Archive - 2010
December 23rd
MIDDLEBURY — Ask Gov.-elect Peter Shumlin what’s on his mind as he prepares to take over the reins of state government on Jan. 6, and he’ll tell you about tackling the biggest battles: getting broadband to every last mile in Vermont; getting health care costs under control; figuring out how to pay for the early education and corrections initiatives he proposed during the campaign; and reducing a projected $150 million deficit so he can balance the next state budget.
He’ll also tell you that none of it will be easy.
BRISTOL — Representatives of the six Addison Northeast Supervisory Union school boards and of the teachers who work in those schools met into the wee hours last Thursday negotiating a contract for the current school year. By the end of the night the two sides had come to an impasse.
The school boards will meet next month to decide whether to restart negotiations or impose a contract. If they opt for the latter, the teachers will have to agree to take what the boards offer or strike.
VERGENNES — The John Graham Shelter and the city of Vergennes on Tuesday received a $327,000 Community Development Block Grant that will fund more than half of a $627,000 renovation to the Monkton Road homeless shelter, the first major project in its 30-year history.
Shelter Executive Director Elizabeth Ready said the organization already had in hand a $197,000 grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and that other private donations will fund the balance of a project that she hopes will begin in June.
This year, as I sat down to write my letter to Santa, I found my list populated with items like fingerless gloves, Velcro wrist guards, ergonomic keyboards and heated keyboard pads. The big item this year (not a Barbie Jeep or a puppy as in years past): surgery.
MIDDLEBURY — Though local boy Luke Reynolds has made it big by joining the ranks of popular alt-rock band Guster, he hasn’t forgotten his roots.
On Wednesday, Dec. 29, Reynolds will return to Middlebury to spend the holidays with his family and to play a show at the Town Hall Theater (THT) to promote his newest solo EP, “Maps.”
Fundamental reform of the income tax system may be high on the agendas of both President Obama and Gov.-elect Shumlin in 2011.
Congress has passed the compromise between President Obama and Senate Republicans that will extend Bush-era tax cuts for another two years for all taxpayers. The two-year extension will put tax issues at the center of the 2012 presidential campaign.
For skiers, no website is as bittersweet as the one dedicated to the New England Lost Ski Areas Project.
NELSAP chronicles the history of the scores of New England ski areas that have closed their doors over the past 70 years.
There was a ski area in Bristol, for example. The website quotes a 1939 source, “Ski Trails in the East and How to Get There”:
What indeed would Jesus do?
Jesus Shuttlesworth, that is. That’s the name of the character Ray Allen plays in the Spike Lee movie, “He Got Game.” It’s a compelling film, especially since the protagonist is played by a basketball player, not an actor. (Those with small hoop-crazed children might wait before ordering — it’s rated R.)
