The initial spraying in two 16-square-mile areas in
Whiting and Brandon was expected to be completed by early Saturday morning in an
effort aimed at killing mosquitoes that carry eastern equine encephalitis, a
virus that took the life of one Vermonter and sickened another. The spraying was completed in Whiting
on Thursday, but then delayed in Brandon because of lightning. It was prompted
by the state Health Department’s declaration of an imminent public health risk
one week ago, following two rare human infections in Rutland and Addison
counties. According to research the
mosquitoes that carry EEE will be in the area for the next three years.
You are invited to the Groundbreaking Ceremony for
the ACTR Community Transportation Center today. The event takes place from 2 – 3PM at 341 Creek Road in
Middlebury. The ceremony will
include introductions and a formal welcome from Jim Moulton of ACTR. Also expected to attend are Ted Brady
from the Office of Senator Patrick Leahy, Chris Cole with VTrans and Dean
George the Chair of the ACTR Board Of Directors. An opportunity to mingle with attendees and refreshments
will be part of this event.
As of yesterday afternoon Green Mountain Power had
restored power to nearly all of the 28,000 customers who lost power during
Saturday’s high winds. GMP crews
worked throughout the night Saturday to fix the widespread damage from a long
line of thunderstorms. GMP began
planning for this storm early Friday morning, lining up extensive resources
including contract crews from Vermont and New York to assist GMP crews in a
quick response.
A number of meetings are scheduled this week for
the Town Of Middlebury. The
Development Review Board meets this evening at 7 in the Main Conference
Room. During this meeting there
will be a public hearing for the Brown Novelty Company eight-lot subdivision
along with an informal discussion with the Addison County Community Trust. Tomorrow morning the Town Steering
Committee will gather in the Small Conference Room at 10:30. A report from the Gym Task Force is on
that agenda along with a discussion of the exterior design of the Town Office building. Then on Thursday the Middlebury Business
Development Fund Advisory Board will meet in the Main Conference Room at 1 PM
where they will finalize the Statement Of need and Fundraising Strategy. Get more info anytime by visiting the
Town of Middlebury’s Website.
The Town Of Middlebury Select Board will hold their
regular meeting tomorrow evening at 7 in the Town Offices Conference Room. Items on the agenda include a
discussion regarding the purchase of the Co-op Fire Parcel at the base of
Chipman Hill with funding from the Town Conservation Fund. Reports will also be heard from various
Town Committees including the Middlebury Business Development Fund Advisory
Board, the Energy Committee, the Town Steering Committee, and a Middlebury Fire
Department Project Update. For a
complete agenda just visit the Town’s Website.
Last week the Addison County Chamber of Commerce
announced this year’s award recipients!
The Business of the Year went to the Vermont Book Shop. The Buster Brush Citizen of the Year
award went to David Clark, Director of the Ilsley Library and Andrea Solomon,
Community Cheerleader and Volunteer.
This years Community Achievement Award was given to the Middlebury
Volunteer Ambulance Association and the Chairmen’s Award when to Donna Donahue
of the Better Middlebury Partnership.
Representatives from non-profit, government and
for-profit organizations that serve Addison County’s senior citizens will
gather this week at Addison County Home Health and Hospice. Lindsey Tucker,
Deputy Commissioner, Health Benefit Exchange Division, will provide an update
or progress report on the state’s healthcare exchange. A light lunch will be
provided. The meeting will take
place tomorrow from 12:00 – 1:30 PM.
Vermont is hosting public forums about the Health
Benefit Exchange. "The
Exchange will give Vermonters access to affordable, quality health
coverage," Mark Larson, Commissioner of the DVHA, said in a press release.
"These forums are a statewide effort intended to help the public learn
about the Exchange and what it will mean for them." Each session will cover essential
health benefits required of all health plans, assistance that will be available
and what the Exchange website will look like. Upcoming sessions includes one in Middlebury this Thursday
at the Ilsley Public Library from 6 – 8:30 PM and one in Rutland on Monday the
24th at the Rutland Free Library from 6 – 8:30 PM.
Next to the annual Addison County Fair and Field Days, the only other
annual events that gets Addison County’s
farming community together are the two Bourdeau and Bushey’s Open House events
held at the agribusiness on Seymour Street in Middlebury. The open houses are
held in February and September every year. The firm’s latest open house was held September 6th. Hundreds of visitors—ranging from Champlain
Valley farmers and retailers to sales representatives and tractor
dealers—registered for the event in order to meet with ag vendors, examine new
farm equipment, socialize, and simply enjoy one of the best, free chicken
barbecue cookouts in the area. Bourdeau
and Bushey customers extend from New Hampshire to New York.
To help raise more funds to help meet community
needs, the Vergennes Lions Club is sponsoring a Sports Ticket Raffle with the
drawing, for five winners being, on October 17th. Raffle prizes include two 2013 NASCAR tickets to Loudon, a
$200 gift certificate from Stubhub.com, two general admission season tickets to
either St. Michael’s College basketball or hockey games this season, two
general admission tickets to Green Mountain Derby Dames doubleheader on
November 3rd, four general admission tickets to a regular season UVM women’s
basketball game and four general admission tickets to a regular season UVM
men’s basketball game. The tickets
sell for $10 each or three for $25, and are available through at Classic
Stitching in Vergennes, Linda’s Apparel and Gifts in Vergennes, and at Jackman
Fuels in Vergennes. There will be
five prizewinners.
