The Citizen - 3-2-23

Team robotics

Varsity, JV teams take top honors at competition

Page 7

Into the woods

Changes to a species can destabilize forests

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March

Hinesburg residents near landfill demand more water testing

COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER

Then, in the fall of 2021, when news broke that drinking water contaminated with high levels of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances — or PFAS — was discovered in her neighbor’s home, she and other residents nearby started testing their drinking water out of their own pocket.

“We needed to know whether our water was clean for us and our kids,” she said. “It would’ve been nice if the town would have done it, but we could not afford to wait.”

Those tests came up clear. But now, 18 months later, residents like Francis are calling on the city to expand drinking water testing to all properties in the vicinity of the town landfill, following news last month that contaminated drinking water above state accepted limits was detected in two more residential homes.

growing number of residences, we request that the town arrange and pay for testing of our water sources for PFAS and other contaminants on a regular basis,” reads a letter sent on Jan. 25 to the Hinesburg selectboard, signed by 18 residents living on North, Beecher Hill, and Forest’s Edge roads. “Obviously, it is of high importance to anyone living near the landfill to know the status of their water supply.”

Stone Environmental, an environmental consultant group hired by the town, has confirmed that the 38-acre parcel of land on Observatory Road is leaching dangerous contaminants like PFAS and methylene chloride — both carcinogens, the former which has been linked to human endocrine disruption and kidney and testicular cancer.

“The downward hydraulic flow ... the steep overburden hydraulic gradient, and the lack of a confining layer is allowing the leachate contamination to migrate significantly from the landfill,” the report says.

PHOTO BY LEE KROHN

“In light of the recent report of increased levels of contamination from the landfill affecting a

The report also noted that “based on chloride and sodium concentrations, it appears that leachate is migrating from the landfill in both a southern and southeastern direction,” and that

Developer submits plans for historic Charlotte property

Jonathan Maguire wants to build a restaurant and affordable elder housing multi-unit at a historic property on Spear Street in the East Charlotte Village.

Maguire, owner of the devel-

opment and design company ADT, presented a sketch plan last week to the town’s development review board.

The Baptist Corners district, where his 15-acre property at 2760 Spear St. sits, has been identified by the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation as having local and

state historical significance due to its virtually undisturbed structures.

According to the Charlotte Historical Society, the white Federal-style house on the property, known as the “Sheehan house,” is listed as one of the significant structures.

Records of this property and

others at Baptist Corners date back to the early 1800s and, according to findings from the town’s historical society, the district is historically significant as a business and social center. Charlotte Historical Society president Dan Cole explained that the house was originally intended to be an inn on the stage route

that was being established between Middlebury and Burlington.

See HOUSING on page 7

LIBERTY DARR

STAFF WRITER

A hike up Mt. Philo wouldn’t be complete without a puppy meet and greet.

Pet

stop

Janet Francis, a Forest’s Edge Road resident in Hinesburg, had been getting her drinking water tested for some 20 years — up until 2009, when annual water monitoring of residences near the town landfill ended.

Museum exhibit shows 30 years of Burton designs

TOMMY GARDNER STAFF WRITER

There are plenty of painters who get their art displayed on gallery walls all over the world. But how many of them have had their paintings strapped to the boots of the world’s best athletes as they push the envelope on what’s possible for mere seconds in mid-air?

That would be Scott Lenhardt, an artist who has designed 60 boards for Burton riders like Ross Powers, Shannon Dunn and Danny Davis, as well as work for Phish, Nike and Mountain Dew.

The Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum on Main Street in Stowe, with its current exhibit, is presenting a deep dive into nearly 30 years of Lenhardt’s work. With more than three decades worth of pigment under his nails, Lenhardt is in no hurry to move from hand-painting his designs to doing them on a computer.

“I’m putting so much energy into them, in hopes that a fraction of that energy is going to come through when someone’s standing on it and riding it,” he said during the museum’s Red Bench talk last week. “Or, if they’re sitting in their room and it’s leaning against the wall, they’re like,’ I gotta go ride that thing.’ I don’t think you get the energy with computers.”

Lenhardt grew up in West Rupert, a tiny Bennington County village — not that Rupert proper is a metropolis — about a mile from the New York border. His youth snowboarding years were at Bromley as part of the Glebelands crew that dominated the mountain in the early ‘90s.

As someone who has produced some 60 boards for the world’s most famous snowboard company, Lenhardt has also worked with some of its most famous faces, creating indelible duos that mesh the personalities of rider and artist. Many of those finished products are part of the museum exhibit.

His collaborations root the viewer in their tracks, with inside jokes and tributes drawn into the whimsical lines that involve robots, Vikings, the Headless Horseman and classic movie monster motifs, but also breathtaking vistas of fantastical colors.

For all the eye-catching nature of the untouched products carefully curated and placed around the museum floor, some of the richest pieces in the exhibit are the artifacts from Lenhardt’s archives. There are conceptual designs drawn on paper and handwritten notes between him and pro riders riffing on concepts. There is a collection of limited-edition Mountain Dew bottles with his designs and even a Ross Powers “Huck Doll” bend-

able action figure, still in the original packaging.

Perhaps the most museum-quality artifact, though, is a nearly 30-year-old twin-tip snowboard with a portrait of Jane’s Addiction front man Perry Farrell, the only actual ridden board in the collection. It’s arguably the most tangible representation of Lenhardt’s mid-90s origin story.

He said he knew he wanted to get into the business of designing boards, so he painted his own and toted it over to Stratton for the biggest event in snowboarding, the U.S. Open, hoping one of the riders would see it and ask him about it.

That someone was Shannon Dunn, a legend in snowboarding — the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in snowboarding, taking home bronze in the 1998 Nagano Games. Now, the Perry Farrell board is included right along with Dunn’s Lenhardt originals.

“For anyone out there who wants to break into snowboarding, that’s how I did it,” Lenhardt said.

“I basically painted my board and went to show it off at the biggest event in Vermont.”

PHOTO BY GORDON MILLER

Painter Scott Lenhardt, who has created 60 snowboard designs for Burton, is the featured artist in the current exhibit at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, located at 1 South Main Street in Stowe. Museum hours: noon-5 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.

PHOTO BY GORDON MILLER

Painter Scott Lenhardt, who has created 60 snowboard designs for Burton, is the featured artist in the current exhibit at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum, located at 1 South Main Street in Stowe. Museum hours: noon-5 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.

Charlotte candidates weigh in at community forum

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

Three Charlotte selectboard candidates and one Champlain Valley School District school board candidate talked affordable housing, green energy, future town meeting policies and other issues with nearly 50 residents during last week’s hour-and-a-half long community forum.

Incumbent Lewis Mudge is running uncontented for a three-year term on the selectboard alongside Kelly Devine and Patrice Machavern, who are vying for a two-year seat vacated by Matt Krasnow.

Meghan Siket is running unopposed for school board.

Town Meeting Day

Candidates were first asked to share their thoughts on returning to an in-person Town Meeting Day. This year, the selectboard voted to keep the annual meeting by Australian ballot, which was later met by some resident-led backlash.

