The Citizen - 6-6-24

Zoning changes spark ire

LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER

The Hinesburg Selectboard held a public hearing last week for a controversial proposed zoning change and some residents are objecting to what they call an erosion of their property rights.

Changes to the Rural Residential 1 district designation — an area that extends from the village growth area to the town’s northern border near Mt. Pritchard — have been in the works since 2021 and were revised and finalized by the planning commission in December last year.

“The commission did some driving tours of the district, they did some walking tours of portions of the district and they talked about sort of the landforms that define different portions of the district, the pattern of development across the district, and a variety of other mapping resources that we have available to better understand where streams are and driveway density and those sorts of things,” said Alex Weinhagen, director of planning and zoning.

He noted that the proposed changes are outlined in the town plan and correspond to work that the town began over a decade ago.

The specific proposal makes changes to the regulations to better reflect different land forms, patterns of development and land use priorities, he said.

See ZONING on page 16

BY

It was Yankees versus Red Sox in a recent Champlain Valley

Hinesburg beekeeper abuzz about chemical ban

LUCIA MCCALLUM COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE

Bees swarmed Gerald Posner as he tinkered with their boxes. The spring weather gets them agitated, he said, because they have work to do. Posner’s bees live on the Hinesburg property of Full Moon Farm, where Vermont Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman grows a variety of fruits and vegetables. The bees have helped pollinate the crops

for the past four years.

Posner and his wife, Karen, moved to Vermont from Connecticut during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and settled in South Burlington. “We brought our bees with us,” said Karen Posner, who also works in a chiropractor’s office. Posner operates their apiary, Swaying Daisies Honeybee Farm.

Gerald Posner has cared for bees on and off since 1985, mostly as a hobby

JAZZ FEST June 5 - June 9, 7 - 9pm

before they arrived in Vermont. At farmers markets, his wife sells the Swaying Daisies honey, as well as honey infused with CBD, ginger or turmeric and baked goods sweetened with their honey.

With the bees as his full-time work, Posner has battled the pollinators’ changing ecosystem as the climate warms. When

See BEEKEEPER on page 2

PHOTO

LEE KROHN

Little League game. This Yankee looks safe at second.

continued from page 1

flowers bloom earlier than normal, the bees haven’t emerged to pollinate them, so they end up with less nectar and pollen to eat and make honey, which can lead to the bees starving, Posner said. It is also widely understood that bee populations across Vermont, both domestic and wild, are declining, he said.

“Even though honey production is almost equal, the amount of hives required are more,” Posner said recently from behind the mesh hood of his protective bee suit. Swaying Daisies has 18 hives and harvests an average of 80 to 120 pounds of honey per hive, he said. “We have to use more inputs. We have to control the mites. We’ve got to re-queen every year. We have to feed the bees now more often.”

These problems are not unique to Posner or Hinesburg but have become common challenges for many beekeepers. During this legislative session, Vermont lawmakers crafted a bill that its sponsors proposed to help stem the declines in bee populations. Bill H.706 would regulate the synthetic insecticides known as neonicotinoids, which beekeepers say is a contributor to collapsing bee colonies. The bill generated pushback, however, from farmers who produce grain, corn and other crops and dairy operators who depend on those crops for feed. They argue that their production depends on neonicotinoids, commonly called neonics.

After the neonicotinoids bill passed both the House and the Senate, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the measure, citing potential harm to the state’s dairy economy. The Legislature could override the veto in coming weeks.

Posner cited research by the Vermont Bee Lab, a University of Vermont center that studies and shares information about pollinators, showing heavy use of neonicotinoids in the area around his apiary. Addison County has

a large concentration of corn producers, and many use insecticide, said Posner. Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman, D-Middletown Springs, sponsored H.706 to target both neonicotinoid-treated seeds and foliar sprays, which mist the liquid insecticide directly onto the leaves or stems of plants. The proposal now in limbo would prohibit the use of treated seeds for crops such as corn and soybeans, starting in 2029, and would restrict foliar sprays starting in 2025.

Chesnut-Tangerman’s bill would allow for use of the insecticides in certain situations. Fruit producers like apple orchards could still spray neonicotinoids

native treatment at this point,” Chesnut-Tangerman said, explaining the exception. “It’s more about the timing and limiting the use of those applications to be the least damaging as possible.”

“We have to control the mites. We’ve got to re-queen every year. We have to feed the bees now more often.”

— Gerald Posner

outside of flowering time when bees are most likely to pollinate the trees.

“There really isn’t an alter-

A hobby beekeeper himself, Chesnut-Tangerman has noticed dramatic changes in his hives. It has become increasingly more expensive to keep and repopulate his hives, he said, because colonies are dying at faster rates in recent years.

“I’ve had one hive overwinter successfully in the last five years,” and more hives would

have survived in the past, he said. “I can’t attribute that entirely or directly to neonics, because I don’t have the testing to do that. But looking at the research and the science, I can see that neonics have a huge negative impact on wild pollinators and domesticated pollinators.”

Control of insecticides is important but only one part of the solution to a complex problem, Posner said. He mentors high school students in beekeeping and believes the survival of the practice and the bees depends as much

PHOTO BY CATHERINE MORRISSEY Gerald Posner of Swaying Daises Honeybee Farm at work.

Celebrate National Garden Week in your community

DORIS VAN MULLEN CONTRIBUTOR

Garden Clubs across Vermont and the country will celebrate National Garden Week, June 2-8.

The celebration is more than just a celebration of plants and flowers, it is an ode to nature’s resiliency, beauty and the way gardening enriches lives.

