Archive - Aug 2009
August 27th
MONTPELIER — Gov. James Douglas, a Middlebury Republican who has provided almost continuous service to the state since 1973, announced this morning that he will not seek a fifth term in Vermont’s top elected office.
Speaking in the governor’s ceremonial office in the Statehouse and flanked by many members of his cabinet, Douglas in an 11-minute speech stated that he was ready to move.
BRIPORT — Abundant rainfall coupled with late-summer heat and humidity have contributed to one of the worst mosquito outbreaks ever, though cooling temperatures this week should soon take some of the sting out of the latest adult hatch, local insect-control officials said.
“Things have gone south; it’s not good right now,” Paul Doty, manager of the Brandon-Leicester-Salisbury-Goshen (BLSG) Insect Control District, said late last week. He noted a recent spike in the mosquito population — particularly in the Lake Dunmore region.
MIDDLEBURY — Vergennes Police Chief Michael Lowe, already facing a count of driving under the influence of prescription drugs, on Monday pleaded innocent in Addison County District Court to three more drug-related charges as well as one of embezzlement of public property and another of neglect of duty.
ADDISON COUNTY — Annie Starvish has a suitor.
The heifer tags along as the veterinarian makes the rounds in the free stall barns at the Vorsteveld Farm in Panton, where she is out doing “preg checks.” Periodically, Starvish and farmer Rudy Vorsteveld throw their arms wide, corralling one of the heifers into a stall. Then, after a gentle, reassuring pat to the animal’s hip, Starvish inserts a gloved hand into the cow’s rectum. Soon after, her arm disappears entirely.
August 26th
A weekly blog about everything from farming food to cooking it.
With tomato and potato crops being hit right and left by late blight, the usual abundance of these late summer days has taken a hit. Even though the end of summer has brought some drier weather (knock on wood), the disease is still affecting tomato and potato plants in the area.
August 24th
CORNWALL — Sara Daly, 37, at five-foot-four and the mother of two, seems an unlikely fist thrower. As co-founder of Waterfalls Day Spa in Middlebury and Waterfalls at Basin Harbor Club in Ferrisburgh, Daly spends her days surrounded by beauty and relaxation.
Nevertheless, she has put in nearly a year of serious training for the Golden Gloves boxing tournament that will take place at the Memorial Auditorium in Burlington early next year.
SHOREHAM — Addison County’s dairy farming industry continues to contract and diversify, but one thing has remained constant during the past 61 years — George Warner has been picking up the milk, and boy has he delivered.
Warner, now 82, wasn’t yet 21 in 1948 when he began hauling Addison County milk for Brox’s Dairies. Born in Vergennes and then living in Bridport, Warner recalls driving from farm to farm, picking up the milk in 44-quart cans.
MIDDLEBURY — Inching toward consensus, Addison County dairy farmers last Thursday hunkered down over coffee and donuts at the American Legion in Middlebury to discuss a plan some dairymen hope could pave the way beyond dramatic highs and lows in milk prices.
