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THE LAST WEEK IN REVIEW JULY 24-31, 2019 COMPILED BY MATTHEW ROY & ANDREA SUOZZO MATTHEW ROY
DEREK BROUWER
COYOTE UGLY?
Protect Our Wildlife criticized the “horrific display” of dead coyote pups strung up next to an Essex County home. They’re currently fair game in Vermont.
$58.4M
That’s the state’s budget surplus for fiscal year 2019, which ended June 30.
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BORROWED DIME
DURING ICE PROTEST, BORDER PATROL SETS UP A CHECKPOINT P rotesters marched through Williston to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement intelligence center on Sunday to draw attention to the state’s little-known information-sharing role in President Donald Trump’s national immigration crackdown. But the federal government’s pursuit of undocumented immigrants continued unabated. During the demonstration, the U.S. Border Patrol set up a highway enforcement checkpoint in South Hero. With participation from more than 60 activist groups, the protest began in pouring rain outside Vermont Technical College’s Williston campus, which runs workforce training programs for ICE. Hundreds then marched along Route 2A, waving signs that condemned federal “concentration camps” for undocumented immigrants and called for the abolition of ICE. Marchers stopped outside ICE’s Law Enforcement Support Center on Harvest Lane. After blocking its entrances for two hours, 19 people were cited for disorderly conduct. The center shares information with police nationwide and assists in thousands of immigration arrests. It has operated in Williston since the 1990s, when Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) secured funding. About 400 people are employed there. During the protest, a rumor spread that the U.S. Border Patrol had set up traffic cones and signs to stop vehicles 30 minutes away, on the causeway that connects South Hero to Milton.
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MORE TROUBLE
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Wilmington homeowner killed a bear with a crossbow after it barged into his kitchen, according to Vermont Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter. The July 20 incident was a case of a homeowner legally defending himself — and not the only such instance in Vermont this year, Porter said. Game wardens and residents have killed at least nine problem bears so far, the commissioner said. The Wilmington bear “ripped its way into the screened porch and went into the kitchen
Seven Days news editor Matthew Roy confirmed it was there. The agent who stopped him cheerfully asked, “How are you today, sir? Citizenship, please!” “U.S.,” Roy replied. “Thank you. Have a good day, sir,” the agent responded, waving the vehicle through. Will Lambek of Migrant Justice, the farmworker advocacy organization, arrived at the checkpoint later. “This is just one tool in a larger toolbox terrorizing immigrants who are living and working in Vermont,” he said, as agents queried drivers. “Whether it’s Border Patrol checkpoints or racial profiling or arrests on and around farms, this is part of striking fear into the immigrant community. And it’s an intentional strategy.” Asked if he thought the timing of Sunday’s checkpoint was related to the ICE protest, Lambek answered, “I don’t want to speculate on it, but it’s hard not to draw conclusions that the two are linked in some way.” (On Monday, the Border Patrol said in a statement that the checkpoint had long been planned.) As word about the ICE traffic stop spread, activists headed to South Hero to warn motorists approaching it. They set up about a mile in advance of the uniformed agents. Debra Stoleroff of Plainfield stood on the shoulder of Route 2 holding up a sign that read “Ciudado Retén! Checkpoint.” Read the full story by Roy and reporter Derek Brouwer and view a slide show of images at sevendaysvt.com.
Moody’s boosted Burlington’s bond rating to “double A,” meaning the city’s finances have improved and it can borrow money at lower interest rates. That’s a plus.
SUPREME OPPORTUNITY
The Judicial Nominating Board is accepting applications for wannabe Vermont Supreme Court justices. One benny: wearing a robe to work.
1. “Former Vermont Environmental Leader Missing in National Park in Montana” by Derek Brouwer. Attorney Mark Sinclair disappeared in Glacier National Park earlier this month. 2. “As Hundreds Protest ICE, Border Patrol Runs a Checkpoint” by Derek Brouwer and Matthew Roy. As ICE protesters marched in Williston, Border Patrol set up a checkpoint in South Hero. 3. “Stuck in Vermont: Exploring Three Swimming Holes in Lamoille County” by Eva Sollberger. Cool down with a dip in one of Vermont’s icecold swimming holes. 4. “Drug Overdoses Claim Three Lives in Five Days in Chittenden County” by Derek Brouwer. At least two of the deaths appeared to involve opioids, according to the Burlington Police Department. 5. “Owner Finds There’s No Green in Waterbury Sustainability Park” by Kevin McCallum. GreenSpark Sustainability Park’s quirky collection of green technologies isn’t drawing the crowds its owner had hoped for.
tweet of the week
MEMORY HOLE
Milton Elementary School alumni couldn’t find the time capsule they buried three decades ago. Can they remember how to read a map?
@SnarkyElf Kale thieves. There goes the neighborhood. #btv FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SEVENDAYSVT OUR TWEEPLE: SEVENDAYSVT.COM/TWITTER
WHAT’S WEIRD IN VERMONT through an adjoining doorway,” Porter said, adding: “I understand the bear came in twice. It came into the house, left and then came back.” As for why the bear was dispatched with a crossbow? “I suspect it was just what they had on hand,” Porter said. Porter had not yet received the incident narrative from the responding game warden, Richard Watkin. The warden did not immediately respond to a message from Seven Days. The bear story made the rounds in Wilmington and prompted concerns from resident Tanya Sparano. She sees bears on her property but says she’s managed to coexist. “We’ve kind of invaded their habitat,” Sparano
said. She wondered whether the property owner had properly secured their trash and whether the bear could have been tranquilized and moved. “I just want to know what steps were taken,” Sparano told Days, adding that a crossbow Seven Days seems “like a weird choice of weapon.” A person defending their safety can legally use any weapon at hand to ward off a bear — whether it’s a frying pan or a crossbow. In permitted hunting seasons in Vermont, crossbows are legal for hunters over age 50 and for younger people with a disability. “They are used for primarily deer hunting in Vermont,” said Chris Sanborn, manager of R&L Archery in Barre. He added: “If there’s a bear in my kitchen and it’s what I had, I would probably use that, too.” Vermont’s thriving bear population has led
to a raft of such encounters. In July, game wardens euthanized another bear after it ransacked the kitchen of an Underhill home, and they also killed a bear in Glastenbury that ripped into tents and charged a hiker on the Appalachian Trail. Green Mountain National Forest officials on July 24 issued a rule requiring that people take care to keep their food away from bears. Once bears become accustomed to human food, it’s difficult to change their behavior. The Fish & Wildlife Department generally does not relocate bears because that just moves the problem, Porter said. The state works with homeowners to avoid endings such as the one in Wilmington, Porter added. “But the reality is, when it’s a question of potential human safety, that takes precedence.”
MOLLY WALSH
SEVEN DAYS JULY 31-AUGUST 7, 2019
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