“We delight in the joy of gardening and the crucial role it plays in our ecosystems” Doris Van Mullen, president of the Federated Garden Clubs of Vermont, said. “This is a wonderful time to remember why we love gardening in the breathtaking beautiful landscapes of nature and our Vermont canvas. It is a shared passion connecting communities.”

The 16 garden clubs of the Federated Garden Clubs of Vermont take this opportunity to raise awareness of gardening, horticulture and to encourage people to

take part in healthy and productive outdoor activities to preserve the environment and nourish nature.

Diverse garden club activities include giving back to the community. Clubs around Vermont maintain town gardens, plan and implement plant sales, raise money for scholarships for students studying horticulture, arrange fresh flowers for Meals on Wheels, provide community educational programs, promote cultivation of seeds, donate vegetables to those in need and promote sustainable practices.

Some of the gardens across the state maintained by garden club members include:

• 19th century display garden at the Old Stone House in Newport, Four Seasons Garden Club.

• Hope Lodge, Ronald McDonald House and Vermont Garden Park, Burlington Garden Club.

• Planting and maintaining citywise flower beds, Granite Center Garden Club.

• Sheldon Museum gardens, Middlebury Garden Club.

• Gifford Medical Center and maintaining Blue Star Marker flower beds, Randolph Garden Club.

• Planting flower boxes and hanging baskets at the Rutland Police Department, Chaffee Art Center, Rutland Free Library and Main Street Park Veterans Memorial Park, Rutland Garden Club.

• Downtown fountain, Iron Bridge memorial walkway and Plant It Pink Garden, Springfield Garden Club.

• 1879 schoolhouse in Perkinsville, Weathersfield Garden Club.

• Arlington’s Community Gardens and town hall, Arlington Garden Club.

• Cold Spring Park in Weston, Green Mountain Garden Club.

Many club-hosted garden tours offer opportunities to exchange gardening tips and build a network of like-minded individuals.

BEEKEEPER

continued from page 2

on teaching the next generation about the needs of pollinators. Through this, he said, beekeepers can continue to adapt to climate change and other challenges.

“The passing of intergenerational knowledge, through applied science, is critical in making sure we have a resilient workforce that could provide us with agriculture in a changing environment,” he said.

Lucia McCallum reported this story on assignment from the

Vermont Community Newspaper Group. The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost.

PHOTO BY CATHERINE MORRISSEY

A bee clings to the suit of a beekeeper.

Hinesburg Police Blotter:

May 28 - June 2

Total incidents: 48

Traffic stops: 20 Arrests: 0

May 28 at 8:45 a.m., an officer investigated the report of an abandoned vehicle on Commerce Street.

May 28 at 8:46 a.m., a loose dog was turned into the police department. The owner was later located.

May 28 at 10:28 a.m., police investigated theft from a property on Abani Drive.

May 30 at 9:51 p.m., police investigated a noise complaint on Tyler Bridge Road.

May 31 at 10:40 p.m., a noise complaint on North Road was investigated.

June 1 at 4:30 p.m., an officer investigated a parking issue on Jourdan Street.

June 2 at 3:56 p.m., a loose dog on North Road was later reunited with its owner.

Note: Charges filed by police are subject to review by the Chittenden County State’s Attorney Office and can be amended or dropped.

BY

Taking flight

Tom Wadsworth of Shelburne captured this shot on Deer Run Lane of red-tailed hawk fledglings getting ready to fly.

The Citizen

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TOM WADSWORTH

OPINION

Why school consolidation keeps failing in Vermont?

Guest Perspective

John Clifford

Before March I knew nothing about the education system in Vermont even though my entire education has been in Vermont schools, and honestly, I never had the time nor inclination to learn more about such a complex topic. I assumed the principals in charge had our best interest in mind as they created bigger budgets, added staff and expanded specialized programs.

That is, until the Champlain Valley School Board informed the voters of Hinesburg and the other surrounding communities served by Champlain Valley School District that they would be increasing spending 12 percent to $106 million, and our property taxes would likely increase 20 percent to 29 percent. That’s when I started investigating to try to find the answer to the elusive question of “why is education spending (per pupil costs) so high in our school district?”

Like the quandary of why typical laws of Newtonian physics don’t apply to the interactions of quantum particles at the smallest level of nature, the answer may be hard to uncover. It may require new laws and new theories.

transportation costs, adding specialized staff, higher salary schedules and other diseconomies of scale.

Every

time new education laws leave open the possibility for increased spending, school districts will take advantage.

It seems

like there are no spending limits.

In a recent guest column for the Williston Observer on May 16, a former teacher and high school principal laments that “consolidation has not saved taxpayers dollars and has eroded Vermonters’ support for public education,” proposing that the entire state education structure be re-envisioned from the ground up. But why has school consolidation failed in Vermont?

The author believes that school consolidation allowed by acts 153, 156 and 46 has not resulted in a corresponding decrease in per pupil spending in districts that have consolidated or merged, but really offers no explanation. The author is correct that spending in consolidated districts has increased over the years, the Champlain Valley School District has grown from $75 to $105 million, and the issue needs to be further studied and possible answers found and addressed. But consolidation has been used successfully in many states. As usual, Vermont is unique in its quest for strong local control.

