Williston Observer 6/22/2023

‘Bigger, stronger, more resilient’

Eighth graders receive inspiring send-off

BY TAYLOR ANTONIOLI Special to the Observer

When 105 eighth graders gathered at the Williston Central School gym last Thursday for their graduation celebration, Lead Principal Greg Marino employed a metaphor from many of the students’ pasts.

Seven years prior, he reminded the students, when they were in their first year at Allen Brook School, their class planted a tree on the school grounds to celebrate Arbor Day.

“The tree is easy to pick out today. It’s the tallest of the trees planted on that slope,” he said. “As we hoped, with lots of care and encouragement, that tree has grown bigger, taller, stronger, more resilient, with each passing year.”

Marino describing the adversity the tree faced from the weather

and over-excited young kids who wanted to play in its branches. He encouraged the graduates to think about their own journeys and their own adversity.

“Celebrate the bigger, taller, stronger, more resilient you, being who you are today,” he said.

He then passed the mic to WCS Principal Jaqueline Parks, who said it was a pleasure to watch the graduating students grow.

“I am proud of each and every one of them,” Parks said.

The students chosen to address their class were Olivia Cieri, one of five students to receive the Allen S. Myers Spirit of Williston Award, and Hailley Hem. Cieri described her first day of the year and her readiness to move on to high school. She mentioned how different she felt upon entering WCS for the first time and how she finally felt like one of the big kids. But things change, and a lot has happened since her first day in see WCS page 4

‘Find your passion’

Retiring teacher sends off CVU grads

BY TAYLOR ANTONIOLI

Special to the Observer

Champlain Valley Union High School took over Roy L. Patrick Memorial Gymnasium at UVM on Friday to celebrate the graduation of 350 students.

Those who came to watch the graduation were welcomed by a jazz trio — seniors Connor Brien, Ethan Cook and Samuel Kunin — as well as the senior processional led by St. Andrew’s Pipeband of Vermont, including senior Ava Rohrbaugh.

Anna MacFaden welcomed the audience with a cowbell in her hand. She went on to explain that the bell was an important part of her career at CVU, as she loved to ring it loudly in support of student-athletes at their games. However, after a volleyball game during her freshman year, she was

Summer meal program shuttered

A pandemic-era program that offered free meals to Williston school children over the past three summer breaks has been discontinued.

The program was first implemented during the school closures in the spring of 2020 to fight hunger among families used to relying on school breakfasts and lunches. It continued through the summer months, with school district food service staff offering meal pickup three days a week at Williston Central School, and meal delivery in some cases.

This summer, with the federal pandemic response that the program relied on having run its course, the Champlain Valley School District can only offer school meals to students attending summer school.

“All of the USDA emergency waivers have expired,” said Williston Food Service Director Scott Wagner. “It is unfortunate because we enjoyed serving our community in the summer … and we have helped many families that were struggling with food insecurity.”

only allowed to ring her bell at outdoor sporting events — until the day of graduation, when she proudly rang it in the large gym, celebrating CVU as a student for the last time.

Senior speakers Anders Erickson and Ananya Rohatgi then took the microphone. Erickson used a metaphor involving radishes and chocolate chips. While small, chocolate chips moments can always improve your day, he said, which was why he decided to make his own moment with the graduating class and threw Hershey’s Kisses into the gathered students.

Rohatgi followed by speaking about how the first thing she did when preparing was look up how to write a speech. She found that the two most important parts would be to reflect on her time at CVU and have a personality. She ended her speech by saying, “It’s not how many setbacks you face, it’s how you recover from that setback.”

Local families can find free meals this summer in neighboring communities, where the poverty rate makes them eligible for continued federal support. According to a list updated by Hunger Free Vermont (www.hungerfreevt.org/summer-meals), there are nine free meal pickup sites in Chittenden County, the closest to Williston being in Burlington and Winooski.

While the Legislature recently enacted a law making breakfast and lunch free for all students during the school year, the funding was aligned with the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program. In order to extend free meals into the summer, funding would have to align with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Summer Food Service Program, according to Hunger Free Vermont Executive Director Executive Director Anore Horton.

“(They) are separate federal programs with different eligibility rules,” Horton said.

Jason

Retiring teacher and coach Christopher Smith delivers his comments to the Class of 2023 at the graduation ceremonies of the Champlain Valley Union High School on Friday at UVM’s Patrick Gym.

OBSERVER PHOTO BY AL FREY

WIlliston Central School eighth grade graduates enter the gym one last time as members of the WCS community on Thursday.

OBSERVER PHOTO BY AL FREY

Hazmat team responds to acid leak on Ave. D

Avenue D was closed for five hours Thursday after a peroxyacetic acid container was punctured with a forklift and began to leak.

The Williston Fire Department and a State Hazardous Materials Response Team responded. There were no injuries, and the first-responders had the site cleaned and back open for business the same day. An employee who noticed Williston Deputy Chief Tim Gerry in the area flagged him down for help.

“We would like to remind all businesses that in the event of a hazardous materials leak, do not hesitate to call 911,” Firefighter Prescott Nadeau said in a new release, adding that, due to the numerous industries that handle hazardous materials in that part of town, the Williston Fire Department trains to handle such spills and leaks. “Early notification to the right people can save lives when dealing with unknown substances.”

Catamount Community Forest hosts educational event

Vermont Coverts and Chittenden

County Forester Ethan Tapper are offering a presentation on how forest management can restore old growth characteristics to forests and the many benefits they provide, from climate resilience to diverse wildlife habitat. The event will include a visit to an area at the Catamount Community Forest being managed this summer and a discussion of how this work will help the forest become more diverse, complex and resilient — more like an old growth forest.

The event will take place at Catamount Community Forest, 553 Governor Chittenden Road, Williston on Tuesday, June 27 from 6-8 p.m.

Free vision screenings offered for children

The Champlain Valley Lions will be offering free vision screenings for children at University Mall in South Burlington. Using a portable, high-tech screening camera, specially trained Lions Club volunteers can perform a comprehensive, no-contact vision analysis for any child in about a minute.

Free vision screenings are offered through Lions KidSight USA, a Lions Club program whose goal is to identify eye problems early, so that children with vision impairments or disease can be referred to specialists for appropriate care. Since its inception, KidSight Lions volunteers have helped prevent, treat and cure eye diseases in tens of thousands of Vermont children.

Parents can bring their children, six months and older, to the University Mall from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 24 for a free screening. There will also be refreshments and information on the Champlain Valley Lions Club available for those who want to learn more or volunteer for future KidSight vision screenings. For more information, text or call (802) 989-8250.

Handcrafted model boats on display

A collection of model wooden boats scratch-built by Jerry DeGraff will be exhibited this weekend at Bread & Butter Farm’s event barn. DeGraff crafted over 50 miniature vessels ranging from a small rowboat to a scale model of the Shelburne Museum’s famous Ticonderoga steamboat before he passed away last September.

The exhibit is free and open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on June 24-25. The Bread & Butter Farm is located just off Cheesefactory Road at 200 Leduc Farm Drive in Shelburne.

Williston resident chosen to lead Vermont gardening federation

Williston resident Doris Van Mullen has been chosen to lead the Federated Garden Clubs of Vermont (FGCV) and its over 700 members. Van Mullen was installed president of the state organization at its 87th Annual Meeting held recently at Philo Ridge Farm in Charlotte.

Van Mullen grew up on a farm in Virginia. A registered nurse and nursing clinical instructor at Vermont State University, she has lived in Vermont for eight years. She is a member of The Burlington Garden Club.

The FGCV includes 16 garden clubs with projects involving nature, conservation and gardening help to beautify local communities. Visit www.vermontfgcv. com for more information.

Doris Van Mullen

The Williston Fire Department and a State Hazardous Materials Response Team responded to a container of acid that was punctured Thursday on Avenue D. WILLISTON FIRE DEPT. PHOTO

So long, sandwich shop

The home that was the former Vermont Sandwich Company on Route 2 in Taft Corners was demolished earlier this month. The longtime Williston business had moved to Maple Tree Place in 2020, but is no longer open there either. The property is owned by Vermont Technical College, which has long-range plans for expansion onto the site.

Man found dead at recycling center

Staff at Casella Waste Systems found a dead man while working on a sorting belt at the Chittenden Solid Waste District recycling center on Avenue C in Williston on Friday, according to Williston Police.

Staff called police about 7 a.m. after discovering the body, police said in a news release. The body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Police later identified the man as Sean Kelleher, 50, who had previously lived in Burlington.

The Williston Police Department seeks help from the public to help investigators reach Kelleher’s family members or friends, encouraging anyone who knew him to contact the department at (802) 878-6611.

FREEDOM ROAD FESTIVAL

WILLISTON OBSERVER RACK LOCATIONS

David Alan Miller Heinrich Medicus Music Director

OBSERVER PHOTO BY JASON STARR

WCS

continued from page 1

“the big kid school.”

“We had to deal with Covid, online school and just middle school in general,” she said. “I feel like Covid has shaped me as a person and taught me how to deal with change.”

Hem noted the special occasion for everyone there, whether they were there to support one of the students “or just to confirm you’re finally leaving.” She was happy to see how much her classmates had grown, even those she didn’t know personally.

