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VERMONT
October 7, 2017
Published by New Market Press, Inc.
Serving Addison, Rutland & Chittenden Counties
BURN DEMO, HELICOPTER, FIREHOSE MAZE AT
CHARLOTTE SAFETY DAY By Lou Varricchio STA FF W RITER
Remembering James Foster
CHARLOTTE | Charlotte’s first responders will host a unique Public Safety Day event on Saturday, Oct. 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fire and rescue
station located at 170 Ferry Rd. According to Rescue Chief Kevin Romano, Public Safety Day will be educational as well as fun for all ages. “We did safety days when I was in Berwick, Maine, but it’s pretty new to Vermont,” he said.
Romano came up with the idea for Charlotte in part for good public relations purposes. but also a means to get community members involved in everything from first aid to first response. » Safety Day Cont. on pg. 11
MIDDLEBURY | James H. Foster Jr., 47, died as the result of a farming accident on Sept. 21, 2017. He was born Jan. 29, 1970 in Middlebury, the son of James and Joyce (Warner) Foster. Foster was a graduate of Middlebury Union High School class of 1988 and received his Associates degree in Ag Business Management from Vermont Technical College in 1990. He furthered his education at Kansas State University and received his Bachelor’s of Science degree in animal science in 1992. He married Tricia Eastwood on Oct. 9, 1993 at the Middlebury Congregational Church. Foster was an owner of Vermont Natural Ag Products and Foster Brothers Farm in Middlebury. He was a dedicated husband and father whose values of integrity guided him each day. » Foster Cont. on pg. 10
Rutland is a leader in opioid abuse treatment By Lou Varricchio STA FF W RITER
RUTLAND | A national headline getting 2014 report in Rolling Stone dubbed Vermont, as “America’s capital of heroin”. Branded with that moniker inside the state is the city of Rutland, long riddled with outmigration, unemployment and drug problems. Seven years into the crisis, the Rutland community has reflected the rest of Vermont by tackling the opioid abuse epidemic with a multi-level approach. “Our strategies continue that multi-level approach with treatment, education, law enforcement, and other preventative measures,”
Rutland’s recently elected Republican Mayor David Allaire said. “But I think it’s a matter of how each individual is affected. “Individuals are affected by addiction differently,” according to Allaire. “One kind of treatment might work for one, but not another. Medication may work better for one person, but another person may need something different (such as a faith-based approach). “We have 400 plus residents being treated with methadone,” Allaire said. “Right now there’s no waiting list, but there has been.” Allaire noted that the cost of ultimately solving the opioid epidemic in Vermont will not be cheap. One estimate has indicated that the state of Vermont spent $55 million last
year for methadone-type treatment programs. In Vermont, is difficult to ascertain treatment costs — as well as their curative success rates – for the various opioid treatment programs, public and private, available in Rutland and elsewhere in the state. “There isn’t really a ‘typical’ (opioid treatment) program or program cost,” according to Ben Truman, spokesman for the Vermont Department of Health. As to the success rate of methadone and buprenorphine treatment programs, versus non-drug and faith-based treatment programs, there just isn’t a lot of information available or made public. “We do not have Vermont-specific data,” according to Truman.
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Teen Challenge Rutland treats approximately 30 to 50 resident individuals at its St. Johnsbury facility, but it’s limited from expanding because of lack of space and septic capacity. “We have about a 65 percent success rate with the patients we treat,” Teen Challenge Rutland’s spokesman Robert Giles said. “Ours is a 15-month-long program and costs about $3,000 per month. We ask for $750 and supplement the rest of the costs with donations. We use no federal or state funding. Giles believes that Teen Challenge is set apart from all other treatment programs because at its heart is transformation. » Opioid Cont. on pg. 10