The financial impact of school consolidation into larger school districts has been studied extensively, and debated, by many state agencies in the past, and the results are varied. Most found significant savings in administrative costs but per pupil spending increased in many, partly due to increased

Their conclusions? Don’t expect savings unless you bake them into the law; details matter. Testimony before the House Committee on Education about the rising education costs and property taxes, led Richard Pembroke Jr. (a school district operating officer) in 2015 to state that savings can result with consolidation of smaller schools and districts and recommended a minimum school district size of 1,500 students. But he admitted his comments “won’t be totally popular,” and one of the main reasons for lack of progress in consolidation is board members not wanting to give up their perceived local control regardless of savings. The University of Vermont’s Legislative Research Shop on school district consolidation, under administrative costs, says, “It seems that one of the main risks of district consolidation is indeed the growth of costly and sprawling administrations … good management can limit the trend and maintain the savings gained through consolidation.”

While there are undoubtedly many reasons why consolidation failed, based on what I have observed there are three areas of concern.

First, education agencies and associations — Big Ed — have had a stranglehold on the education message in Vermont for years and have been able to force their opinions into law and practice. Second, the Legislature, although well intended, has repeatedly failed to write sufficient safeguards, guardrails or spending thresholds into education legislation to prevent school districts from acting like a growing business and expand staff and programs beyond what the voters can afford.

Third, the Agency of Education and State Board of Education have not devoted enough time or resources into monitoring school districts’ internal structures, regulating or offering advice. The correlation between education spending and student outcomes is troublesome: it is known that the quality of education decreases as school size increases.

Every time new education laws leave open the possibility for increased spending, school districts will take advantage. It seems like there are no spending limits. Without the ability to self-regulate, school boards need more regulation and voters need to be better informed. In local control, reality forces the voter to be the thermostat.

John Clifford lives in Hinesburg.

Were we the lucky ones? We’ll find out in November

Guest Perspective

Elayne Clift

A docudrama, “We Were the Lucky Ones,” streaming on Hulu recently inspired me to consider this question: Were Americans in my generation the lucky ones, post-World War II? In the story a real family scattered across Europe during the pogroms against Jews in the war. Miraculously they managed to survive and to reunite with their loved ones.

Now I wonder if those of us who have lived in America since the 1940s may be the lucky ones. We have lived in a postwar period of democracy, freedom from fear and peace, without the obscenity of war and dictatorship. We have never had to experience the terror of autocratic regimes. Most of us can’t even imagine what that is like.

We have been able to trust our families, friends and neighbors, and to receive uncensored information free of propaganda, to travel freely across state lines and to other countries without being impeded or interrogated. We have never had a government that destroyed the basis of our republic in the document called the Constitution. Most of us were able to live decent lives and to sleep soundly at night.

Admittedly the “good old days” weren’t all good. They were rife with racism, antisemitism, sexism, discrimination and fear of the Other. We lived in a time when America flirted seriously with fascism, schools were segregated, domestic violence and sexual abuse were hidden. We lived to see the development of nuclear weapons and suffered the threat of the Bay of Pigs, when Russian threatened us with missiles from Cuba.

There were race riots and a war we never should have been in, political assassinations of some of our beloved leaders, terrorist attacks and later an insurrection, and so much more that never should have happened in “the land

of the free and the brave.”

But still we were mostly the lucky ones. We never headed to bomb shelters, most of us could feel safe in our homes, and we proceeded with our lives under the protection of the Constitution. It was safe to send our kids to school, to go to a café, a concert, a grocery store and to worship in a variety of religious environments.

We could choose our politicians in free and fair elections and vote them out of office when we needed to. When necessary, we protested what we believed was wrong in our local communities and nationally, peacefully and without fear of being silenced or arrested. We chose whether to start families, read the books we wanted to. We trusted our friends and neighbors to look out for each other, and most of all we felt free.

Those freedoms could now become fading memories. What looms large in November is a clarion call for civility, compassion, humanity, intelligent leadership, sound judgement and continuing democracy. Our country cannot afford to lose its standing in a global world or risk the hideous thought of a nuclear war because we have felons and fascists in charge who admire the likes of Vladimir Putin and other autocrats and dictators.

Unless we act appropriately, the idea of American exceptionalism will be nothing more than a memory embedded in the jargon of despair. In the past, Americans have managed to come together in critical times in ways that revealed our character and upheld the principles of this country. We have demonstrated to the world our capacity for cohesion, compassion, sound judgement and right action. Now is the time to reclaim that spirit by making a commitment to disavow a dystopian future.

We stand now on the precipice of a giant sink hole that would take years to dig out of, if not generations. We owe it to our progeny to leave them a world in which we proved again our resilience and

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our love of freedom.

We need to make sure that they too are the lucky ones who remain free of oppression and disaster, the lucky ones who reunite with the spirit of this country in hard times, and the lucky ones who

Reader gives us a geography lesson

To the Editor:

build a new and secure future together. That means doing the right thing in November for the loved ones in your life.

Elayne Clift is a Vermont-based writer. More at elayne-clift.com.

Letters to the Editor

In several issues of The Citizen there has been a reference to 40 square miles of land wedged between the LaPlatte River and Patrick Brook.

I assume the area referred to is surrounded by Route 116, the Canal, Patrick Brook and the LaPlatte River on four sides.

If this is the case, the area is possibly 40 acres, not 40 square miles.

The town of Hinesburg has approximately 25,000 acres or just over 39 square miles.

The Citizen does a good job reporting on issues in Charlotte and Hinesburg.

Thank you for all you do for the citizens.

Phil Russell Monkton

On June 1, bobcats, bears, other wildlife in danger

To the Editor:

Every year, beginning on June 1, bears, bobcats, foxes and other wildlife are pursued by packs of hounds, potentially over miles of land, during Vermont’s hound “training” season. Since this is also the time of year when wildlife is tending to their young, this training may lead to orphaned animals, as well as vulnerable wildlife suffering serious injuries or even death during these pursuits.