She said she has grown a lot at WCS, especially in confidence. Hem shared that during her first day of seventh grade, she was scared to enter her classroom for the first time. And yet, there she was, standing in front of her graduating class, their friends, family, and teachers, giving a speech.

One of the last things she touched on was a message for her fellow students: “Those of you who have struggled in any way, now,” she said, “I want you to know how just incredibly proud I am of you. How everyone is just so proud of you, and you are not alone.”

Rice

Williston’s Joseph Patterson celebrates his graduation from Rice Memorial High School in Burlington in May with teacher Kevin Cook.

Top, Hailley Hem (L) and Olivia Cieri deliver an address on behalf of the Class of 2023 at the WIlliston Central School eighth grade graduation on Thursday. Bottom, Prodige Bikule, left, and Dasha Gaina, right, receive congratulations from Lead Principal Greg Marino upon receiving their diplomas. Right: Sophie Jacobs (L) and Ethan St. Amour announce the yearbook dedication to Martha Quatt.

OBSERVER PHOTOS BY AL FREY

CVU

continued from page 1

Introducing the keynote speaker was Kaitlyn Boget, Zoe Zeller and Ella Polli, who also sang the national anthem. They shared that they chose Chris Smith, an AP economics and world history teacher at CVU who is retiring this year.

The day just happened to be the 50th anniversary of Smith’s high school graduation and the final day of his 15-year career at CVU. After informing the audience of the day’s personal significance — his “second graduation” — he turned back to his fellow teachers and the principal, Adam Bunting, saying, “I hope there’s a diploma or something …”

He then refocused on the audience and described how, when he graduated, there was no question he hated more than “what do you want to do when you

grow up?”

“Even today,” Smith said, “I don’t have a good answer. I don’t know.” He shared that while he couldn’t answer that particular question, he hoped to give the graduates some advice and share what he had learned in his time between graduations.

“In order to achieve happiness,” he said, “I think you have to place two items in your life: passion and purpose.”

He wrapped up his speech by challenging the Class of 2023: “I challenge you to find passion with whatever you do and pursue that with vigor. Find purpose and allow that to drive your day-to-day actions.”

CLOCKWISE (l to r): The mortarboards fly at the 59th graduation ceremonies of the Champlain Valley Union High School on Friday at UVM’s Patrick Gym. Senior speaker Ananya Rohatgi (top right) and Anders Erickson (bottom right) address the graduating seniors and guests. Anna MacFaden welcomes friends, grandparents, parents and siblings to the graduation ceremonies.

OBSERVER PHOTOS BY AL FREY

GUEST COLUMN

The magic of state matching funds

BY JOE FLYNN AND JULIE MOORE

As Vermont’s secretaries of transportation and natural resources, we have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of strategic investments in transportation and water infrastructure.

These investments not only enhance our state’s connectivity and resilience, but also bolster economic growth, protect our natural resources and improve the overall quality of life for Vermonters.

There is currently unprecedented federal funding to support critical infrastructure needs across the state. Leveraging the full potential of these federal dollars is impossible, however, without state matching funds required to access that larger pool of federal dollars.

We want to highlight the recently completed Lamoille Valley Rail Trail project — a testament to the power of state

matching funds in advancing vital projects, if we have the foresight to commit them.

The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail is a remarkable initiative that has transformed a once-abandoned rail corridor into a vibrant multi-use trail traversing 93 miles of breathtaking Vermont landscapes. This trail connects communities, promotes outdoor recreation and boosts tourism and economic development opportunities along its route. Bringing this ambitious vision to life required substantial financial resources, and that’s where state matching funds played a pivotal role.

By committing state funds, Vermont was able to leverage federal funding, which provided the necessary resources to rehabilitate and construct key segments of the trail. The state’s commitment to investing its own funds demonstrated a strong partnership and dedication to the project, making it possible to secure federal support. The total

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cost for the buildout phase was $24.5 million, which includes 20 percent state funds of $4.8 million and 80 percent federal funds of $19.5 million.

The successful completion of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail demonstrates the wide-ranging benefits of leveraging state matching funds. Not only does it create a remarkable recreational asset for Vermonters and visitors alike, but it also serves as an engine for economic development and tourism. Local businesses along the trail have experienced increased foot traffic, and communities have seen a rise in visitors who contribute to the local economy. Furthermore, this project aligns with our broader efforts to promote active transportation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance public health.

Yet, the construction of this

project was delayed for many years while Vermont struggled to carve out the state matching funds given the myriad competing demands on the state budget. It was only recently, when we finally began generating state surpluses, that Vermont was able to commit the required match.

The impact of state matching funds extends far beyond the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.

Across Vermont, our transportation and water infrastructure faces significant challenges, with aging systems in need of repair and improvement. By utilizing state matching funds, we can maximize the impact of federal investments, tackling these critical needs head-on.

For clean water and drinking water projects through fiscal year 2027, the Agency of Natural Resources needs $27 million in state match funds to re -

ceive an infusion of nearly $320 million of federal dollars. This combined funding would support approximately 80 water and wastewater infrastructure projects across 13 counties.

During the budgetary process, an analysis determined that the Agency of Transportation would need an additional $79 million in state investments for fiscal years 2024 through 2026 to make full use of eligible opportunities from federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, securing a minimum of $341.5 million in federal aid. This combined funding would support approximately 200 transportation infrastructure projects in all 14 Vermont counties.

The magnitude of these investments makes clear that state matching funds aren’t an op -

see COLUMN page 7

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Thanks for family support

We want to send a huge thank you to Williston Families as Partners (FAP) for supporting this year’s summer early literacy program for our youngest readers.

We were able to distribute over 1,000 books to our students in grades PK-2. Research shows that reading is one of the best things a child can do to maintain their literacy development during the summer months, especially at this

Making child care veto-proof

We are disappointed by Gov. Scott’s decision to veto the 2023 Child Care Bill, which was passed by an overwhelming supermajority in both the House and Senate with support from Republicans, Democrats, Progressives and Independents. This bill is a direct example of what we can achieve with collaboration and when policymakers truly listen to the needs of their constituents.

We are on the doorstep of being able to stabilize our child care sector while also investing in the future

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

early stage in literacy.

This program gives our students the opportunity to pick their own books to take home, leading to a higher motivation level. We wouldn’t have been able to make the program a success without the support of FAP.

On behalf of our students, teachers and administration, thank you.

Abby Reynolds and Rebecca Ashford Summer Reading Committee Allen Brook School

of our state, thanks to the efforts of lawmakers and child care champions in every corner of Vermont.

On behalf of the tens of thousands of parents, grandparents, early childhood educators and employers who are counting on this landmark bill to make Vermont more affordable, grow our economy and support our kids, we look forward to working with lawmakers to override this veto.

Aly Richards CEO, Let’s Grow Kids

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Legislature overrode the governor’s veto on the Child Care Bill on Monday.

Column

continued from page 6

tional “nice to have” investment but rather that they are essential. We must continue to prioritize the allocation of state matching funds to address the pressing needs of transportation and water infrastructure across Vermont. By doing so, we will continue to attract federal support and partnerships, amplify our impact and build a more resilient, sustainable and prosperous future for our state.

Let’s seize the opportunity to invest wisely in our infrastructure and secure the funds needed to make transformative projects like the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail a reality. Together, with strong partnerships between state and federal agencies, we can create a Vermont that thrives on well-connected communities, vibrant natural resources and a high quality of life for all.

Joe Flynn is Vermont’s secretary of transportation and Julie Moore is secretary of natural resources.

A tree-planting bonanza on the Winooski River

DENIZ DUTTON Community News Service

The soil breaks apart like cake as I carve a pit about as wide and deep as my shovel on a stretch of earth along the Winooski River. I hover a silver maple sapling above the pit, lowering it until the root collar appears level with the edge.

Then I shovel the soil back in, tamp down the squishy dirt around the stem and shimmy on the 4-foot-tall, opaque piping that entombs the sapling and protects it from deer browsing and vole girdling. I finish with the satisfying sound of a wooden stake being jettisoned into the earth with a mallet and zip-tie it to the piping — voila, one tree planted.

That was the experience of about 20 volunteers who came out

to a 100-foot-wide strip of land at the Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington in April for One Tree Planted Day, an event hosted by the Intervale Center, Winooski Valley Park District and the nonprofit One Tree Planted.

In about two and a half hours, the volunteers had planted 200 trees in an effort to expand a buffer strip along the river.

“It’s important because — I mean, you can hear the birds, right? — it provides habitat, carbon sequestration and also bank stabilization so the bank doesn’t keep eroding,” said Duncan Murdoch, the Intervale Center’s natural areas stewardship coordinator, who led the planting.

“Eighty percent of Vermont was clear-cut right up to the rivers for sheep,” he said. “There was no

vegetation, no trees or anything to hold the soil, so the soil would just drain off of the hills and the land, and it would clog the rivers.”

“Planting all these trees prevents all that from happening,” he added.

Shelburne-based One Tree Planted, which oversees reforestation and forest restoration projects in 18 countries across six continents, provided $860 for the trees. On June 20, the group was set to celebrate its 100 millionth tree milestone. The organization says it planted 52.8 million trees last year, and while the 200 saplings now in the ground at the Ethan Allen Homestead sound like a drop in the bucket, the group sees community-scale projects as some of its most important.

