M ou nta i n T i m e s Volume 47, Number 40
HE SAILED THE OCEAN BLUE Columbus Day commemorates the voyage and landing of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in the New World on Oct. 12, 1492. It is a federal holiday celebrated on the second Monday in October. This year it’s Oct. 8.
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Oct. 3-9, 2018
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American Ninja Warriors Allyssa Beird and Joe Moravsky will be in town for the inaugural WreckTangle Championship at Killington, Sunday.
Ninja warriors to compete in Killington
By Katy Savage
Ninja warriors are coming to town. Allyssa Beird and Joe Moravsky, who compete on the NBC television show “American Ninja Warriors,” are making a special guest appearance for the inaugural WreckTangle Championship at Killington Resort Sunday, Oct. 7 from 12-3 p.m. Morvasky, 29, has been competing on the show for the past six years. He lives and works
as a meteorologist in Connecticut but when he’s not busy predicting the weather, he trains himself to compete. Morvasky is known as the “The Weatherman” on the American Ninja Warriors show. “It’s grown a lot and it’s become a sport now more than ever,” Morvasky said in a phone interview. Morvasky played basketball, baseball and
soccer in high school. After college, he was looking for a challenge to keep active. Now Morvasky travels throughout the country to promote ninja training, visiting leagues, special events and camps. Morvasky, who is also a skier, is eager to come to Killington. “To come up there and have the opportunity to do what I love—to be part of Ninja Warriors, page 15
Mountain biking clubs expand in schools By Katy Savage
FALL COLORS The leaves are starting to turn – starting in the mountains and working down through the valleys. Many factors determine whether it will be a brilliant foliage fall or a duller one, the ideal conditions include a warm, rainy spring, a summer that is not brutally hot and a fall with sunny days and crisp, cool nights.
Living a de
LIVING ADE What’s happening? Find local Arts, Dining & Entertainment Pages 16-30
Mounta in Times is a community newspaper covering Central Vermont that aims to engage and inform as well as empower community members to have a voice.
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James Baker, left, will be awarded.
Former Rutland police chief receives award By Katy Savage
Being a police officer took on a different meaning for James Baker when he became chief of the Rutland City Police Department in 2012. Instead of policing and stopping cars and hoping to find a criminal activity, he looked to the root cause of an issue. “The impact of the opiate crisis—I got to see it very close. It broadened my outlook,” he said. He realized it was issue that went beyond the work of a single police force. He worked with dozens of organizations and used data to focus on who and where problems were stemming from within the community. Baker, who was the police chief in Rutland between 2012 and 2015, was recently awarded the Con Hogan award for his service. Police chief, page13
As mountain biking trails are being blazed They really just needed someone to take in the area, the sport is also growing in them.” schools. Uva, who leads the group of about 14 riders The Woodstock High School Cycling Club at Woodstock, wants to make mountain launched at Woodbiking a recognized “THERE ARE SO MANY KIDS stock Union Midschool sport. dle-High School this “I think it’s inevitaRIDING NOW. THEY REALLY year under Todd Uva’s ble,” said Uva. JUST NEEDED SOMEONE TO leadership. The Woodstock Uva, who has led High School Cycling TAKE THEM,” SAID UVA. mountain biking Club is one of about programs at Woodstock’s summer SOAK 16 youth teams registered with the Vermont camp, presented the concept of the club to the Mountain Bike Association. Other local youth WUHS school board last year. clubs include the Windsor Bike Club, Green “This didn’t exist when I was a kid,” said Mountain Union MTB in Chester, the Rutland Uva, who has been mountain biking for 20 Area Rippers and Stowe High School MTB years. “There are so many kids riding now. Club.
Mountain biking, page14
Fired officer sues Castleton and its PD By Lani Duke
A lawsuit has been filed against the Castleton police chief. Officer Cheri McDermott, who was fired Dec. 3, 2017, filed the lawsuit Sept. 27, claiming Castleton Police Chief Peter Mantello planned to remove her and had said that women should not be police officers. The suit claims that she was treated more harshly than were male police officers by both the town and the chief. McDermott’s filing declared her firing was in violation of federal discrimination laws and the state’s fair employment practices restrictions. She is asking the court for unspecified damages including lost pay and benefits. Her lawsuit justifies McDermott’s inspecting of another officer’s paystub, saying she
believed the man was padding his time and paid for hours he did not work. She searched for evidence and found it in the Castleton Police department desk the officer used, taking a picture of the paystub she found. When she notified the chief that she suspected the man, Mantello did not act on her tip. She told another officer of her findings, who relayed the information to Mantello. The chief told McDermott in a July 26 email that he had looked into her concern, an investigation was 90 percent complete, and would not be finished until mid-August or later. Mantello developed a three-year plan to remove McDermott from the department soon after becoming Castleton’s police chief Lawsuit, page 11