The Middlebury Business Development Fund Advisory Board
will be meeting this afternoon at 3:30 at the Town Offices. The Board will continue to develop the
work plan for the Business Development Director and the fundraising strategy
for the business-funded component of the initiative.
The Sand Hill Bridge Preferred Alternative Meeting will
not be held this evening as previously scheduled. It will be rescheduled for later this month or sometime in
early August.
There will be a Middlebury Recreation Meeting this
Wednesday at 5:30 at the Town Offices.
With the transition from Recreation Advisory Board to Recreation
Committee, this meeting is intended to keep the momentum going and
communication open in planning for the future of the Recreation & Parks
Department. Discussion will
include an update from the Teen Center, a report on summer programs and a
review of the job description for the Director of Recreation & Parks.
The Downtown Improvement District Commission will
meet on Thursday afternoon at 4:00 at the Middlebury Town Offices. The Commission will review proposals
for a parking study of the downtown and prepare a recommendation to the Select
Board regarding the award of the contract for the study. The Commission will also discuss plans
for installing bike racks in the downtown.
A suspect is still at large after a shooting Friday
night that sent one man to the hospital for treatment. Ticonderoga Police Chief Mark Johns
says the public is not considered to be in danger, as the incident is believed
to be domestic in nature. Ticonderoga Police responded to the shooting at about
10:45PM on Montcalm St. Police said the victim was initially taken to Moses
Ludington Hospital in Ticonderoga for treatment. He was later transferred to
Albany Medical Center, where he was treated and released. The suspect 45-year-old Jimmy Joe St.
Andrews of Putnam is described as 6 feet tall, 175 pounds, with brown hair and
hazel eyes. Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at
585-3456.
One Essex County lawmaker wants to make sure
employees at Horace Nye Nursing Home are given first chance at openings in
other county departments before ownership of the facility is transferred. Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava said
although a stipulation of the sale of Horace Nye states current workers will be
offered jobs with the new owner, some might want to stay in county employment. The
Board of Supervisors voted in June to sell the Nursing Home to the Centers for
Specialty Care of New York City for $4.05 million, and transfer to private
ownership and operation is starting.
Two wildfires started burning near the train tracks
between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake last Thursday several hours after state
Department of Environmental Conservation officials issued a high fire danger
warning. At about 2:30PM a DEC
forest ranger reported the first brush fire about 1.5 miles west of Old
Military Road in Lake Placid. The second was reported around 4:30PM. Forest rangers were getting assistance
battling the fires from local volunteers, including the Saranac Lake and Lake
Placid fire departments. Meanwhile
the DEC warns residents and visitors to avoid burning brush at this time
especially from late morning through early evening and whenever windy
conditions are present. Never leave a fire unattended until it is completely
out and all ashes and embers are cool.
The Ticonderoga Revitalization Alliance is pleased
to invite you to celebrate the opening of The Downtown Gallery this Thursday
from 5 to 9PM. The Gallery,
located on Montcalm Street in the vacant space that formerly housed Curves,
will present local artists and others who have connections to the area from a
wide variety of mediums, displaying their work in a lively and creative manner. The artwork will all be available for
purchase, with a portion of the proceeds being donated back to the Ti-Alliance
to support economic development and cultural arts initiatives. Local recording artist Ashley
Sophia will provide live entertainment for the opening and Montcalm Liquors and
Eddie’s Restaurant have donated refreshments. For more information visit http://ticonderoga-alliance.org.
The Second Annual Duck Race sponsored by the
Ticonderoga Kiwanis is set for Sunday, August 5th at Bicentennial Park. The duck
race will take place at 11AM during the Ticonderoga Area Chamber of Commerce's
car show. Tickets are $5 each or a “6 quack” for $25. Tickets will be sold at
the car show on Sunday morning before the race. The ducks will be tossed over
the bridge above the falls and will race to the finish line below. The fastest
duck will win $300, second prize is $200 and third prize is $100.
A storm-damaged trail commonly used during skier
search-and-rescue operations in Killington will be relocated this summer. The U.S. Forest Service announced
recently that a 3,900-foot-long section of the Bucklin Trail, which was washed
out by Tropical Storm Irene last year, would be rebuilt at a higher elevation.
Rather than following its original course, which crisscrossed Brewers Brook,
the construction plans call for workers with hand tools to carve out a new
course along a ridge north of the existing trail.
Vermont State Police in Rutland are considering a
change they say could save money without diminishing police coverage in the
western part of the county. After
30 years, the agency is thinking about closing its outpost on Route 4A in
Castleton. The outpost has been
the base of operations for six troopers, a sergeant and a detective sergeant
whose workspace would be moved back to Rutland if the facility closes. But the state police presence in
western Rutland County wouldn’t decrease.
A former State Police sergeant is pleading not
guilty to charges of felony fraud involving padding his timecard in order to
collect overtime he didn't earn.