The Winooski River flows into Lake Champlain in Chittenden County. A treeplanting day at the nearby Intervale Center was designed to protect wildlife habitat, improve carbon sequestration and prevent streambank erosion.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PEXELS.COM

VT’s first fossil fuel-free community breaks ground

South Burlington-based real estate developer and homebuilder O’Brien Brothers broke ground in May on what will be Vermont’s first 100 percent fossil fuel-free community. Backed up by in-home and onsite battery storage, the homes in the neighborhood will be sustainable, climate resilient and protected from severe weather and power outages.

The homes will be constructed to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home standard and Energy Star certified — to be verified by third-party energy consultants.

O’Brien Brothers is a family company that dates back to 1958. Its portfolio of properties includes developments in Burlington, South Burlington, Shelburne, Williston and Colchester. O’Brien Brothers collaborated with Green Mountain Power, Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman, Northfield Savings Bank and Efficiency Vermont on the new project — known as Hillside East at O’Brien Farm

All 155 homes in the neighborhood will

operate entirely on clean electricity without fossil fuel infrastructure; there will be no gas

Book your Habitat for Humanity build day!

Now scheduling teams for Manhattan Drive in Burlington.

lines or above- or in-ground fuel tanks. All of the homes will have rooftop solar arrays, Tes-

la Powerwalls for backup battery storage and carbon-free electricity from Green Mountain Power.

“Vermonters are facing two overlapping challenges: a dire housing shortage and the ongoing climate crisis,” Sen. Peter Welch said at the ground-breaking. “This project helps tackle both problems head-on, creating more than 150 100 percent fossil fuel-free homes using Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. It’s the kind of ambitious project we need more of — in Vermont and across the United States.”

Gov. Phil Scott said of the project: “My administration has made investing in housing a top priority, which is why it’s great to be at Hillside East to see firsthand the progress that’s being made. We know there is much more work to do, and I want to thank O’Brien Brothers, Green Mountain Power and Sen. Peter Welch for their commitment to Vermont.”

For more information on the project visit hillsidevt.com.

For complete details or to sign up, visit vermonthabitat.org.

Leaders at O’Brien Brothers break ceremonial ground in May on the Hillside East project in South Burlington, billed as the first fossil free community in Vermont. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Tree Planting

continued from page 8

“The community events, while small in scale, can be the difference between someone not having ever thought about reforestation and tree-planting to potentially pivoting and changing the direction they end up going in,” Global Director of Projects Aaron Minnick said.

One Tree Planted came to the environmental nonprofit scene in 2014 and has quickly grown into one of the big players in global reforestation and forest restoration.

This is the second year One Tree Planted has provided a grant to the Intervale Center to plant trees in April — recognized by some environmental groups as Earth Month.

“Last year, we did over 100 different events just in the month of April globally. I think this year we blew past that,” Minnick said.

Last year, the Intervale Center organized tree planting on “marginal farmland,” Murdoch said — land deemed too risky for agriculture due to the threat of increased flooding from the Winooski River.

“Instead of just mowing (those areas) year after year,” the Intervale Center and Audubon Vermont worked together to create

ecosystems that would serve as bird habitat and boost flood resilience, Murdoch said.

One Tree Planted has some 400 planting partners, but very few are in Vermont.

“It’s harder to do projects because there just isn’t as much need,” Minnick said of the state

cult for large scale reforestation,” she said. “Plus, there’s a lot of natural regeneration that comes back in. The forests are fairly robust. In that sense, it’s not a priority area for reforestation.”

North America contains the most projects in the organization’s portfolio, which Minnick attributes to a large amount of post-wildfire restoration work out West and in British Columbia. In Vermont, the focus tends to be on restoring riparian areas, which take up a smaller percentage of land. And because most land in Vermont is privately owned, the process to get trees in the ground can be complex.

Stephanie Clement

One Tree Planted

and New England at large. “Forests sort of come back on their own. If there’s a field and someone decides not to plow it anymore, in a couple years, maples and everything just kind of come in. So the need for reforestation is a little lower.”

Stephanie Clement, the group’s project manager for the Northeast and Canada, agreed. With 78 percent of Vermont forested, “it makes it a little bit diffi-

That’s why One Tree Planted focuses on community-level efforts in Vermont, like the volunteer day along the Winooski River.

“We love putting trees in our public spaces; we like making nature a part of our cityscapes,” Clement said. “There’s such a desire to give back to the community. Folks are really interested in keeping those green spaces. We don’t necessarily take them for granted. So that sort of desire for volunteership, that giving back sense, I think that’s just built into Vermont DNA.”

“That sort of desire for volunteership, that giving back sense, I think that’s just built into Vermont DNA.”

Vermont’s soaring solar spree — trickier than you think

BY LOGAN SOLOMON Community News Service

Tens of thousands of solar panels over the last six years have been dispensed across Vermont’s roofs and yards.

From January 2017 to the start of this February, Vermont issued more than 16,000 solar permits, largely residential that, combined, brought over 292,500 kilowatts of energy to the grid, state data shows. The permits were for net-metering, a billing arrangement where utility bills are offset by solar generation.

But Vermont falls below all but two states in yearly absorbable sunlight for generating energy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s renewable energy laboratory, and residential panels here produce 85 percent less energy a year than they’re capable of.

Solar also raises fears from communities that panels could impact land and waterbodies across the state — more than 9 percent of the 16,000-plus permits since 2017 were for projects that would go on lands that contribute to water supplies, according to an analysis of state data.

Those facts muddy the already controversial picture around solar

in a state known both for its environmental trend-setting and its inclination for NIMBYism. As officials, activists and developers look to continue the state’s solar spree, new questions have emerged about who controls the playing field, what environmental costs panel-users must consider and how Vermont can move forward in a way that protects the health of people and the planet.

THE FUTURE OF ELECTRICITY POLICY

In 2015, Vermont enacted its Renewable Energy Standard, which required that 75 percent of the state’s energy be from renewable sources by 2032, 10 percent of which must be generated in state.

The state is progressing toward that goal on several fronts. The average net-metering permit issued over the past six years was for a rooftop array on a large house, good for about 18 kilowatts of energy capacity. And since 2019, Energy Action Network, a research and analysis nonprofit, has said the state’s electricity sector has met or is on track to meet all Vermont’s targets.

Industry and pro-solar activists want to raise the standard through H.320, which would require 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, of which 30 percent must be generated in state by 2035.

But the bill hasn’t moved since Rep. Caleb Elder, D-Starksboro, introduced it to the House Committee

on Environment and Energy in February, with legislative energy going instead toward climate policy in the heating sector.

Still, the bill has been supported by several environmental groups, including 350 Vermont, which delivered more than 1,700 signed postcards calling for the legislation among other asks, according to lead organizer Vanessa Rule.

One of the biggest roadblocks pro-solar activists see for in-state solar growth is Vermont law’s prioritization of aesthetics. To meet the legal standard, a project must pass a four-question test to determine if it will have “adverse” and “undue” impacts on surrounding scenery. Some projects have been denied for failing the test.

But an H.320 provision, activists hope, could change the tide.

“The (change in the) aesthetic criteria would allow us to build more new renewable energy,” said Ben Edgerly Walsh, climate and energy program director for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG). “This is what the climate crisis demands, and that’s why we support it.”

The legislation would make it so that, prior to Vermont’s scenic impact test, those opposing a proposed project would have to demonstrate “that the facility would be located on or affect a specific parcel” that is listed as a “scenic resource” in a town or regional plan.

To Annette Smith, the amendment is “a very bad idea.” Founder of Vermonters for a Clean Environment and a vocal and frequent opponent of certain solar projects, Smith said the changes would “limit public participation” or even eliminate the criteria altogether.

Smith criticized the provision as a reaction by Renewable Energy Vermont to projects in Bennington that were denied on reasons including aesthetics — decisions reaffirmed by the Vermont Supreme Court.

“I’m appalled that Renewable Energy Vermont is attacking that aspect of the public process just because the Public Utility Commission denied one project,” she said. “Shame on them.”

Supporters of the bill are reacting to a string of projects they think have been derailed by a bad law, said Renewable Energy Vermont’s Peter Sterling. In his mind, all the amendment would do is treat a solar project like any other commercial development in Vermont.

“All we are asking for is fairness,” he said.

SOLAR CONCERNS GO BEYOND AESTHETICS

Smith said communities she has met over the years have opposed a proposed solar development for reasons besides aesthetics: when it involves logging, could impact wildlife, is on prime agricultural soils or

has profiteers who don’t benefit the community.

The largest energy-generating solar farm in Vermont is the same size as a planned project opposed by Jesse McDougall and the 160-person-plus group Stop Shaftsbury Solar. The project would put 87 football fields worth of solar panels across a hilltop next to McDougall’s farm — and the opposition to it captures many of the chief complaints and fears about solar development.

McDougall said he has had poor experiences with solar developers, describing his time growing up next to an out-of-state company-owned solar farm in a small New Hampshire town.

“They were not good neighbors. They were dismissive and condescending and disrespectful,” he said, adding that he worries the same could happen in Vermont.

