Archive - Oct 2011
October 24th
ADDISON COUNTY — Richard Moffi, fuel program chief for the state of Vermont, has grown accustomed to seeing Congress and the Oval Office haggle over funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Negotiators have historically started at a low number but eventually agreed on a LIHEAP figure that was at least equal to, or greater, than the year before so that qualifying citizens in cold parts of the country could get the fuel subsidies they needed to stay warm during the winter.
VERGENNES — A Hartford, Conn., technology company that estimates its 2011 sales will total around $58 billion struck a deal in late September to purchase Goodrich Corp., including its Vergennes plant.
United Technologies Corp. (UTC) — which makes jet engines, helicopters, elevators and other aerospace and building components — plans on closing the $16.4 billion purchase, plus $1.9 billion in assumed debt, in mid-2012, said Goodrich spokesman Andrew Martin on Thursday.
HANCOCK/GRANVILLE — More than a dozen people crammed into Hancock’s town office on Oct. 18 to urge the selectboard to take steps to open the still-closed Upper Churchville Road.
Nearly two months after Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont, Granville and Hancock — the two Addison County towns hit hardest by the storm — are still finding it impossible to restore traffic on all town roads before the snow flies.
VERGENNES — By a chance of fate, two New York artists happened upon Creative Space Gallery on Vergennes’ Main Street last Saturday, and left with unexpectedly fierce encouragement and inspiration for their own work.
“I think that the work in this gallery is some of the most innovative that I’ve seen,” said one of the artists, Jill Luigs of Oswego, N.Y.
SALISBURY — Salisbury residents next March will be asked to approve a plan to preserve their town hall to make it more weather-tight, sturdy and usable into the future.
STARKSBORO — Starksboro selectmen are skeptical about U.S. Census results that show a population drop in their town, and they plan to contact Census officials to question the data.
According to the 2010 Census, Starksboro’s population is 1,787, down 121 from the 2000 number of 1,898.
But according to Town Clerk Cheryl Estey, the town’s voter checklist increased by 257 in the same decade, from 986 to 1,243.
“I was actually flabbergasted when I saw the (Census) numbers,” Estey said.
BRISTOL — The Mount Abraham Union High School girls’ soccer team put the wraps on the Eagles’ best season in years on Friday, but it wasn’t easy.
The Eagles needed overtime to defeat stubborn visiting Middlebury, 1-0, on a long-range bomb by junior Evy Jacobs; finish their regular season at 9-3-2; and, critically, nail down the No. 4 seed for the Division II playoffs — a loss would have dropped them to No. 5.
LINCOLN — Fifth- and sixth-graders from Lincoln Community School had to leave their classrooms last week when the two rooms closed for renovations. But the town of Lincoln hasn’t left its youngsters without a place to learn.