According to Jennifer Lovett, a Protect Our Wildlife board member and conservation biologist, bobcat kits are born in early June, which makes the timing of this abusive activity even more egregious.

According to Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s regulations, a person with a hunting license may train a dog to hunt and pursue animals during these times:

• Bear: June 1 to Sept. 15, sunrise to sunset.

• Raccoon: June 1 through the day before the opening day of raccoon hunting season, any time of day or night.

• Fox and bobcat: June 1 to March 15, except during regular deer season.

• Coyotes: June 1 to Sept. 15.

This activity is allowed on both private and public lands, and while posting your property does not necessarily keep uncontrolled hounds off, it may offer you legal protection.

It is a disgrace that these animals aren’t even allowed time to raise their young without being harassed and put in harm’s way. When the wild animal cannot escape the attacking hounds, fights often ensue, placing both the hounds and the wild animals in danger.

Hounding has been referred to as a form of legalized animal fighting. For some species that are hunted, there are no limits on the number of hounds that may be used, placing the wild animal at an even greater disadvantage. Dogs that are used by hounders include large, tenacious breeds like foxhounds, Plott hounds and coonhounds.

There have been recent legislative efforts to ban certain forms of hounding arising from animal welfare and public safety concerns, and violations of landowner rights. For more information on hounding and what your rights are visit protectourwildlifevt.org.

Brenna Galdenzi

Protect Our Wildlife Stowe

Local ingredients in chef-inspired creations, Basin Harbor is Lake Champlain’s ultimate lakeside dining destination.

Mobile homes, parks could be good fit for housing needs

Hinesburg Affordable Housing Committee

Xander Patterson and Carl Bohlen

Since January, the Hinesburg Affordable Housing Committee has explored in monthly articles the causes of and solutions for Vermont and Hinesburg’s crisis in housing, especially affordable housing. This month we highlight what has for decades been one of the most important sources of affordable housing: mobile homes and mobile home parks. Because prefabricated mobile homes tend to be small and inexpensive to build, they are particularly suited to meet the current need for affordable housing geared towards smaller households. In mobile-home parks, 90 percent of residents own their home and lease the land it sits on, thereby offering the benefits of home ownership while reducing the upfront costs.

Statewide, there are 20,000 mobile homes, 7,000 of them in mobile-home parks. That’s about 6 percent of residences. Hinesburg’s three parks are large by Vermont standards: Mountain View Mobile Home Park has 52 lots, Sunset Lake Cooperative has 55 and Triple L Park, 65. Of these 172 lots, only three are vacant.

Despite the advantages of mobile-home parks to meet the demand for affordable housing, few new ones have opened in the last 50 years, and the pace has slowed even further in the last 25. Though some parks have recently added a few lots, other parks have closed.

In some cases, including Hinesburg, zoning limitations on housing density prevent all but the smallest new parks from being built. Many older parks, having been built before most zoning and permitting laws were in effect, are in areas that are prone to flooding or present problems for water and septic systems.

Now, finding tracts of land suitable to meet current standards is hard to find or expensive to develop. Competing demands for land that offer landowners greater return on their investment is high. Some neighborhoods are resistant to locating new parks nearby.

The affordability of existing mobile-home parks is also under threat. In many states, the combination of home ownership and leased land has made mobilehome parks attractive to speculators. Investors can purchase parks

and steeply raise rents. Mobilehome owners are among the most reliable of tenants because they are invested in their homes, but, ironically, they are among the least mobile. Moving homes is expensive, sometimes impossible, and vacant lots to move to are scarce. So, mobile homeowners feel obliged to stay and pay exorbitant rent on their lots.

Vermont has largely avoided this wave of speculation. With an average of only 15 lots, “our parks are too small to attract attention,” Arthur Hamlin, housing program coordinator for mobilehome parks at Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, said. Furthermore, when a park goes on the market, state law gives residents a 45-day right of first refusal. In such circumstances residents have found creative ways to ensure their parks will be managed in their own interests.

problems. No new parks are slated for Hinesburg, but there are ways we can help locally.

The town can assist mobilehome owners and park residents, apply to the state housing authority’s Manufactured Home Improvement and Repair program. The program also awards grants to park owners to add lots or repair infrastructure. Champlain Housing Trust also has a shared equity program to assist new home buyers with the downpayment.

Despite the advantages of mobilehome parks to meet the demand for affordable housing, few new ones have opened in the last 50 years, and the pace has slowed even further in the last 25. Though some parks have recently added a few lots, other parks have closed.

Mountain View is owned and managed by the Vermont Housing Authority. Sunset Lake is owned cooperatively by the residents themselves. Other parks around the state have come under nonprofit ownership. Nonetheless, rents are rising across the state, this year by about 6 percent. The average lot now goes for $463 per month in Chittenden County.

State and local government are looking for ways to increase the role mobile homes and parks will play in solving our housing

Hinesburg should consider providing an exemption for mobile-home parks to zoning regulations that limit density. In exchange for greater density, or additional lots, it can make parks more livable by requiring more public spaces, something lacking in most existing parks.

We can all embrace mobile homes and welcome any potential new or expanded mobile home parks. Prefabricated mobile homes offer the right size and price to meet both the state’s and town’s most pressing needs for new housing.

Xander Patterson and Carl Bohlen are members of the Hinesburg Affordable Housing Committee. Stay tuned for next month’s installment and an exploration into Hinesburg’s housing crisis. For more details, see the Hinesburg Housing Needs Assessment on the town website.

