Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017

Page 1

Going vertical

Opening wins

Bernie speaks

Physicality & intricate choreography mark the dance performance coming to Middlebury. See Arts + Leisure.

Teams from each of the four local high schools earned victories late last week. See Sports, Page 1B.

Sen. Bernie Sanders was among those critical of the President’s ending of DACA. See Pages 2A-3A.

ADDISON COUNTY

Vol. 71 No. 36

INDEPENDENT Middlebury, Vermont

Thursday, September 7, 2017  38 Pages

Northlands director out after less than a year

College, schools form partnership

ACSD accord centers on world study By JOHN FLOWERS opportunities for students to do more MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury learning outside of the classroom, College and the Addison Central partnering with Middlebury College, School District (ACSD) have the Henry Sheldon Museum of forged a new partnership through Vermont History, local nonprofits and which their respective students will businesses, among others. gain knowledge and build career Program boosters believe IB will foundations through better prepare students the International for 21st century jobs Baccalaureate program. and for living in a more This past October global society. the ACSD board Middlebury College unanimously agreed President Laurie to begin a three-year Patton and ACSD process to become a Superintendent district of IB World Peter Burrows Schools. If successful, began discussing the Middlebury-area possible educational school district will partnerships in 2015. become one of fewer Those conversations than 10 IB World coalesced around IB Districts in the United studies in an agreement States. called the Addison The mission of the IB Central Middlebury PATTON program is “to develop College Partnership, or inquiring, knowledgeable and caring ACMCP, which officials formalized young people who help to create on Aug. 24. a better and more peaceful world “This is a wonderful partnership for through intercultural understanding Middlebury in several ways,” Patton and respect,” according to program told the Independent. “We are both a literature. The IB program is expected global liberal arts college and an active to usher in a more inquiry-based participant in the local community (See Partnership, Page 11A) curriculum, as well as hands-on

Change comes again to Job Corps center

By ANDY KIRKALDY VERGENNES — The head of the Northlands Job Corps Center in Vergennes has been replaced after less than 12 months on the job. An official of the company that operates the federally funded job training center confirmed in an email to Vergennes City Manager Mel Hawley last week that center director Shirma Ferguson has been replaced by an interim director. Ferguson came aboard along with Chugach Alaska Corp. to run the Macdonough Drive center in late 2016, replacing CHP International, which had operated Northlands for the previous three years. Chugach became the third new company to operate the center since 2010. Private companies run the more than 120 Job Corps centers under contract with the Department of Labor (DOL), which oversees a nationwide program that provides vocational training to economically disadvantaged youths and young adults. Documents mailed anonymously to the Independent include a Northlands Student Government Association (SGA) letter addressed to Ferguson that said she refused to meet with SGA representatives as required by Job Corps policy, she did not respond to requests for recreation improvements, she and other Northlands staff members inappropriately and inconsistently applied discipline, and the SGA system, a learning component at Northlands, was being “disregarded.” A letter and emails to the Independent from staff members and a letter that was written jointly by staff members and posted around the Northlands campus also criticized (See Northlands, Page 7A)

By the way The Vergennes Congregational Church has changed the name of its annual September “Food for Fuel” fundraiser to “Fall Fun Fest,” but the goal is the same: to buy fuel, electricity, transportation, medicine and other essentials for any Addison County resident in need. The name was changed in hopes of getting more family participation. The “Fun Fest” will take place on the city green on Saturday, Sept. 16, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lions Club volunteers will grill hamburgers and hot dogs and family activities will include pumpkin and face painting, bean bag toss, ring toss, and potato-on-aspoon races. Mums will be for sale. (See By the way, Page 7A)

Index Obituaries................................. 6A Classifieds.......................... 5B-9B Service Directory............... 6B-7B Entertainment.........Arts + Leisure Community Calendar......... 8A-9A Arts Calendar.........Arts + Leisure Sports................................. 1B-4B

$1.00

Lakeside towns seek power-line tax funds

Time for a new box

A BOX FULL of worn and broken crayons sits on a shelf in the Mary Hogan Elementary School art room last Thursday morning.