“The town that I grew up in Massachusetts still has in-person Town Meeting Day,” said Devine. “So, it’s something that I’ve grown up with and I think is very closely tied to our New England roots. The challenge that we’ve been having is participation level. Town meeting is most fun and most valuable when you get a lot of folks to participate. We need to figure out how to balance those two things together … participation and this really important democratic institution that’s very unique to New England.”

As a member of the Town Meeting Solutions Committee, Machavern agreed with the tradition of town meeting, but wondered if the ballot box allowed more people to participate.

“As an individual who has attended town meeting faithfully since my children were born, I witnessed firsthand the dwindling number of participants who are unable to attend,” she said. “Compare that to the number of people that I witnessed walking through to vote on Australian ballot items for elected officials and the school budget, I became increasingly aware of the inability for some people to actually attend for a variety of reasons. Although it’s a valued tradition, which I value, it does not provide equitable opportunity for all voters to participate in their right to vote.”

Mudge agreed, “I was one of the three votes to continue with the Australian ballot this year. I stand by that vote. We had a plan, we listened to a lot of people and we stuck with it. It’s not a perfect solution. But I think this year was the best solution. With regard to next year, I really think both Patrice and Kelly are on the right track, we need to look toward the numbers. We’re getting an overwhelming percentage of people who do vote when it is a ballot box vote versus Town Meeting Day,” he said. “I am more than willing, starting next year, to begin a hybrid model process.”

Affordable housing

Charlotte has the most expensive housing costs in Chittenden County. The average property sale price was over $625,000

in 2021, with a median home sale price of $534,500. Median gross rent in Charlotte is 30 percent higher than the rest of Chittenden County at $1,794 per month.

A 2006 housing affordability study commissioned by the town determined there was an unmet need for 46 units of affordable rental housing and 16 owned units and in the last 16 years since that study came out, Charlotte has added only 14 affordable units.

“I think there’s probably an agreement across the board that Charlotte has a lack of affordable houses,” Machavern said. “One thing that I see in conjunction with affordability is what I term our retention issue or people’s ability to stay in town. We need to provide opportunities for our seniors to age in place either by downsizing accessory dwellings or senior housing, thus allowing multi-generations to remain part of the community. Anyone that has gone through the planning process and the development review understand for new projects, knows how difficult it can be and how slow, costly and unpredictable that process can be.”

Devine emphasized two kinds of affordable housing — housing that is pegged to the median income or working families and housing pegged to low-income subsidized housing.

She said, “I think we’re talking about trying to hit that median income. If we really believe that we want to be able to provide housing for what I call the missing middle, not the people that are low income, we have our conservation fund and we have our housing fund and we’ve had some projects by Habitat for Humanity and all those that have been great for folks in that category. I think we have to decide as a town if we’re going to focus on hitting that middle. If we are, we certainly have to figure out a way to move away from a 5-acre zoning allowance. Charlotte is not going to be able to move forward on that until as Patrice mentioned, we really get a handle on infrastructure. We have people that come to the planning commission with concerns about their water access and projects that have to find septic. As long as those limiting factors are there, we have a challenge.”

Mudge, speaking about water and sewer capacity in town, said, “I made the motion for a Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission grant that we were awarded to enable us to know what we need if we do want to go down this route because I think we need to do it. We have a reputation for being ‘Char-not.’ But we are a deliberative town because we care very much about these decisions and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. There are these small steps we’re taking. We have secured this grant on knowing where we want to go. But we also have to be really realistic, if we want to put (water and septic) into the villages it’s going to be incredibly expensive.”

Inclusivity at school

Moderator Johnathan Silverman asked candidates to share their views regarding inclusivity in schools.

School board candidate Meghan Siket

See FORUM on page 16

Wake Robin names new chief executive officer

Meagan Buckley, of Richmond, has been named president and CEO of Wake Robin in Shelburne.

Buckley has served as the director of health and resident services for five years and held the interim president and CEO role prior to her appointment. She is a licensed nursing home administrator who held leadership positions within the industry before joining Wake Robin’s staff.

“Meagan has a proven track record, knows the community very well, and is able to get things done effectively, with compassion, poise, and

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a wonderful sense of humor,” board chair John Maitland said.

Buckley succeeds outgoing president and CEO Martha Maksym, who led the retirement home for three years before retiring, including through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am beyond excited to take over this role and look forward to continuing as a member of the Wake Robin family, which is filled with lovely, caring, and kind people. I thank the community for its trust in me and look forward to our next chapter together,” Buckley said.

Meagan Buckley

X-Files: Look, up in the sky

Guest Perspective

Walt Amses

Somewhere along the line, within the last year or so, I’ve begun watching X-Files reruns while Helene is out or otherwise engaged, following the close encounters of FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully as they wade through the vast gulf of unexplained phenomenon that has forever inundated earthly dreams and nightmares. Having never watched the original show, I’m nowhere near done — nine seasons, lots of catch up — so the series provides me with some delightfully escapist fun, until recently that is, when the lines between fantasy and reality blurred considerably, rendering our skies — if not unfriendly — then certainly suspicious.

Is the invasion we’ve all secretly feared since childhood finally underway? UFOs — unidentified objects that fly — or

drift, depending on whether they’re solid material, balloons or something else, have invaded North American airspace, their ominous presence further mystified by a series of official cliches, explanations and euphemisms designed to transpose language into something meaningless. From “radar anomaly” to “neutralize” any perceived threat to “domain awareness gap”, crafty attempts all, to express ignorance without sounding ignorant.

While I can probably assure you, at midweek anyway, that a full-blown invasion appears unlikely, the vapid military explanation of what’s going on does not engender confidence, offering instead recollections of the Air Force’s “Project Bluebook”, which devoted 17 years to collecting, analyzing and reporting thousands of UFO sightings, ultimately coming up empty: No evidence of “extraterrestrial vehicles.” The

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world though, begged to differ with their conclusion, as UFOs and especially Area 51 became a fascination for true believers everywhere, pinpointing Nevada as the ultimate destination of the very foreign spacecraft supposedly recovered at Roswell.

Vermonters needn’t travel cross country to fuel our fantasies or confirm our convictions. Crossing the Connecticut River into New Hampshire’s White Mountains should suffice, bringing believers to the site of the first widely publicized report of an alien abduction near Franconia Notch in 1961. According to Yankee Magazine, Betty and Barney Hill of Portsmouth were driving home at 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 19, stopping for a closer look when they saw bright lights in the sky assuming it was a shooting star.

What they later described as “humanoid figures” through the illuminated windows, prompted their speeding away but the craft followed, swooping so low they stopped the car. Waking up 35 miles south, they were unable to account for two hours of “lost time” aside from vague recollections under hypnosis of being brought aboard the ship and examined by the occupants.

The Hills’ story fueled early speculation of whether we were alone in the universe and what it all meant, teasing a measure of credibility for a number of 1950s movies ranging widely from unintentionally funny — “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” to thought provoking — “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” to downright frightening — “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Considering the uptick in sightings the last several years from dependable observers such as airline crews and fighter pilots, it’s no wonder a 2020 study out of the UK revealed half the adults surveyed are convinced we’ll make contact with aliens in the next 50 years with one in five worried for their lives, fearing that contact will be in the form of an invasion. The most rationale fear expressed by 71 percent of respondents was that of their fellow humans, panicked and dangerous amid the expected chaos.