The firm in Shaftsbury is owned by an out-of-state company, a member of Renewable Energy Vermont, which counts among its ranks 17 other out-of-state companies involved in the solar industry, directory information shows.

Much of Vermont’s residential solar expansion over the last six years has been orchestrated by just two companies. Of the more than 16,000 projects issued net-metering permits, there is about a 50 percent chance that the installer was SunCommon or Sunrun Installers, also

As the state pushes toward its solar goals, what environmental questions must be examined?

members of Sterling’s group.

McDougall thinks solar panels are a good tool to address climate change, but the Legislature’s efforts have been executed “haphazardly.” He wants to limit solar developments to 5,000-kilowatt capacity and wants panels put on developed land, like parking lots and roofs, not green spaces.

“So in terms of the climate fight,” McDougall said, “we don’t believe that cutting 30 acres of forest and degrading 85 acres of healthy fields, and destroying all those natural ecosystems, in order to roll out solar panels is the right approach.”

He also thinks big solar projects, including the proposed one in Shaftsbury, could be damaging to Vermont tourism as “people come here to spend time in a special place,” and it would make Vermont “like every other place.”

He has a business stake in that presumption: McDougall runs a shortterm rental operation that doubles as a farm, which he said restores the lands through sheep grazing and draws visitors with its sweeping views.

LEACHING: A SOURCE OF CONCERN

Some have raised concerns that metals and chemicals in solar panels could deteriorate and seep into soil and water. But that scenario is unproven.

There are two separate concerns: heavy metal leaching and PFAS leaching. Exposure to those latter

chemicals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, can lead to reproductive effects and cancers, hormone interference and reduced ability to fight infections.

Leaching is “a topic that comes up in almost every case” Smith works on, she said.

Smith said she has worked with communities to oppose projects on areas the government determines “contribute to water supply.”

Smith said she has asked the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources three times to test soil around panels to see if PFAS leaching is occurring.

The agency isn’t doing that kind of testing, said spokesperson Stephanie Brackin, but officials did look into it.

“Approximately a year ago, we conducted both a review of literature surrounding contaminants in solar panels and a data review of landfills that installed solar panels,” Brackin said in an email. “This is an emerging issue, but there were not observed groundwater impacts where solar panels were used, and we would not expect any runoff from a solar panel to exceed our soil standard. We will continue to monitor literature to determine whether additional work is required.”

In a 2021 report by the Green Science Policy Institute, a “team of science and policy experts,” cites 11 studies that document 14 types of PFAS in solar panels. The studies also show that there is a type of PFAS in every piece engulfing a panel’s solar cell. The report found no documentation that the chemicals have ever leached into groundwater.

Sterling, the Vermont industry rep, said PFAS “very well could be (in) solar panels,” but PFAS leaching is “highly unlikely” and would “take an exceptional occurrence, (but) not (that) it would never, ever, happen.”

Smith is frustrated “that we don’t have better answers” about whether the chemicals are leaching into the soil.

There could be more clarity coming. According to a December 2022 federal regulation, domestic solar manufacturers must list in the federal toxic substance inventory whether they are using PFAS in solar panels.

Edgerly Walsh of VPIRG would not comment on the leaching concern as he “did not have the information in front of him,” while Rule of 350 Vermont said she did not

know much about the issue. Rule added that understanding any energy source’s impacts is “critical.”

An International Energy Agency study of PV solar panels, which comprise 95 percent of the solar market, says there is “low risk for the prioritized chemicals” of lead and cadmium on human and environmental health but did say findings are not representative of an additional six “environmentally sensitive” compounds.

If panels withstand the weather, how long do they last? Sterling said between 20 and 25 years. The federal lab says 30. And Smith’s 1989 panels are still kicking after 34 years of running her off-grid life.

SOLAR WASTE — WHAT HAPPENS NOW? IN THE FUTURE?

Officials and others predict that, in 10 years, “most residential systems will be replaced for more efficient panels, so (we will) all want to be prepared to handle those (older panels),” said Brackin, the natural resources agency spokesperson.

The landfill might be an option. Or it might not.

“Businesses who have solar panel waste are considered regulated and must determine whether or not the panels are hazardous,” Brackin said, adding that state or local waste entities can help and that Good Point Recycling in Middlebury is willing to take decommissioned panels.

The federal government says the most common reason a scrapped panel can be considered hazardous waste is if a toxicity test determines its materials can leach into landfills. But the Agency of Natural Resourc-

es doesn’t do that kind of testing.

Vermont is considering two paths to achieving a robust solar recycling program: an effort between the industry and the state to work toward a universal program, and a bill putting recycling responsibility on solar installers. Smith said no one wants to take on the cost of recycling, which is why she calls the situation a “real hot-potato.”

The first option is an explorative initiative by the Agency of Natural Resources alongside Renewable Energy Vermont. The parties are looking at options for reuse or recycling, such as shared warehouses between installers for scrap panels. But officials have no start date or specific recycling goals.

Rep. James Harrison, R-Rutland, offers a different approach, H.47, which would require every permit issued by the Public Utility Commission to include a plan to recycle panels when decommissioned.

The bill would also task the commission with setting guidelines for recycling programs. Harrison said he drafted the bill after a constituent asked him what they should do about solar waste.

But the measure has sat idle in committee.

Sterling’s group is proactive in dealing with solar waste, he said, but in his mind it’s a small problem compared to fossil fuels.

“What are we going to do in 20 years when we need to recycle a solar panel versus the problem (of climate change)?” he asked. “Let’s be honest: What we’re doing now is killing our planet.”

“In terms of the climate fight, we don’t believe that cutting 30 acres of forest and degrading 85 acres of healthy fields, and destroying all those natural ecosystems, in order to roll out solar panels is the right approach.”

Jesse McDougall Stop Shaftsbury Solar

Ambulance calls and costs soaring

Chiefs warn of spikes in demand and equipment prices

BY KEVIN O’CONNOR VTDigger

When Steven Locke took his current job, it seemed like a mouthful to say he was chief of the South Burlington Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. But the 30-year veteran firefighter knows the addition of ambulances brings more than just a longer name.

South Burlington reported 74 fires in 2022, according to city records. But its EMS requests totaled 3,154 in the same period — up 16 percent from the year before.

That’s a challenge when the resulting $950,000 in ambulance insurance reimbursements covered only about 20 percent of the department’s $4.2 million annual budget.

“The increased reliance on the 911 system for pre-hospital medical services is putting a tremendous strain on our existing services,” Locke wrote in South Burlington’s most recent annual report. “This is a significant challenge that will tax our services for years to come.”

The South Burlington chief is not alone. Locke, a board officer for the International Association of Fire Chiefs, worked previously in Burlington and Hartford, two of the six other Vermont municipalities with 5,000 or more people that run combined municipal fire and EMS departments. All report similar spikes in ambulance calls and costs — sparked in large part, they say, by people who don’t want to wait in a doctor’s office or emergency room.

In Vermont’s biggest city, the Burlington Fire Department recorded 116 fires and 2,931 calls about

everything from false alarms to cats in trees in 2022, statistics show. But those combined numbers were less than half of its 6,817 EMS requests, up almost 25 percent from the year before.

For its work, Burlington collected about $1.5 million through ambulance billing — leaving taxpayers to pick up the remaining 90 percent of its nearly $14 million combined fire and EMS budget.

“The aforementioned significant increase in call volume creates challenges, which are often not seen in the public eye,” Deputy Fire Chief Derek Libby wrote in Burlington’s most recent annual report.

In the Windsor County town of Hartford — known for its village of White River Junction — 70 percent of its 2,637 calls the past year were for EMS, compared with 2 percent for fires and 28 percent for everything else. Hartford collected $625,000 in insurance reimbursements, leaving taxpayers to pick up the remaining 80 percent of its $3.5 million budget.

“We’ve seen a progressive increase in demand and costs,” said

Hartford Fire Chief Scott Cooney, who has worked for the town for 27 years. “EMS is a guaranteed way for someone to gain access to the medical system. Unfortunately, it is the most expensive way. The offsetting revenue doesn’t nearly cover it.”

In Brattleboro, municipal leaders are considering whether to join the ranks of other Vermont communities with combined fire/EMS stations. A review of records of the seven largest such facilities — which, in addition to Burlington, Hartford and South Burlington, include Barre City, Montpelier, Springfield and Williston — show rising ambulance demand is causing a growing set of challenges.

“Brattleboro definitely has got its work cut out,” said Barre City Fire Chief Keith Cushman, whose own department responded to 17 fires and 1,752 EMS calls in 2022 — up 16 percent in a year. “Staffing, hours of training, delays to the supply chain … it just continues to trend upward. There are so many moving parts to an EMS system. I don’t know if I’d want to try to build one now.”

‘VERY MUCH A DEMAND BUT NO MONEY TO BE MADE’

Take staff turnover. The Burlington department has hired a dozen new employees in the past year and has yet to fill its vacant head EMS position. Leaders say it’s difficult to recruit and retain candidates for jobs that require specialized training in both firefighting and emergency medical care.

“We must be prepared in all facets of personal interactions and mental health crises,” Battalion Chief Troy Ruggles wrote in Burlington’s most recent annual report. “A firefighter who arrives unprepared at an emergency can be faced with life-or-death situations and will find himself or herself under extreme stress to perform.”

