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November 5, 2016
Officials discuss commerce on town property From Staff & News Reports
MIDDLEBURY — It wasn’t exactly a business friendly mood at the Middlebury Select Board public hearing Oct. 25. The Board set out to discuss proposed updates to its vending ordinance, now renamed “An Ordinance to Regulate Commercial Activity on Public Property.” Opening the hearing for public comment, Board chairman Brian Carpenter said that the proposed ordinance update shifts the focus from regulating the conduct of certain types of street-level commercial activities to a general prohibition against all commercial activity of any kind on all public property and rights-of-way within Middlebury’s geographic boundaries. Carpenter noted that, while the new language is intended to make clear the town’s position regarding the use of public spaces for commercial activity specifically, it does not regulate such activity on private property nor does it preclude the Select Board from writing and adopting future ordinances to address allowable uses of town-owned land. Board member Donna Donahue, who worked on the draft ordinance, added that the proposed changes are focused primarily on public safety and creating rules regardContinued on page 9
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Astronomers restore classic telescope By Lou Varricchio lou@addison-eagle.com
CASTLETON — There are few scientific areas where amateurs still can make serious contributions. The fields of meteorology, paleontology and astronomy are the sciences which come to mind. For example, amateur weather buffs record vital data and make one-of-a-kind environmental observations, amateur fossil hunters discover new species on a regular basis, and amateur astronomers not only discover new asteroids and comets, they also help build important optical and electronic instruments for studying space. Now, thanks to a group of Rutland-area amateur astronomers, known as the Green Mountain Alliance of Amateur Astronomers (GMAAA), a derelict campus telescope has been restored and returned to its original design purpose—a delicate instrument for studying the Moon, planets and a host of deep-space celestial objects. GMAAA President Ron Lewis of Brandon, along with fellow astronomers Patrick Porch and Cale Shipman, became the leaders of a backyard effort to restore an underutilized 1960svintage refractor on the campus of Castleton University. According to telescope collector and amateur astronomer Dave Komar of Culpepper, Va., the Rutland County astronoContinued on page 16
Ballot error could lead to revote in Rutland By Emma Lamberton elamberton@watchdog.org
Ronald “Bushey” Boucher
RUTLAND — Staff members of Vermont’s Office of the Secretary of State are racing against the clock to send out 606 corrected absentee and early voter ballots because the name of a Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives was listed incorrectly. Ronald “Bushey” Boucher notified state officials Monday that his name had been misprinted on ballots for the two-seat Rutland-2 district. The name appeared as “Ron Boucher.” Boucher had requested on his Certificate of Nomination in April that his name be printed as “Ronald “Bushey” Boucher. His last name is pronounced “bushy.” “People know me as ‘Bushey.’ It’s on all my [campaign materials]. This is a serious error.
People can’t even find my name in the phone book, so how will they know who I am on the ballot?” he told Watchdog. Boucher’s name was correct on the primary ballot, as well as on a second category in the general election. Boucher is running for the Vermont House of Representatives as well as the local office of Wallingford’s justice of the peace. Will Senning, director of elections and campaign finance in the Secretary of State’s office, said he is not sure how the mistake was made. “We’re still determining if it was a human error or a software error in the computer system,” he told Watchdog. Boucher said he was happy with election officials’ quick response. The Secretary of State’s office was notified of the error on Continued on page 14