MONDAY EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 29 No. 24
Middlebury, Vermont
Monday, October 2, 2017
32 Pages
$1.00
Addison teen claims junior world shooting title Village trees face scrutiny • Bristol is trying to figure out what to do with trees that bust up sidewalks. See Page 2.
Corbett rolls into United Way job • The former coordinator for Meals on Wheels now is working with volunteers at UWAC. See Page 2.
Panther football eyed 3-0 mark
• Middlebury was looking to stay unbeaten when it hosted Colby on Saturday. See Sports, Page 16.
Davis dreams of bigger things for firearm skills By ANDY KIRKALDY ADDISON — Not too many 15-year-olds list world champion on their résumés. Addison resident, Vergennes Union High School sophomore and aspiring police officer Michael Davis does. In Glengary, W.Va., between Sept. 14 and 18, Davis earned $1,000 and the title of NRA Junior World Champion at the NRA World Shooting DAVIS Championships — for the second straight year, although he said there were more and tougher competitors this year. Not only did he best a dozen other juniors (See Davis, Page 31)
MICHAEL DAVIS, 15, of Addison competes in a pistol event at last month’s multi-disciplinary NRA World Shooting Championships, where he earned the title of NRA Junior World Champion and finished 63rd overall among 325 competitors, including sponsored professionals and military and law enforcement experts. Davis started shooting when he was five and competing locally two or three years later. Photo courtesy of Michael Davis
ACSD schools need work Report puts price tag at $31 million over next five years By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The Addison Central School District’s 11 buildings spread throughout seven Middlebury-area communities could require a combined total of as much as $31 million in upgrades and repairs within the next five years, according to a new report commissioned by ACSD officials. District administrators said the new report — authored by a
company called Alpha Facilities Solutions LLC — was compiled by a team of engineers, architects and construction professionals who collected data and conducted walkthroughs of the ACSD buildings, which possess a combined total of 390,000 square feet. It would cost around $117 million in today’s dollars to replace all of those district buildings (excluding furnishings and technology),
according to the report. The ACSD green-lighted the study several months ago in order to get a better handle on future needs of district assets, which include elementary schools in Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham and Weybridge; Middlebury Union middle and high schools; and the alternative education and (See ACSD, Page 3)
Music helps us during transitions • Folks from the End of Life Care Partnership discuss how music can be used in the dying process. See Page 6.
ADDISON CENTRAL SCHOOL District buildings, including Mary Hogan Elementary School, will need more than $30 million in upgrades over the next five years according to a new study. Independent photo/Trent Campbell
Medicinal marijuana site possible in Middlebury By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — A Burlington company is scouting a location near downtown Middlebury for operation of a medical marijuana dispensary. The company in question is the Champlain Valley Dispensary (CVD), which currently supplies around 3,000 qualifying patients with medical marijuana — under strict state guidelines — in Burlington and Brattleboro. “We want to give (Addison County patients) the convenience of not having to travel to Burlington,” said Shayne Linn, executive director of CVD. Linn declined at this point to disclose the specific location of the proposed Middlebury dispensary, except to say it’s outside of the downtown. Chapter 86, subchapter 2 of the Vermont Statutes lay out the manner in which the state’s medical marijuana program must by run. The rules stipulate, among other things, that a dispensary can’t be located less than 1,000 feet from a nursery, child care facility or school. “We are talking to a landlord in Middlebury right now, and we are talking to the town,” Linn said of the dispensary plan. (See Medical pot, Page 20)