Amid U.S. fighter jets having downed four still unexplained “objects” the past two weeks, while China spins the entire issue as evidence of America’s decline, CNN reminds us that an intelli-

Lovell seeks term on Hinesburg Selectboard

To the Editor: I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve you on the Hinesburg Selectboard for the past six years. I have found I enjoyed working with the other selectboard members, town manager and assistant town manager. It has been gratifying for me to get to know our town and the people who live and work here in a deeper way. I feel it has been an honor that you have elected me to serve you in the past, and I am hoping you will choose to elect me again because, finding I still have strength, interest and enthusiasm, I have decided to run for another three-year term on the board.

In the past, reporters have asked me about my goals as

a selectboard member. My answer today is the same as it was in past years: my goal is to serve the people of Hinesburg to the best of my ability. I believe, as the Quakers say, “every person has a piece of the truth.”

I seek to hear and be open to all those pieces of truth, all those different opinions and points of view to get a whole picture. I hope to work together with you, the people of Hinesburg, to make our town the best place to live and work that it can be, preserving our agricultural landscape while carefully making space for new growth in housing and business. I will be honored and grateful if you vote for me.

Merrily Lovell Hinesburg Selectboard chair

gence report released in January — before any of this happened — found a significant increase in UFO sightings, mostly by Navy and Air Force pilots and personnel, almost double those reported in the previous two decades.

The later investigation was able to identify many of those objects as balloons or “balloonlike entities,” unmanned aircraft such as drones, with an unspecified number listed as “sensor irregularities” or failures by either people or equipment. However, at least 171 sightings remain mysterious according to another word salad of an organization: The “All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office”, established last summer by the Pentagon. Whether or not any of this is a cause for worry is basically immaterial considering the utter nonsense millions of us worry about already.

Although given our national personality, protecting our right to out-of-proportion panic as though it’s an emotional bank vault, it’s implausible these fears will ever be put to rest, but author Fred Kaplan, writing on Slate this week, comes close. Suggesting that while questions remain, particularly about the last three eliminated objects, Kaplan writes that a couple of things are quite possible: The Chinese have been doing this for quite a while and,

until this month, radar operators haven’t been looking for these things.

While we assume military intelligence picks up everything passing through our airspace, that’s neither remotely true, nor is it a sign of incompetence.

“Thousands of objects are passing through the lower regions of outer space” Kaplan explains, including satellites, meteors and various debris, “and if NORAD tracked them all they might be overwhelmed, perhaps taking their eyes off the truly plausible dangers.” Balloons flying at the speeds they do, simply don’t fit into the detection algorithm.

Walking down a muddy road on a sunlit afternoon I wonder how Mulder and Scully would handle this high-altitude dust up or if they’d even consider it worthy of becoming an X-File since no alien abductions have been reported. Ostensibly, I’m scanning the trees, wires and the near violet skies for the barred owl I suspect is keeping squirrels off my bird feeders but as my gaze drifts slightly upward — who knows, right? — I realize that our physical bodies don’t need to be abducted at all to jump start a frenzy.

Our minds will do just fine.

“Is the invasion we’ve all secretly feared since childhood finally underway?”

Walt Amses lives in North Calais.

Senate looks to ban sale of flavored tobacco, vape products

From the Senate Sen. Ginny Lyons

With town meeting a week away, we are nearly halfway through the legislative session. The week leading up to town meeting and the week after are extremely busy for legislators as we work to complete important legislation and meet with constituents during town meeting break. March 17 is crossover, when all Senate bills must be ready to move to the House and all House bills must be ready to move to the Senate.

Among many issues before the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare is the disturbing trend of nicotine addiction among middle and secondary school students. Bill S.18 will follow the example of Massachusetts, California and many cities and counties across the country to ban in state sales of flavored

tobacco and vape products.

The Vermont Department of Health, American heart and cancer associations and researchers tell us that there was increased youth e-cigarette use of 14 percent between 2017-2019. Young adults also increased their use, and the numbers are growing.

The Vermont Principals Association indicates use of flavored vapes is so prevalent that school districts are spending money to set up expensive vape sensors in bathrooms and other places in schools. We recently heard from Leland and Gray students about efforts to curb use of flavored tobacco and vapes.

Former Champlain Valley Union High School students shared struggles with their costly addiction to nicotine. Young and adult smokers indicate they began their use of e-cigarettes or tobacco with flavored products including menthol.

Understanding government empowers Vermonters

Guest Perspective

Sarah Copeland Hanzas

As I begin my first term as Vermont’s 39th secretary of state, I am keenly aware of my role as chief elections officer for the state and the responsibility we all share in civic life. Despite the enormous role democracy plays in our everyday lives, many Vermonters are not civically engaged. This lack of engagement creates a void in Vermont’s democracy, a void that is oftentimes filled with dis- or misinformation, attacking the integrity and transparency of government.

Elections and voting have been especially popular focus points of these attacks in recent years, but all facets of civic life are negatively impacted by these attacks, which exacerbate apathy and suspicion. It is time for action, not just reaction, against such attacks.

This office will spearhead a new civics initiative and bring on a new position, an education and civic engagement coordinator, to implement it — and we will need all the help we can get.

Voting is a constitutional right, and free elections are the foundation on which faith in government rests. Examples of democracy in action exist around us every day. There are municipal meetings almost every night of the week, citizen petitions and calls to action online and lawn signs every spring and fall for town meeting and elections.

Despite this, there are many Vermonters who simply don’t vote. We need to recognize that sometimes people don’t vote because they don’t know how to vote, or they don’t know the candidates, or they don’t know whether their vote will make a difference.

The next phase of strengthening elec-

tions in Vermont needs to be addressing these gaps. Many of us grew up understanding that civics is about the three branches of government, checks and balances and one person/one vote. Some of us remember being told from a young age that we have an obligation to participate in civic life. However, as the demands of a 21st-century education have pulled schools away from requiring civics, and modern life has become increasingly full, many of these lessons have been lost.

Our focus on civic engagement will be on how you make democracy work for you. Civics is about being able to affect change, solve problems and make life better for all of us. Individuals can only do so much on their own. Working together through civic participation allows us to accomplish things that any one individual would be unable to do themselves.

The education and civic engagement coordinator will be part of the leadership team at this agency and will work with me to create a civics curriculum for our schoolteachers, will engage Vermonters in their communities on how to do democracy and will create a voter guide for the 2024 general election, among other activities and initiatives. We have more tools and platforms than ever to engage with voters that my predecessors just did not have at their disposal. This campaign will also be about boots-on-the-ground work, with events, school visits and other in-person interactions.

I am excited to start this campaign and energize more Vermonters to participate in 2023 and beyond.

Sarah Copeland Hanzas was elected as Vermont Secretary of State in 2022 after 18 years as a state legislator. She lives in Bradford with her family.

Flavors including menthol are added to vape liquids and tobacco to make them taste better than plain tobacco.

Tobacco companies are marketing these flavors with catchy names such as bubble gum, strawberry, “cinnamon fire” or green apple. Menthol is added to all tobacco products. Menthol masks burning sensations, cools the throat and suppresses coughs. The false word on the street is that menthol helps people quit. The reality is that menthol and other flavor additives are known to increase addiction to nicotine.