Why is Vermont’s State Budget $8,600,000,000? (8.6 Billion Dollars)

Now that I got your attention... Come hear from a political reporter and candidates.

When: Monday June 10th at 6:00 PM

Where: Shelburne Town Offices in Meeting Room #1, 2nd Floor

Speakers:

• Rob Roper - Vermont Political Reporter speaks on the above topic.

• Shawn Sweeney - Dem Candidate for State House Rep District CH-7 VT

• Bruce Roy - Vermont GOP Candidate for Senate District CHI SE 1 FREE but limited seating. RSVP text to 802-999-7757, Susan Bowen. or email sbowengov@comcast.net

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COMMUNITY

Community Notes

Friends of Charlotte Library book collection starts

The Friends of the Charlotte Library is holding book collections on the following dates:

Tuesday, June 25, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wednesday, June 26, 4-7 p.m.; Saturday, June 29, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Tuesday, July 9, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wednesday, July 10, 4-7 p.m.; and Thursday, July 11, 3-5 p.m.

Please drop off books only at the times specified.

The porch book sale at the library will be held on Sunday, July 14, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Bring gently used, recent or classic books to the back door of the library adjacent to the program room. Please, no mass paperback books (the small ones), textbooks, reference books, older cookbooks or older travel books. Current cookbooks and travel books are accepted. Donations are limited to two boxes or bags per person.

Questions or concerns?

Contact Marie Norwood at marie. norwood@norwoodhome.net.

Enjoy Age Well meals at

Charlotte Senior Center

The Age Well meal pickup

prior Monday at 802-425-6345 or meals@charlotteseniorcentervt. org.

The suggested donation is $5. Check the website for last-minute cancellations at bit.ly/3FfyLMb.

The meal for Thursday, June 13, features meatloaf with brown sauce, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, wheat bread with butter, apple crisp with topping and milk.

South Burlington expands Juneteenth celebrations

Enjoy an evening celebration of Black culture and remembrance as South Burlington offers education, poetry and music in honor of Juneteenth, Wednesday, June 19, 6-8 p.m., at Veterans Memorial Park.

The event is hosted by local poet Rajnii Eddins, who will talk about the history of this bittersweet holiday and share some of his work.

A variety of musicians, Abizo (Ayamrd Math) and Rachel Ambaye and the Ambaye Quartet and Edwin Owusu, will perform. Juneteenth, also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day or the country’s second Independence Day, is the anniversary of the

The city’s celebration of freedom will feature music from a variety of musicians and food and arts vendors.

Sign up now for Shelburne grab and go meal

Age Well and St. Catherine’s of Siena Parish in Shelburne are

The menu is meatloaf with gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, wheat bread with butter, apple crisp with topping and milk.

To order a meal contact Kathleen at agewellstcath@gmail.com or 802-503-1107. Deadline to order is Wednesday, June 5.

Run, walk or jiggety-fog for McClure Miller

Join the University of Vermont Health Network Home Health & Hospice for its annual fundraiser on Saturday, June 8, 9 a.m., at Malletts Bay School in Colches-

ter.

The Jiggety Jog is a 5K for all ages and abilities, supporting hospice care at McClure Miller Respite House. Day-of registration is at 8 a.m.

Sign up at uvmhomehealth. org/run.

Shelburne Museum kicks off Free First Friday Free First Friday Eve is a summer tradition at Shelburne Museum. From June through

COURTESY PHOTO

Poet Rajnii Eddins headlines South Burlington’s Juneteenth celebration at Veterans Memorial Park.

South Burlington resident John Killacky’s videos have been screened worldwide at festivals, galleries, museums, hospitals and universities, and broadcast on Vermont Public and nationally on PBS. On Thursday, June 13, as part of “PechaKucha Night” of visual storytelling in Flynn Space in Burlington, he shares 20 stills taken from his AIDS-related videos and reads diary entries. On Saturday, June 15, he presents a video salon, “Eulogizing the Body,” at Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville featuring works dealing with AIDS, disability, loss and chronic pain. Another of his videos is included in the Montgomery Center for the Arts’ exhibition, “Bloom: The Nature of Art,” opening Sunday, June 16 in Montgomery.

COMMUNITY NOTES

continued from page 8

August on the first Friday of the month, admission to the museum is free from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

It’s the perfect time to visit galleries, enjoy a picnic on the grounds, stroll through gardens and take in the splendor of a summer’s evening.

Musical performances include:

• June 7 — Andriana and the Bananas: Andriana Chobot, a Burlington-based singer-songwriter, offers indie-pop and heartrock sounds that ruminate in jazz, with her band the Bananas.

• July 5 — Mal Maiz blends traditional cumbia, Latin, reggae and Afro-Caribbean sounds.

• August 2 — Dwight + Nicole play American soul and blues.

For more information, visit shelburnemuseum.org.

Obituary

Sarah Francisco

A celebration of life for Sarah Olivia Francisco will be held on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at 11 a.m. at Champlain Valley Union High School, 369 CVU Road, in Hinesburg.

All family, friends, students, and families are welcome.

Sarah, an incredible wife, loving mother, sister, daughter, friend, teacher and so much more, died unexpectedly on Tuesday, April 6, 2024, at her family’s home in Williston. She was 49.

Sarah’s tireless dedication to speech therapy yielded two degrees and over the last two decades allowed her to touch the lives of countless students and families at the schools where she worked.

When she started working at CVU, she became much more than a speech therapist. She befriended students and teachers alike, regardless of their role or whether they were one of her own students.

