Archive - Apr 4, 2011
Updated 4/1/11, 4:38 p.m.
MIDDLEBURY — Tik Root, the Middlebury College student and Ripton native imprisoned in Syria after a protest in Damascus on March 18, was released from Syrian custody on Friday.
“It is a tremendous relief,” wrote Tom Root, Tik’s father, in an email to the Independent on Friday afternoon.
Talking about cutting taxes on the wealthiest few, General Electric, one of the nation’s largest corporation, made headlines by reaping near-record profits — and paying no corporate income taxes. None. Zip. In fact, on worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, of which $5.1 billion was earned in the U.S., they claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
So while you’re finishing up your tax returns before the April 15 deadline, chew on that for a while.
ADDISON COUNTY — Although Mother Nature may have the last laugh considering the uncooperative weather in the forecast and the iffy condition of playing surfaces, the local high school sports season is scheduled to open this week.
Eight teams have games or matches on their dockets, but it’s possible only up to half of them will see action: the Middlebury Union boys’ and girls’ lacrosse and tennis squads.
LINCOLN — The Addison County-Ghana relationship will thicken this year as Lincoln’s Ruth Polishuk lifts ECHO off the ground. ECHO — which stands for Education, Culture and Health Opportunities — is a nonprofit nongovernmental organization (NGO) based out of Lincoln and Ghana’s southeast Volta Region.
MIDDLEBURY — It would be an understatement to say that Gary Barclay’s first day as a Middlebury police officer was a case of baptism by fire.
It was 1971. The Vietnam War was still raging and President Richard Nixon was in the White House. Barclay, then 25, had recently dropped off an application at the Middlebury Police Department in hopes of securing some part-time work in a field that appealed to him.
Then the call came. It was from then-Middlebury Police Chief Robert Van Ness.
ADDISON COUNTY — After the Toxics Action Center published a January report illuminating 1,421 hazardous waste sites across Vermont, and 214 in Addison County, it’s understandable that many local residents are concerned about the safety of their land.
Fortunately, the Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC) has funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to run a Brownfield Program, which identifies and assesses contaminated sites at no or low cost to qualifying property owners in Addison County.
VERMONT — “Toxics in Vermont: A Town-by-Town Profile,” a report released in January by the Toxics Action Center, is the most comprehensive and up-to-date report hitherto on the toxic contamination of Vermont’s environment.
After revealing many critical environmental issues facing Vermont, the Montpelier-based center recommends a number of ways the state should address these issues.
Their suggestions for a healthy environmental future are long and varied. Here they are in a nutshell:
