Fifty years ago this week, newspaper readers in Addison County could buy a copy of the Addison Independent for 15 cents. Here are some of the top stories that appeared in the Feb. 12, 1970, edition of the Independent: 
• The spate of Middlebury burglaries continued as Benjamin’s dry cleaners was hit for a fourth and fifth time, despite police stake-outs in the building. No more money was stolen, but the building’s doors and windows were repeatedly damaged. 
• The Vermont Department of Education approved a plan for an Addison-Panton elementary school district, which would teach 160 children. 
• Mount Abraham Union High School hosted a foreign exchange student, Felida Fernandez of Venezuela, with plans to send a student of their own to study in South or Central America over the summer. 
• The Middlebury Union High School boys’ Nordic ski team qualified for the state championship meet after they placed fifth at a North County Union High School meet. 
• The Department of Vermont American Legion Auxillary raised $400 for the Brandon Training School, to help furnish a dormitory for the 5-10-year-old residents. 
• The Vermont Legislature passed a law allowing game wardens to shoot any dogs they found harassing deer. Packs of dogs killed over 20 deer during a one-week period in Addison County alone. 
• Residents of Bridport, East Middlebury, Ferrisburgh, Hancock, New Haven, North Ferrisburgh, Orwell, Salisbury, Shoreham, Starksboro and Whiting benefitted from new postal service requirements, having their mail delivered to their homes for the first time instead of having to pick it up at the post office. 
— Emma Pope McCright