Archive - Oct 2009
October 30th
I spent much of this week pulling together information for a two-part set of articles about slaughterhouses in Vermont, which you can read here and here.
October 29th
Nothing will be pleasant when tackling the task of shoring up the state unemployment compensation fund. Sacrifices will have to be made by the business community in the form of increased taxes into the fund, and by workers who have lost their jobs.
As compassionate Vermonters, the notion that unemployed workers may have to do with less is tough to hear, but we all must brace for the pain that comes with shared sacrifice.
ADDISON — Around 200 people filled the Addison Central School gym on Tuesday to plead for a new lake crossing near the now-closed Champlain Bridge, a task they said New York and Vermont transportation officials should have accomplished many days ago.
Editor’s note: In the second of two installments looking at slaughterhouses in Vermont, we’re taking a look today at the growing market for local meats, the challenges facing small meat producers, and the ways farmers are trying to make meat production more profitable. See the first article in the series here.
ADDISON COUNTY — Every couple of minutes last Saturday afternoon, a crowd formed on the footbridge below the Otter Creek falls in Middlebury. The gathered people watched the groups of whitewater kayakers shooting the 15-foot drop over the falls and riding the current at the bottom. Then the crowd would disperse as the kayakers climbed out of the water, portaged back above the falls as another crowd gathered to watch them drop the falls again.
ADDISON COUNTY — Earlier this week, around 300 students at Mary Hogan Elementary School in Middlebury lined up for the H1N1 influenza vaccine, as some of the first doses of the vaccine trickled into Vermont.
The clinic came after last week’s announcement from the Vermont Department of Health that H1N1, informally dubbed the “swine flu,” had reached widespread levels in the state. This increased level of illness had been slower to hit New England than other parts of the country.
MIDDLEBURY — Is Route 116 north of the intersection with Quarry Road in Middlebury dangerous and would increased truck traffic from the proposed Fenn gravel pit, which would have an access road there, imperil others who use the road?
That was the crux of the discussion at a Monday evening hearing at which the Middlebury Development Review Board considered the application of Ronald and Susan Fenn to site a quarry on their property east of that stretch of Route 116, known locally as Case Street.
MIDDLEBURY — The town of Middlebury may soon offer a substantial free amenity to residents and tourists frequenting its historic downtown: wireless Internet service.
