MONDAY EDITION
ADDISON COUNTY
INDEPENDENT
Vol. 28 No. 35
Plaque lists local veterans • The names of Whiting residents who served in the armed forces are now displayed at town hall. See Page 14.
Fund helps those in extreme need
Middlebury, Vermont
Monday, December 5, 2016
ACT teen center begins next chapter in bright, new location By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — When the final bell ends each school day at Middlebury Union High School, Tristan Woods could easily walk home. But the 9th-grader more often than not takes a detour to what many are describing as the “new-and-improved” teen center at 77 Mary Hogan Drive. “I enjoy this center,” Woods said last week while playing a video game on one of the center’s computers. “This center is a little more welcoming. There’s entertainment, and nice
people.” It was in April that the new Addison Central Teens (ACT) center opened in the former warming hut building between Mary Hogan Elementary School and the town tennis courts. It replaces the former ACT gathering spot in the basement of the old municipal building at 94 Main St., which was demolished this past summer. Center leaders and student visitors are pleased to have graduated to a new teen center that features windows, inviting décor (See Teen center, Page 16)
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Middlebury seeks to contain increases in municipal budget By JOHN FLOWERS MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury selectboard last week looked at the first draft of a proposed 2017-2018 town budget that would require $7,323,684 to be raised in local property taxes, which would in turn require a 4.2-cent hike in the current municipal tax rate of 97.8 cents per $100 in assessed value. (See Middlebury, Page 22)
• A new fund is named for the retiring head of the HOPE Board of Trustees. See Page 23.
Vergennes eyes safer crosswalks • The effort to make the city’s downtown more pedestrianfriendly is picking up steam. See Page 3.
Leagues honor local athletes
• Kudos went to football and girls’ and boys’ soccer players. See Sports, Pages 20 and 21.
DAIRY FARMER MARIE Audet takes students from the Middlebury College Environmental Studies senior seminar through the main barn at Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport earlier this fall. Student analysis and data gathering are being used to help local dairy farmers.
Courtesy photo
College students contributing to ag sector
Hands-on farm seminar adding value By GAEN MURPHREE MIDDLEBURY — Fieldwork has taken on a new meaning for Middlebury College students enrolled in this fall’s Environmental Studies senior seminar.
Nineteen students are taking an in-depth look at Vermont’s dairy industry by working with local farmers and organizations such as the University of Vermont’s Extension Service, the Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to create reports and other end-ofcourse products with real-world applications. “This project has really pushed me and my teammates beyond anything
we’ve done for previous classes,” said Heather Tourgee, a senior from Peterborough, N.H. “It’s easy to drive past farms and forget that they are not only a foundation of the local economy, but they also represent a huge segment of knowledge and (See Students, Page 34)