Get Home Delivery    |    Full Online Edition    |    Newsstand Locations    |    Submit Classified Ad

News Syndicate content

Breaking news: Crown Point Bridge reduced to one lane; officials cite deteriorating trusses

By ANDY KIRKALDY
ADDISON — As of Friday, traffic on the Crown Point Bridge, which links Addison with Crown Point, N.Y., will be reduced to one lane to allow New York Department of Transportation workers to perform repairs to the span’s steel trusses.

NYDOT spokesman Peter Van Keuren said traffic will be limited to one lane on the bridge until at least the end of August while work is done on its structure, and a 40-ton weight limit will also be imposed on trucks.

full story

Aldermen back grant for senior housing

By ANDY KIRKALDY
VERGENNES — On Tuesday Vergennes aldermen gave their blessing to a $350,000 Community Development Block Grant for a proposed 25-unit elderly housing project off Monkton Road, an action taken after months of debate and a change in the project to remove future plans for affordable housing.

Aldermen also called for a July 21 public hearing on the grant, a forum that is expected to be a formality given the popularity of the senior housing proposal. That hearing will piggyback on another hearing scheduled for that evening, one on the proposed new city plan.

full story

Late blight threatens potatoes and tomatoes

By KATHRYN FLAGG
ADDISON COUNTY — In Whiting, Karen LeRoy is on the lookout for a culprit that could wreak havoc in her garden this year. And this summer, it’s not the usual critters, like deer or rabbits or pesky insects, that pose the greatest threat — it’s the late blight, a fungal disease that horticulturists say could wipe out tomato and potato crops in Vermont.

full story

Salisbury music series rings in 30th year

PCPgroup.000.jpg

By JOHN FLOWERS
SALISBURY — For 30 years now, the Point CounterPoint chamber music camp on Lake Dunmore and the nearby Salisbury Congregational Church have played a sweet symphony together.

The musical relationship began back in 1979, when the Salisbury church was preparing to mark its 175th birthday. Then-pastor Wayne Holsman secured a $500 grant that the congregation decided to use for a celebratory performance series.

full story

After 38 years, National Guard trumpeter takes 'farewell tour'

By ANDY KIRKALDY
VERGENNES — Jim Lanpher’s 38-year career with the Vermont National Guard’s 40th Army Band ends on Aug. 10 because he will then reach the mandatory retirement age of 60.

The Vergennes resident still remembers 49 years ago when he decided to start playing the trumpet. He was in school in his native Maine when he made the choice.

Music company reps displayed their goods. Among them were trumpets, the same instrument Lanpher’s father played in a U.S. Army career that began in World War II.

full story

Bristol pastor arrives on a wing and a prayer

By KATHRYN FLAGG
BRISTOL — It’s the usual work of a man of the cloth: comfort the dying and celebrate with the living.

So, in many ways, it was business as usual for the Rev. Bill Elwell, pastor of Bristol Federated Church, who buried an old friend one recent Saturday morning, consoled the family and friends left behind, and then quickly switched gears that afternoon to perform the marriage ceremony for a joyful Bristol couple.

But looking back on June 20, Elwell admits it was a day that was anything but ordinary.

full story

Leicester and Salisbury talk about school consolidation

By KATHRYN FLAGG
LEICESTER/SALISBURY — Representatives from Leicester and Salisbury converged last week to test the waters for a possible merger of the two Addison County towns’ schools.

A new study committee — comprised of some school board members, community residents, selectmen and parents — met for the first time last Wednesday at the Salisbury Community School to discuss, in broad strokes, how best the two communities can explore options for a merger.

full story

School district bookkeeper cited for embezzlement

By KATHRYN FLAGG
BRISTOL — Vermont State Police on Thursday wrapped up a months-long investigation of alleged embezzlement at the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union, citing into court Amy Cousino, 39, of Bristol to answer charges of embezzling more than $40,000.

Cousino, who worked as a bookkeeper at the supervisory union from September 2004 to February 2009, will be arraigned in Addison District Court on July 13.

full story

Camp Keewaydin celebrates a century of summers (with slideshow)

ring.1929.jpg

By JOHN FLOWERS
SALISBURY — It was unusually quiet at the Camp Keewaydin campus in Salisbury last week. A tympanic symphony of raindrops echoed from the roofs of camp buildings across Lake Dunmore on this Monday. It’s Mother Nature’s prelude to the pitter-patter of many feet and voices that will charge into the camp beginning on June 28 for what will be Keewaydin’s 100th summer season.

full story

Middlebury to decide on future of M&E tax

By JOHN FLOWERS
MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury residents will be asked to eliminate the town’s machinery and equipment (M&E) tax over six years. Economic development officials say the move would in the short-term slightly boost residential property tax rates, but in the long-term help the community recruit and retain businesses.

full story