the way she has an array of family photos on the wall. At the top of the stairs, there's a sunny open plan hangout room where her kids like to hang out and they can watch movies with a comfy sectional and flat screen TV. Garcelle's master suite is also up here which she calls her sanctuary. Here, she has a gorgeous bed with velvet headboard, a TV, a super comfy looking couch and a gold theme throughout. Other decorative touches include huge glass lanterns and a Buddha statue nestled into a corner and glass sliders to her private terrace. Of course, Garcelle also has a beautiful ensuite bath to relax in and has said about her upstairs retreat. My bathroom is really important. That's my zen place. I also have a deck outside of my bedroom. That's where I have a fountain and I can meditate. I have a fire pit out there now. It's the little things that make me happy. If that's not enough, one room I'm totally jealous of is Garcelle's pink glam room. This pink room is where the queen gets ready and has a full vanity with massive mirrors as well as pink and white wallpaper. There's also a wall-mounted TV so the stars never board and a framed photo from one of Garcelle's photo shoots. While the room is definitely vibrant, she chose an understated wood chair with white cushions. It seems that Garcelle is super excited about living the single life in her new home. Not only is the star committed to live life on her terms, but that included getting her home the exact way she wanted with no compromises. She recently said in an interview about when she designed her dream home, I'm 1000% glad I didn't have a partner because I didn't have to ask his opinion like my girlfriends do. A girlfriend of mine said, I really want to do this to my bathroom but my husband won't let me. I said, girl, I don't have to worry about that. So now we've taken a look at where Garcelle Bouvet calls home and no doubt we will see more of her abode on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. While it may not be a 902 and no address, it's luxurious enough as it is and it seems like a beautiful place to raise her kids. Out of all the customized features at Garcelle's home, what was your favorite? Did you prefer the casual hangout space at the top of the stairs or her glamorous sitting room on the main level of the home? I loved her living room and how she decorated it since it was sleek and warm at the same time. Not to mention her glam room was to die for. I need a separate room for my closet and to get ready. It looks perfect. Anyways, let me know what you thought about Garcelle's homes in the comments down below. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and I'll catch you all in the next video. Bye.