James Deeghan appeared in court Friday. Court documents say that's not all he did, adding he also fabricated
police calls. Prosecutors say in
June alone, he was paid for responding to two accidents and a security alarm
call, which never happened. When
confronted earlier, Deeghan reportedly admitted to doctoring his overtime, but
said he planned to make it up off the books. If convicted, he faces the possibility of ten years in prison.
It's already been a problematic summer on Lake
Champlain with blue-green algae blooms reported. It's spread across a broad swath, although by the end of the
week, some of the thicker blooms were dispersed by wind and waves. Clean water advocates say the blooms
arrived earlier this summer and are more widespread, moving into the main body
of the lake. Phosphorus fuels the
explosive growth, and last year saw a record level of phosphorus coming into
the lake due to the spring floods and Tropical Storm Irene.
Today marks the first day of office for the new
president of the University of Vermont.
E. Thomas Sullivan spent seven years as provost at the University of
Minnesota and has spent more than 30 years in academics. The UVM Board of Trustees say while he knows
all the challenges ahead, he's going to be spending a lot of time in the
beginning doing a lot of listening and consulting. He succeeds John Bramley who has been the interim president
for about a year.
What do you get when you put 400 people into a mud
pit with a volleyball net? You get
a mud volleyball tournament, which raises a lot of money for the Epilepsy
Foundation of Vermont. The
hundreds of participants slipping and sliding for a good cause weren't all
playing at the same time in the 19th Annual Mud Volleyball Tournament, as there
were 43 teams. But when it was all
over yesterday, the event not only raised awareness of the neurological
disorder as well as more than eleven thousand dollars for the foundation.
A new interim director has been named for
Burlington International Airport. Mayor Miro Weinberger announced the
appointment Friday of Gene Richards, airport commission chairman. He said
Richards would act as director for the remainder of the year, while a new
commission scrutinizes airport finances and creates a strategic plan. Richards's appointment and a new
commission resolution go to the City Council for its approval today.
A bill going into effect this month in Vermont may
help to reduce the high turnover of school leaders statewide. Vermont Act 20 requires all new school
leaders to receive mentoring during their first two years on the job. The Act 20 Study Committee was formed
last year to study how the education profession inducts and mentors new
teachers and to recommend legislative changes that would help new teachers to
develop strong skills in their initial years and that would increase the
retention of high-quality teachers.
Millions of uninsured people may have to wait until
after Election Day to find out if and how they can get coverage through
President Barack Obama's health care law.
More than two weeks after the Supreme Court gave the green light to
Obama's signature legislative achievement, many governors from both parties
said they haven't decided how their states will proceed on two parts under
their control. One is an expansion
of Medicaid, which is expected to extend coverage to roughly 15 million
low-income people. The second concerns new insurance exchanges, projected to
help an additional 15 million or so purchase private insurance.
A Waterbury attorney will be sworn in to replace a
probate judge in Washington County Superior Court. The governor nominated
Jeffrey Kilgore to replace Judge George Belcher in the probate division of the
Washington Superior Court. Kilgore will be sworn in today.
Duck and geese hunters from Vermont and New York
are encouraged to attend next month's meetings on Lake Champlain's waterfowl
hunting season. Officials will discuss the status of duck and geese populations
in Vermont and the Lake Champlain zone in New York.
The University of Vermont commemorated the 100th
anniversary of the winning of an Olympic gold medal by the alumnus for whom the
Burlington school's hockey rink house is named. UVM track and field standout
Albert Gutterson of the class of 1912 won a gold medal in the broad jump at the
Olympic games in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 12th, 1912.
Brandon Music on Country Club Road in Brandon presents
a concert of chamber music by musicians from the Killington Music Festival this
Wednesday at 7:00PM. The concert will feature solo and chamber music
performances by resident musicians from the Killington Music Festival. Now in its 30th season, the Killington
Music Festival is the only resident professional classical music organization
in central Vermont. Each summer about 100 students gather at Killington from
institutions such as the Juilliard School of Music, Boston Conservatory, The
New England Conservatory, The Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Conservatory,
Eastman School of Music and the University of Arizona. Tickets are $10 for the
Brandon Music performance. Visit www.brandon-music.net
for more information.
The Middlebury Community Players troupe is
presenting a revival of “Swingtime Canteen, the Star Spangled Musical Hit,” a
recreation of a USO show during World War II in 1944. It’s taking place July 19th through the 21st. The Greatest Generation pulls together
to the beat of the Andrews Sisters and big bands like the Glenn Miller
Orchestra. Get details by visiting
http://www.middleburycommunityplayers.org.
Ever thought about visiting every town, city, gore,
and grant in Vermont to qualify for membership in the 251 Club? Eric Wegar of Pittsford did just that.
With the photographs he took, he created 14 collages, one for each county in
the state. These are on display all this month at the Ilsley Public Library in
downtown Middlebury. On Tuesday,
July 24, from 10:30-11:30 AM, he will share stories of his trip. Everyone who
is a member of the 251 Club or is curious about it is invited to share stories as
well. Get more information by
visiting www.ilsleypubliclibrary.org.