Sarah Francisco

COURTESY PHOTO

LAUREN READ

CORRESPONDENT

Baseball Division I playdowns

Tuesday, June 4, at 4:30 p.m.

No. 12 Rice (5-11) at No. 3 Champlain Valley (12-4)

After dropping the final three games of the regular season, the Champlain Valley baseball team will need to turn it around quick as it takes on No. 12 Rice in the Division I playdowns on Tuesday after the newspaper went to press.

The Redhawks beat the Green Knights

twice in the regular season and will need to avoid an upset to advance to the quarterfinals.

If CVU wins, it will face the winner of No. 6 St. Johnsbury vs. No. 1 Brattleboro in the quarterfinals Friday, June 7. One of the Redhawks’ four losses came at the hands of St. Johnsbury.

Softball

Division I playdowns

Tuesday, June 4 at 4:30 p.m. No. 9 Champlain Valley (5-11) at No. 8 North Country (8-8)

The softball team looked to pull off a minor upset Tuesday (after presstime)

against North Country in the softball playdowns. If CVU wins, it would advance to the quarterfinals and a matchup with No. 1 BFA-St. Albans on Friday.

The Comets defeated CVU 17-0 in their only game during the regular season.

Boys’ lacrosse Division I quarterfinals

Friday, June 7 at 4:30 p.m.

No. 1 Champlain Valley (14-1) vs TBA

The Champlain Valley boys’ lacrosse team will keep a close eye on Tuesday’s Division I playdown matchups as it awaits its quarterfinal opponent.

The Redhawks, who earned the No. 1 seed in the postseason with a 14-1 record, will take on the winner of No. 8 Mount Mansfield and No. 9 Essex on Friday. CVU beat Essex in two games during the regular season and downed MMU in their only meeting.

CVU wants to return to the D-I final after its nine-year run as state champions was stopped last year in the semifinals. CVU will have to get past last year’s D-I title holders, South Burlington, which is a possible semifinal opponent.

Girls’ lacrosse Division I quarterfinals

Saturday, June 8, at 11 a.m.

No. 2 Champlain Valley (13-2) vs. TBA

After coming oh-so-close to the program’s first Division I state title since 2002 — they lost by one goal in overtime — the Champlain Valley girls’ lacrosse team is looking to take the next step this season.

They will face the winner of No. 7 BFA-St. Albans and No. 10 Brattleboro in the quarterfinals on Saturday. CVU beat BFA twice but did not see Brattleboro in the regular season.

Lurking in the bracket are No. 1 Essex and No. 4 South Burlington, the only two teams to beat CVU this season. Those two teams are likely to square off in the semifinals, leaving them as a possible matchup in the final if the Redhawks advance that far.

Girls’ tennis Division I quarterfinals

Friday, June 7, at 3:30 p.m.

No. 1 Champlain Valley (13-1) vs. TBA

The team is fresh of a regular season that earned it the No. 1 seed. Then they watched

CVU’s Anna Dauermann win the individual singles title.

Now, the Redhawks have their sights set on the postseason. CVU will take on the winner of No. 8 Brattleboro and No. 9 Essex, who played on Tuesday after press in the playdowns, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

The Redhawks played Essex twice this year, winning the 6-1 and 7-0. The Colonels are an unknown but only have two wins so far this season.

Boys’ Ultimate Division I quarterfinals

Saturday, June 8, at 11 a.m.

Champlain Valley advanced to the Ultimate state championship last season but ultimately fell just short of winning the title. CVU finished the regular season with a 10-0 record and the top seed in the playoffs. The Redhawks have earned a bye to the quarterfinals where they await the winner of No. 8 Milton and No. 9 Essex, who met in the playdowns on Wednesday, June 5.

The Redhawks met both teams just once in the regular season and won both matchups, beating Milton 15-7 and Essex 15-5. Girls’ Ultimate Division I

semifinals

Wednesday, June 12, at 4 p.m.

The girls Ultimate team lost just two games this season, earning a 10-2 record and the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. That was good enough to earn the Redhawks a bye into the semifinal round where they will face the winner of No. 3 Milton and No. 6 Mount Mansfield, who will play in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, June 10.

CVU beat both Milton and MMU twice in the regular season. The wins over the Cougars came in the first weeks of the season, while the victories over the Yellowjackets were spread out.

If the Redhawks can advance past next week’s semifinal, they will likely face a matchup with top seed Burlington, the only team to beat them so far this season.

Boys’ tennis Division I playdowns

Tuesday, June 4, at 3:30 p.m. No. 12 Rice (2-9) at No. 5 Champlain Valley (11-3)

Champlain Valley spring sports teams finish regular season

LAURE READ

CORRESPONDENT

Boys’ Ultimate

Champlain Valley 15, St. Johnsbury 1: The boys Ultimate team went undefeated in the regular season.

The Redhawks beat St. Johnsbury, 15-1, on Friday, May 31, to wrap up the unbeaten streak.

CVU headed into the playoffs with an 11-0 record.

Softball

St. Johnsbury 13, Champlain Valley 6: Tegan Scruggs had a double, home run and two RBIs but it was not enough as Champlain Valley fell to St. Johnsbury on Saturday.

Mackenzie Yandow took the loss for the Redhawks, giving up nine runs, two earned. Nina Zimakas went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Amber Reagan drove in two runs on two hits.

CVU wrapped up the regular season with a 5-11 record.

Baseball

St. Johnsbury 3, Champlain Valley 0: The team dropped its third game in a row, falling to St. Johnsbury Saturday.