Williston, with 35 fires and 1,417 EMS calls in the past year, recently hired nine additional employees (a $785,000 annual expense) after staffers responding to a 2021 emergency could not find on-call replacements, leaving their station empty for almost an hour.

Springfield has been similarly stretched, with 37 fires and 2,420 EMS calls in the past year.

“We struggle with our staffing being inadequate to cover the growing number of calls,” recently retired Fire Chief Russ Thompson wrote in Springfield’s most recent annual report. “I don’t see the trend of higher emergency call volume slowing.”

Combined stations also report steeper costs and slower delivery of equipment. Barre City, for example, recently ordered a new $337,000 ambulance to replace a 15-year-old backup vehicle.

“That’s a $100,000 price increase over just a year or two,” Barre City’s Cushman said. “The cost of everything is skyrocketing.”

Burlington, Hartford and South

Burlington also have ordered ambulances for as much as $432,259 each, only to learn they won’t arrive for up to three years because of nationwide supply chain issues. As a result, all anticipate the final price will ultimately increase.

“We’ve built in $20,000 for contingencies,” Cushman said. “In the meantime, we’ve got our fingers crossed that our 2008 ambulance makes it.”

Unlike for fires, combined stations can bill public and private insurance for EMS calls. But none have found that the resulting payments cover rising budgets.

“Most of the patients we transport rely on Medicare or Medicaid, but the federal government reimburses at a very low rate,” South Burlington’s Locke said. “That, by and large, is the driving factor on why there’s very much a demand but no money to be made.”

Departments, in fact, annually have to decide how much to write off in unpaid ambulance bills. Hartford, for example, just logged a $138,499 loss from unpaid ambulance bills, up from $90,000 to $100,000 in years past.

‘PUSHED OUR FRAGILE SYSTEM … TO THE POINT OF CRISIS’

In Brattleboro, former Town Manager Octavian “Yoshi” Manale painted a different picture a year ago when he projected a municipal EMS takeover would reap “$500,000 to $700,000 net gain in revenue,” just before the selectboard approved a transition plan with little notice or public debate.

An independent feasibility study conducted after Manale abruptly resigned eight weeks later not only debunked the former Brattleboro manager’s figures, but also found

see AMBULANCE page 14

The Williston Fire Department responded to 35 fires and 1,417 EMS calls in the past year, according to department records.

COURTESY PHOTO BY PRESCOTT NADEAU

Ambulance

continued from page 13

the town’s former provider, the private nonprofit Rescue Inc., was the most economical choice for maintaining current local coverage.

The study determined that a proposed Brattleboro Fire Department takeover would increase costs and bolster the town’s understaffed system of crisis response. Brattleboro leaders still have not shared any of the facts or figures that caused them to drop Rescue Inc. But Tuesday’s selectboard agenda indicates they plan to reveal estimated start-up costs for a combined fire/EMS department that total $1.3 million to $1.9 million.

In comparison, Brattleboro had signed a $285,600 annual contract with Rescue Inc. before the selectboard dropped the nearly 60year agreement last year.

Nationally, ambulance operating costs jumped 22 percent between 2017 and 2020, according to a recent FAIR Health study of 36 billion claim records, while average Medicare reimbursement increased by just 5 percent.

“Years of inadequate reimbursement for services rendered, unreliable levels of local, state and federal support, and the pressure of the global pandemic have pushed our fragile system and those who serve our communities to the point of crisis,” the Vermont Emergency Medical Services Advisory Committee wrote in a recent report to the state Legislature.

Of Vermont’s 28 cities and towns with 5,000 or more people, 13 run their own ambulances through their fire departments or separate municipal facilities. None report making a profit — taxpayers subsidizing as much as two-thirds of standalone EMS spending after insurance collection, according to a VTDigger survey.

“The department is concerned with our ability to meet the service demands of our community,” Locke wrote in South Burlington’s most recent annual report. “There does not appear to be any reduction of the medical call frequency on the horizon.”

Lawmakers set to extend motel program

BY LOLA DUFFORT VTDigger

Sitting in the drizzling rain outside of Montpelier’s Kellogg-Hubbard Library on Friday afternoon, Jeffrey Dorsey rolled back the black sock on his left ankle.

“I just want to show you that so you believe me,” he told a reporter as he revealed a fistsized, red-and-purple lump on the joint, and, in one crevice of his shin, a small abscess.

The 57-year-old had lived in Barre’s Budget Inn for months as part of a state program that sheltered people experiencing homelessness in motels and hotels. But on June 1, he was shown the door, and told he no longer qualified for a voucher because of the state’s newly narrowed eligibility criteria.

The news had come as a surprise to Dorsey, because he’d heard that disabled people would continue to be helped. Between his diabetes and the continued effects of a hit-and-run in 2019 which required a succession of surgeries (one just seven months ago), he’d assumed he qualified. He didn’t.

“I’m in a lot — a lot — of pain, more pain than I’ve been in like four years. And I’m walking around and it’s been hurting. So I don’t know what to do,” he said. “Like, I really don’t know what to do. I’m not really, like, into begging people. I’ve just been trying to stay outside by myself.”

Using federal Covid-19 aid that flooded the state during the pandemic, Vermont dramatically scaled up a pre-existing program to shelter nearly everyone experiencing homelessness in a hotel or motel. More than three years later, the federal money is gone — but homelessness remains. In fact, amid a housing crisis, it spiked nearly 19 percent between 2022 and 2023.

Back in March, when federal aid ran dry, lawmakers temporarily extended the program but decided to split the roughly 2,800 individuals staying in motels into two categories.

Those who met new eligibility criteria — such as families with children, elderly people and those receiving federal disability benefits — could stay in motels until July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year. Those who didn’t would need to be out a month earlier, on June 1.

Both Republican Gov. Phil Scott and Democratic legislative leaders have, to varying extents, reversed themselves on the subject of the roughly 2,000 people that are scheduled for eviction July 1, promising to extend their stays. But they’ve held firm to the decision that the June 1 cohort, which number about 800 people, should remain ineligible for further shelter through the state’s program.

represent a minority of those who left hotels and motels on June 1. But they argue their needs are still acute. Martin Hahn, executive director of the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness, sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to include those who meet Vermont’s definition of “disability,” and those who are medically vulnerable, to remain housed.

“Many people with disabilities do not have (federal Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income) and you can’t apply for that if you don’t have an address,” stated the letter, signed by several local service providers.

Lawmakers will reconvene in Montpelier this week for a special veto session, when they are set to take up legislation that would keep in place those who were scheduled to leave July 1 until alternate shelter can be found. Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, who has been involved in the legislation’s development, told VTDigger that lawmakers did not intend to tweak eligibility criteria for now.

That leaves people like Dorsey, who don’t receive Social Security Disability Insurance — but who nevertheless have disabilities or medical conditions — relying on whatever help local service providers can muster.

Advocates have been pushing for lawmakers to reconsider. Brenda Siegel, an activist and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate, last week released a compilation of data from a survey of 76 people set to leave in the June 1 cohort. Many have had major medical conditions, she reported, including grand mal seizures, a brain tumor, epilepsy, kidney disease, cancer, Crohn’s disease, severe arthritis, endocarditis and hemophilia. One recently underwent an amputation, she said, and two had had a heart attack or stroke.

Service providers by and large say that people with such significant physical needs who don’t receive federal disability benefits

Advocates have also criticized the legislative deal that was announced in broad strokes last week for leaving out anyone who will fall into homelessness after July 1. While it would keep people in motels if they’re already there, it would subject anyone who loses shelter starting next month to the pre-pandemic rules for the state’s general assistance program.

A family with children, for example, would be eligible for only 28 days of shelter within a year, not counting the winter months. (Hahn’s letter also made this point, and noted that more people are entering homelessness than are leaving it.)

Kornheiser said some legislators are interested in re-evaluating the motel program’s rules when they come back for their next full session. But after this week’s veto session, lawmakers won’t be back in Montpelier until January. And in the interim, Kornheiser freely acknowledged many people will be left in the lurch.

“One of the hardest things about this work is that almost everything that we do leaves people out that shouldn’t be left out,” she said.

Jeffrey Dorsey sits outside the KelloggHubbard Library in Montpelier on Friday.

PHOTO BY LOLA DUFFORT/VTDIGGER

Jury selected in EB-5 investor lawsuit against the state

BY ANNE GALLOWAY VTDigger

After six years of legal wrangling, a group of defrauded Jay Peak investors are getting their day in court. A two-week trial that will decide whether the state harmed investors by failing to stop the $200 million fraud at Jay Peak Resort began on Monday.

The trial, which is expected to feature testimony from key former state officials including former Gov. Peter Shumlin, began with attorneys for the investors and the state selecting 16 local residents to serve on the jury.

The EB-5 immigrant investors say Vermont officials billed special state oversight as part of a sales pitch for the development projects, but in fact provided little to no supervision. Each of the 32 investors, represented in four separate trials over the next 18 months, are seeking damages in Sutton et al. v. the Vermont Regional Center et al.

Benjamin Battles, chief of the state attorney general’s legal division, has argued in court filings that the state is immune from lawsuits claiming misrepresentation and that each investor must prove they had a special relationship with state officials.