A Benefit Dinner for Connor Bruce Courtright will
be held at the Knights of Columbus in Ticonderoga on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
starting at 5:00 PM. Dinners will be served until they are sold out. Take-outs
are available. In addition there will be a 50/50 Raffle, Door Prize and more. The
price is $10.00 per person. All proceeds are to benefit Connor Bruce Courtright
and his family for treatment, travel and other expenses related to Connors
treatment and fight against cancer. The menu will include homemade marinara
sauce and meatballs, angel hair pasta, homemade baked ziti and lasagna as well
as tossed salad, rolls, butter and cookies. The benefit dinner is being
sponsored by John & Joanne Bartlett, the Knights of Columbus and Eddies
Restaurant. If possible RSVP via Facebook, to 518-546-3148 or matthewjcourtright@gmail.com.
A body found in Crown Point on Friday has been
tentatively identified as a missing Warren County man. State police said they believe the body
is that of Keith R. Gill of Chestertown who has been missing from a family camp
on Loon Lake near Chestertown since August 19th. A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
officer discovered the body at 4:40 PM Friday near Peasley Road, about a mile
from the spot police had found Gill’s car two weeks ago. Documents and items belonging to Gill
were located at the scene. An
autopsy was performed at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake Saturday.
The cause of death was ruled to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Essex County Coroner Paul Connery ruled the manner of death as suicide. Positive identification is pending a
forensic dental comparison.
The Westport Central School Board will meet at 6:30
PM this Thursday in the library. The
agenda includes appointments, community-service discussion and any other business
that comes before the board. All
board meetings are open to the public.
Dozens of people took to the streets in South Burlington and walked Sunday, raising money and awareness for those who can't see. The second annual Vision Walk benefits the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, an agency which, has served nearly 14-hundred clients, including about 300 children. The 65 people walking yesterday were even joined by guide dogs, two puppies from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which showed what they've learned so far.
Dozens of people took to the streets in South Burlington and walked Sunday, raising money and awareness for those who can't see. The second annual Vision Walk benefits the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, an agency which, has served nearly 14-hundred clients, including about 300 children. The 65 people walking yesterday were even joined by guide dogs, two puppies from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which showed what they've learned so far.
The issue of products made from hemp and cannabis
will be on the agenda tonight for the Burlington City Council. What councilors will be deciding is
whether to put on the November ballot a non-binding referendum question asking
if voters support the legalization, regulation, and taxation of all cannabis
and hemp products. Council Max
Tracy of Ward 2 is pushing for it, saying he believes more voters here welcome
the idea of legalization. A public
forum is also planned for tonight's city council meeting.
We haven't even had the first hard frost of the
season, but already ski resorts are working hard to get your business. Many mountain resorts are offering good
season rates to future customers in the form of purchasing season passes early,
in hopes of offsetting a lackluster spring season. Stowe is offering one now which is 400-dollars cheaper than
normal if it's purchased before the end of October. A combo Burk and Jay Peak pass is 799-dollars now, but more
than a thousand after October 15th.
A Vermont town is using sheep and goats to maintain
the grass in its cemeteries. Stephen Brooks, chairman of the Charlotte Cemetery
Commission, says the animals have reduced the need to mow or fertilize. He
thinks the grazing could save Charlotte about $2,000 in fuel costs this year.
He said the idea was born out of necessity as it takes landscaping skills and
budget funds to maintain cemeteries.
Stephen said the savings would go toward repairing headstones or fencing.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new law
that takes a little more out of employee's paychecks. The law authorizes employers to
deduct wages for payments on items like gym dues, daycare and cafeteria
purchases. It will take effect in
60 days and will expire 3 years from now. This stems from frequent happenings of over payments
due to mathematical errors. These
wage deductions do require worker consent and notification.
Dairy cow lameness can negatively impact milk
production, reproductive success, farm costs, and public perception of how well
a farm cares for its cows. To help farmers better assess and treat lameness,
the Northern New York Dairy Institute will hold a series of four 10:30am-3pm
workshops from October 16 through November 9 at sites across the region. On the
following Thursdays October 18th, 25th, and November 1st and 8th, workshops
will be held at Franklin –Clinton – and Essex County locations.
Vermont has received an $18 million federal grant
to help it pursue a program designed to get disabled residents the care they
need at home rather than in long-term care facilities. Anyone receiving Vermont
Medicaid and living in a nursing facility can apply for the program.
A Putney high school student is the newest student
member of the Vermont Board of Education. The appointment of Brattleboro Union
High School junior Lachlan Francis was announced Friday by Governor Peter
Shumlin.
Archeologists have recovered evidence of 9,000
years of human occupation ranging from Native American settlements to portions
of a French fort at the Chimney Point State Historic Site in West Addison. The excavations were done as part of
the construction of a new bridge between Vermont and New York. Archaeologists say the historic and
archaeological research shows the significance of Chimney Point to the Native
American and European history of the Champlain Valley and Vermont. John Crock, associate professor of
anthropology and director of the University of Vermont's Consulting Archaeology
Program, will present the findings at a talk in Burlington this month. The free event will be held September
16th at 4 PM at the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wants to make sure young
football players wear safe helmets.
Schumer is visiting a suburban Rochester football field today to
announce his support for new legislation designed to improve standards for
youth and high school football helmets.
Schumer says the current voluntary safety standards for football helmets
do not specifically address concussion risk or youth-size helmets. The proposed
legislation would establish a process for new, youth-focused safety standards. Concerns about the long-term health
effects of repeated concussions have increased in recent years and many parents
are reconsidering whether football is safe enough for their children.
