Archive - May 16, 2011
MIDDLEBURY — Round Two went to the Rebels.
In a Division I clash on Friday on Fucile Field, the South Burlington High School girls’ lacrosse team avenged its only loss of the season and dealt Middlebury its only setback, 13-10.
The 8-1 Rebels took over first place from the 7-1 Tigers after outscoring MUHS in the second half, 5-2, to snap a halftime tie.
Coach Kelley Higgins, whose team had defeated the Rebels in overtime in South Burlington, 8-7, was disappointed, but philosophical, afterward.
ADDISON COUNTY — Last week offered a reprieve from the wet weather that has soaked the region for much of the spring.
For some area farmers, however, the weather has already had an impact on the growing season, causing what the Vermont Agency of Agriculture is estimating is a three-week delay in planting for some producers.
Craig Miner, county executive for the USDA Farm Service Agency, said late last week that area farmers are holding their breaths for a drier end to the spring.
MIDDLEBURY — A severe algae problem is poisoning the nation’s sixth largest body of water.
Blooms of the toxic blue-green organism growing in Lake Champlain are essentially large, poisonous colonies of photosynthetic bacteria that are caused by high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen nutrients. According to the Vermont Department of Health, algae-contaminated water in the lake led to the deaths of two dogs in 1999 and 2000.
VERGENNES — The Vermont Principals’ Association announced last week that Vergennes Union High School Co-Principal Ed Webbley has been chosen as the organization’s Robert F. Pierce Vermont Secondary Principal of the Year.
Webbley becomes the second VUHS principal in the past decade to earn that honor: The VPA presented former VUHS school head Peter Coffey with the same award in 2002.
VPA Executive Director Ken Page noted not only that repeat recognition, but also that:
ADDISON COUNTY — As record-high water levels on Lake Champlain slowly recede, towns and low-lying areas along the lakefront are beginning to recover and evaluate damage.
Fueled by snowmelt and heavy rains, the lake hit 103.2 feet above sea level on April 29, shattering the 1869 record of 102.1 feet.
EAST MIDDLEBURY — The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has decided to completely replace the Sand Hill Bridge on Route 125 in East Middlebury and will not pursue a temporary span to allow through-traffic during construction — slated for 2014, at the earliest.
The big five oil companies in the United States — Chevron, Shell Oil, BP America, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil — made $35 billion in profit in the first three months of 2011. In his public radio address last week, President Barack Obama called for eliminating tax breaks for all oil and gas companies — a move that would eliminate about $2 billion annually in tax breaks for these five oil giants and raise $44 billion over the next decade. At $140 billion in profit per year for the big five, that’s less than 1.5 percent of their profit.
