Farm to school
A little sunshine
Leahy secures funding for Shelburne Farms’ program
First Amendment guru urges transparency
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Volume 51 Number 11
shelburnenews.com
March 17, 2022
Jerry Storey dies
Icy dip
Respected resident, former selectboard chair ‘a true gentleman with pure heart,’ friend says MIKE DONOGHUE CORRESPONDENT
Edward “Jerry” Storey Jr., a longtime local and federal public servant, teacher and artist has died after a long battle with cancer. Storey, who served on both Shelburne’s selectboard and development review board, died March 8. Storey, who had previously served through the years as a municipal manager for a handful of communities in Maine, brought that knowledge to Shelburne. He also helped restore some sanity and civility that had been missing
PHOTOS BY AL FREY
Several Champlain Valley Union High School sports teams took the Penguin Plunge March 12, jumping into an icy cold Lake Champlain to raise money for Special Olympics Vermont.
in town business for a number of years. Retired town clerk and treasurer Colleen Haag, who served Shelburne for 38 years, made it clear this week that Storey was a rare breed in town government. “I knew and worked with many selectboard members through the years. Jerry Storey had the depth and breadth of knowledge of the inner workings of municipal government that few members have had,” Haag said. “Jerry was a true gentleman with a pure heart and will be greatSee STOREY on page 16
Town denies public records request for police report Newspaper appeals, hearing set after deadline COREY MCDONALD STAFF WRITER
The Shelburne News has appealed to the town’s selectboard after town manager Lee Krohn denied a public records request for the Jim Baker report, which town officials acknowledge was completed but have declined to release, citing personnel issues. The report is the result of consulting work done by former Vermont State Police director Jim Baker, who was brought in by the town in January to investigate the mass exodus of police officers and emergency dispatchers from Shelburne in recent years, among other issues. During a March 8 selectboard meeting, Krohn acknowledged Baker delivered the report to the town, but that he was still awaiting
“an opinion from counsel whether that is a public document or is a personnel document.” He said he was “hopeful” the public would have access to the report “sooner rather than later, because we understand that there is interest in that. We’re trying to be cautious, but I hope for an answer sooner than later.” The newspaper filed a public records request for the report, but the request was denied because the document “may relate to ‘personal documents relating to an individual,’ or ‘records of interdepartmental or intradepartmental communications.’” The Shelburne News quickly appealed the decision, contending that the document falls under “records relating to management See REPORT on page 13