According to the Vermont health department, “Menthol makes starting easier and quitting harder.” Nicotine increases (dopamine) euphoria associated with addiction through a process known as up-regulation. Menthol enhances this, thereby enhancing addictive behavior.

People addicted to nicotine seek more e-cigs or more tobacco. They need to smoke or vape more frequently or earlier in the day.

Kids hooked on nicotine negatively affect their brain development. They also may have difficulty getting through a class without more nicotine and nicotine addiction can lead to other lifelong addictions. Electronic cigarette and tobacco companies target marketing to youth. They also target women, the Black community and LGBTQ peple, who represent a higher proportion of those addicted to flavored products.

We all know there are health consequences such as lung cancer, heart disease

or emphysema. These are very costly but preventable diseases. We know that some retail establishments will be affected with loss of sales when S.18 goes into effect. Retailers suggest that the state will lose up to $75 million in tax revenue. Does that compare with benefits for young Vermonters or savings from business productivity or health care costs? The health department indicates that annual worker productivity losses in Vermont total $326 million, $404 million in health care costs and $93.7 million in Medicaid.

Over $11 million is spent on tobacco-related Medicare costs. Vermont has a nationally recognized 802 Quit Program that includes menthol quit support. Should S.18 pass the Senate and House this session, we can look for successful outcomes like those experienced in Massachusetts. Importantly, youth and adult tobacco and vape use rates should decrease significantly. Kids can return to interests in art, music, languages, science, sports and others things rather than sneaking into corners to vape. Taking health and welfare seriously is important for all of us. We are especially hopeful for next generations. Please contact me should you have comments about this article.

Ginny Lyons, a Democrat from Williston, represents South Burlington, Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne and several other towns in the Chittenden-Southeast Senate district.

Sen. Ginny Lyons

Enjoy Age Well meals at Charlotte Senior Center

The Age Well meal for Thursday, March 2, is 10-11 a.m., at the Charlotte Senior Center and features diced beef with potatoes and burgundy wine sauce, broccoli florets, Craisin muffin with butter, strawberry shortcake with cream and milk.

The meal on March 9 features stuffed chicken, gravy, mashed red potatoes, French green beans, wheat dinner roll, chocolate raspberry cake and milk.

The meal on March 16 features beef round, boiled potatoes, cabbage and carrots in beef stock, wheat roll, butter, leprechaun cake and milk.

The meal on March 23 features roast pork with sauce, mashed potatoes, peas and onions, wheat roll, butter, oatmeal raisin cookie and milk.

You must have pre-registered by the prior Monday by contacting 802-425-6345 or kpughe@charlotteseniorcentervt.org

The suggested donation is $5.

Community Notes

Check the website for last-minute cancellations at https://bit. ly/3IruDLi.

Shelburne Players present comic ‘Robin Hood’

Join The Shelburne Players for its 40th production, “The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood,” Friday to Sunday, March 17-19 and March 24-25.

Show times are at 7 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., at the Shelburne Town Center, 5420 Shelburne Road.

“It sure is hard to be humble when you are a swashbuckling, egocentric super-hero. But our gallant guy-in-green tries his best as he swaggers through ‘The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood,’ a frantically funny, Monty Pythonesque retelling of the classic,” say the Players.

This time around, the legendary legend, in his never-ending quest to aid the needy, encounters a lovely damsel-in-distress (oddly obsessed with skin conditions);

Public Safety Strategic Planning Starting

The strategic planning effort will begin on March 6, when representatives from the town selected firm arrive to meet with town officials, employees, community groups and the public. The consultants will attend the informational meeting Monday night to listen in on discussions around the police and fire budgets. On Tuesday, they will have scheduled meetings that will include opportunities for the public to drop-in to give their thoughts. Meetings will conclude on Wednesday and the consultants will return in April. For more information on the meeting schedule for next week, visit www.hinesburg.org

an ever-scheming sheriff who would rather bowl a strike than hit a bull’s-eye; a gold-hoarding, bad-guy monarch wannabe; and a good-natured gadfly who manages to make their way into every scene, whether they belong there or not. Combine them with an expandable band of spoon-wielding Merry Men — or Women — whose collective IQs equal six, and you’ve got an irreverent jaunt through Sherwood Forest you won’t forget.

Tickets at shelburneplayers. com.

St. Catherine hosts Red Cross blood drive

Give the lifesaving gift of blood at the Shelburne community blood drive on Tuesday, March 21 from noon to 5 p.m. at the St. Catherine of Siena parish hall in Shelburne.

This blood drive is our way of giving neighbors an opportunity to help save lives.

To give, call 1-800-733-2767 or visit http://RedCrossBlood.org and enter Shelburne to schedule an appointment.

Shelburne Age Well hosts Grab and Go meal

Age Well and St. Catherine’s of Siena Parish in Shelburne are teaming up to provide a meal to go for anyone age 60 and older on Tuesday, March 14.

The meal will be available for pick up in the parking lot at 72 Church St. from 11 a.m. until noon and are available for anyone 60 or older.

The menu is beef round, boiled potatoes, cabbage and carrots in beef stock, wheat dinner roll with butter, leprechaun cake with frosting and milk.

To order a meal contact Sheryl Oberding at soberding@yahoo.

com or 802-825-8546. Deadline to order is Wednesday, March. 8. If this is a first-time order, please provide your name, address, phone number and date of birth.

If you haven’t yet filled out a 2022 congregate meal registration form, bring a completed registra-

tion form with you or send one to: Age Well; 875 Roosevelt Highway, Ste. 210, Colchester VT 05446. Forms may also be downloaded at bit.ly/3Xtebih

More information on this program can be found on agewellvt.org.

PHOTO BY LEE KROHN

The skeletal fingers of a collection of icicles reach slowly toward the ground after a day of melting and re-freezing.

Cascade

CVU teams win robotics state championships

On Feb. 12, Champlain Valley Union High School hosted the Vermont FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Championship, an international high school robotics competition, and the school’s teams won.

Teams create robots to complete different challenges, work to connect with and mentor others and showcase their work at competition. Nineteen teams from all over Vermont participated in this year’s event, including two teams from CVU: the Varsity RoboHawks and the JV RoboRedhawks.

Due to their performance in the judged engineering portfolio presentation and extensive outreach helping to establish six FIRST Lego League robotics teams in the Champlain Valley School District middle schools, the varsity RoboHawks won the Inspire Award.

The award recognizes the team with the best designed robot, teamwork and community outreach. It also comes with an invitation to the World Championship in Houston.

The two Champlain Valley Union teams cruised through the qualifying rounds, then sailed through the semifinals. The two teams worked together in an alliance and faced a strong alliance

HOUSING continued

report by the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation.”

By 1830, the house had been converted to a tavern that was owned by William O. Baker. Should Maguire get development review board approval, the old Sheehan House is expected to host food and booze once again, potentially by this summer.

Maguire wants to subdivide the existing 15-acre land parcel into three lots. One would be 5.1 acres, with the other two totaling 8.1 acres and 2.1 acres. The 5-bedroom Sheehan house, located on the 2.1-acre parcel, would be turned into a 50-seat restaurant with a bar and terrace seating on the first floor, restaurant seating on the first and second floors and the kitchen in the basement.