Judge Mary Miles Teachout explained to the more than 60 local residents summoned to Lamoille County Superior Court on Monday that the jurors’ job is to be fair and impartial. A number of potential jurors said they could not be dispassionate about the EB-5 program, the investors nor Jay Peak Resort. Several voiced strong opinions about “rich people buying themselves into this country.”

Chandler Matson, a plaintiff’s attorney for Barr Law Group, told potential jurors he would “be asking for big damages.” Asked whether they would have a problem with that, many said they would.

“Where does the money come from? My taxes?” one man said. “I might have a tough time with that as a taxpayer.”

Matson said the attorneys were not going to talk about the source of funds. Another potential juror asked why taxpayers “have to pay.”

“Why aren’t the individual people who didn’t do their jobs picked out?” the juror said.

David Groff, an assistant attorney general, asked if the potential jurors felt sympathy for the plaintiffs. No hands when up.

“Would you have a hard time

ruling for the state?” he asked. Again, silence.

A LONG AND WINDING ROAD

The investors are from Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. Each put up $500,000 in exchange for green cards and a return of their investment with a profit. In order to meet federal immigration requirements, each investment must create at least 10 jobs.

More than 850 foreigners invested in the Jay Peak projects, which included expansion of the Jay Peak and Burke Mountain ski areas and plans for a biomedical facility in Newport. Many cashed out retirement accounts or sold family homes to pay for the investment, according to the plaintiffs’ complaint.

When federal regulators charged former Jay Peak President and CEO Bill Stenger and his business partner Ariel Quiros in 2016 with 52 counts of fraud for misusing investor funds, the Ponzi-like scheme came to a halt and many investors were left in the lurch. Eight years later, about half do not have green cards and don’t have the money to reapply for another project. Many have not received their original investment back. With the recent sale of Jay Peak resort, 529 investors will see roughly 22 percent of their losses covered, according to Michael Goldberg, the Jay Peak receiver.

Getting to trial has been an uphill battle for the investors. Their first legal action was launched in 2017 and dismissed by a Lamoille County judge in 2018 who ruled that the state was protected by sovereign immunity. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has attempted to delay or stop the trial altogether, court documents show.

In 2020, the Vermont Supreme Court rejected a lower court judge’s decision to dismiss the case and remanded four claims made by the investors back to Lamoille County. Those claims include: breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, negligence and gross negligence.

Judge Teachout ordered in March that the attorney general’s office release 39,000 pages of state documents that had been withheld under exemptions in the public records law. She denied the state’s motion to stop the trial on June 1. When that failed, the attorney general’s office appealed Teachout’s decision to the Vermont Supreme Court.

“The claims Plaintiffs have asserted against the State are novel and the damages Plaintiffs seek from

state coffers are unprecedented,” Battles, with the attorney general’s office, wrote in a June 5 motion.

The justices rejected that appeal last week, allowing the trial to go forward.

Attorneys for the investors say in court records that the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center was acting like a business as it became increasingly involved in the Jay Peak projects. State officials — including Shumlin, who was then governor; former U.S. Rep. and current U.S. Sen. Peter Welch; former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy; regional center directors; and state employees — solicited investors on behalf of the Jay Peak developers and assured them that the state of Vermont would audit and rigorously manage the developments, according to Barr Law Group, which is representing the investors.

Barr Law Group confirmed that Shumlin, Goldberg and Stenger are expected to testify during the trial. (Stenger was recently released from prison after serving about half of an 18-month sentence for his role in the scandal.) The firm will also ask former commerce secretary Lawrence Miller, and the two former directors of the center, James Candido and Brent Raymond, to appear before the jury.

The plaintiffs say state officials pledged to audit and rigorously manage the Jay Peak developments on its website, in a video, in email communications, during in-person meetings, and by offering documents and marketing materials. The state’s stamp of approval was the No. 1 reason investors opted for Jay Peak instead of other projects in the United States, they say.

Documents released in discovery show that the state did not conduct reviews of Jay Peak projects before they approved them, nor did they require that the developers submit reports. An audit of the Jay Peak projects never occurred, Candido and Raymond told FBI investigators.

Charmaine Enslin, an investor from South Africa who invested in Penthouse Suites, one of eight development phases of the Jay Peak projects, said in an affidavit that the State of Vermont “unambiguously” claimed a role in the approval and oversight of developments, and management and regular monitoring of the projects.

“To be sure, but for the State of Vermont’s oversight offer, I never would have invested in the Jay Peak Penthouse Suites L.P. phase of the Jay Peak projects,” Enslin testified. Enslin and seven other investors are expected to testify over the next few days.

Next Week: Celebrating the U.S.

Welcome to the Bay State

Massachusetts has played a big role in many important events in our country’s history. We often think of the famous harvest feast celebrated in Plymouth, Massachusetts, at Thanksgiving. The Old North Church in Boston was the site of the signal that warned Paul Revere that the British were coming. (“One if by land, two if by sea.”)

This week, The Mini Page explores our nation’s sixth state.

Hello, Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a small state with a lot of people: More than 7 million people live in an area only 190 miles long and 115 miles wide. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and hills on the west.

The word “Massachusetts” comes from the Indigenous people who lived there when Europeans arrived. The word means “near the great hill.”

Harbors in Boston and other cities helped early Massachusetts traders become successful.

Fishing is a big industry in the state.

Gloucester (GLAH-stir) is the oldest fishing port still in use in the United States.

Try ’n’ Find

ATLANTIC, BASKETBALL, BOSTON, BUSH, COAST, COMMONWEALTH, EAST, HARBOR, HARVARD, KENNEDY, LIGHTHOUSE, MASSACHUSETTS, MATHER, MUSEUMS, NAISMITH, OCEAN,

Mini Fact: The Naussett Lighthouse sits on Cape Cod, a peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean.

Did you notice that unusual pronunciation of Gloucester? Other cities in Massachusetts with names that look different from how they are pronounced include Worcester (WUH-stir), Barre (BEAHR-ee) and Leicester (LESS-tur).

Sports

Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891 in Springfield. The Basketball Hall of Fame is in that city today.

The first baseball World Series was in Boston, between the Boston Pilgrims and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1903.

Volleyball was invented in Holyoke in 1895 by YMCA director William Morgan. The Volleyball Hall of Fame is there.

Professional sports teams include the Boston Red Sox (baseball), the New England Patriots (football) and the New England Revolution (soccer).

Education

The oldest public elementary school in the United States, the Mather School, was founded in 1639 in Dorchester. Harvard University in Cambridge is the oldest university in the nation, founded in 1636. The state has many other important schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Famous Bay Staters

Four presidents were born in Massachusetts: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John F. Kennedy and George H.W. Bush.

Authors Edgar Allan Poe and Dr. Seuss were both born in Massachusetts.

A wicked good time

Visitors to Massachusetts might want to see the USS Constitution, a threemasted ship of the U.S. Navy launched in 1797, which is now a museum in the Charlestowne Navy Yard.

The state is known for its symphony orchestras, ballet companies and opera houses, along with music festivals featuring contemporary artists.

Plimoth

Plantation is a living history museum where interpreters re-create the original settlement from the 1700s.

People also enjoy sailing, fishing, whale-watching, skiing and hiking in Massachusetts.

Resources

On the Web:

• bit.ly/MPMassachusetts

At the library:

• “Shelly Goes to Massachusetts” by Brittney Traudt

Mini Jokes

Mick: What kind of music did the Pilgrims listen to? Molly: Plymouth Rock!

Eco Note

A new study suggests that the males of disease-carrying mosquito species hover around humans, even though

Words that remind us of Massachusetts are hidden in this puzzle. Some words are hidden backward or diagonally, and some letters are used twice. See if you can find:

Founded by Betty Debnam

photo by Peter Ciro

photo by C Hanchey

photo by Daderot

photo by Rob Croes

photo by Ramones Karaoke

The capital and largest city is Boston, which lies on the eastern edge of the state.

Massachusetts Hall, the oldest building at Harvard University.

An interpreter at Plimoth Plantation speaks with guests.

James Naismith

George H.W. Bush

Gloucester (GLAH-stir) is the oldest fishing port still in use in the United States. schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Try ’n’ Find

Words that remind us of Massachusetts are hidden in this puzzle. Some words are hidden backward or diagonally, and some letters are used twice. See if you can find:

ATLANTIC, BASKETBALL, BOSTON, BUSH, COAST, COMMONWEALTH, EAST, HARBOR, HARVARD, KENNEDY, LIGHTHOUSE, MASSACHUSETTS, MATHER, MUSEUMS, NAISMITH, OCEAN, PLANTATION.

Cook’s Corner

Boston Baked Beans

You’ll need:

• 1/2 pound bacon, cut in pieces

• 6 (15-ounce) cans navy beans

• 1/3 cup molasses

• 1 cup light brown sugar

What to do:

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2 teaspoons dry mustard

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Cook bacon in a microwave oven on high for 3 minutes. (It does not have to be fully cooked.)

2. Remove bacon from microwave, cool, and then cut into small pieces.

3. In a large baking dish, mix the bacon with the remaining ingredients.

4. Bake, uncovered, in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Serves 12.

Mini Jokes

Mick: What kind of music did the Pilgrims listen to? Molly: Plymouth Rock!

