Archive - Feb 27, 2012
In this political era in which the leading Republicans of the land stumble over themselves to reject the wisdom of separating church in state in a political context; in which cutting taxes to corporations is the panacea for all that ails us; in which cow-towing to the fanatical wing of the party is the only path to the nomination; it is instructive and nostalgic, perhaps, to want to revisit President Abraham Lincoln’s speech on slavery made in the Cooper Union, New York City on Feb. 27, 1860 – 152 years ago.
WATERBURY — Vermont State Police issued a statement today saying they are revising their search and rescue policy.
The move comes after VSP received public criticism for their slow response last month to the report of a hiker missing in the Green Mountains — 19-year-old Levi Duclos — who subsequently died on the trail.
As expected, the Vergennes Union High School boys’ basketball team and both Middlebury Union hockey teams learned on Monday from the Vermont Principals’ Association they would host first-round playoff games.
The 18-2 Commodore boys earned the top seed for the Division II playoffs and will host No. 16 Lamoille (6-14) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. A win on Tuesday means VUHS will host a Friday quarterfinal at 7 p.m. against either No. 8 Fair Haven (10-10) or No. 9 Bellows Falls (11-9). The Commodores have not faced any of those three teams this season.
MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s basketball team will make its fifth consecutive NCAA Division III tournament appearance when the Panthers host a regional tournament Friday and Saturday in Pepin Gym.
The 24-3 Panthers will take on Morrisville State (19-8) on Friday at 7:30 p.m., preceded by a game between Albertus Magnus (27-1) and St. Joseph’s of Long Island (21-4) at 5:30 p.m.. The winners meet on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the regional final.
VERGENNES — A variety of incidents kept Vergennes police busy between Feb. 13 and 19, including family problems, an untimely death that police said was of natural causes, and traffic stops that included one drunk-driving citation.
In that seven-day span, Vergennes police:
• On Feb. 13 checked the welfare of a driver at a Monkton Road bank drive-through window who was reported to be acting erratically; police determined he was OK.
• On Feb. 13 accepted pain medication and drug paraphernalia for disposal.
BRISTOL — It’s been almost five months since two men with baseball bats barged into Bristol’s Living Well assisted care home, stealing roughly 270 doses of narcotics. But the incident still haunts 20-year-old Stepfanie Williams, who was on staff as a caregiver that September night.
Earlier this month, Williams met with Living Well staff, Bristol police and other concerned parties in Bristol’s Holley Hall to discuss the incident and to explore what authorities call a growing drug problem in Addison County.
MIDDLEBURY — Local lawmakers continue to be concerned about the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant owner’s ongoing legal fight to remain open and to remain part of the state’s long-term energy future.
Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell on Feb. 17 announced that he will appeal a federal district court judge’s ruling that gave new hope to Entergy Nuclear’s quest to keep its Vernon-based power plant open.
MIDDLEBURY — Imagine driving from Middlebury to Jacksonville, Fla. Now, replace your car engine with a paddle and muscle power, and imagine canoeing the same distance — about 1,200 miles.
This spring, 10 young men will leave Lake Dunmore in a fleet of wood-canvas canoes they built themselves, bound 1,200 miles north for James Bay, Canada. Instead of finishing in the sunbelt, though, they’ll chase spring ice on their paddle through Quebec and Ontario.