The house’s interior will remain mostly intact with the addition of a fireplace to the north wall. Maguire, along with Don Welch Architecture, plans to work with the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation to ensure renovations maintain the structure’s historical integrity.

Although a restaurant operator hasn’t been selected, “the intent, and it actually works really well with what we’re proposing, is that historic preservation would like all of the walls, all the door openings,

between Essex and U32. Each alliance won a match, forcing a tie breaker.

The CVU teams, working together, won by just four points, and gave the JV robotics team a

slot alongside their varsity counterparts to the world championship in April.

Check out robohawks5741. com to find out how to help support efforts to get the teams to Houston.

and a lot of those things to stay the same, as would Jonathan. The intent of the restaurant is to make it like the Kitchen Table in Richmond where there are individual rooms,” explained Welch at the Feb. 22 meeting.

Next to the house is the foundation of a pre-existing garage, which Maguire is proposing to rebuild into a 1,400 square foot “cultural facility available to rent initially for a yoga studio, book club meeting venue or a space for wedding receptions” with a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor and a 41-space parking lot south of the proposed cultural space.

In the middle of the parcel Maguire is suggesting the future development of an affordable elderly multi-unit building with underground parking accessed from Hinesburg Road.

The 5 acres would be the site of a proposed single-family dwelling that could also be affordable housing.

“It’s a big differentiation. If I say ‘affordable housing’ in this town, I’m going to have people come out of the woodwork because you guys don’t want it,” Maguire said at the meeting.

Maguire bought the property from Clark Hinsdale for $625,000

last spring. The property wasn’t for sale, Hinsdale said, but Jonathan “approached me about it and I really liked his plan. I had a different set of plans and it didn’t work out. I always wanted to develop senior housing there and he may try to do some of that too in the future,” he said. “There was a zoning change (proposed) a few years back that would’ve made the East Village a higher density area, and it got voted down. I wasn’t going to be able to do what I wanted. So, I was just delighted when Jonathan came along.”

Town planner Larry Lewack said the two proposed amendments to the town plan and zoning bylaws in March 2021 that would have enhanced housing opportunities in the East Village “was a fight that was waged, unfortunately, mostly online on Front Porch Forum and social media, actively promoting what I would call misinformation

about the nature of the proposed changes,” he said. “What happened is that there were a lot of signs put up saying, ‘if you don’t understand the proposals vote no,’ and accusations of this being an attempt to spot zoning, which it wasn’t.”

According to the town plan, the purpose of the East Charlotte Village District is to allow for residential, limited civic and neighborhood uses that reinforce the village as a principally residential hamlet.

Hinsdale also alluded to a 2010 East Charlotte Village Planning Project Community Workshops

Final Report that says, “East Charlotte residents have expressed their interest in promoting a stronger sense of community through better walking and trail connections and more places to meet for events and daily activities.”

Although Maguire’s plan included all three proposals, he said

he was most interested in getting development review board insight into the restaurant portion of the proposal.

“I’m in favor of an expedited restaurant that gets built. If you guys don’t have the appetite for senior housing or affordable housing, I can walk on it tomorrow. If you guys don’t want it, let me know,” said Maguire.

With a median home sale price of $534,500, Lewack explained that on top of a desperate need for affordable housing, Charlotte has an aging population that could transition to smaller homes if zoning bylaws and infrastructure facilitated building age-appropriate multi-family housing in town.

“Demographically, I think there’s a lot of reasons to believe there would be strong demand for elderly housing,” he said. “If we made it more feasible by creating those kinds of options, some of those properties could be freed up for purchase by the younger generation or redevelopment with additional housing.”

“I think your town should want this to happen. But you guys have got to want it more than I do,” Maguire said. “I’ve got the money and the will. I want to give you guys senior housing.”

COURTESY PHOTO

Shelburne students on the Champlain Valley Union Robotics Teams include Jack Gourlay, senior, Varsity RoboHawks, and Jacob Graham, sophomore, JV RoboRedhawks. Charlotte students include Varsity RoboHawks Crawford Phillips, Joe Jacobs and Violet Fennern.

“I think your town should want this to happen. But you guys have got to want it more than I do. I’ve got the money and the will. I want to give you guys senior housing.”

— Jonathan Maguire

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Changes to a single species can destabilize our forests

Into the Woods

Each of our native species occupies an ecological niche, influencing the ecosystem around it in different ways. The more we learn about forests, the more we discover how critical each species is to their health and function: from towering trees to tiny invertebrates, from the bats that regulate populations of defoliating insects to the rodents that disperse acorns, seeding future generations of oaks.

It is relatively easy to understand the profound impact of an extinction on an ecosystem. What is less apparent is when a native species’ role changes due to climate change, historic land use, non-native invasive pests and pathogens and the many other components of global change. Our modern world has given rise to a phenomenon known as cryptic function loss: when the function of an ecosystem is altered by the extirpation (local extinction) of a species, a change in its abundance or a shift in its behavior because of global change.

An example of cryptic function loss is the case of American beech. Historical records suggest that beech once accounted for 40 to 60 percent of all trees in Chittenden County. While most of us know beech only as a sickly tree with cracked, pockmarked bark, it used to be quite different. Once, beech trees could become massive and ancient, living 400 to 600 years. One can only imagine how many habitats healthy beech trees once provided, how many species relied on their abundant beechnuts and how many ways they shaped the forests of the past.

Today, the beech is still common in our forests, but its behavior has changed entirely. With the introduction of the non-native beech bark disease, most beech trees live only 40 to 60 years, dying centuries before they can reach the stature of their ancestors. When beech trees are stressed from beech bark disease, they produce clones from their root systems which can dominate the forest

understory, creating a monoculture of trees destined to be as unhealthy as their parents.

Another example of cryptic function loss is the shape of our modern forests themselves. Vermont’s forests have regenerated from the near-complete deforestation of the 1800s, today covering about 75 percent of Vermont. This fact masks a complex reality: because of historic deforestation, the loss of wildlife species, the functional loss of tree species like beech, elm, butternut and chestnut to non-native pests and pathogens, soil degradation and much more, our modern-day forests have been transformed.

While Vermont’s forests, for the most part, consist of the same tree species that were here prior to European colonization, many components of pre-colonial forests — a diversity of tree species and forest types, structural diversity (trees of varied sizes and ages), deep, well-developed soils, dead wood and old trees — and the critical functions and habitats that they once provided are underrepresented or missing from our modern forests.

Cryptic function loss demonstrates a complex and important idea: that in ecosystems it is not enough for something (a species, a forest) to exist – the nuances of how it exists matter. Our forests are resilient and adaptive but also very sensitive. Slight changes in environmental conditions, or the presence or absence or behavior of a single species can have consequences that ripple throughout a forest community, causing harmful and destabilizing impacts.