Eco Note

A new study suggests that the males of disease-carrying mosquito species hover around humans, even though they don’t bite them, so they have better chances of “picking up” the females, which do bite. Using human volunteers, University of Melbourne researchers tested to see whether male mosquitoes were attracted to the same people as the bloodthirsty females. They found they indeed were, but with weaker preferences.

For later: Look in your newspaper for articles about Massachusetts.

Teachers: Follow and interact with The Mini Page on Facebook!

BY DAN THOMPSON

The Mini Page® © 2023 Andrews McMeel Syndication

Hall, the oldest building at Harvard University.

Health insurance options after a spouse retires

Dear Savvy Senior, My 63-year-old wife, who doesn’t work, is on my health insurance plan through my employer. When I retire next month and go on Medicare, what are our options for getting her health coverage until she turns 65? Is there some kind of Medicare coverage for dependent spouses?

Need Insurance

coverage, and she won’t be denied coverage or charged extra for preexisting health conditions.

Dear Need,

Unfortunately, Medicare does not provide family coverage to younger spouses or dependent children when you qualify for Medicare. Nobody can obtain Medicare benefits before age 65, unless eligible at a younger age because of disability. With that said, here are your best options for covering your wife.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

In most cases, your best choice is to get your wife an individual health insurance policy through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance Marketplace (a.k.a. Obamacare). The Marketplace offers comprehensive health

And thanks to the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, the Marketplace now provides enhanced subsidies through 2025. If your income falls below the 400 percent poverty level after you retire – anything below $73,240 for a couple or $54,360 for a single in 2023 – your wife will be eligible for a tax credit that will reduce the amount you’ll have to pay for her policy. The Marketplace also ensures that households with incomes above that 400 percent poverty level will not have to pay more than 8.5 percent of their income for a benchmark policy.

To see how much subsidy you may be eligible for, use the Kaiser Family Foundation calculator at www.KFF.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator.

To shop for Marketplace plans in your state, visit www.HealthCare.gov or call 800-318-2596. Or, if you want some extra help, contact a Marketplace-certified agent or broker at www.HealthCare.gov/ find-assistance.

COBRA

By Jim Miller

Another option is the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which is a federal law that would allow your wife to remain with your company insurance plan for at least 18 months after you make the switch to Medicare. But not every employer plan is COBRA eligible. Contact your employer benefits administrator to find out if yours is one of them.

You also need to be aware that COBRA is not cheap, requiring

you to pay the full monthly premium yourself. But, if you’ve already met or nearly met your employer plan’s deductible or out-of-pocket maximum for the year, and don’t want your wife to start over with a new plan; or if you find your employer’s health plan to be more affordable than the Marketplace plans, it makes sense for your wife to keep her current coverage under COBRA.

SHORT-TERM HEALTH INSURANCE

If you can’t find an affordable Marketplace plan and COBRA is too expensive, the next option is short-term health insurance. These plans, which are not available in every state, are cheaper, bare-bones health plans that provide coverage for one to 12 months and may be renewed for up to three years in some states. But be aware that short-term plans don’t comply with the ACA so they can deny sick people coverage, they don’t cover preexisting conditions, and they can exclude coverage essentials like prescription drugs.

To find and compare shortterm health plans, try sites like

www.eHealthInsurance.com or www.PivotHealth.com.

HEALTHCARE SHARING MINISTRIES

One other coverage option you should know about is healthcare sharing ministries (HCSM). These are cost-sharing health plans in which members – who typically share a religious belief – make monthly payments to cover expenses of other members, including themselves.

HCSM’s are cheaper than paying full out-of-pocket costs for traditional health insurance. But HCSM’s are not health insurance. They don’t have to comply with the consumer protections of the ACA. They can also reject or limit coverage for having pre-existing health issues and can limit how much you’ll be reimbursed for your medical costs.

To look for HCSM plans, comparison shop at the three largest providers: www.SamaritanMinistries. org, www.MyChristianCare.org and www.Chministries.org.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org.

ANDREWS MCMEEL Almanac

TODAY’S HISTORY:

• In 1815, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated his throne for the second time.

• In 1870, the U.S. Department of Justice was created.

• In 1942, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the U.S. Flag Code.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the GI Bill, providing benefits to veterans.

• In 1945, the Battle for Okinawa ended in an Allied victory after 83 days of fighting.

TODAY’S FACT:

• The Pledge of Allegiance was first published in the September 1892 issue of The Youth’s Companion magazine, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492.

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June 9 at 9:57 a.m. — Retail theft at Home Depot. Case is still under investigation.

June 9 at 12:35 p.m. — Stolen vehicle recovered at Hannaford. Stolen property located in the vehicle. Four suspects located with the vehicle. Case is still under investigation.

June 9 at 8:03 p.m. — Report of suspicious females at Marshalls. Females were located and moved along.

June 10 at 8:14 a.m. — Retail theft at Walmart. Arrest warrant was issued for suspect.

June 10 at 5:18 p.m. — Report of intoxicated male at Shaw’s. Male was transported to the hospital for evaluation.

June 11 at 12:30 a.m. — Traffic stop conducted. A male juvenile was issued a citation to appear in court for suspicion of DUI.

June 11 at 8:01 p.m. — Retail theft reported at Home Depot. Case is still under investigation.

OBITUARIES Marilyn Margaret Mayo

Marilyn Margaret Mayo, 80, of Williston passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, June 11, 2023 at UVM Medical Center.

She was born on August 9, 1942 in Barre City, VT the daughter of the late Frederick and Margaret (Hamel) Mayo.

Marilyn is survived by her cousin Beth Wood; her long time

Gordon Garrett Jr.

Gordon “Gordie” Garrett Jr, 67, of Williston VT passed away on June 9, 2023.

He was predeceased by parents Gordon “Bud” & Rosita Garrett and brother Gary Garrett. He leaves behind sister Lisa Garrett Krans, daughter Hillary Garrett Smiley, two grandchildren Rhys

and special friend Phyllis Lund, and by her extended loving family.

She was predeceased by her brother Frederick Mayo.

A private burial will be held later at the convenience of the family in Hope Cemetery, Barre.

Arrangements are in the care of the Cremation Society of Chittenden County.

To send online condolences to her family, please visit www. cremationsocietycc.com.

& Ryker, nephews Shawn Garrett & Jason Krans, and many other cousins.

Gordie was in the Army National Guard, an avid hunter, and will be missed by many friends and buddies from deer camp.

A celebration of life will be held this summer.

Please visit www.awrfh.com to share your memories and condolences.

June 12 at 12:45 a.m. — Following a traffic stop, a male, age 41, was issued a citation to appear in court for suspicion of DUI and possession of cocaine.

June 12 at 7:55 p.m. — Retail theft at Walmart. During investigation, it was discovered that a male, age 52, had an outstanding arrest warrant. He was transported to the correctional facility. The male was also issued a citation to appear in court for retail theft.

June 13 at 4:43 p.m. — Disturbance reported on Day Lane. Parties were separated.

June 13 at 9:03 p.m. — Retail theft reported at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Case is still under investigation.

June 14 at 11:34 a.m. — Retail theft reported at Best Buy. Case is still under investigation.

June 14 at 6:44 p.m. — Retail theft reported at REI. Case is still under investigation.

June 15 at 6:19p.m. — Retail theft from Best Buy. Male took off on foot from officers and was unable to be located.

June 15 at 7:48 p.m. — Report of a suspicious male on Market Street. Male was moved along.

June 15 at 7:57 p.m. — Suspicious vehicle located on Hickory Hill. Vehicle had been involved in several retail thefts earlier in the day and had fled from both Berlin Police Department and Vermont State Police. No one located with the vehicle. Vehicle was towed.

June 15 at 10:21p.m. — Assisted Vermont State Police with underage drinking party. Several juveniles issued diversion paperwork.

Williston Police Officers also responded to 11 alarm activations within the town, nine motor vehicle crashes and conducted 27 traffic stops during this time frame.

Dorothy Alling Memorial Library

hours:

• Monday and Wednesday: 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

• Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

• Saturday: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Visit www.damlvt.org to apply for a library card, renew materials, access digital offerings and register for programs. Need help? Call 878-4918 or email daml@damlvt.org.

JULY FOURTH BOOK SALE

Support the Friends of the Library

Fourth of July book sale by donating books this month. We’re also looking for help with setup on Sunday, July 2, noon-4 p.m. and with the sale days on July 3-4. Contact the library to sign up for a slot. Donation dropoff times are: (Limit 3 boxes per day)

• Monday and Wednesday: 12-2 p.m., 5-7 p.m.

• Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 12-2 p.m.

• Saturday: 11-2 p.m.

We accept youth and adult books, foreign language books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD and travel books less than 5 years old. We do not accept anything damaged, old, moldy or dirty; magazines, puzzles, music CDs, games, condensed books, VHS or cassette tapes; computer software or manuals; maps; sheet music; textbooks; dictionaries or encyclopedias.

YOUTH PROGRAMS

Children in fourth grade and younger must be supervised by someone over 16 years of age.

VINS RAPTORS: INSPIRING CONSERVATION

Friday, June 23, 1-2 p.m. Come to the Town Green to learn about raptors and conservation. Meet two birds of prey with the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. (Rain location: Old Brick Church.)

