Category: Featured

ACSU towns to discuss school governance on June 13

Posted on May 21, 2012 |

• Middlebury
• ACSU
• education
• Featured

By John Flowers

MIDDLEBURY — Four of the Addison Central Supervisory Union (ACSU) school district’s seven member-towns have completed community-wide discussions about how their respective schools could adapt to the current trend of rising costs and declining student enrollment. All seven communities will reveal their recommendations at a district forum on Friday, June 13.

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Farmers struggle with visa program

Posted on May 17, 2012 |

• Vermont
• agriculture
• Featured
• H2A

By Andrea Suozzo

VERMONT — On a gray May morning in Monkton, Norma Norris and Denzel Rankine were hard at work planting tomatoes, watering seedlings in the greenhouse and painting tables in preparation for the upcoming summer season.

Rankine, 48, comes to Norris Berry Farm from his home in Jamaica for six months each year through the federal H2A guest worker program, arriving in mid-April and staying until the end of the season in the fall.

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Long-serving educators ready for last bell: Don McIntosh

Posted on May 17, 2012 |

• Middlebury
• education
• Featured
• teachers

By John Flowers

MIDDLEBURY — Don McIntosh has led three generations of Middlebury-area kids through exercises ranging from calisthenics to kickball.

Now, after 37 years as gym teacher serving local middle school-age students, McIntosh is ready to put down his whistle. But don’t expect him to prop up his feet in retirement, even as he approaches his 70th birthday.

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Level city spending proposed

Posted on May 14, 2012 |

• Vergennes
• Featured
• town budgets
• Vergennes City Council

By Andy Kirkaldy

VERGENNES — City Manager Mel Hawley introduced a draft budget to Vergennes aldermen at their May 8 meeting that could again allow them to keep level the portion of the city tax rate that funds municipal services.

The total of the proposed budget — not including fee-supported sewer spending — is $1,727,963, an increase of about $20,000.

Including $28,039 of charitable requests, the total grows to $1,756,002 and would increase by about $17,000 (because of a slight drop in those charitable requests).

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