Elise Berger took the loss for the Redhawks, allowing three runs on three hits in four innings of work. Riley McDade and Declan Cummings each went 2-for-3 at the plate for CVU.

CVU finished the regular season with a 12-4 record.

Girls’ Ultimate

Champlain Valley 13, Montpelier 3: The girls finished the season on a three-game winning streak after beating Montpelier on Friday.

Zoey McNabb had five goals

for the Redhawks. Ruby Opton (three assists), Leo Sunderland and Navaeh Parrish each tallied twice, and Grace Thompson added five assists.

CVU finished the regular season at 10-2.

Boys’ Ultimate

Champlain Valley 15, St. Johnsbury 1: The boys Ultimate team went undefeated in the regular season.

The Redhawks beat St. Johnsbury, 15-1, on Friday to wrap up the unbeaten streak.

CVU heads into the playoffs with an 11-0 record.

Boys’ lacrosse

Champlain Valley 14, Essex 3: Matias Williams had five goals and one assist to pace Champlain Valley in a win over Middlebury on Friday to finish the regular season.

Peter Gilliam added two goals and one assist for the Redhawks, while Connor Malaney chipped in two. Will Kearney stopped 12 shots in goal.

CVU finished the regular season with a 14-1 record.

Girls’ lacrosse

Champlain Valley 16, Middlebury 4: Champlain Valley wrapped up the regular season with a win over Middlebury on Saturday, June 1.

Sophie Madden had three goals and two assists for the Redhawks, who have a 13-2 record heading into the postseason. Marlie Cartwright added a hat trick and Kate Boehmcke chipped in two goals and an assist.

Rose Bunting also tallied twice for CVU, while Lulu Sarardos, Stella Dooley, Emerson Rice and McKenzie Love each scored.

Clare Stackpole-McGrath and Morgan Keach combined to make five saves.

Girls’ track and field wins first-ever state title

Dauerman wins singles title in straight sets

LAUREN READ CORRESPONDENT

For over 20 years, Champlain Valley has had the best female distance runners in the state. But it has taken them some time to translate that success to track and field.

On Saturday, the Redhawks put it all together to capture the Division I girls’ track and field state championship — the program’s first in 49 years.

Buoyed by dominance in the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter

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races, Champlain Valley earned 112 points to best the second-place finisher and last year’s winner, Essex (84). Burlington captured third with 50 points.

In the 1,500, CVU went 1-2-34. Alice Kredell came in first, Lydia Donahue came in second, Estella Laird finished third and Audrey Neilson was fourth.

The dominance continued in the 3,000, with Donahue taking the top

PHOTO BY AL FREY

Amber Reagan smacks the ball during a 17-3 loss to South Burlington May 28 in 5 innings. Reagan went 3-for-4 and had 3 RBIs.

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TRACK AND FIELD

spot. Laird came in third, Charlotte Crum was fourth, Claire Kim came in fifth and Annalise Wood finished in sixth place.

In the 400-meter race, Mahoune Felix came in first to further pace the Redhawks, while Kate Kogut finished sixth in the 100-meter dash.

Kredell continued her strong performance in the 800-meter race, coming in third. Neilson followed in fourth and Noe Jenni finished in sixth.

In the field events, Harper Danforth set the tone with a firstplace finish in the javelin throw, her third individual state title in the event in four years.

Kogut came in second place in pole vault and Zoe Mui-Jenkins tied for fourth in the same event.

Nora Cullen came in third in high jump and Lilyanna Mittelstadt was fifth in the long jump.

The D-I track and field title comes after the CVU girls also

captured the indoor track and field championship this winter, the program’s first indoor state title.

Efforts to reach track and field coaches were unsuccessful.

Dauerman wins individual tennis title

Champlain Valley sophomore

Anna Dauerman made a splash in the individual girls’ tennis tournament, beating Stowe’s Julia Biedermann in three sets to win the individual state title.

“It was absolutely a goal that Anna made for herself at the beginning of the season, to win individuals, CVU coach Dave Lisle said. “She played incredibly well and made it happen. She played really well in the big points and just outlasted an all-class and super-talented Julia Biedermann.”

Dauerman had to recover from an early 2-6 loss in the first set. But the Redhawk sophomore

came up with a 6-3 win in the second set and then followed it up with 10-4 victory in the third set tiebreak to capture the title.

“She made adjustments that helped,” Lisle said of the comeback effort. “The truth is, Anna is incredibly mentally tough. She just doesn’t crack under pressure.”

Dauerman will now move on to the team title chase as Champlain Valley enters the playoffs with the top seed in the D-I bracket. Her experience against Biedermann could be key, as a rematch could be looming in the final against No. 2 Stowe.

“CVU is a pretty confident team,” Lisle said. “Anna has absolutely helped raise that level of confidence even more with that huge win.”

CVU opens the postseason with a quarterfinal matchup on Friday, June 7, against either No. 8 Brattleboro or No. 9 Essex.

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PHOTO BY AL FREY

At the Division I state track and field championships, CVU went 1-2-3-4 in the 1,500 meters. From left, Estella Laird was third, Alice Kredell came in first, Lydia Donahue was second and Audrey Neilson came in fourth.

The Charlotte Grange hosted a Memorial Day ceremony on May 27 at the Grandview Cemetery, which included remarks from Charlotte veteran Jordan Paquette and a rendition of “Taps” by Charlotte Central School student Ben Vincent. After the ceremony, people placed flags on the graves of those who served and or died in military service.

