Archive - May 2012
May 28th
SALISBURY/LEICESTER — The Lake Dunmore/Fern Lake Association (LDFLA) wants to enlist the help of some tiny insects to accomplish a feat that has thus far eluded hail divers and heavy marine equipment: the eradication of Eurasian milfoil.
The LDFLA has applied for permission from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources to introduce thousands of Euhrychiopsis lecontei — aka milfoil weevils — as another weapon in removing the nuisance aquatic weeds that have been steadily encroaching on the lakes.
VERGENNES — Vergennes Mayor Michael Daniels made official in a Wednesday phone interview what he hinted at during last Tuesday’s city council meeting: He will not run again for his office next March.
“I am stepping down,” Daniels said on May 23. “I am going to stay active in the community in some way, shape or matter ... But unless something changes drastically, I am not running again next year ... I’m still having fun, but it’s time for a fresh set of eyes.”
BRISTOL — The Mount Abraham Union High School board has reconfigured the leaderships at the Bristol school, a move that could cut costs.
The change comes as Co-Principal Leon Wheeler next year will leave to become principal at Winooski High School and Dean of Students Nancy Yannette also will leave Mount Abe.
BRISTOL — The Bristol selectboard kicked off its Monday meeting by holding annual public hearings for the water district, sewer district and landfill.
All three spending plans for next fiscal year reflect decreases from this year. Next year’s spending level for:
• The landfill was set at $155,250, down 1.5 percent from this year’s budgeted spending of $157,600.
• The water district was set at $247,700, down 5 percent from this year’s 260,700.
GOSHEN — The town of Goshen is headed to court on May 30 to defend itself against a lawsuit brought by a former town constable.
Tom Kerr is suing the town in Addison County District Court on four counts, stating that the town unlawfully terminated his constable position, trash and recycling removal and landscaping contracts, and invoking Vermont’s “whistleblower law,” which prevents employers from retaliating against a worker who files a complaint or reports a problem with the employer.
WALTHAM — The FBI continues to investigate the April 12 shooting deaths on Kodiak Island, Alaska, of Coast Guardsmen Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins, a 41-year-old native of Waltham, and retired Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle. After six weeks the FBI has made no arrests.
Hopkins and Belisle were found dead at their stations at Coast Guard Communications Station Kodiak on the morning of April 12. Kodiak Island, about 250 miles southwest of Anchorage, hosts a Coast Guard base with about 4,000 Guardsmen, families and civilian employees.
VERMONT — Without Gregory Sanford, Vermont history just wouldn’t be the same.
For 30 years, he’s been the state archivist, preserving, organizing, cataloguing — and pondering — the documents that underpin the existence of the state we call Vermont. He’s been equal parts crusader and visionary, enthusiastically at home in an arcane, fascinating field that is distant from most of us — and yet, ever-present in our lives. For without our history, what are we?
LEICESTER — After nearly two years of work, the Leicester selectboard and planning commission are in the final stages of crafting a new town plan.
The new plan will replace the 2003 version, which expired in 2008. Selectboard chair Diane Benware said last Thursday that the final rewrites had just been completed, and copies were mailed to the selectboard and planning commissions for review.
