Saturday’s Festival Of Fido’s Fundraiser event at
Basin Harbor Club was cancelled this year due to the weather. However many local folks have been
asking if they could still donate to the Addison County Humane Society to help
offset the loss of revenue from this cancelled event and of course the answer
is yes! Just contact the Humane
Society or visit them online at www.addisonhumane.org. They are planning to have the Festival
Of Fido’s event next year. Also, don't forget RUFF RIDE 2012, the motorcycle
and bicycle ride and BBQ fundraiser will be held on Sunday June 24th.
Our very own Bruce & Hobbes will be there as the official Emcee’s of the event! For more information about
this event, please the ACHS website and download a sponsorship form to help
raise money for our furry friends!
Lastly, Woofstock 2012 their Annual Walk and Festival for the Animals
will be held on Saturday October 6th. More information on Woofstock will follow, as we get closer
to the event!
The Planning Commission will hold two public
hearings on the proposed 2012 Town Plan today and on Wednesday of this
week. Both hearings will begin at
7PM in the Ilsley Library Meeting Room.
The Town Plan affects all of the Town of Middlebury. The full plan with maps can be viewed
at the Planning & Zoning Office in the Town Offices as well as on the
Town’s Website.
The Town Of Middlebury Public Works Committee will
hold a meeting this Friday at 7:30AM in the Middlebury Town Offices Conference
Room. Discussion of the South
Street & Green Mountain Place Project will take place including a review of
project bids. They will also
review the Public Works Standards for Water Main construction. Get more information anytime on the
Town’s Website.
Closed by flooding four years ago, the Leicester Hollow-Chandler
Ridge Loop Trail was officially reopened Saturday in a ceremony attended by the
half-dozen groups that worked to repair it. The popular hiking path follows Leicester Hollow Brook for
almost 9 miles as it ascends to Silver Lake and is off limits to motorized
vehicles in the summer. Most of the money for the $250,000 project came from
federal Recovery Act funding — although $55,000 in state Forests, Parks and
Recreation funds were contributed.
Many Youth Conservation Corps workers worked in three shifts over 22
weeks of construction last summer to move boulders and lay down the
cobblestones that make up the new footpaths.
The Castleton Planning Commission will host an
informational hearing on the proposed Ridgeline Development energy project this
Thursday beginning at 7PM at the Jeffords Center auditorium at Castleton State
College. The Commission feels it
is important for citizens to be heard on this general subject and at length, so
that public opinion can be a guide in enhancing the Castleton Town Plan.
Castleton’s current Town Plan gives no guidance on ridgeline development. The specific topic of immediate concern
is the Reunion commercial wind power project proposed for the Taconic Range
ridgeline from Grandpa's Knob going north through territories of Castleton,
West Rutland, Pittsford and Hubbardton.
Organizers are interested in citizen thoughts and opinions; all
interested citizens from the effected communities or beyond are welcome and
will be heard.
Ticonderoga officials hope to have test drills
drilled this month, a key step in a $13.8 million water project for the
community. Engineers have
identified possible groundwater sites in the town. Test wells will be drilled
to determine whether the locations have the capacity to meet local demand. In 2009 the state Department of Health
ordered Ti to replace or cover the Gooseneck reservoir, which was created in
1931. The town developed a plan to replace the reservoir with tanks, but an
inspection discovered problems with the Gooseneck dam and with transmission
lines.
The town of Moriah is planning a town-wide clean
up. There is no official date for
the clean up yet, but town officials are in the process of investigating the
cost and ways to assist residents.
Moriah’s Town Supervisor said it will more than likely be a day or two,
probably a weekend, where everything will be accepted at the transfer station
at no cost and with no limits. The
town board has received many complaints about junk and neglected properties in
the community. As soon as a date
for the cleanup has been set we’ll let you know.
Students from schools throughout Essex County got
the chance to get out of the classroom and learn about their environment hands
on. The 28th Annual Essex County
Environmental Field Days were held at the county fairgrounds in Westport on
Tuesday, May 22nd and Thursday, May 24th. Schools rotated through a number of
exhibits talking about the environment with topics ranging from Maple
Production to the Climate and Weather.
Champlain Area Trails will receive one of the
Conservation Partnership Program grants awarded to non-profit land trusts
across the state. The grant
enables CATS to hire a communications director who will also assist with
administration and fundraising. The
purpose of the grants is to increase the pace, improve the quality and ensure
the permanence of voluntary conservation of private lands. The grant to CATS of
$50,000 over two years is one of 53 grants totaling $1.4 million awarded
state-wide and funded through New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund. Learn more at www.champlainareatrails.com.
The Galley at Westport Marina invites everyone to
the Essex County Business Council Business After Hours mixer to be held from 5:30
to 7 PM on Thursday June 14th. Enjoy
complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar while getting together with friends
and networking with new business contacts. Business After Hours is open to members of the Essex County
Business Council, North Country Chamber of Commerce and partner chambers. The
council is a division of the North Country Chamber. Those who are not yet a
member of the E-C-B-C or any partner members may call for a guest pass. Admission is $2. For more information,
or to make reservations, call Arlene at 523-2445, Ext. 133.