RABIES BAIT

continued from page 2

The week-long bait drop is a coopera tive effort between Vermont and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to stop the spread of the potentially fatal disease.

ways fatal in humans and animals. However, treatment with the rabies vaccine is nearly 100 percent effective when given soon after a person is bitten by a rabid animal.

So far this year, 23 animals in Vermont have tested positive for rabies, and 14 of those have been raccoons.

Rabies is a deadly viral disease of the brain that infects mammals. It is most often seen in raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bats, but unvaccinated pets and livestock can also get rabies.The virus is spread through the bite of an infected animal or contact with its

According to wildlife officials, rabid animals often show a change in their normal behavior, but you cannot tell whether an animal has rabies simply by looking at it. People should not touch or pick up wild animals or strays – even baby animals.

Shelburne display lead a cemetery dors round from coffee creemees. from Shelburne

SHELBURNE continued

COURTESY PHOTOS

It’s Time To Plant at Vermont’s Finest Plant Nursery

Event features Stonewall talk

The Duxbury Historical Society presents historical crime writer Alex Hortis, author of “The Mob and the City: The Hidden History of How the Mafia Captured New York,” on Wednesday, June 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the Waterbury Congregational Church, 8 North Main St.

The Stonewall Uprising stands as a pivotal moment in history — a fierce response by the LGBTQ community to relentless police raids. On June 28, 1969, the New York City Police descended upon the Stonewall Inn, a beloved gathering spot. But this time the community fought back, igniting several nights of protest on the streets. The rebellion was a turning point in the fight for rights and gave rise to modern-day Pride parades and festivals.

ZONING

continued from page 1

That zone for years has been characterized by town officials and planners as having a “one-size-fits-all” approach to zoning in a district characterized diverse settlement patterns and natural resources.

Under the plan, the Rural Residential 1 district would be sectioned off three ways: the Richmond Road corridor, an area just above the village growth area that is served by municipal water and sewer — and the most densely populated portion of town — would be changed to the Residential 3 district, allowing one home per acre.

The Residential 4 district would then extend above that area and would allow one home per 3 acres and act as a transitional zoning district between the village growth area and the more rural districts, Weinhagen said.

But the greatest distinction, and where most of the controversy lies, is the newly proposed Rural 1 district — which would encompass large portions of land to the north and east of Hinesburg’s downtown.

Limitations on subdivision and density requirements in this new zoning district would mirror the town’s Rural Residential 2 and agricultural districts — which occupy nearly 80 percent of Hinesburg — with only one home per 10, 12 or 15 acres based on the quality of the public road that provides access, while also adding other layers of design review standards that have historically only been applied to Hinesburg’s most rural areas.

The proposed changes have raised the ire of landowners in the past year who say that the changes devalue their land and infringe on their property rights. The public hearing last week saw a mix of people advocating both for and against the change.

But resident Justin Daniels pointed out that nearly half of the people in favor of the switch last week were actively, or at some point had been, a part of a town commission.

“I saw four people that were here tonight that spoke against this change, that have no affiliation with the town in terms of zoning, commissions, planning, former commissions or Montpelier roles,” he said. “In my opinion, this should be dead in the water. This is going to make the housing crisis worse, and we should be concerned about the next generation, having a place to live, that doesn’t cost a million dollars.”

Another resident, Frank Babbott, had similar thoughts.

Yet, amid the well-known narrative lies a lesser-discussed chapter: the historical role of The Mafia, which happened to own the Stonewall Inn.

Hortis, a constitutional lawyer and historian of crime, will delve into the intricate web of relationships, revealing how The Mafia unintentionally played a part in sparking the renowned Stonewall uprising.

The Burlington-based musical duo, The Champlain Shoregasm, will perform at 6 p.m. to welcome attendees.

Donations are welcome and benefit the Duxbury Historical Society. Reservations are recommended and are available online at duxburyvt.com.

“It seems a disproportionate amount of people pushing the same topic,” he said. “If you restrict somebody’s property so they can’t do what they would normally do, that absolutely is a taking. I want to just be clear that we’re going to call it what it is.”

While most opposed to the proposed change voiced concern over property rights, others said that funneling development directly in the Richmond Road area and limiting growth elsewhere would ultimately have a negative effect on the town’s water and sewer system.

“We’re going to congest that area,” Tony St. Hilaire, a property owner with a large parcel of land in what would be the rural 1 district, said.

Others advocated that the changes would increase the protection of natural resources and valuable agricultural resources, saying that large portions of the areas have significant natural features and wildlife habitats.

Joe Iandanza, a former planning commission member who lives in an area that would be considered Residential 4, said the district is a “hodgepodge” of different areas, “areas with sewer and water, areas without, areas with very steep slopes. There was no one correct way to handle this, but I think that the planning commission is correct in its division of the RR1 into multiple districts,” he said.

Bill Scott, a member of the town’s conservation commission and whose land would fall in the new Residential 4 district, also favored the redistricting mostly because as development pressures continue to push further south from Burlington, protecting against fragmentation of intact areas will remain a pressing concern.

In addition to the dozen or so residents who spoke in person and online at the meeting, multiple residents who couldn’t attend the meeting wrote into the selectboard to voice their opinions.

The board plans to revisit zoning changes at its June 17 meeting, town manager Todd Odit said. They will either decide to adopt the new rules or kick the draft back to the planning commission.

If the Selectboard adopts regulation revisions, residents can petition for a vote to rescind the changes, Weinhagen wrote in a memo to the board.

Daniels said he’d already seen a petition around town with “a substantial number of residents against the change.” Nothing has yet been submitted officially.