Archive - Jun 3, 2010
MIDDLEBURY — It’s early June during an election year in Vermont, which means Gov. James Douglas should be in full campaign mode right now.
But for the first time in more than three decades, the Middlebury Republican finds himself on the sidelines of a crowded candidates’ field that he helped populate with three simple words last August: “I’m not running.”
Douglas recently sat down at the Addison Independent offices to reflect on the recently concluded Legislative session — his last in the governor’s office — his legacy, and what he might do in the future.
BRISTOL — In a storefront-turned-classroom, Mount Abraham Union High School senior Jeff Casey paused mid-sentence while his classmates chuckled.
It was the end of term, and the 18-year-old was presenting his final coursework. In his case, that meant a slim folio of poems, a sketchbook filled with photographs and collages, and, in the grand finale, a short story inspired by John Updike’s “A & P.”
ADDISON COUNTY — The annual spring building boom in Addison County and beyond is being at least slightly tempered by the financial impact of new federal regulations requiring contractors to take more precautions in performing renovation projects in older buildings containing lead paint.
While most acknowledge the new rules will make houses and other buildings safer, others say the whole picture was not taken into consideration before the rules took effect.
MIDDLEBURY — The Addison Central Supervisory Union (ACSU) board last week took another small exploratory step into the arena of school governance consolidation, electing to create an ad hoc committee that will help coordinate debate on the controversial issue.
SHOREHAM — Shoreham voters will soon get a chance to decide whether the town should build new municipal offices or incorporate them into a Newton Academy re-build that would also include a community center.
Plans call for the Shoreham selectboard to prepare a list of three options to address the town’s quest for more municipal office space and to potentially fill the void left by the April 7 burning of historic Newton Academy on School Street.
Those options, according to Shoreham selectboard Chairman Paul Saenger, will include:
MIDDLEBURY — Former Vergennes Police Chief Michael Lowe’s case in Addison County District Court concluded on May 26, when Judge Cortland Corsones denied motions by Lowe’s attorney to reduce the six-month sentence the judge gave Lowe on May 5 for a felony count of obtaining prescription drugs by fraud.
Lowe, at 51 a nine-year veteran of the Vergennes Police Department, almost all of it as its chief, reported on May 12 to Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield to await transport to an out-of-state prison.
MONTPELIER — Legislative leaders will let stand Gov. James Douglas’ override of proposed changes to the “Current Use” program, opting against a special session of the Legislature in favor of designating the issue a top priority for next year.