Greg Smith was named as the next executive of the
Vermont Lottery. The Mendon man,
who will take over the top job at the lottery on June 7th, was picked from a
field of 38 candidates who applied from regions throughout the United States. Smith,
who spent the last five years serving as director of strategic cost management,
operations and finance manager at The Vermont Country Store, said he’s looking
forward to a new job in a new field. Alan Yandow held the position for 14
years.
Former lieutenant governor and gubernatorial
candidate Brian Dubie is retiring from the United States Air Force after 35
years of service. The Vermont
National Guard is holding a retirement ceremony for Dubie on Saturday at the
Green Mountain Armory at Camp Johnson in Colchester. Over his 35 years, Dubie has served in Iraq, Panama,
Macedonia and Canada. The Guard says he facilitated military support at Ground
Zero in New York City after the September 11th attacks and supported Air Force
relief efforts on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
The Intervale farmers are back in business after
sustaining $750,000 in losses of crops and equipment due to Tropical Storm
Irene flooding. Intervale farms
produce more than 1 million pounds of food worth $1.2 million in sales for the
greater Burlington area in most years, according to the release. After Irene,
fundraising efforts raised more than $150,000 for the farmers, and testing has
determined that the flooding did not contaminate the farmland. That and the
relatively mild winter have set the Intervale up for a great season.
A Vermont town will no longer say a prayer before
it's town meetings. The Superior
Court ruled in favor of a Franklin woman who objected to the prayer, saying it violates
the separation of church and state.
Marilyn Hackett voiced her opposition to the prayer for ten years, and
although she's one of few who wanted the prayer blocked, she says the majority
can't vote away the civil rights of the minority. Hackett says her religious
preference is irrelevant, she's just passionate about the law, so is pleased
the principles of the country held up in court.
The nation's largest bus company is cutting service
to two Vermont towns. Greyhound says its buses will stop rolling into stations
in Brattleboro and Bellows Falls later this month. Two towns in Massachusetts
and one in New Hampshire are also having service eliminated. Greyhound spokesman Timothy Stokes told
the Eagle Times, the locations were removed from the route after an evaluation
determined a ridership decline in the region. Greyhound will continue to offer
service to Burlington, Montpelier and White River Junction. Greyhound says it's
also ending service to Keene, NH, and Northampton and Greenfield, MA.
Brandon Music presents a series of chamber music
performances by the “New Music on the Point” program of Point CounterPoint
summer camp. This evening at 7, soloists Jennifer Beattie and pianist Donna
Loewy will present a Salon Concert at Brandon Music in the Music Café. Then tomorrow night at 7 the JACK
Quartet will present a Salon Concert at Brandon Music. Tickets are $15 per person and proceeds
will benefit the Compass Music and Arts Foundation. For ticket information and to learn more about CMAC just
visit www.brandon-music.net.
The Vermont band Gypsy Reel will perform at the
Castleton Concert on the Green Tuesday, June 12th at 7PM. They play
a mix of Celtic and folk music. The
concert is free and open to the public. It will perform rain or shine. The rain
site is the Casella Theater in the Fine Arts Center at Castleton State College. For further information, please
contact: 802-273-2911.
Thousands of college students have left Burlington
for the summer, which means the American Red Cross is in dire need of donors. The local Red Cross chapter in Burlington
says there is always a need for blood regardless of what time of year it is,
but when the college kids head home for the summer, that leaves the chapter in
a bind. All of the blood donated
stays local, and when school is in session, they have many donors that are
willing to give. They hold blood
drives six days a week, and right now there is a lack of people to donate. "We're known as a college town,
and most of those students leave and go home to their different states and we
lose almost 1000 pints over the summer". Their next big blood drive will be on June 12th in Derby Line.
Police in Essex are now saying a suspect killed in
an alleged home invasion Friday was apparently from Connecticut. A 9-1-1 call went in to police
Friday morning, and when officers arrived they found the homeowner, Shawn
Garrett, restraining a man in his front lawn whom Garrett says broke into his
home and threatened him with a knife.
During the struggle between the two men, Garrett reportedly stabbed
30-year-old Ryan Motron-Lane of Storrs, Connecticut. He was identified through fingerprints. Police expect to release additional
information about the incident later today.
A group of lost hikers from Vermont was brought
down safely from a New Hampshire mountain trail over the weekend. Conservation officers went up near the
summit of Little Haystack Mountain to rescue two adults and four children, ages
two to eight. The group had made a
cell phone call to Grafton County dispatch and still ended up going the wrong
way on the Falling Waters Trail.
The officers connected with them early Saturday morning, and says the
adults, Josie Rogers and Christopher Kangas of St. Johnsbury had no navigation
tools, inappropriate clothing and were using a single cell phone to light the
trail.
A free fishing day has been set for this coming
Saturday. Residents of Vermont and visitors who don't have fishing licenses
will be allowed to drop a line into the state's rivers and streams for a day
without a license. As part of the day's activities, there will be a fishing
festival at the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station in Grand Isle.