To me, cryptic function loss is a call to action. Amid a climate crisis and a biodiversity crisis, it is our responsibility to protect the health and the resilience of forests and the tens of thousands of species that rely on them and to help them recapture the critical functions that have been lost. Actively managing for diversity and complexity is part of this, as is controlling biodiversity threats like non-native invasive plants, deer overpopulations, deforestation and forest fragmentation, as is promoting resistance to the causal agents of cryptic function loss, such as the non-native pathogens that affect

native tree species like beech. Considering the impact of cryptic function loss on our forests is alarming but also oddly hopeful. Unlike extinction, cryptic function loss is a phenomenon of things that still exist, of species and functions that may yet be rediscovered. Our modern forests have lost so much, but with our help

they may find a better path forward.

Ethan Tapper is the Chittenden County forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. See what he’s been up to, check out his YouTube channel, sign up for news and read articles he’s written at linktr.ee/chittendencountyforester.

A forest understory dominated by diseased beech clones.

Ethan Tapper

“Unlike extinction, cryptic function loss is a phenomenon of things that still exist.”

No. 1 CVU faces Essex in semifinals

terfinals on Friday, March 3, at 7 p.m.

Girls’ basketball

Top-seed Champlain Valley hung on for a 48-37 win over No. 8 Rice in the Division I girls’ basketball quarterfinals Friday, Feb. 24.

The Redhawks used a 15-2 run in the second quarter to pull away and then held off the Green Knights to book a spot in the DI semifinals.

Addi Hunter had 14 points to pace the Redhawks, while Shelby Companion chipped in with 10. Merrill Jacobs added eight points for CVU.

No. 1 Champlain Valley will face off against No. 4 Essex on Monday at the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gymnasium in the semifinals at 8 p.m.

The two teams did not face each other in the regular season but the Redhawks have yet to lose to a Vermont opponent this year.

Boys’ basketball

The boys ended the regular season on a high note, beating Rice 53-50 on Saturday, Feb. 25, to secure the No. 1 seed in the DI playoffs.

Alex Provost had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Redhawks, while Logan Vaughn scored a double-double (10 points and 12 rebounds). Sam Sweeney and Kyle Eaton each chipped in eight.

The team ended the season with a 19-1 record secured it a first-round bye in the upcoming tournament.

The Redhawks faced the winner of No. 8 Mount Mansfield and No. 9 Burlington in the quar-

CVU beat both Mount Mansfield and Burlington in the matchups in the regular season.

Boys’ hockey

The boys’ hockey team traveled to Cairns Arena to take on South Burlington in the DI quarterfinals on Wednesday after press deadline.

The Redhawks earned the No.5 seed in the postseason with a 7-10-3 record.

CVU, which lost three of its last four games, looked to rebound from a 3-2 loss to the Wolves late in the regular season. South Burlington won two of the teams’ matchups and tied the third.

The winner of the quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals where No. 1 Rice waits. That game will be played on Saturday, March 4, at 6:45 p.m.

Girls’ hockey

Despite a late-season losing streak, the Champlain ValleyMount Mansfield girls’ hockey team earned the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and a home quarterfinal game.

The CougarHawks (12-7-1) took on No. 5 Essex (6-12-2) in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. after deadline.

Late in the season, CVU-MMU beat Essex 4-1. The two teams also battled to a 3-3 tie earlier.

If the CougarHawks can hold off the Hornets upset bid, CVU-MMU will advance to take on No. 1 Spaulding (19-0-1), which beat them 3-0 in the final game of the regular season.

That matchup will take place on Friday, March 3, at 5 p.m.

PHOTO BY AL FREY

Addi Hunter tries to take a shot around Rice Memorial’s Atika Haji during a Feb. 24 quarterfinal matchup. CVU won 48-37.

helps all of us shape our community’s distinct flavor, personality and character.

Hinesburg girls’ basketball team completes perfect season

The Hinesburg Community School girls’ basketball B-team completed a perfect season this year, winning most of its games by over 10 points.

The toughest game came against Christ the King, which Hinesburg won by one point in the last minute of the game.

The season finished Feb. 14 with a final win against Shelburne. With the win, the Hinesburg team captured the Champlain Valley School District championship and completed its perfect season with a record of 11-0.

Summer Camps

2023 GUIDE

Promote your program in our Summer Camps guide for targeted exposure to a local audience of kids and parents as they make plans for the upcoming summer season. This advertising section is a go-to guide for summer camp and recreation researchers, making it the ideal place to outline your offerings and secure more early enrollments.

Publication Dates: March 9 and April 6

Deadlines: Thursdays before each issue

Contact: Stowe Reporter/News & Citizen at 802-253-2101, Shelburne News/The Citizen at 802-985-3091 or The Other Paper at 802-864-6670 for information or to advertise your camp (ask about multi-paper, half-price color and Burlington Area Newspaper Group deals).

The Secret to Your Summer Camp’s Success

To learn more or reserve your space, talk to us today!

PHOTO BY DENISE FARMER

The Hinesburg Community School girls’ basketball B-team was led by captains Ava Norful, Hannah Jones and Jordan Kramer-Nison. Players included Norful, Bella Seeholzer, Caris Leise, Jones, KramerNison, Maggie Miller, Meg Roberts and Rowan Farmer.

Charlotte Planning Commission

Will hold a public hearing on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 7 pm at Town Hall, 159 Ferry Rd. in Charlotte to receive public comment on proposed amendments to the Charlotte Land Use Regulations re: proposed standards for permitting and regulating cannabis businesses in Charlotte. Remote participation is possible via Zoom.

The proposed amendments address several topics, including:

(A) Updates to dimensional standards, conditional uses in several zoning districts, and other provisions of Charlotte’s Land Use Regulations

(B) Specific review and performance standards for permitting cannabis businesses

(C) New definitions of various types of cannabis businesses and uses

Draft amendments, a User’s Guide, and a report on how the proposed changes comply with State Statute and the Town Plan, are available on the Town web site at: https://bit.ly/Cannabis_rules_ in_Charlotte. If you are unable to attend this hearing, you may submit comments in writing to Town Planner, Charlotte Town Hall, 159 Ferry Rd., Charlotte, VT 05445.

PUBLIC HEARING

Hinesburg Development Review Board

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

7:00 pm

Fullem/CunninghamConditional use application for expansion of a noncomplying structure (addition of a 2nd story & garage, and removal of an accessory structure) on a 0.29-acre property located at 48 Sunset Court, in the Shoreline Zoning District.

CHARLOTTE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW BOARD

Will hold a public hearing on the following application during the Development Review Board’s regular meeting of Wednesday March 22, 2023:

7:05 PM 23-009-CU/SP Boreas – to substitute the growing of hemp plants with the growing of cannabis plants at 700 Greenbush Rd.

7:35 PM 23-017-SD Belisle – for a 2-lot minor subdivision at 138 N. Pasture Rd.

For more information, contact the Planning & Zoning Office 802.425.3533 ext. 208, or by email at: pza@townofcharlotte.com

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to

Local businesses and restaurants need your support more than ever. Whether you visit stores, get delivery or shop online, keep your spending local and keep your community healthy.

Newspapers are LOCAL. We are dedicated to keeping you informed, safe and connected and care about the issues that

Local businesses and restaurants need your support more than ever. Whether you visit stores, get delivery or shop online, keep your spending local and keep your community healthy.