LYRIC THEATRE COMPANY:

ELEPHANT & PIGGIE

Saturday, June 24, 10-11:30 a.m. and 3-4:30 p.m. Enjoy a Lyric Theatre performance of “Elephant & Piggie: We Are in a Play!” on the Town Green. (Rain location: Old Brick Church.)

CHALK THE BLOCK WITH KINDNESS WEEK

June 26-30. Use our chalk to leave messages of kindness on the sidewalk outside the library.

TEEN NIGHT: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Monday, June 26, 5-6 p.m. Ages 12+plus. Join our teen advisory board at the library and discuss volunteer opportunities and programs. You bring the thoughts, we

bring the food.

STORYTIME

Tuesday, June 27, 10:30-11 a.m. Join Danielle for stories and fun on the Town Green.

PRESCHOOL MUSIC AND PLAYTIME

Thursdays, June 29 and July 6, 10:3011:30 a.m. Enjoy music, then stay to play. On the Town Green.

SATURDAY STORYTIME

Saturday, July 1, 10-10:30 a.m. Drop by for Saturday morning storytime.

TEENS DISNEY NIGHT

Monday, July 3, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Ages 12plus. Start off our month of Teens Disney Nights by being as swift as the coursing river. Cosplay and singing accepted!

BABY TIME

Wednesday, July 5, 10:30-11 a.m. Socialize and bond with gentle activities.

MULTI-AGE PROGRAMS

SUMMER READING CHALLENGE

Williston and St. George residents of any age are welcome to participate. Visit www.damlvt.org for more information.

GOOD CITIZEN CHALLENGE

All ages are invited to participate in the Good Citizen Challenge. Pick up your scorecard at the library and keep an eye out for “Good Citizen” events at the library through July and August. K-8 participants are eligible for prizes through www.goodcitizenvt.com.

PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS

To join a book club or for a Zoom link, email programs@damlvt.org.

ADULT MEDITATION (ONLINE)

Fridays, June 23 and 30, 12-12:30 p.m. Reconnect with your peaceful body and breath in this online meditation.

BROWN BAG BOOK CLUB

Tuesday, June 27, 12:30-1:30 p.m. “Fellowship Point” by Alice Elliot Dark.

CURRENT EVENTS

Wednesday, June 28, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Drop by to discuss current events.

LIFE STORIES SPECIAL TRAVEL

SERIES: PART 1 KENYA (ONLINE)

Wednesday, June 28, 2-3:30 p.m. Join us for part one of a four-part series based on the solo travels of Jane Wilson in Africa and the Middle East.

ADULT CRAFTERNOON: SEA

GLASS JUTE CANDLE HOLDER

Thursday, July 6, 2-3 p.m. Transform a pickle jar into a Nantucket-style accessory.

Job Openings

The Town of Hinesburg, Vermont seeks qualified applicants for the following positions:

• Highway Foreperson

• Highway Maintainer

• Water and/or Wastewater Operator

• Firefighter/AEMT

• General Seasonal Summer Help

Detailed information and an application form can be found at www.hinesburg.org under the employment tab. Applications can be mailed or delivered to Todd Odit, Town Manager, 10632 Route 116 or emailed to todit@hinesburg.org.

The Town of Hinesburg offers a comprehensive benefits package and very competitive pay. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Applications will be reviewed as received and accepted until the position is filled.

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

PUZZLE FOUND ON PAGE 19

An athletic sister stealing the limelight

Hey Woodski, My sister is a soccer player and we are ALWAYS going to her practices and games. It’s starting to bother me that she gets all the attention and I get none. I love her and all but it’s making me feel bad. What can I do?

Supportive Sis age 13 female

Dear Supportive Sis, That must be very frustrating. Sibling relationships can be wonderful and hard. It’s normal to have

YARD SALE

Churchview Drive — Nice sale with a variety of items. Woman’s XLG clothes, air conditioner, fans, furniture and more. June 24 and 25 – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Commons Garage sale at the Commons in Williston Village June 24 and 25 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

LEGAL

TOWN OF WILLISTON DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD AGENDA

Tuesday, June 27, 2023 – 7:00 PM

Town Hall Meeting Room (Town Hall,

mixed feelings when someone’s getting more attention than you.

It sounds like you might be ready to talk about it. Could you say something to your sister so she might acknowledge how you feel? Approach her with love, but remember that you matter. No one should downplay your feelings.

She’s probably not going to change her soccer schedule for you, but she could find ways to make you feel special also.

Consider also mentioning it to your parents. They might be so busy managing everyone’s schedule that they’ve forgotten to

CLASSIFIEDS

7900 Williston Road, use rear entrance) or Zoom Meeting ID 846 5863 3532 on zoom.us/join or call 1-646-558-8656

DP 09-01.26 Rieley Properties, LLC & The Snyder FC Commercial Properties, LLC request a discretionary permit to subdivide Finney Crossing Lot C-3 an approx. 2.74-ac lot at 281 Holland Ln in the TCZD.

DP 20-20.1 Pidgeon Farm Properties

c/o Jesse Carswell requests a discretionary permit for a 3,000 sf commercial addition and Master Sign Plan at 375 Engineers Dr in the

Information Technology Director

JOB SUMMARY

The City of South Burlington is looking for an innovative, strategic and dynamic proven leader to be our next IT Director: oversee and lead all aspects of Information Technology for the City; design and develop IT strategies and infrastructure, hardware and software, network operations and security, server maintenance and connectivity, help desk and customer service operations and project management. Administrative functions include budget and resource management. As a Department Head, this position is a member of the City Manager’s Leadership Team.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, or a related field, plus a minimum of five years’ experience in information technology leadership and administration, equivalency considered. Learn more about the position and see a detailed job description by visiting: southburlingtonvt.gov/jobopportunities

APPLY

NOW

Review of applications will begin July 5, 2023. To apply, please email an South Burlington City employment application form, cover letter, resume and three references to sbcityjobs@southburlingtonvt.gov with “IT Director” in the subject line.

devote special time just for you. Everyone makes mistakes.

They deserve to know how you feel also, and given the opportunity to make adjustments.

In both cases, it might take some time and reminders. Eventually, after you find what YOU want to invest your time into, you can “call in” your debts from your family for being a team player with your sister.

Steve Fuchs is a health coach at Steve Fuchs Health Coaching. Go to www.vermonthealthcoach.com to anonymously ask a question about things that affect your athletic performance, such as performance anxiety, workload balance, nutrition, willpower and procrastination. The advice offered in this column is not intended to replace professional medical advice. It is advised that you talk to your doctor before making any changes in your diet, exercise or lifestyle choices.

IZDW.

APP 23-02

Appellants Peter and Abigail Mead file an appeal of AP 23-0181, an administrative permit issued to James Becker for his home business, Tumbleweed Sugar Company at 177 Brook Hollow Rd in the ARZD.

Project details and site plans are available on the website, town. williston.vt.us, under “Public Records and Documents”, then “Agendas & Minutes”, and “Development Review Board”. Contact Planning & Zoning Office for more information: 802-8786704 or email planning@willistonvt.org

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Elders share perspectives for students’ history project

BY TAYLOR ANTONIOLI Special to the Observer

On June 12, a small group of students, teachers and community members gathered at Williston Central School to see what Mosaic House fourth-graders have been working on with their teachers Dawn Elliott and Pam Cyr, and local photographer Andy Duback.

The students created a visual history project called “Williston: Then and Now.”

The project entailed recreating old photos of different places around Williston, such as Interstate 89 and Taft Corners, and comparing the two. The fourth-graders then interviewed nine elder members of the community, coming up with questions to get their opinions on the most significant changes around town and what Williston was like when they were younger.

The interviews were compiled

into a documentary, and the photo comparisons were presented around the community room in WCS.

“For children to learn the history of our community and to hear about the past from our elders … it was the most important project we did all year,” Cyr said. “The kids had a blast. The elders did too. The elders were happy to share their stores, and the kids were happy to listen.”

Duback said it was one the favorite projects he’s done with students. Two of his children have been in Mosaic. Duback shared that he had done something similar in Burlington and thought it would be cool to do it again in Williston.

The first “Williston: Then and Now” project was done four years ago, and Duback couldn’t resist coming back to do it again this year, even though his kids have left the middle school.

“The kids did a great job,” Duback said.

The students interviewed nine members of the community: Lynn McClintock, Sally Dattilio, Frank Foley, Denny Lewis, Mike Isham, Rick McGuire and Julie Trottier, as well as Lucy and Jim McCullough. A few of the interviewees came to see the June 12 presentation.

Dattilio was proud of the students, sharing that she loved talking to the kids. When interviewed, she brought in a yearbook from before she worked at WCS.

“The kids thought it was hilarious to see their teachers in the photos,” she said.

One of the fourth-graders, Andy Meisenzahl, pointed out which project he helped with and shared that, while he liked doing the project, he was more of an 1800s history person.

“It’s cool to learn about the events that happened,” he said. “There is so much people don’t know.”

Williston

A photo comparison shows the differences between Exit 12 in the mid-20 th century to today’s interchange. The comparison is part of the ‘Williston: Then and Now’ project recently completed by WCS fourth-graders.

OBSERVER PHOTO BY TAYLOR ANTONIOLI