Archive - 2006 - Page
May 15th
By CYRUS LEVESQUE
ADDISON COUNTY — As town Green Up Day coordinators put away their sign-up sheets until next year, organizers of the May 6 events at the county and state level are working to figure out how well their system worked this year and how it can be improved for 2007.
The Addison County Solid Waste Management District took in 16.04 tons of waste collected in the county on Green Up Day, an annual day on which Vermonters pick up garbage along public roads.
“It went great,” said Bruce Webster, Goshen’s Green Up coordinator. “We had a good showing, but Goshen always does.”
By JOHN FLOWERS
SALISBURY — Relatively dry weather has kept the local mosquito population down this spring, but officials in the county’s two insect control districts have aircraft and supplies at the ready, should swarms rise from the swamps in the coming days.
As the Addison Independent went to press on Friday, mosquito numbers in the county were sparse. But officials acknowledged that a decent drenching — such as the soaking rain scheduled for this past weekend — could spawn new hatches of the pesky critters.
May 11th
By ANDY KIRKALDY
FERRISBURGH — With yet another deadline looming in the multi-year saga of the Vermont Electric Power Company effort to build a major new power line connecting West Rutland and South Burlington, towns in northern Addison County are lobbying VELCO to lessen the visual impact of a proposed 115-kilovolt line.
As recently revised, that 115-kV line between a new New Haven substation and South Burlington still includes some poles that top 100 feet tall.
Local officials have given mixed reviews to VELCO’s April 24 design, which was an update on the power-line installation plan that the electricity distribution company submitted in February. Many feel that VELCO has not followed through on initial proposals for poles ranging only up to about 70 feet tall, especially at many road crossings where the lines will be highly visible.
By HARRIETTE BRAINARD
MIDDLEBURY — Trustees at Middlebury College met in Middlebury this weekend and unanimously approved a 100-page strategic plan, which will focus on enhancing the Middlebury students’ educational experience through a continued emphasis on creating a more ethnically and socio-economic diverse student body, as well as promoting the college as a leader in environmental issues locally, nationally and internationally.
The strategic plan, the first since 1992, places its focus on strengthening financial aid and faculty programs, rather than on the college’s physical plant, which has seen the most dramatic physical changes in the past decade in the college’s 205-year history. The new plan also emphasizes the continued growth of the college as a world leader, and the next decade will see expansion of the college’s schools abroad.
By ANDY KIRKALDY
VERGENNES — In the annual battle for Addison County bragging rights, the Middlebury Marlins swim team defeated the Vergennes Champs, 234-173, at the East Street pool in Vergennes on Thursday.
Middlebury helped its cause garnering 49 points with seven relay victories, while the Champs won six relays for 40 points.
The Marlins were buoyed by Derek Hathaway, who won all four of the individual 12-and-under races he entered: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. The team also got a boost from Kess Moulton, who won the butterfly, backstroke and freestyle for the eight and under girls, and Grace Pyne, who in the 12 and under girls category won the butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle.
May 8th
By CYRUS LEVESQUE
BRISTOL — The AIDS epidemic in Africa is hitting the country of Zambia especially hard. One in six adults in the country has HIV. About 630,000 children have been orphaned by the disease.
Two Bristol residents, Darla Senecal and Nancy Luke, are creating a local chapter of the organization of the organization Mothers Without Borders, which is trying to offer relief to those orphans.
The local chapter’s first project is collecting “Newborn Kits” for families in Zambia. These kits include six cloth diapers, one layette gown, one bar of soap, four diaper pins, three small plastic pants, one pair of baby socks, one receiving blanket, and one hat for a newborn.
By JOHN FLOWERS
MIDDLEBURY — The union representing Addison Central Supervisory Union teachers has asked an Addison County Superior Court judge to compel ACSU Superintendent Lee Sease to turn over information that the superintendent insists he doesn’t have.
At issue is an ACSU-commissioned report, prepared by Bristol-based Barash Mediation Services, intended to recommend ways of promoting a more “civil and respectful” environment within district schools.
The Middlebury Union High School Teachers’ Association (MUHSTA) has seen the report, which addresses the district broadly, but wants a look at follow up reports created by Barash for some individual schools.
By JOHN FLOWERS
MONTPELIER — The Vermont House and Senate have asked the Agency of Agriculture to study the impact of milk hauling and stop charges on Vermont dairy farmers, and determine whether those expenses could be reasonably shifted to manufacturers and/or consumers.
As it stands, farmers pay the costs for haulers to stop and collect their milk. They are also assessed a fee to have that milk hauled to processing facilities. The fees are deducted from the farmers’ milk checks.
For many farmers, these hauling and stop charges are not insignificant. Sen. Harold Giard, D-Bridport, a former dairy farmer, said he paid upward of $20,000 per year to have his milk hauled to processing facilities in Massachusetts. Giard said he has a cousin in Bridport who milks 90 cows and paid $21,000 in charges last year. He heard recently from a farmer in the Northeast Kingdom who milks 30 cows and pays $4,800 annually in charges.
