Archive - Oct 2011
October 20th
MIDDLEBURY — Pinecones hang like bells from a branch. A birch bark globe trimmed with sumac twists in the breeze. Other pieces of sculpture are tucked just off the Middlebury trail — a wrapped figure eight of grape vines, a discarded snack food wrapper garnished with a sprig of white pine.
And the whole walk is sprinkled with poems, paintings and photography hanging in in waterproof cases .
BRISTOL — The Bristol selectboard approved two new fiscal policies at their Monday, Oct. 17, meeting: an amended purchasing policy and a set of conditions for town credit card use.
The credit card policy was approved on the heels of recent selectboard debate surrounding the issuance of town credit cards to department heads, a discussion triggered by a People’s United Bank policy, which only issues credit cards to specific individuals. Simply put: The bank is unwilling to issue just one town credit card.
MIDDLEBURY — A different kind of vehicle has finally joined the Mack trucks, cement mixers, excavators and boom lifts that have been omnipresent at the Eastview at Middlebury retirement community construction site off South Street Extension for the better part of a year.
Moving trucks this month have been making their first of what Eastview officials anticipate will be many deliveries for new residents settling into the new development taking shape just south of the Porter Medical Center campus.
Ken Jenks is the physician’s assistant at a medical clinic in Nucla, Colo.
Jenks, who appears in a compelling “New Yorker” profile of Nucla’s druggist, Don Colcord, grew up in Salt Lake City. But he’s become a connoisseur of small towns.
Living in a small town, he says, means giving people more latitude.
Not long ago, I received a free hand-me-down iPod Touch. I was thrilled, not only because it had originally retailed for about $200 but also because I had never owned such a sleek, technologically advanced gadget. (Keep in mind I think remote car starters are magic; I thrill easily.)
But once I got over the simple elegance of the smooth flat screen, I honestly couldn’t think of a single reason to have it.
Are you ready for some free speech?
Well, within limits. I would like to keep my job, be it ever so humble and modestly paid.
Well, I could just about stop there, and that would sum up the kerfuffle earlier this month about ESPN’s decision to remove Hank Williams Jr. and his trademark “Are you ready for some football?” opening from its Monday Night Football program.
Gov. Peter Shumlin’s call for a Clean Up Day this Saturday, Oct. 22, is a well-conceived statewide effort to encourage Vermonters to lend a helping hand to neighbors who are still recovering from Tropical Storm Irene’s destruction.
At the one-year anniversary of the opening of Middlebury’s Cross Street Bridge, it’s appropriate to reflect on its success — and on the controversy that preceded it.
The success comes from all corners of the community: from community leaders to town officials, business owners to commuters. Everyone not only thinks it has added an aesthetic beauty to the town (with its stately architecture, as well as opening up an even more spectacular view of the downtown, but the added convenience and safety features are crucial to the town’s viability.