Independent photo/Trent Campbell

Aurora School closes, but might soon reopen as learning center By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — For the first time in more than 20 years, Middlebury’s Aurora School did not open its doors to students this month. Declining enrollment made it financially impossible to continue its K-8 programming. But Aurora leaders are in the process of reimagining the school’s mission in a manner that could soon bring hungry minds back to 238 Peterson Terrace. School officials are in the midst of a $25,000 fundraising campaign to relieve some debt and bolster three future offerings at the now-dormant Aurora headquarters: After-school programming, summer/vacation camps and a new learning center open to home schooling families or other freelance educational efforts. “I am very excited,” Aurora School co-founder and Director Emerita Susan Vigne said of the makeover-onprogress. “The way I’m looking at it is ‘new growth from an old root.’ This feels like a nice outgrowth of 21 years of the Aurora School.” After helping plant the seeds of the Aurora School, Vigne doesn’t want to see it wither away after gaining an enthusiastic following and great reputation for innovative teaching tailored to individual students. Things looked bleak this past spring when (See Aurora, Page 12A)

By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Four Addison County communities have joined a legal effort to compel developers of the proposed New England Clean Power Link (NECPL) to pay municipal property taxes on the entire electric power transmission line — including the segment located on the bed of Lake Champlain off their respective shorelines. But developers of the 154-mile NECPL have argued the underwater portion of the transmission line should be exempt from property taxation,

a position that — if affirmed by a Chittenden County Superior Court judge — could cost the affected Lake Champlain communities a combined total of around $10.5 million in annual revenues, according to Addison County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Adam Lougee. The Addison County towns of Bridport, Panton, Orwell and Shoreham joined Charlotte, Colchester and Isle La Motte in a lawsuit filed earlier this summer that asks the court (See Towns, Page 11A)

Bus company marks 25 years on the go ACTR has grown in routes, riders By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — Addison County Transit Resources (ACTR) began its journey back in 1992 with a handful of volunteer drivers believing they could make a difference for shut-ins, the

disabled and people who couldn’t afford their own vehicles. A quarter-century later, ACTR provides more than 180,000 rides per year through six different public bus routes helping people get around Addison County and to Rutland and Burlington. “I’m happy; we’re meeting a lot of needs out there,” said ACTR Executive Director Jim Moulton,

who took the steering wheel of the nonprofit back in 2002. “We have put the service in place, and people have used it.” Moulton is hoping a lot of ACTR’s clients will help the organization celebrate its 25th birthday at a Community Jamboree, scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Middlebury Recreation Park near Mary Hogan Elementary

ADDISON COUNTY TRANSIT Resources is marking its 25th year of service. The nonprofit began in 1992 with a handful of volunteer drivers and it now operates six public bus routes in Addison County with connections to Rutland and Burlington. Independent photo/Trent Campbell

School. There will be live music, family-friendly activities and free safety gear for bikers and pedestrians — including toddler helmets from Frog Hollow Bikes and flashing reflectors from ACTR. Participants will revisit a story that continues to grow, as demand for ACTR’s services jumps in relation to an aging state population and volatile fuel prices. “There are quite a few people in the county and region who don’t have transportation of their own, and these are our biggest users,” Moulton noted. But at the same time, Moulton pointed to other riders who have simply decided to forego a vehicle for the convenience of public transportation. “Knowing we have had a quality-of-life impact on so many people is very satisfying,” he said. ACTR’s numbers are pretty impressive. When Moulton joined ACTR in 2002, he was one of 11 full- and part-time workers operating out of the Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects (HOPE) Community Services Building on Boardman Street. Office quarters were tight and the HOPE parking lot could not fully accommodate ACTR’s modest bus fleet, which served at the time two public bus routes: The Middlebury In-Town Shuttle and Tri-Town Shuttle connecting (See ACTR, Page 12A)


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