Newspapers are LOCAL. We are dedicated to keeping you informed, safe and connected and care about the issues that are important to our neighbors, our schools and our businesses.

When you support your local newspaper, you support your community.

Whitetail Landscaping & Excavation c/o Chad Hayden – Conditional use home occupation for a contractor’s yard on a 3.00-acre property, located at 1174 North Road, in the Rural Residential 2 Zoning District. A

Deadline: Friday at 5 p.m.

E-mail your ad to: classifieds@shelburnenews.com

Mail to: 1340 Williston Rd., So. Burlington. We can no longer accept free classified ads by phone.

The meeting will be both in person and remote. See meeting agenda on town website with details on how to participate.

• attention to detail is a MUST

• willingness to tackle tedious tasks when appropriate

FOR SALE

PRIVACY HEDGE: Arborvitae 6-foot. Reduced to $125/each. Free installation. Free delivery. Fast growing, high quality. Beautiful and bushy. Order now to reserve for spring delivery. Lowcosttreefarm.com or call 518-536-1367.

INVITATION TO BID Hinesburg STP BP16(11)

Sealed bids from pre-qualified contractors shall be accepted until 1pm, prevailing time on Friday, March 17th at the Hinesburg Town Office for construction of the project hereinafter described. Bid opening will occur immediately after the bid submittal deadline. The time of receiving and opening bids may be postponed due to emergencies or unforeseen conditions.

Sealed BIDS shall be marked in the lower left hand corner: Bid Documents: Hinesburg STP BP16(11).

Each BID must be accompanied by a certified check payable to the Town of Hinesburg for five percent (5%) of the total amount of the BID. A BID bond may be used in lieu of a certified check.

PREQUALIFICATION OF CONTRACTORS: All bidders on this project shall be on the Agency of Transportation’s prequalified list under the category listed below or shall have submitted a complete prequalification application to the Agency of Transportation, Contract Administration, a minimum of 10 working days prior to the bid opening. For information contact Jon Winter at (802) 622-1267.

All bidders shall be on the current VTRANS Contract Administration pre-qualified list “Contractors List of Curb and Sidewalk Category”.

LOCATION: Beginning at a point on VT Route 116 in Hinesburg, VT, in front of the Hinesburg Community School, and extending south along VT Route 116 for approximately 1,250 feet.

TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION: Work to be performed under this project includes: The construction of sidewalk, drainage, signing, and other incidental items.

CONTRACT COMPLETION DATE: The Contract shall be completed on or before September 29, 2023.

OBTAINING PLANS: Plans will be made available electronically (PDF) by VHB free of charge. Contact Dorie Jones, Administrative Manager via email to obtain a copy: djones@vhb.com.

VHB and the municipality shall track all plan holders for addendum distribution. If a hard copy is requested, arrangements can be made through Dorie Jones at VHB.

ENGINEERS ESTIMATE: For this Proposal the Engineers Estimate falls between $250,000 and $500,000.

PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS AND PROPOSAL MAY BE SEEN AT THE OFFICE OF:

1. Hinesburg Town Office, 10632 Route 116, Hinesburg, VT 05461.

PREBID CONFERENCE: A non-mandatory pre-bid conference will be held for the project at 10am on Tuesday, March 7th at the Hinesburg Town Office.

STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS: This contract is governed by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (“VTrans”) 2018 Standard Specifications for Construction.

QUESTIONS: During the advertisement phase of this project all questions shall be addressed solely to Todd Odit, Hinesburg Town Office, 10632 Route 116, Hinesburg, VT 05461. (802) 482-4206.

Full and part-time front desk positions

for 2nd shift, 3pm-11pm, available immediately

Why not have a job you love?

Positions

Service Coordinator: Continue your career in human services in a supportive environment by providing case management for individuals either for our Adult Family Care program or our Developmental Services program. The ideal candidate will have strong clinical, organizational & leadership skills and enjoy working in a team-oriented position. $47,000 annual salary, $1,500 sign on bonus.

Residential Program Manager: Coordinate staffed residential and community supports for an individual in their home. The ideal candidate will enjoy working in a team-oriented position, have strong clinical skills, and demonstrated leadership. $45,900 annual salary, $1,500 sign on bonus.

Direct Support Professional: Provide 1:1 supports to help individuals reach their goals in a variety of settings. This is a great position to start or continue your career in human services. Full and part time positions available starting at $19/hr, $1,000 sign on bonus.

Residential Direct Support Professional: Provide supports to an individual in their home and in the community in 24h shifts including asleep overnights in a private, furnished bedroom. You can work two days, receive full benefits and have five days off each week! Other flexible schedules available, starting wage is $20/hr, $1,000 sign on bonus.

Shared Living Provider: Move into someone’s home or have someone live with you to provide residential supports. There are a variety of opportunities available that could be the perfect match for you and your household. Salary varies dependent on individual care requirements. $1,000 sign on bonus.

Join

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https://ccs-vt.org/current-openings/

Champlain Community Services, Inc.

include a sign on bonus, strong benefits package and the opportunity to work at one of the “Best Places to Work in Vermont”.

ARIES

March 21 - April 20

Take a few deep breaths before forging ahead with a plan that you have in mind, Aries. You might need to think things through a little more in the days to come.

TAURUS

April 21 - May 21

Taurus, when a new opportunity arises, you may feel like a fish out of water until you get into a routine. After that learning period, things will come more easily.

GEMINI

May 22 - June 21

Gemini, do not wait around for change to come. Sometimes you have to get the ball rolling yourself. Put plans in motion and figure out who will join you.

CANCER

June 22 - July 22

Cancer, right now is a big waiting game, and that could have you feeling a bit frustrated. If you are ready for action, take on a hobby or something else to stay busy.

LEO

July 23 - Aug. 23

Leo, you may get wind that others are talking about you when you are not around. Remember that all publicity is good publicity. You’re on their minds and that’s important.

VIRGO

Aug. 24 - Sept. 22 Virgo, after a few tumultuous months, you finally get into a groove and forge a new path for yourself. You may be surprised by what comes your way.

LIBRA

Sept. 23 - Oct. 23

You may joke about something that someone else takes very seriously, Libra. Be careful with your words to avoid offending someone you care about.

SCORPIO

Oct. 24 - Nov. 22

You may have a lot of ideas, Scorpio, but it is essential to figure out funding if those plans are to be put in motion. This includes home improvements.

SUDOKU

Here’s How It Works:

Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

SAGITTARIUS

Nov. 23 - Dec. 21 Sagittarius, it’s time to embrace your love of culture, as you need to start pushing the creative side rather than the analytical one. Visit a museum when time permits.

CAPRICORN

Dec. 22 - Jan. 20 Opportunity awaits if you know where to look, Capricorn. A new business venture could be right around the corner. Start thinking of ways to get involved.

AQUARIUS

Jan. 21 - Feb. 18 Aquarius, big project is finished and you could not be happier. That pressure may have been weighing you down and now you have more free time.

PISCES

Feb. 19 - March 20

Pisces, your own mind could be your only obstacle this week. Clear this mental hurdle and enjoy the challenges ahead.

