Category: Addison County
MIDDLEBURY — There was a time when Peter Shumlin wasn’t sure he would make it out of high school, let alone aspire to the state’s highest office.
Shumlin, the Vermont Senate President Pro Tem, recalled being called into his elementary school principal’s office along with his parents. There, school administrators reported that young Peter wasn’t cutting it, and that perhaps he should be steered toward non-academic pursuits.
MIDDLEBURY — As the state agency that administers benefits to people living in poverty implements a new processing system for its services, charities in Addison County have reported that some of their clients have experienced delays in receiving benefits.
Laura Morse and Donna Rose, two employees of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity/Addison County Action (CVOEO) in Middlebury, said that last week alone, six people had received word that their applications had been delayed due to “work overload”
ESSEX — What had been accepted for months was confirmed in June when the Vermont Secretary of State’s deadline for candidates to file petitions for public office passed: Brian Dubie is the lone Republican running for governor of Vermont.
ADDISON COUNTY — Warm weather earlier this month sparked blue-green algae blooms in Lake Champlain’s waters, prompting the Vermont Department of Health to caution boaters, swimmers, pet-owners and other residents to avoid contact with the contaminated water.
The water may not be clear, but this much is: Pollution in the form of phosphorus entering the lake poses a serious threat to Lake Champlain’s waters.
Editor’s note: This article is the second in a three-part series about the Lake Champlain clean-up efforts. After examining the state of the county’s waterways on July 15, we’re turning our attention to the divisive debate about the role agriculture plays in water quality degradation. (All articles are available after print publication online at www.addisonindependent.com.) In next week’s final installment, we look ahead to what’s on the horizon for clean up efforts in the Lake Champlain basin.
ADDISON COUNTY — Addison County candidates for Vermont House and Senate seats are apparently expending more shoe-leather than money thus far in their campaigns.
Phone calls to district town clerks in which there are races reveal that only a few candidates raised or spent more than the requisite $500 needed to trigger the filing of campaign finance forms by last Thursday’s deadline.
BURLINGTON — When someone in the United States presses the “Send Payment” button to donate to a large charitable organization working overseas, it is difficult to track exactly how much is going to the organization’s upkeep and how much is going to on-the-ground work.
Bridging the Divide, a new, Burlington-based organization, is seeking to change all that.
Editor’s note: With frustration brewing about the amount being spent on Lake Champlain clean-up efforts — and the apparent lack of results in better water quality — the Addison Independent set out to understand the complicated discussion about water quality in Vermont, with a focus on the agricultural industry often pinpointed as a main culprit in lake pollution.