CROSSWORD

CLUES ACROSS

1. Relaxing place

4. Plant by scattering

7. A type of explorer

12. Unique traits

15. Lady

16. Dismayed

18. Railway

19. Type of whale

20. Sodium

21. Manning and Lilly are two

24. Where golfers begin

27. Entrapped

30. Influential punk artist

31. Hebrew calendar month

33. Car mechanics group

34. Undesirable rodent 35. Minneapolis suburb

37. Witch

39. Get free of 41. A written proposal or reminder

42. British School 44. Country on west coast of Africa

47. Cool!

48. Information 49. __ route 50. Jim Nantz’s network

52. Something to register (abbr.)

53. Give cards incorrectly

56. One who’s learning on the job

61. Stevenson adventure novel

63. Taking careful notice

64. CNN’s founder

65. Speak badly of

CLUES DOWN

1. A person with unusual powers of foresight

2. Single sheet of glass

3. Portrays a character

4. Expresses happiness

5. Acquires

6. “The Martian” author

7. Degree

8. 60-minute intervals

9. A detective’s pal

10. Group of nations (abbr.)

11. Popular Georgia rockers

12. Fencing swords

13. Basement

14. Samoan monetary unit

17. Male parent

ANSWERS

22. Finnish lake

23. A smooth fabric

24. Arctic explorers (abbr.)

25. Mild yellow Dutch cheese

26. Very willing

28. Expressed pleasure

29. Lasso

32. Hindu model of ideal man

36. Move your head in approval

38. Ill-__: gained illegally 40. Die 43. Accused publicly 44. Precious stone 45. Individual thing or person 46. Behaved in a way that degraded

Derogatory term

No seats available

Liability

Popular beverage

Tough outer skin of fruit

58. __ Spumante (Italian wine)

59. Troubles 60. Negative 62. Camper

LANDFILL

continued from page 1

“the extent of migration has not been defined to the southeast.”

The landfill, which operated from 1972 until 1988, accepted solid waste from both Hinesburg and Richmond, but was eventually closed and sealed off with a permanent chemical-resistant plastic sheet in 1992 to contain any contaminants.

Some residents living near the landfill had regular testing done for nearly two decades, which ceased in 2009. But then, a development proposal nearby, as well as a proposal to install solar panels on top of the property in 2019, led officials to discover that the landfill had never been properly closed.

Paperwork for the landfill’s closure certification ended up missing — both on the state and town’s end, officials have said previously. That’s when, as the state was conducting tests to confirm the landfills closure, contaminated drinking water at the well serving the town garage was discovered in the summer of 2021.

The town moved to hire Stone Environmental to conduct semi-annual testing on those properties, and purchased point-of-entry treatment systems, or POET systems, to treat that water.

Stone’s latest report, released in February, confirmed two more homes have PFAS levels above the state’s limit. It now recommends continued semi-annual monitoring at the four properties with previously discovered contamination, as well as expanding drinking water monitoring to four new residences on North Road, Beecher Hill Road, and Forest Edge roads.

It means the town — which has already shelled out more than $50,000 on treatment and testing — will continue to see mushrooming costs. Two more POET systems have already been installed on the newest homes with contaminated water, at more than $10,000 a piece.

But the 12 residents not currently queued up for testing say they cannot wait — that Stone and the town should immediately test as many homes as possible.

“We had asked a year and a half ago. We asked again in January. Now there’s a number of people in the area that would like to know what’s up,” Tim Parent, a North Road resident, said.

Several residences had their drinking water tested in 2021 — either by themselves or by the state — and found no contamination or levels that were deemed safe by the state. But, given the uncertainty of the flow of the groundwater, residents said, they want to be certain that the chemical makeup of their water has not changed since then.

“Testing the abutting property owners and adjacent property owners would be appropriate to

see if it has spread there. That’s a significant number of homes,” Francis said. “This is good data gathering — it’s appropriate to test the abutters, and it’s also appropriate because the water flow is not exactly known.”

Town officials have said they likely plan on following Stone’s recommendation — testing the four homes and, if contamination is detected, further expanding the parameters of the town’s water monitoring.

Stone is following guidelines set by the Ground Water Protection Rule and Strategy, state law that says if state limits are exceeded at any of the new locations, then additional homes in an extended perimeter would then be monitored and tested.

“We’re going to follow the recommendations of Stone Environmental — we’ve been happy with their work, they’re scientific, they’re accurate, they’re thorough — so we will follow their recommendations,” said Merrily Lovell, the chair of the Hinesburg Selectboard. “If those tests come up that those wells need remediation, then we’re going to have to take care of that.”

The nearby property owners plan on speaking at the town’s selectboard meeting, which was held on Wednesday after press deadline.

At least one selectboard member has said that the town should do its due diligence in testing more than the recommended number of homes.

FORUM

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said, “I am definitely not a curriculum expert, I would look to our educators if I was on the school board to help inform what is best for our children. But as a parent, I’ll say that I think it’s essential. My kids come home and teach me every day what they’re learning. My fifth grader is learning about Black History Month and I think it’s beautiful. I think it is wonderful. It’s unfortunate that this topic has become controversial. It really shouldn’t be. But hopefully it’s not in our community. I support that type of education in our classes.”

The only selectboard candidate to respond to the question was Mudge, who prefaced his response by saying he is a moderate Democrat. “ I am not woke. I just want to sort of get that out there. ... We should be teaching the civil rights movement; we should be teaching the bad things that this country has done along with all the great things we’ve done. I have the benefit of having spent a significant part of my life outside this country. I

“I would hope that as a board we push Stone Environmental — when they recommend based on their science where we test, I would want us to lean towards the maximum, so that even if we come up with a lot of negatives, which we’re hoping to, people can feel relieved rather than sitting there in an unknown state,” Hinesburg selectboard member Phil Pouech said at the Feb. 15 meeting.

For now, the town has confirmed they are applying for funding with the state to do a feasibility study, or an alternatives analysis, said town manager Todd Odit.

“That would look at what makes the most sense financially — maintaining POET systems, or would it make more sense to say extend the town’s water system to this area so they’re on town water, or maybe it’s drilling a new community type well in a safe location to supply these homes,” he said.

Whatever the case, the issue of the landfill “is not going to resolve itself,” Francis said.

“The leaching is happening, and unless we ... dig it all up and take it away like a superfund clean out, it’s going to be there and the risk to the neighbors and the town is going to be there for water in our households,” she said. “We don’t know the extent of the problem. Stone doesn’t know the extent of the problem. The town doesn’t know. We, as the property owners drinking the water today, do not know what has changed from the last time we had our tests, with our own pocketbook paying for it.”

raised my children in a very different economic situation. They were born in Kenya, where people are either very rich or very poor. They have their eyes wide open; kids know what’s going on. They know that there are some inequalities in this country and we shouldn’t be afraid to teach it. It shouldn’t be conflated with critical race theory and all these terms that scare us.

“We should absolutely allow teachers to move forward and teach our children to be good, responsible citizens. We should encourage them to challenge the status quo. That’s what education is all about.”

Lindsay Smith, who is running for a five-year term as library trustee, was also at the meeting.

Charlotte will hold a public informational hearing on Monday, March 6, at 7 p.m. in the Charlotte Library community room to discuss and hear questions regarding the articles to be voted by Australian ballot at the annual March 7 meeting.